Scuttlebutt Spring 2015 Page 1

Scuttlebutt Vol. 28 No. 2

Waterway Radio and Cruising Club ‘Serving Radio Amateurs Afloat Since 1963’

To paraphrase Queen Elizabeth about a rough patch

she and the royals had been through, this winter

might also be characterized as "annus horribilis".

Between the extraordinary cold and snow, wind and

ice, and our mysterious three-week noise invasion,

2015 has come in with a bang.

Spring, though, is clearly in evidence (at least in Flori-

da) and for the present, we have our frequency back

(mostly). There was a good bit of discussion about

the most appropriate response to the noise problem.

Some of us favored a temporary shift to an alternate

location. Others felt a change would be confusing. In

the end, absent any definitive results from our in-

(Continued on page 2)

From your Commodore

— Jeff Wingfield, KI4JDE

Charles (Chuck)

Grey, ND7K, was

born in 1928 in

Evanston, Il and

spent his youth

in the mid-west,

but always had

a love of sailing.

He built his first

boat at age 12

which his

mother bought,

perhaps to encourage his love of boats or, as he

suspected, because she thought it would sink with

him in it. After attending Dennison University and

serving in the Army from 1951 to 1953 Chuck

returned to Chicago to work in the family real estate

management business.

In 1959, he built the steel-hulled yacht Altair in Two

Rivers, WI and sailed Lake Michigan for 4 years. In

1963 he and Chris quit their jobs and sailed down

the Mississippi, wintering in the Caribbean then con-

tinuing north the next spring to Halifax, NS. After

crossing the Atlantic in 27 days to Falmouth, UK they

sailed through Europe and the Mediterranean as far

as Turkey. Leaving the boat moored for a time, they

traveled all over Europe in a VW camper-van.

(Continued on page 2)

Chuck Grey,

ND7K,

Now a Silent Key

Page 2

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015

quiry to AARL, we waited the problem out. The disrup-

tion was, however, significant enough to warrant for-

mulation of an alternate operating plan. That plan,

which can be activated if our net is subject to a simi-

lar interruption in service, outlines the procedures to

be followed to maintain our daily operations. A thank

you to Ridge (N3JUY) for helping me put that docu-

ment together. The plan is now posted on our web

site.

One of the casualties of the prolonged interference

was my intended introduction of a new "net" in the

fashion of our Land Cruisers, Winlink, and Computer

nets.

In my inaugural column I suggested a monthly forum

which would be an opportunity for all interested to

open any topic that might have a general interest to

our members. That is still on my agenda and, once

back at the home QTH, I will get that effort under

way.

This first quarter of the year has provided the oppor-

tunity to test remote ham radio. I have been using

remotes from a network of choices on Remote-

Hams.com. There are other remote choices, such as

the Courage Kenney Handiham Program.

Our fellow member, Ike (W3IKE) has set up his rig in

the RemoteHams network and made it available to

WRCC members. Bob and Julie (KE4OIL and

KE4OIM) made use of it during February travels. Al

(KG4VIB) has been on the air with it and I have been

checking into the net frequently from BLACK SWAN

as we have motored down to Florida and from our

slip in the marina on the Ortega River.

Remote operations has its limitations to be sure.

One is constrained by available Internet WiFi band-

width, mastering the laptop or computer sound card

connections and adjustments, and accommodating

the inevitable delay when keying the "transmit" but-

ton. The major benefit, though, is making available

access to ham radio and to the Waterway Net when

one is without a rig at the time.

Each and every WRCC member who would like to get

some Waterway Net air time – and help meet our

(Continued from page 1) Commodore

(Continued on page 3)

In 1965 they sailed back across the Atlantic, pur-

chased a larger yacht (the Altair II) and began char-

tering in the Caribbean. In the early 70's they sold

Altair II and built Altair III, a much smaller 4-berth sail-

boat, which they sailed around the coastal Pacific

and Caribbean. In 1974 they even rescued native

carvings from the San Blas islands for Dennison Uni-

versity.

The 1970's saw a stint owning a ranch in Oregon and

raising exotic cattle breeds. In the 1980's they built

Altair IV and lived in the San Juan Islands of the

Pacific Northwest, before moving east and eventually

settling in Marathon, Fl and cruising the Bahamas in

several different power boats.

Chuck got his first Ham license in 1971 (WA7WOU)

and embraced the hobby with a passion. He joined

WRCC in 1984 and was active on both the WRCC

SSB net and the CW net. As a member of the SSB

Net Chuck held several positions including: Rear

Commodore 1989, Vice Commodore 1990, Weather

Coordinator 1993 and 2004 and Fleet Captain from

2007 thru 2009.

Chuck cofounded the CW net in 1990 and was: net

manager in 1995 and 1996, Net Control every Tues-

day, its historian and keeper of the roster. His love of

CW was obvious from his large collection of exotic

iambic and single lever paddles.

