Canal Boat Radio

[Mitch - Soma]

Hi Guy's, This honestly is not spam or a business ad. I am willing to assist anyone who would like to get involved. I have been thinking about a radio system for canal boats for quite a while and have come up with this so far. Please comment, much appreciated. The radio's would retail - from anyone - at under £200.00 for the Class C, down to around £50.00 for the Class A.

 

Mitchcom Canal Boat Radio

Thank you for purchasing a Mitchcom Canal Boat radio. This is the only cost involved, there are no license fee’s, no call charges or any ongoing costs. No Certificate is required to operate the radio. Just use and enjoy. These are standard E.U./American frequency Citizens Band units which have been fitted with a DTMF microphone and decoder module. They can communicate with any other C.B. radio operating on the now legal and license free E.U. frequencies on F.M. only for use in the U.K.

 

PLEASE NOTE THAT CANAL BOAT RADIO IS STANDARDISED ON THE NEW FREQUENCIES – NOT THE ORIGINAL , OR OLD, U.K. CITIZENS BAND. U.K. ONLY C. B. RADIOS ARE NOT SUITABLE.

 

Your Mitchcom C.B. comes shipped with only the 40 E.U. channels operational, but it is possible for you to change the settings to allow both sets of channels – please see your instruction book on how to change the settings.

 

Your Canal Boat decoder unit needs to be programmed with a six digit number. In order to facilitate direct calls to specific groups of users, the first digit should always be as per the table below. The remaining five digits are your choice – unless you are part of a moorings or club etc, we recommend using the last 5 digits of your phone number. To set your number, press and hold the MUTE button while switching the radio on. You can now enter your 6 digit number from your microphone keypad. Press the MUTE button again to exit programming mode.

 

Unlike V.H.F. Marine, or other licensed frequencies, the Citizens Band of 40 channels is virtually unrestricted, it can be used for almost any purposes, general chat, business – on land or water, anywhere in the country. This is one of the reasons C.B. was chosen for Canal Boat radio. This means that anyone, marina’s, boat yards, fast food take-away’s, pubs and restaurants can all be accessed from your radio, if they are equipped with the system. The range of your radio will vary with terrain and aerial conditions, but 3 to 5 miles should be the norm. Since your Mitchcom Canal Boat radio has Group Calling facilities, the following table was devised so that you could “search” for a specific requirement by dialling the first digit followed by five *’s, to see if there are any radio’s within your range. E.G. You stop at a visitor moorings on a waterway you haven’t visited before and fancy a Pizza delivery – simply dial 3***** and if you get a response, you will have got hold of a take-away shop who delivers to that visitor moorings. If you know your favourite shops full 6 digit number, you can dial them directly.

 

First Digit Group/Business type

 

0 All Private and self steer Hire Boats

1 All fuel suppliers – “coal boats” and land based diesel, gas, coal, wood etc suppliers.

2 All breakdown services – RCR/travelling mechanics/boatyards offering breakdown assistance

3 All fast food delivery vendors

4 Canal side Pubs and Restaurants

5 Commercial passenger and commercial barges

6 All chandleries and general boatyard/marina services.

7 Not currently used

8 All Waterways Associations – NABO/IWA/RBOA etc.

9 Waterway Authorities – B.W./Broads Authority/Environment Agency/ local emergency etc.

 

 

Channel 9 EMERGENCY

 

Channel 9 is the only channel designated by law for exclusive use for emergencies. It is not to be used for any other communications. Channel 9 could well be monitored by local emergency/police/ambulance/fire services. Should you have an emergency, simply dial * loads of times in quick succession – more than six times – and you will alert every radio within range. We suggest that you do this first on the call channel 19. If you get a reply from someone, immediately ask them to switch to channel 9 and communicate your emergency. This will alert any one else who may be monitoring channel 9 to the fact that an emergency is in progress.

 

Channel 19 – Calling

Channel 19 is the designated Calling frequency. All users will stand by on Ch. 19 whilst idle. Once contact is established on Ch. 19, you would agree to switch to any one of the remaining 38 channels to conduct your conversation. We recommend that whilst cruising, you leave your radio on UN-MUTE ,or open, in order to hear communications directly from other craft. It is also suggested that you give a general call on channel 19 when entering tunnels etc to alert other craft. Short conversations on Ch. 19 are also recommended, such as when two craft arrive at a narrow bridge hole simultaneously. A quick call to ascertain who will go through first would be held on Ch. 19 – it’s not necessary to switch channels for such short communications. Likewise for general calls to all boats – E.G. obstructions in the water. Just do a general call on Ch. 19. The local waterway authority would also broadcast general information to all craft on the calling channel.

