Radios On Board

Oriental, NC
N 35 01.491 W 076 41.70

We don't have a TV on board, nor do we miss it. We get to watch a DVD on the computer once in a while, but otherwise no TV is a big part of the life style change when cruising. On the other hand, we have lots of radios for several purposes. Here are the ones we use on Tarwathie in random order.

• VHF fixed radio. The VHF is used for short distance communications, boat to boat or boat to shore. It also receives NOAA weather radio reports. At the 25 watt high power setting, it works for up to 25 miles away. We can hear Coast Guard calls from more than 200 miles away.
  
  
• VHF hand-held radio. This is a small version of the fixed VHF. We use it in the cockpit to talk to nearby boats and to draw bridges. It's maximum transmit range is less than 5 miles. We have to recharge it after 10 hours of use. It also gets NOAA weather.
  
  
• GMRS/FRS walkie talkies. Libby and I use these to talk to each other up to 2 miles away. They are small and light and use AA batteries. Actually, now that Libby has her own cell phone, we probably don't need these radios any more. They also get NOAA weather.
  
  
• The SSB radio. We have and ICOM 710 single sideband radio for long distance communications. With this radio we communicate with people hundreds of miles away. I think the furtherst is about 1, 000 miles. Our main use of the SSB however is for email.
  
  We have a Pactor modem that connects the SSB to the laptop computer. We use the setup with the service called Winlink that is run by HAM radio amateurs all over the world. We send and receive text email; about 4 K bytes of mail per day. I use the SSB to post blogs whenever we do not have WIFI. I also use it to receive weather reports by email. That email weather service is great. I can request reports for any place on Earth, and I can subscribe to a report to be sent automatically every day.
  
  
• We have a pocket size AM/FM clock radio that we use as an alarm clock. Yes, even us salty types find that it is much more pleasant to be woken by a radio program than by a buzzer. No, we don't use it every day, only when we have to get up early.
  
  
• We have a Sirius satellite radio. Sirius Radio is a service that we have to pay $13 per month to get. I love it because we can get news all day every day, no matter where we are. It even works at sea. It even gets NPR. I confess to being a news junkie, and I use the Sirius radio to feed that addiction.
  
  The Sirius does get music also. Actually it has 130 channels of ad-free music. We listen to music once in a while.
  
  Having the Sirius radio eliminates the need to have a AM/FM radio/CD player with big speakers on board. We have a small amplifier/stereo speaker system that uses AA batteries that plugs in to the Sirius. It is the kind of speakers meant to use with an IPOD. We also use those speakers with the laptop computer when watching a movie.
  
  The Sirius radio uses a tiny antenna, about the size of a quarter, that is designed to attach to the roof of a car. We have it taped to a ventilator, and it works fine. Even when Tarwathie is tossed violently by waves at sea, the Sirius radio keeps working 100%.
  
  
• I have an MP3 player. Like an IPOD, but brand X. I use it to listen to podcasts. It also has a FM radio. Since the Sirius re-broadcasts low power FM for your car radio, I use it to broadcast to the MP3 player in my pocket. That way, I can listen to Sirius when up on deck and when standing watch. That's very convenient. In fact, I even have a remote clicker for the Sirius, so that I can change channels while standing at the tiller. What decadence.
  
  
• Many people don't think about it, but a GPS is a radio receiver also. We have a fixed Lowrance GPS/chart plotter. We also have a hand-held Garmin GPS in our ditch kit. We use GPS for navigation.
  
  
• We have an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) that we carry in our ditch kit. Its purpose is to call for help if the boat sinks, and we are adrift at sea in our life raft. The EPIRB is something that we have never used and hopefully never will use. It is just a precaution. Our EPIRB is one of the newer fancy kinds that has a built in GPS. If you dunk it in water, it automatically begins transmitting an emergency signal, complete with our GPS position. That way, rescuers can find us quickly.
  
  
• We have two cell phones on board. Most people forget that they are actually radio transceivers
  
  
• Our 2 laptop computers have bluetooth radio transceivers as do our 2 cell phones. Those we have never used.
  
  
• My wrist watch has a radio receiver that detects time calibration signals from station WWV in Fort Collins Colorado. That way, it adjusts itself to the correct time every day or so.
  
  
• What about our radar, is that a radio? One could argue yes, but I would prefer to say no.
  
  

So, adding up all of the above, I count 19 radios on board Tarwathie that I can think of. That's a lot.

In the near future, I expect that almost all instruments will send their signals via radio rather than by wires. Perhaps bluetooth radio, or some other protocal. I'm thinking of wind speed and direction, depth, speed, radar, engine RPM and temperature, oil pressure and the like. All of those are information processing applications. I could foresee another 50 radio transceivers on board. Some of them may even be medical devices implanted under the skin.

Boat systems will become considerably more complex, but boat wiring may become considerably simplified by use of wireless signals. Complexity makes things unreliable. Wiring in a marine environment is also a constant source of trouble. Therefore, the net change in reliability could be a toss up if it were not for lightning. A lightning strike on the boat would probably fry all wireless electronic devices on board in an instant. Therefore, I predict that inland day sailors will love wireless boats. They'll do more things for much less money and less hassle. But offshore cruisers will stick with the old-fashioned technology because they can't afford to lose everything in the blink of an eye.