Re: Marine VHF Radio - General Questions
Don't discount the value of a cell phone. I can say through direct experience that the Coast Guard will routinely attempt to obtain a cell phone number from a distressed boat, if one is available and the boat is in cellular range. Police agencies that become involved in a 911 call, also give the cell number to the CG as a matter of routine. The reason why is simple - because the quality of the communication is often much better. I've even used the numbers myself, when doing a SAR for the USCG. I can think of a number of situations where I have contacted the distressed boater directly, to get better info on the nature of the problem, where he/she is, etc.
I do agree that a VHF radio offers certain advantages that a cell phone can't duplicate, but they are not without problems. One of those problems is that the "listening range" of a VHF on a boat (handheld or fixed) is usually longer than its transmitting range. Despite popular misconception, the distance of an intelligible VHF transmission is not purely a function of "line of sight" issues. Transmitter power has a lot to do with it, because of atmospheric attenuation.
Also, where line of sight is an issue, cell phones can sometimes be a better bet. For example, one peculiarity of my boating area is that we have many cell towers along the ICW. This is true because the cellular companies discovered a long time ago, that there is a significant market offered for them by the commercial traffic along the waterway. Since many of our boating areas here flank the ICW, recreational boaters benefit too. Others who boat along lake shorelines, rivers, etc., would be expected to enjoy similar communication capability.
As for GPS coordinates, I can say that, when I do SARs for the Coast Guard, one of the first bits of information that they want to give me, is the coordinates of the distressed vessel. In fact, where they don't have actual coordinates, they will give me estimated coordinates. The sharing of information between police agencies and the USCG, or water patrols (Wildlife & Fisheries, in my area), is similar to the cell phone info - if 911 has been provided with coordinates, they can and do pass that info on to the CG.
That said, the one problem that I have run into with GPS coordinates, is navigating through the lakes and bayous of my area, in order to get to the specific location. My handheld GPS does not have a moving map display, which handicaps me quite a bit in that regard. I am sometimes able to get around that issue by printing out a Google Earth map of the area involved before I launch, but there is no doubt that a better GPS would be an advantage. The good news, however, is that I can decline a SAR for that reason, and the CG vessels do have the more sophisticated gear. Coast Guard helicopers also avoid the problem altogether, by simply flying directly to the known location. My point is that, no matter where the info comes from, its a heck of a lot easier to find someone, when you know exactly where they are.
Good info on 21A and I apologize for the mistake. I have communicated with the USCG on this channel at their request, but when I am talking to the Guard, its usually because I am doing something for them. I was also unaware of 6A use, so that info is helpful.
At any rate, I think the bottom line here is that having a VHF available is always a good thing, and could easily become a lifesaver in a bad situation.