Chuck helped many people get started in Ham radio

and was always willing to loan equipment to cruising

Hams with a problem. He organized the Wednesday

(Continued from page 1) Chuck Grey

(Continued on page 3)

CW Netters N4UAU,WA4MQW, ND7K,

N6ANQ,KA3OCS,WA6CCA

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015 Page 3

WRCC Logo-marked Clothing Available

lunches in Marathon for

many years and would give

rides to cruisers needing to

shop.

Chuck was a member of the

Florida Keys Amateur Radio

Club and kept the Boot Key

Harbor Repeater on the air

for many years. He was an active Volunteer Examiner,

a long time member of the CCA and was active in

IOTA.

We will deeply miss Chuck.

(Continued from page 2) Chuck Grey

CW guys Sam-N4UAU

& Chuck-ND7K

operating needs - should consider volunteering for a

monthly assignment. New volunteers just signing up

for three or four duty times a month would really pro-

vide some relief for the cadre of operators who are

carrying the daily load. Think about it. Enjoy the

chance to contribute to the team effort, provide a real

service, and polish your operating skills.

Finally, this issue of Scuttlebutt introduces our new

source of WRCC clothing items with club logo and

monogramming. We have made arrangements with

Lands' End Business Outfitters to be our supplier.

They have established a portal just for the Waterway

Net and we have a logo on file for application to any

of their extensive line of clothing and accessories. An

article in this issue provides instructions on ordering.

Jeanie (N4WFM) and I have tried the service and both

of us are very pleased with the product. Take a look

and find something for your hanging locker.

73, Jeff, KI4JDE

(Continued from page 2) Commodore

— Jeff Wingfield, KI4JDE

New arrangements for WRCC logo-marked clothing

are in place. We have established an easy to use

page on the Internet that allows members to order

clothing and outerwear with the Waterway Net logo

and monogramming.

Our supplier and partner is Lands' End Business Out-

fitters in Chicago. Lands' End is an old and reliable

provider of quality clothing lines and other products.

They have created our club logo in a size appropriate

for shirts, hats, jackets and other items. One can add

monogramming of call sign, boat name or any text

desired.

Here is how the order process works. Any club mem-

ber can access the WRCC store page by typing:

ces.landsend.com/WR in your computer's browser.

That link opens a page that allows the member to

shop the full range of Lands' End products and select

size and color. For each item ordered, the member

will have the opportunity to add the club logo and any

desired monogramming. After the order is complet-

ed, the web site leads to checkout and payment.

Images below illustrate the result. One is a polo shirt

for Jeff (KI4JDE) and the other a tote bag ordered by

Jeanie (N4WFM). The new vendor and web site tai-

lored to WRCC members should make it much easier

to order club wear from a company that has a

demonstrated commitment to customer satisfaction.

Note: Bill (N4UMS) has also posted the information

about Lands' End arrangements on our web site un-

der "WRCC STORE".

Page 4

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015

This is the beginning of the spring-

summer cruising season and it’s time

to talk about your physical fitness for

it. Winter indoors, and the gentle pass-

ing of the years for us all has made

some of us a bit flabby, a bit les agile,

and not quite as strong. All of this, if

not addressed, makes our cruising

less enjoyable, and actually less safe.

So, pay attention!

The body, the family and the boat you save may be

your own! I’m talking about your heart and your

physical fitness.

To get a handle on the subject... a couple of defini-

tions. To evaluate physical fitness doctors, physical

fitness coaches and researchers have a scale of lev-

els of exertion which they call metabolic equivalents,

or “METs”. For you detail nuts... The metabolic equiv-

alent (the MET) is a unit of sitting, resting oxygen up-

take (3.5 mL O2 per kilogram body weight per minute

[mL · kg−1 · min

−1]). A MET is taken as this average.

Walking at 4 mph = 4 METS. Shoveling snow = 6

METS, well trained athletes running at 8 mph = about

16 METs of sustained exertion.

Now, how about aerobic vs. anaerobic exertion.

That’s easy. If your throat is open and you are breath-

ing air, using oxygen, that’s “aerobic”. If you are

grunting, throat closed, and pulling on the stubborn

rusty nut, you are not breathing air and that’s called

anaerobic.

OK, now on to ideas about fitness. Basic concepts:

You don’t get stronger lying in bed or on the couch.

You don’t become more agile by sitting around. You

don’t gain stamina by lifting weights, you gain stami-

na by moving around, by doing aerobic exercise! Also,

tight rope walkers don’t improve their skills by resting

them but improve their balance by walking on tight

ropes.

Top flight doctors recommend aerobic exercise, espe-

cially walking at doctor prescribed levels even for pa-

tients with heart disease. The MET level, for impaired

people should be determined by the doctor, but even

folks with chronic congestive heart failure can bene-

fit with some graded toning up. Also, while aerobic

exercise, 2-5 days a week is beneficial, a little weight

lifting will tone up the arms, improve confidence and

even reduce some tremors. (Believe me, it has for

me.)