 

Using a “Class C” radio.

 

A Class C radio has full selective calling facilities. It has a decoder board fitted which gives it it’s own, unique, six digit “phone number”. It also has a key-pad microphone which is used to “dial” other Class C radio’s. By UN-MUTING the unit, a Class C radio operates as a standard Class A unit, or ordinary C.B.

 

One would leave the unit in open mode when cruising, so that you hear all radio traffic, but when moored, the unit can be MUTED, which means it will remain silent until called directly by someone dialling the full 6 digit number, or if it receives a GROUP CALL – I.E. it falls within the range of numbers someone-dials as a group.

 

 

 

 

 

Using Group Call

 

The “*” ,or star, key is used as a “wild card” – I.E. it represents all numbers from 0 to 9. The first digit of your 6 digit number is as per the table above, but the remaining 5 digits can be used as you please. Let’s say you are part of a marina club, as an individual boat owner, and there are 300 craft in the marina. Your marina may well designate the second and third digits of the six digit number and then the last three for the boats in the “club”. For example, you are a private owner, so your first digit would be “0” – the marina may allocate the next two digits as 4 and 6, and perhaps you are in berth number 184, so your last digits would be 184. Your personal number would be 046184. Using Group Call, your marina office could call all the boats in their marina simultaneously by dialling 046***. This would alert only the boats in that particular marina, but would not call anyone else. If they wished to pass a message only to boats in berths 106 to 196, they would dial 0461*6. Your marina’s office would be 646000, since all marina offices have 6 designated as the first digit.

 

DIALLING SIX OR MORE “*”’s IN A ROW IS AN EMERGENCY CALL, AND WILL ALERT ALL RADIO’S WITHIN YOUR RANGE OF 5 MILES OR MORE!!!

The most one would normally use is a first digit followed by five “*”’s to look for a specific requirement – e.g. coal or fuel services, or a pub serving food which is within range.

 

If you are a private craft with no affiliation to a club or group, we recommend you use 0 followed by the last 5 digits of your phone number as your personal radio number.

 

Class B radio’s

 

Class B radio’s are equipped with a key-pad microphone, but no selective calling decoder unit. This means you have no personal number and have to listen out on open channel in order to receive messages or be contacted. You are able to “dial” Class C radio’s using the microphone key-pad and are able to voice call Class A radio’s.

 

Class A radio’s

 

Class A radio’s are straight forward C.B.’s. They are able to communicate with all radio classes, provided the Class C radio’s are in the UNMUTED, or open, condition. Class A radio’s are not able to “dial” Class C radio’s. They are voice radio’s only. Class A radio’s are useful as a “second” unit – accessible from the steering position. One would have a Class C unit installed in the saloon, and a Class A, or B unit, such as for a Narrow Boat, installed out back for use when cruising. Having two radio’s could also provide an intercom type facility between the steerer and crew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boatyards/Chandleries/all retailers

Mitchcom has no patents, franchises or rights over these units. In fact, Mitchcom is more than willing to assist you by providing details of the various wholesalers for radio’s, DTMF microphones and DTMF decoder units. Mitchcom will also provide instructions and schematics on how to install the decoder modules and wire up the microphones if you wish to do this yourself. Mitchcom is also prepared to sell resellers complete units for off-the-shelf retail. Mitchcom’s primary aim is get the system as widely adopted as possible in the shortest time frame.

 

Please contact Mitch Smith on 07961 – 812 167 or e-mail: soma.home@i12.com for more information.

[luctor et emergo]

There is a reason why truckers have given up on the CB in general. It's called the mobile phone.

 

[soldthehouse]

There is a reason why truckers have given up on the CB in general. It's called the mobile phone.

 

10 10 good buddy..

[Mitch - Soma]

Yeah, I know - but I have often handed my mobile phone to a crew member and asked him to just call the boat behind us to warn him of the steel rod, or some obstruction in the water - they just look at me as if I am quite mad

 

Oh, nor have I ever had the local B.W. office phone me - let alone every boat within a 3 mile radius - to tell us the pump-out is broke and they will phone us again when it's repaired. Now a single general call on a radio..............

