E-43
West Marine VHF255 Radio Owner’s Manual
Regulations and Safety Warnings
Maritime Radio Services Operation
Warning!
This transmitter will operate on channels/frequencies that have
restricted use in the United States. The channel assignments include
frequencies assigned for exclusive use of the U.S. Coast Guard, use in
Canada, and use in international waters. Operation on these frequencies
without proper authorization is strictly forbidden. See pages E-34 through
E-31 for tables of the available channels and their uses. If you are still
not certain which channels to use, see the FCC maritime radio page at
the FCC website (
http://wireless.fcc.gov/marine/
) or contact the FCC
Call Center at 1-888-CALL-FCC. For individuals requiring a license, such
as commercial users, you should obtain a license application from your
nearest FCC field office (for US users) or Industry Canada (for Canadian
users).
Basic Radio Guidelines
You should familiarize yourself with the rules on marine radios and be
aware of which rules apply to your boat. Complete guidelines for all ship
and marine radio types can be found at the US Coast Guard website
under the topic Radio Info for Boaters (the direct link is
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/boater.htm
). Here are a few
guidelines that affect nearly all boaters.
•
If you have a VHF radio on your boat, you must maintain a watch on
channel 16 (156.800 MHz) whenever the radio is not being used to
communicate. Starting in 2004, if a radio is carried, it must be on and
set to channel 16 whenever your boat is underway.
•
If you hear a distress call, wait a few minutes to let a shore station or
Coast Guard vessel respond. If no other station has responded after 5
minutes, you must respond to the distress call.
WARNING! Read this information
before using the radio.
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