For you younger, healthy type’s regular exercise has

been proven to prevent, or at least slow the progres-

sion of coronary arteriosclerosis. Psst! An exercise

program lowers total cholesterol. Thirty minutes of

sweat producing aerobic exercise 3-4 times a week

does the trick. For you older, possibly heart limited

types, graded walking, best prescribed by a savvy

doctor can erase your heart limitations by at least

one, and possibly two, levels.

Due to my own heart rhythm problem I limped along

for about two years taking medication, and had but

little stamina. Eight weeks ago I opted for an elec-

tronic pacemaker. After the implant incision healed I

implemented the fitness program I’m talking to you

about. Now I walk for 30 minutes, three times a

week, the pace is march time (120 steps/min.), and

my aerobic stamina has more than doubled. Also,

now in my 80’s the tiny tremor in my right thumb has

vanished.

I can’t tell you how vigorously to exert, because I

can’t examine you, but I can tell you that IF you do

apprentice yourself to a program of improving your

aerobic fitness the medical literature is convincing

that you will live longer, have fewer heart attacks,

have a better chance to survive a heart attack

( should you suffer one someday), have lowering ef-

fect on an elevated blood pressure, and be more

safe around boats.

Jim C. Hirschman MD, FACP, K4TCV, Fleet Surgeon

References: ***. Mittleman M. A., Maclure M., Tofler G. H. Triggering

of acute myocardial infarction by heavy physical exertion.

Protection against triggering by regular exertion. N Engl J

Med. 1993;329:1677–1683. for the Determinants of My-

ocardial Infarction Onset Study Investigators. [PubMed]

*** Albert C. M., Mittleman M. A., Chae C. U. Triggering

of sudden death from cardiac causes by vigorous exertion.

N Engl J Med. 2000;343:1355–1361.[PubMed]

*** Muller J. E., Mittleman A., Maclure M. Triggering

myocardial infarction by sexual activity. Low absolute risk

and prevention by regular physical exertion. Determinants

of Myocardial Infarction Onset Study Investigators. JAMA.

1996;275:1405–1409.[PubMed]

Comments from the

Sick Bay — Jim Hirschman, MD,

Fleet Surgeon, K4TCV

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015 Page 5

Hello everyone. I had hoped by

now that you would have received

the new Roster in the mail and / or

via email. There have been some

complications at the printer and I

do not have them back yet and

actually do not foresee them get-

ting back to me before April 1. I

am truly sorry for the delay, and will try to do some-

thing about it for next year. I know that some of you

have drop-dead dates on your seasonal mailing and I

will make sure I pay attention to that when I mail

them out. If you did not receive the PDF version of

the Roster, please let me know.

Because of the number of you that sent me changes

to your address after I sent out the PDF version of

the Roster I will probably make an updated version of

the PDF Roster. If you would like it with the last mi-

nute changes in it please advise and I will send it out

to you. I do not know if everyone would appreciate

me sending it out again, but, hey, what do I know?

There are actually quite a few changes, so if enough

of you tell me you want it resent, I will be happy to do

that. I will definitely do it for those that only get the

PDF version of the Roster.

Since the last newsletter, my job has mostly been to

get the Roster database updated, format the publica-

tion, and get it to the printer. That actually takes a

fair amount of time, but then a lot has to do with me

being a perfectionist in some things. Picking out the

cover pictures and the matching spiral color was fun

though. Thanks to Bob Kovack and Bill Trayfors for

their beautiful pictures that we used this year. When

you get the printed Roster, you will actually see a

trawler on the front and sailboats on the back. Bob

and Helen sent me a bunch of pictures from their

travels way up north and the one I used was of the

narrow Trent Canal. Bill sent me a picture of his boat

tied up to Bob and Julie Norman’s dock in Great

Wicomico. I had to crop one of the boats out to

make it fit the format, but trust me, it was a beautiful

picture expanded. Thanks to everyone who submit-

ted pictures. I had a couple of blank half pages this

year, so instead of leaving them I filled them with

pictures that you all sent me. I think it adds some-

thing to the roster, but I admit, it does make it larger

to email.

Secretary/Treasurer’s

Report — Jeanie Schreiber, N4WFM

We do have 3 new members that I just could not fit

into this Roster printing cycle, but all of the new

members (7 families) since the last SB are noted in

the Roster Update Section of this newsletter. Wel-

come aboard Bill - AK4DO aboard Irish Eyes, Mickey

& Lynn – KF4IFF aboard Umiko, and Neal & Kim –

KF5YIG aboard Mariposa.