[Graham Davis]

1/ Can you please provide the Govt designation for Channel 9 being the Emergency Channel only? I can't find it anywhere. Plus I know of NO Emergency Services who monitor CB Channels in the UK, and I am involved with them!

 

2/ Is "Group Call" legal in the UK?

 

3/ Since when has Channel 19 been the designated calling channel? It isn't in the areas that I use CB.

[fuzzyduck]

Hey, I'm in.

 

can you just nip round and connect my antenna.... I think CB on boats would be a ripping weeze.

 

I'm not down on the idea, it just seems to be a bit regimented for CB.... That and I really must find a good Rig Dr to connect my Antenna,

Edited March 2, 2010 by fuzzyduck

[Mitch - Soma]

1/ Can you please provide the Govt designation for Channel 9 being the Emergency Channel only? I can't find it anywhere. Plus I know of NO Emergency Services who monitor CB Channels in the UK, and I am involved with them!

 

2/ Is "Group Call" legal in the UK?

 

3/ Since when has Channel 19 been the designated calling channel? It isn't in the areas that I use CB.

 

Hi,

 

1/ Dunno if it is officially designated in the U.K., just presumption on my part, hang over from the "old days", but most radio's you can buy today have a Ch 9/19 instant switch on them.

 

2/ As far as I could find out, selective calling - as long as it's based on an analogue transmission, not digital, is legal for use on C.B. No specific mention of Group Call though.

 

3/ Since nobody uses C.B. anymore, there's not much point in emergency services monitoring channel 9, but if there were enough users to warrant it, why not?

 

Will remove the "legal" part of Ch.9 from the paperwork - thanks for pointing it out.

 

Hey, I'm in.

 

can you just nip round and connect my antenna.... I think CB on boats would be a ripping weeze.

 

I'm not down on the idea, it just seems to be a bit regimented for CB.... That and I really must find a good Rig Dr to connect my Antenna,

 

Hey Fuzzy, yeah I can do your aerial - in fact I have all the gear including a Marconi 2945 Comm's Monitor! I am on the Paddington Arm, central London though.

 

It's not s'posed to be "regimented". Hell there are 40 EU and 40 U.K. channels to have a laugh on, but if you are not predisposed to that, you can just hit the mute button.

[luctor et emergo]

the problems is that the CB heavily relies on two features. 1. A quality arial, with good ground. I don't think the traditionalists will appreciate an 11 meter whip on the roof 2. A pretty clear line of sight. Not to bad when you are hammering down the motorway in a convoy, but pretty useless otherwise. A standard rig would typically only cover a few miles, unless you start plugging in boosters.

 

 

 

snip

 

It's not s'posed to be "regimented". Hell there are 40 EU and 40 U.K. channels to have a laugh on, but if you are not predisposed to that, you can just hit the mute button.

 

 

Last time I had my ears on, I was mainly 'entertained' by a load of dole srcroungers who have nothing better to do than insult each other, and passing truckers, all day. There used to be a few good people out there, giving directions to drivers, but on the whole it is only usefull if you are working in close proximety. That is why they are still used by farmers, and tipper drivers.

 

good luck, but I won't rush to get my old rig out of the cupboard.. yet...

 

catch you on the flip-flop, 10-10

[Dalesman]

So what is wrong with a marine VHF radio..? More use on a canal boat than any CB type radio, and at 25 watts has far more range...

[Graham Davis]

So what is wrong with a marine VHF radio..? More use on a canal boat than any CB type radio, and at 25 watts has far more range...

 

Because it is MARINE radio, not Inland Waterways Radio.

 

For that matter, why not go to 2m Amateur. The licence isn't difficult to get and the range through repeaters is immense.

[Mitch - Soma]

Because it is MARINE radio, not Inland Waterways Radio.

 

For that matter, why not go to 2m Amateur. The licence isn't difficult to get and the range through repeaters is immense.

 

Just noticed the 4x4 business on your posts - don't off-roaders use C.B.? Couldn't they use the sel-call stuff? Just a thought........

[PhilR]

Mitchcom Canal Boat Radio

Thank you for purchasing a Mitchcom Canal Boat radio.