We now have an additional method that you can use

to pay your dues. If you have a credit card and wish

to pay with it but do not want to go to the trouble of

setting up a PayPal account, I now have a card read-

er and an APP that will let me either swipe a card, or

enter the card information that you provide over the

phone. I hope that you will take advantage of this if

you need that option. Just give me a phone call and

we’ll take care of you. We still are having trouble

with Canadian checks and Canadian credit cards, so

bear with me, and I will get it fixed as soon as I can.

Jeanie, N4WFM

Just wanted to let you know that I have an APRS digi,

N4KDJ-1 at my QTH and also have an AIS receiver

providing AIS data to the MarineTraffic.com network

(Station ID: Compass Marina, #1819) which is used

by cell phone apps and the marinetraffic.com web-

site.

We’re located on Mobjack Bay with good coverage

for the southern Chesapeake Bay. I hope they help

WRCC members on their journey north next spring!

Keith Jones, N4KDJ

AIS Map: http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/

home/showstations:true/centerx:-76.346001/

centery:37.376999/zoom:10

APRS Map: http://aprs.fi/#!

mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a%2FN4KDJ-

1&timerange=3600&tail=3600

Keith D. Jones

Compass Marina

6199 East River Rd.

P.O. Box 128

Mobjack, VA 23056

Phone: (804) 725-7999

Mobile: (804) 363-6811

www.compassmarina.com

APRS and AIS Data

— Keith Jones, N4KDJ

Page 6

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015

Roster Updates

New Members Since Winter SB

AD5AO (E) KD5LSR (G) The W. C. Fields Borner, Dennis & Deborah Morgan OI 49 ketch '76 2099 Zuyder Terrace (941) 295-9065 North Port FL deborner@comcast.net 34286-0706 AD5AO@winlink.org ___________________________________

KM4IFF (G) Umiko Bumpass, Mickey & Lynne Catalina 36 MKII Sloop 18122 Eau Gallie Circle Port Charlotte FL mdbumpass@centurylink.net 33948-9512 ___________________________________

KJ4RMJ (G) Gala Haver, Peter Pacific Seacraft Orion 27 sloop 329 Alhambra Pl (561) 540-5368 West Palm Beach FL p.haver@dmh-law.com 33405-4930 ___________________________________

KG6LZP (G) KI6JMX (G) Lavino, Ted & Clare 30100 Town Center Dr, O-148 Laguna Niguel CA lavino@gmail.com 92677-2064 lavinoclare@gmail.com ___________________________________

N1JCL (G) Sinewave Leonard, John Shamrock 8337 SE Ketch Ct. (772) 285-9999 Hobe Sound FL N1JCL@arrl.net 33455-3971 john@johncleonard.com ___________________________________

KF5YIG (T) Mariposa Mansfield, Neal & Kim 42 Leopard Catamaran 1400 El Camino Village Dr, (214) 837-8985 Apt 2204 neal@svmariposa.com Houston TX 77058-3063 ___________________________________

AK4PO (E) Irish Eyes Murdoch, Bill Pacific Seacraft 34' cutter PO Box 6393 (423) 239-9108 Kingsport TN wsmurdoch@aol.com 37663-1393 AK4PO@winlink.org ___________________________________

New or Changed E-Mail Addresses

KJ4 CFJ capt.larryjones246@gmail.com KB2 CUZ edsved2@gmail.com KE4 WHA mjtedford@suddenlink.net W1 ZAR f.golden@icloud.com

New Callsigns and

Upgrades

KK4 BFM E Bob Birch Old Call: K2 KEN E Ken Wright Old Call: WA2KAN KB3 QAT G John Miller Old Call: K9 TUT E Glenn Tuttle Old Call: KI4FVP

Additional Callsigns Since Winter SB

AD5 AO E Dennis Borner (See KD5LSR) KM4 IFF G Mickey Bumpass N1 JCL G John Leonard KI6 JMX G Clare Lavino (See KG6LZP) KD5 LSR G Deborah Borner (See AD5AO) KG6 LZP G Ted Lavino (See KI6JMX) AK4 PO E Bill Murdoch KJ4 RMJ G Peter Haver KF5 YIG T Neal Mansfield

New Members Since Winter SB

AD5AO (E) KD5LSR (G) The W. C. Fields Borner, Dennis & Deborah Morgan OI 49 ketch '76 2099 Zuyder Terrace (941) 295-9065 North Port FL deborner@comcast.net 34286-0706 AD5AO@winlink.org ___________________________________

KM4IFF (G) Umiko Bumpass, Mickey & Lynne Catalina 36 MKII Sloop 18122 Eau Gallie Circle Port Charlotte FL mdbumpass@centurylink.net 33948-9512 ___________________________________

KJ4RMJ (G) Gala Haver, Peter Pacific Seacraft Orion 27 sloop 329 Alhambra Pl (561) 540-5368 West Palm Beach FL p.haver@dmh-law.com 33405-4930 ___________________________________

KG6LZP (G) KI6JMX (G) Lavino, Ted & Clare 30100 Town Center Dr, O-148 Laguna Niguel CA lavino@gmail.com 92677-2064 lavinoclare@gmail.com ___________________________________

N1JCL (G) Sinewave Leonard, John Shamrock 8337 SE Ketch Ct. (772) 285-9999 Hobe Sound FL N1JCL@arrl.net 33455-3971 john@johncleonard.com ___________________________________

KF5YIG (T) Mariposa Mansfield, Neal & Kim 42 Leopard Catamaran 1400 El Camino Village Dr, (214) 837-8985 Apt 2204 neal@svmariposa.com Houston TX 77058-3063 ___________________________________

AK4PO (E) Irish Eyes Murdoch, Bill Pacific Seacraft 34' cutter PO Box 6393 (423) 239-9108 Kingsport TN wsmurdoch@aol.com 37663-1393 AK4PO@winlink.org ___________________________________

ACTION NEEDED NOW

1. Because of its onerous 200 foot

statewide anchoring restriction, we

urge boaters to request that their

Florida State Senator reject SB

1548. Contact at https://

www.flsenate.gov/about/contact

Read Senate Bill 1548 at: https://

www.flsenate.gov/Session/

Bill/2015/1548

2. Because of its common sense

approach to derelict vessel issue,

we urge boaters to voice their sup-

port of Derelict Vessel Bill HB 7123

by emailing their FL Representative

at: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/.

Read Committee Bill HWSS 15-06

at: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/

Florida Anchoring Restriction

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015 Page 7

Some web sites for help in determining what is going

on around the waterways this season:

Salty Southeast Cruisers Net cruisersnet.net

Waterway Guide waterwayguide.com

Active Captain activecaptain.com

Around the Waterways

Remote Operation.

Is it for You?

— Ike Lawton, W3IKE

It all started at the Annapolis WRCC luncheon during

the October sail boat show. I suggested to Bob Nor-

man, KE4OIL, that possibly the club would benefit

from using remote operation especially when mem-

bers were on vacation, on travel, or they just needed

a stronger signal or better receiving capability when

working with either the CW or SSB WRCC net. About

a month later Jeff Wingfield, KI4JDE, tried remote

operation using just a note book computer connected

the internet through an available station in the Mid-

west. The system worked but the station was just too

far away to work well. This is about the time I down-

loaded RCForb Client v0.8 from

www.remotehams.com and installed it on my note

book. This is freeware, easily installed on any com-

puter. It allows one to receive and transmit through

another amateur’s home station from anywhere you

have an internet connection.

Not all remote stations available to a user are equal.

Please remember this is a volunteer free service of-

fered by gracious amateurs who may not have the

best location for the WRCC nets, equipment or anten-

nas. If you want to use the best possible remote sta-

tions please check this pay for use website for further

information: http://www.remotehamradio.com/ .

OK, so you are interested and want to check it out.

All you need to do is to go to the remote hams web-

site, download the client software, install it and give it

a try. There are detailed instructions on how to do

the install at http://download.remotehams.com/orb/

RCForb_Client_Manual.pdf . I have my home station,

W3IKE, setup as a remote server for WRCC club

members and it will be available for listening or even

transmitting from 0700 to 0900 local time when I am

home or not on extended travel. To transmit you will

need to do a onetime request for permission to trans-

mit and receive permission from me. I will be availa-

ble after the SSB net or via email (w3ike@yahoo.com)

to answer any questions. Good luck and enjoy..

Ike Lawton, W3IKE, Annapolis

For some of us, our HF radio aboard ship is an ICOM

M802. It’s easy to use and a solid performer on both

marine and amateur HF radio bands. Lurking inside

is a seldom used capability called Digital Selective

Calling (DSC for short). If you have an M802, I hope

you’ll take a second look at this important safety fea-

ture.

We use DSC on our VHF radio all the time. It’s a relia-

ble way to contact boating friends without tying up

channel 16. And in our home waters of the Chesa-

peake, the US Coast Guard’s Rescue 21 system is

ready to receive your emergency VHF DSC call and

respond quickly. That big red Distress button on the

VHF radio is comforting to see. With all this in mind,

we wanted to try DSC on HF. The benefit of HF DSC is

the long range propagation. Your chances of getting

that emergency message through while offshore are

greatly improved. Our M802 also has one of those

big red buttons, but what would happen when we

pushed it? The question became how to test it out.

At first, we simply connected a second receive anten-

na to our M802. This is important because the M802

only listens for emergency DSC traffic on the second

receive port using a dedicated receiver. You can have

a great primary antenna installation, but without the

second antenna connected, emergency and safety

DSC calls will not be received (including acknowledg-

ments of your own calls). The good news is that your

(Continued on page 8)

Testing out HF Digital Selec-tive Calling on the ICOM

M802 — Brian McQuiddy, WB4CM

Page 8

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015

Boat U.S. membership with our

group discount

is only $15.00 per year.