 

Sorry, I didn't know I had bought one. Has some kind person sent me a present?

What is the delivery time?

[Dalesman]

Because it is MARINE radio, not Inland Waterways Radio.

 

For that matter, why not go to 2m Amateur. The licence isn't difficult to get and the range through repeaters is immense.

As used by BW on all their rivers are they not inland waterways then. Is the Thames not an inland waterway too..?

Edited March 2, 2010 by Dalesman

[luctor et emergo]

Is there an optional depth sounder?

[alan_fincher]

Hi,

 

1/ Dunno if it is officially designated in the U.K., just presumption on my part, hang over from the "old days", but most radio's you can buy today have a Ch 9/19 instant switch on them.

 

Don't know about modern day CB, but I was there legally licensed on the UK FM channels when we first decided to adopt a system different from the rest of the world, (sound familiar? ).

 

My memory may be hazy, but it was always "one four four a copy" then - when did it become "one nine".

 

If it works as well on boats as it did in cars, I can see it useful for friends travelling in convoy in the same direction, but probably not a lot else.

 

If you are not in an area where you can dial 999, (or equivalent) on your mobile, I'd have thought the likelihood of a sensible response on CB channel 9 was minuscule.

 

Truth is none of

 

CB

PMR 446

Licensed amateur

Marine

 

are really suitable for canal use, are they ?

 

The need to pay for training and qualification for the last two, means that they will only be taken up by radio enthusiasts or those needing to visit tidal rules.

 

CB and PMR have some uses, but only with people you know I think.

 

I must admit the thought of being in a queue of boats monitoring a frequency whilst Dave Mayall is at the back directing operation, and reading chapter and verse on BW bye-laws being transgressed rather fills me with horror!

 

Alan/"Labrador"/G0BVX.

[fuzzyduck]

Personally I think CB radio on inland waterways boats is a good idea with few drawbacks, especially as it's died back elsewhere.

[NB Willawaw]

Its a well thought out idea, Mitch, but will it be popular ??

 

Generally speaking, if there is an integral general benefit at the right price, it will gain in popularity.

 

Radio on canal boats has been "floated" many times, but it never really takes hold.

 

Some boats (like us) have marine VHF, some radio amateurs have their rigs on their boats and some use PMR446 for locking, etc, but

it never really gels somehow.

 

There will always be those who like playiing with radio's and if I recall correctly, the original CB craze in the UK in the mid seventies was largely

created by the film "Convoy", the new ability to have a mobile radio in your car and all the CB slang that went with it.

 

Mind you, that was before the internet, soclal networking and mobile phones. The world has since moved on.

 

Having given it some thought, I personally just don't think there is enough benefit for it to become widespread and established - sorry..

[luctor et emergo]

I remember that ch14 used to be the calling channel, at least in the Netherlands in the Eighties. ch19 has always been a truck channel, until the local yokels started to use it to insult each other. Regardless of the fact that it was to be a calling channel, or a trucker channel, go to any biigish city, and ch19 will be clogged by ctwats using massive boosters to drown out the others (my booster is bigger than yours etc etc), hurling insults at each other. Sometimes it was actually quite good entertainment, I fondly recall driving down the M5 through Brum....

 

Come to think of it, many of those who used to befoul the airwaves may have moved on to the (local authority provided..) internet, wheree they can reach a far greater audience... :lol:

[Dyad]

Personally I think CB radio on inland waterways boats is a good idea with few drawbacks, especially as it's died back elsewhere.

 

 

CB is less restrictive than PMR, you can have homebase, mobile and hand held units and push more power out too.

 

It used to be really good 20 odd years ago, local people chatting with a few others listening in on the side, I met alot of nice people that way, some people had a CB instead of a house phone no pay as you go mobiles then.

My CB is set up in my van right now, I listen to the 19 for traffic info and some good conversation now and again, there are still a number of descent folk on there. Generally though, the language is appalling, especially in the evening, I think it must be an unwritten rule that every sentence has the F word in it somewhere.

 

I have seen a couple of boats with CBs, I can see the advantage of local comms, phones are good but are a different mode of communication really.

In my opinion anyway I think it is quite "boaty" to have a radio and canal boats don't need marine so why not CB.

 

 

Edited to say: I didn't really understand the Original Post but I'm pro CB and all things radio if you hadn't guessed.