Sign up using our

GROUP ID:

M802’s DSC receiver is always scanning the six

emergency channels even when you’re using the ra-

dio for something else – like talking on the Waterway

Radio Net on 7268 kHz LSB. On Stella, we use a

Metz broadband HF receive antenna. It looks very

similar to a sailboat mast head antenna for VHF, but

the loading coil is different, and the whip is longer.

We could now receive DSC, and it was a bit of an eye

opener. There was a slow but steady stream of traf-

fic; mostly Securite calls from vessels. It was like the

first time we turned on our AIS receiver; there was all

this activity that we never knew existed.

The second question was how to test out the trans-

mit side of our radio. We discovered two organiza-

tions that will accept and respond to test DSC calls.

One of these is the US Coast Guard in Norfolk, VA.

The second is ShipCom in Mobile, AL. The test DSC

call is great because it allows you to check out both

the transmit and receive side of a call (you send a

test message from your radio and wait for an

acknowledgement from the called station). Before we

discuss how to call one of these stations, let’s back

up and review some HF DSC basics.

DSC calling on HF is allowed on several groups of

frequencies. The most important group for our pur-

poses is Distress and Safety Calling. There are six HF

frequencies assigned worldwide for Distress and

Safety Calling: 2187.5 kHz, 4207.5 kHz, 6312.0 kHz,

8414.5 kHz, 12577.0 kHz, and 16804.5 kHz. You’ll

notice that these frequencies are in different bands

to allow the radio operator to select the most reliable

band for propagation between stations. Unlike a VHF

radio where DSC operation takes place on one fre-

quency (Channel 70/156.525 MHz), your M802 will

be asking you to select the correct frequency. Just

like your VHF radio, you need to know the MMSI of

the party you’re calling and your own radio needs to

have its MMSI programmed.

Okay, back to test calling. The USCG station in Nor-

folk, VA monitors HF DSC traffic on all six of the Dis-

tress and Safety frequencies. But they will only re-

spond to test calls on 6312.0 kHz. The MMSI for

USCG NMN (Norfolk) is 003669995. The ShipCom

station in Mobile, AL also monitors HF DSC traffic on

Distress and Safety frequencies. But they will only

respond to test calls on either 8414.5 kHz or

12577.0 kHz. The MMSI for ShipCom WLO (Mobile)

(Continued from page 7) HF Digital Selective Calling is 003660003. So you will need to enter the correct

MMSI for either USCG NMN or ShipCom WLO and a

frequency which that station monitors for test calls.

Before you try any of this, make sure you connect

that second receive antenna and program your own

MMSI into the M802. And remember that HF propa-

gation issues still apply. You may need to try test

calls at different times of the day and from different

locations to make contact. You may also discover

that your radio has trouble tuning one or more of

these frequencies. Just like using Winlink, Sailmail, or

any of the digital modes, best results will require the

same attention to your vessel’s RF grounding and

counterpoise.

It’s worth noting that the M802 user interface can be

idiosyncratic. We recommend having the user manu-

al handy when attempting a DSC call for the first

time. Make sure you only send a test message! You

may also want to take the time to program USCG

NMN and ShipCom WLO into your address list as this

eliminates the need to re-enter their MMSI numbers.

When successful, you should see a response on your

radio.

The FCC rules both allow and expect operators to test

out their radios. The important thing is to know how it

works and what to expect before you find yourself in

a real emergency. Note that the USCG also operates

HF listening stations with DSC capability in Boston

NMF, Miami NMA, New Orleans NMG, Pt. Reyes NMC,

Guam NRV, Honolulu NMO, and Kodiak AK/NOJ. And

ShipCom operates station KLB out of Alaska. So

wherever you travel near US waters, there should be

an HF station to receive your Distress call. If you wish

to learn more about maritime radio, the USCG Navi-

gation Center (www.navcen.uscg.gov) is an excellent (Continued on page 9)

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015 Page 9

Sunshine

Where the WRCC

Meets to Eat

Bahamas, Nassau - Lunch

December-May, every

Thursday, 12:30

Green Parrot Restaurant C6AGG—Carolyn

Bahamas, George Town, - Lunch Weekly Jan-Mar

Details on the Net

FL, Marathon - Lunch Wednesdays @ 11:30 November to May Lazy Days Restaurant Contact W4SZZ or AC4GG

FL, Melbourne – Lunch

Dragons Lunch 2nd Wednesday 11:30, Pineda Inn, US Rt 1 North of Mel-bourne. Contact W4KS or KN4RB

FL, Pensacola Beach - Lunch

2nd Tues every month — Hemmingway’s on the Beach Contact Chuck Cook—KE4KEA (850) 380-4217

FL, St. Petersburg - Lunch 2nd Sat 1230 The Hangar Restaurant and Flight Lounge at 540 First St. SE

Ken Cowan—KC4OSZ

(727) 821-5383

NC, Oriental - Breakfast - Last Sat 0900 @ Village Restaurant -(Repeater 147.210+ tone 151.4)

Listen to the Net for de-

tails: 7.268 MHz at approxi-

mately 0800 ET. Please con-

tact the Editor with any

changes to this list.

The following members or their families received a card or

flowers from the club:

January

Ginny Filiatrault KA5YLM Silent Key

Don Lowe N4RTU Silent Key

Norm Cherry NC3F Silent Key

February

Gordon Groves K3GG Silent Key

March

Al Miles KG4VIB Surgery

Ed Napoleon KC4JKW Hospitalized

Bob Kovach KJ4UGE Surgery

Be sure to send any Get Well or Silent Key requests or notices to Debbie at

sunshine @ waterwayradio.net

— Debbie Lerner KD4GRR

Linda Turner, WD4OIC, reports that Lee Roy Richardson passed away No-

vember 10, 2014 after a four year battle with Parkinson Disease. Linda and

Lee Roy met in the spring of 2001 and lived together most of the time until

Lee Roy passed away. Linda is a WRCC member, joining in approximately

1975 or 76, but is no longer on the air.

Lee Roy Richardson

resource. The FCC rule book (Part 80 - Stations in the Maritime Service) is

also a good reference.

So, connect up that second antenna to your M802, program your MMSI into

your radio, and test out your HF DSC capability. Hopefully you’ll never need

to use that big red Distress button, but you’ll be prepared just in case.

Fair winds and following seas,

Brian WB4CM

Brian, Susie, and their German Shorthair Pointer, Hanna, live aboard sailing

vessel Stella, a Sabre 402 sloop. They are cruising the Bahamas this winter,

and you can find them most mornings on the Waterway Net.

(Continued from page 8) HF Digital Selective Calling

Page 10

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015

The SEA CHEST

*FOR SALE*

*WANTED*

I need a carrier board for my Kenwood TS450S #

X50-3160. Dick (K1AMV) s/v Endeavour

781 635 5439

Editor — Remember, this is free. There are no charg-

es to place your item in the Scuttlebutt newsletter.

***

Thank you for the update. I am very sorry to hear this

news. Would not have passed my Morse code with-

out Chuck's assistance. I will be mailing a card to him

and his family today. 73s, Susan KG4SFP

***

Thank you very much for letting me know about

Chuck’s condition. Now that we no longer are cruis-

ing I rarely get on the SSB net, but I am regular on

the CW net. I have missed Chuck on the CW net, and

wondered how he was doing. It is certainly sad to

hear that he having such serious health problems,

but I am glad to have the chance to send him a note.

He was certainly an “Elmer” to me when I was a new

ham and WRCC member in the early 90s.

73—”Jay” AE4MZ

***

Susie and I are very sad to hear this news about

Chuck. We fondly remember listening to Chuck al-

most every day during our first Bahamas cruise last

year. Chuck was notable for having not only one of

the best signals but also the best ears. He really

made a difference for us boaters by picking us up

under difficult signal conditions. We may not be able

to send something via regular mail from our current

location, but please pass along our best wishes to

him and his family. We will be thinking of him.

Best regards,

Brian (WB4CM), Susie, and Hanna

S/V Stella

Anchored near Glass Window, Eleuthera

***

Thanks for sharing this sad news. We will send a

note of thanks. On several occasions we joined the

ham lunches in Marathon and always enjoyed meet-

ing the other hams/cruisers. Chuck was always

there and kept things well organized.

Thanks so much for letting me know about Chuck, I

had been wondering about him and had not heard

him for some time on the net. I first met Chuck in

1994 when sailing through the keys, and am still us-

ing some cable he gave me for my boat. He has been

a good friend to all us boaters on and off the air. I

will be thinking of him and his family.

Thanks again,

Tom Foege—KN4XI

Editor: There were too many e-mails submitted to

print them all. Suffice to say many of us miss Chuck.

Editor: Emails received by Jeanie:

Jeanie, this is heartbreaking news. I only met Chuck

once at a marathon weekly lunch event way back in

2002 (that luncheon is one of my fondest WRCC

memories). After hearing him active on the Net practi-

cally every day for so many years, his voice has been

deafening in it's absence and will continue to be sore-

ly missed.

Sharing the Loss,

Brad KR4CA

***

So sorry about Chuck....and thanks for letting me

know. He has sure stayed in there for the WRCC for

a very long time and contributed so much.

Don N4EOW.

***

Thanks so much for the update. My XYL and I were

gone over the summer, and have missed Chuck on

the net. He is a great guy! I will send him a note.

K8BTN

John D. DeGroot

Notes about Chuck Grey

Scuttlebutt Spring 2015 Page 11

WATERWAY RADIO AND CRUISING CLUB

ALTERNATE OPERATIONS PLAN

February 19, 2015

In order to provide guidance for continued Waterway Net operations in the face of disruptions to service - either

because of atmospheric interference or persistent interference from terrestrial sources beyond the reach of reg-

ulatory actions - this alternate plan for daily net operations has been formulated.