Edited March 2, 2010 by Dyad

[fuzzyduck]

I just need my antenna connected up.

 

The boat has a radio in it, and I bought a Sirus 27 marine CB antenna to go on the boat. I also have a Midland Alan 42 Multi handheld. I just don't have the stones to connect it up.

 

it's largely for fun, but i can see serious aspects too.

[Guest wanted]

When I was a kid, me and my brother used to have a rig in our bedroom, talking to old people soon became boring so we decided to have some fun, we spent an evening sending taxi drivers all over the shop! all a good blast until all of these taxi's turned up outside our house! must of been the 15 ft 'thunder pole' tripod that my dad fixed to the side of the house that gave it away!

 

Incidently, when the Taxi drivers realsied we were just kids they left after giving us the standard bollocking. (Phew!)

 

Dad on the other hand......

[fuzzyduck]

There's a shoe shop near me that uses PMR 446 .....

 

ahem ahem.

[Keeping Up]

One of the most convenient uses of radio on the boat, is to communicate between the base station on the boat and a walkie-talkie which is being held by a crew member who is working the locks. I changed from CB to PMR at the first opportunity because a hand-held CB radio, with its cumbersome antenna, is thoroughly inconvenient.

 

As well as having PMR there is also a VHF installation which is just as ideally suited to inland waterways as it is to marine use. I couldn't see any reason why I would want to add yet another radio (and turn the roof into something resembling a porcupine)

[Nickhlx]

I remember that ch14 used to be the calling channel, at least in the Netherlands in the Eighties. ch19 has always been a truck channel, until the local yokels started to use it to insult each other. Regardless of the fact that it was to be a calling channel, or a trucker channel, go to any biigish city, and ch19 will be clogged by ctwats using massive boosters to drown out the others (my booster is bigger than yours etc etc), hurling insults at each other. Sometimes it was actually quite good entertainment, I fondly recall driving down the M5 through Brum....

 

Come to think of it, many of those who used to befoul the airwaves may have moved on to the (local authority provided..) internet, wheree they can reach a far greater audience...

 

 

I think CH 14 used to be the old A.M. system calling channel ....

 

Whatever, the odd listen I have had seems the 27MHz band is pretty much deserted. I think, quite honestly, that Mitch's coding system is too complicated and elaborate for most to remember "what the number/code for X was" ... and in an emergency a call out on the "calling" channel would achieve the object, although most would probably dial 999 if they had the option. I think the big handicap of the 27 Mhz band is the wavelength, needing an 8 foot whip as the first resonant-sized aerial - of course you can have shorter ones right down to a stubby "Rubber duck" at about 15" long, but what range would you get ? - No more than a far more convenient and probably now more common PMR 446 radio... which Lidl regularly sell a pair for at £19-99, and excellent they are too !

 

- Amateur radio exists, but a non-starter for most because of the ( actually now simple) necessary training and licensing ( all free though)

- Marine Band - excellent service, relatively expensive, requires training / license

 

- which leaves the PMR 446 system.....

 

I still think 446 is the simple, cheap and effective way to go for boaters - it has sufficient range ( at least 1Km reliably unless very poor terrain) and occasionally up to 3 to 5 Km as claimed, and monitoring Chan 8 Code 0, as most sets default to Chan 1 on switch-on, which is what the kids tend to use.

 

If this was adopted e.g. at locks, tunnels etc, I am sure it would on some occasions help people out, and used generally for a bit of friendly banter otherwise.... At £20 for a pair its a small investment to try for a season if you are remotely interested in what its all about, and could also be of use at home / life away from the canals... Some I can see are "mic-shy" but its no different to a phone really.

 

With the short range I would be surprised if much (if any) abuse were to be encountered, and if so, the best way to kill it, is to never reply...

 

So - Anyone up for trying it this season ?

 

Just leave set switched on to Ch 8 Code 0 if you are !

(but do put the occasional call out to let me know I am not the only one listening

:lol: !!)

 

Nick

Edited March 3, 2010 by Nickhlx

[luctor et emergo]

There's a shoe shop near me that uses PMR 446 .....

 

ahem ahem.

 

 

Excellent, just what the OP was alluding to... next time I pass, I will call him on the radio, to arrange for my shoes to be risoled

...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

coat