Frequency Change

The Net Manager shall explore the status of frequencies in the general vicinity of 7.268 MHz to identify options

for Net operations. Such options shall be outside the range of interference causing the activation of the Alter-

nate Plan and shall exclude frequencies ordinarily used by other nets.

With a frequency selected, the Net Manager shall inform the Net Control and all WRCC members with operating

assignments that the alternate frequency will be used until further notice.

Net Control shall announce on 7.268 MHz at 0745 EST/EDT that the Waterway Net will meet for normal opera-

tions on 7.XXX MHz, beginning immediately.

Notification

The WRCC Secretary shall issue a notice via email to all members announcing the change in operating frequen-

cy, the reason there for, and the expected date for commencing operations. For three days before the shift in

frequency, announcements shall be made during regular Waterway Net operation.

For the first five days of operation on the alternate frequency, the member assigned, as either North Relay or

South Relay shall shift to 7.268 MHz no less than once every ten minutes and announce the frequency current-

ly used by the Net.

The Scuttlebutt and the club web site shall publish the Alternate Operations Plan and the duration for its activa-

tion.

Duration

At such time as the interference causing activation of this plan has disappeared, or diminished to levels consid-

ered acceptable for net operations, the Net Manager shall declare that the Net return to normal operations on

7.268 MHz.

Notification of the termination of the Alternate Plan shall follow the same sequence as outlined for its activa-

tion: announcement by Net Control, communication to all with operational assignments, reminder on the alter-

nate frequency by North or South Relays, notice from the club Secretary, and notice on the web site and in the

Scuttlebutt.

Waterway Radio and Cruising

Club

Scuttlebutt is published quarterly to inform membership about Waterway Net news, activities and items of interest. Club Officers and Staff: Commodore: Jeff Wingfield KI4JDE Vice Commodore: Ridge Gardner N3JUY Rear Commodore: Glenn Tuttle K9TUT Sec/Treas: Jeanie Schreiber N4WFM Send Roster Updates & Address Changes to: secretary@waterwayradio.net Fleet Capt: Ed Napoleon KC4JKW Safety Officer: Tom Rader K4WJC Scuttlebutt Editor: Art Howard KC0TPG Send articles and pictures to: Editor@waterwayradio.net Exam. Coordinator: Ron Knaggs N1GYX Fleet Surgeon: Jim Hirschman K4TCV Sunshine Fund: Debbie Lerner KD4GRR Requests: sunshine @ waterwayradio.net Weather Coord.: Rich Gardner N3JUY Historian: Ron Knags N1GYX Webmaster: Bill Boyle N4UMS Contributions Please send to: Jeanie Schreiber N4WFM Membership Application may be downloaded from the WRCC web-site: www.waterwayradio.net

Inside This Issue Commodore’s Message ............... 1 Chuck Grey Now a Silent Key ..... 1 WRCC Logo Marked Clothing ..... 3 Comments from the Sick Bay ....... 4 Secretary/Treasures Report ......... 5 APRS and AIS Data .................... 5 Roster Updates......................... 6 Florida Anchoring Restriction ....... 6 Remote Operation. Is it for You? .. 7 Testing Out HF Digital Selective Call-ing on the ICOM M802 .............. 7 Around the Waterways ............... 7 Lee Roy Richardson ................... 9 Sunshine ................................. 9 Luncheon Schedule .................... 9 Notes About Chuck Grey ........... 10 Sea Chest ............................... 10 WRCC Alternate Operations Plan 11

Scuttlebutt Waterway Radio and Cruising Club

27 Cheyenne Ct.

Palm Coast, FL

32137-8966

This winter season of cruising has been in Mexico. We

are currently pampering ourselves at a dock at Marina

Del Sol on Isla Mujeres, an island off the east coast of

Mexico opposite Cuba. We plan to leave here sometime

the first or second week of April for Florida, depending

on weather windows.

The big challenge here is getting Internet access that

works. When I do get Internet it is usually slow. We were gone for a while

and totally away from Internet. My ATTGlobal e-mail inbox filled up. If any-

one sent an e-mail to me and it bounced, you can try again. There is a

change planned in a few months that should alleviate this problem by hav-

ing more storage available to me.

Once again, there is plenty of material for the spring issue of the Scuttle-

butt. A big “thank you” to all that have submitted articles to Scuttlebutt. If

your submission has not been published then it is staged for a future is-

sue. You may send me an e-mail asking if I still have an article staged that

you expected to see published. Please continue to share your news, sto-

ries, and photos, items of interest, comments, and suggestions. Send

them to:

Editor@waterwayradio.net or

alhowar@attglobal.net.

73, Art — KC0TPG

Vol. 28 No. 2, Spring 2015