Why no voice capability for high seas emergency/distress situations?

[svmobert]

Upgrading the Go firmware can help as well...

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

About the Iridium Go: look at it’s miniature antenna and compare to an Iridium handset. Big difference and the reason for marginal voice service.

Imo you must install it with the marine kit and you get an external antenna better than the handsets and voice service is great. I have not had any dropped calls and much less delay than my Inmarsat Mini-M had.

Just the PredictWind is worth it. I ordered everything incl. service through them.

[svmobert]

As you say, each has it's own advantages.. In a straight up Distress situation the SSB gets you directly in contact with vessels that can come help you (who may be hundreds of miles away and out of VHF range) without an intermediary on land trying to figure out where you are and who might be near by. The SSB sends a distress code and position to every vessel in range, immediately.

As far as liferaft comms, I personally prefer an Iridium 9575 which has the SOS/GPS function of a Go! but works by itself and doesn't need a functioning smartphone to make a call. But really, every attempt should be made to NOT get in a liferaft anyway. Relying on push-and-pray tech like PLB/EPIRB and even InReach to some degree should be LAST resort after every other option has failed.

Originally Posted by noelex 77

With the external antenna the voice calls are reasonably legible.

The advantage of IridiumGo over SSB is that you can directly ring anyone without involving a third party. For example, you can call your own doctor or an equipment manufacturer for help. Unlike SSB an internal battery renders it independent of the boat’s electrical system that may be disabled by emergencies such as flooding or fire. You can even take it into the life-raft (although here you will be dependent on the built in antenna).

SSB has its own advantages, but I think to classify the voice capabilities of the IridiumGo as unusable in an emergency is incorrect.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Adelie

The comparison to shoreside service is misleading. There are no phone lines or cell service beyond the horizon of the shore.



When you are at sea the nearest folks that can help you are usually other mariners not emergency services like ashore.



I see your point that direct contact with an emergency coordinator will likely result in the fastest resolution, but that doesn't mean that it will always be the fastest or best resolution. Having SSB to make a plea for help can't hurt the situation and may help. There's no reason to say it is worthless or improper.

I don’t intend to debate this endlessly.

The imo nations signed up to gmdss to bring coordinated sea rescue to every sea sea. It makes no sense to trump in about the old solas “ shout at everyone “ solas rescue convention . . When nation states have established Mrcc is all practical sea areas.

Again you need equipment to reach the shore that’s threshold point

After that the professionals take over

Hence direct point to point that’s reliable , easy to use in an emergency is the most superior method for emergencies.

Use the Mrcc facilities they are paid forby the tax payer to help you.

[s/v Jedi]

About using a satellite phone to call a rescue center: there is another advantage that wasn’t discussed yet: you can call the rescue center for your home country, even when you are far away from their coverage area. This allows you to communicate in your own language, making it much easier to understand each other over difficult connections. They will coordinate with rescue centers in your actual area.

We did this in the aftermath of hurricane Ivan in Grenada and it worked very good. We also talked to the Inmarsat operator (we had mini-M at the time) and they were very helpful, giving us 2 weeks free calling. Over 300 boats used our phone to call family to let them know they were alive and well (all shore based services were down).

[Wotname]

FWIW, Marine HF for voice distress working is alive and well in Australia.

YMMV.

From https://mast.tas.gov.au/safe-boating...s-in-tasmania/
The entire network of Coast Radio Stations around Australia continuously monitor the distress frequencies 4125, 6215 and 8291 kHz. Since the areas of coverage of coast radio stations overlap, it is possible that a distress or urgency call will be heard by several Coast Radio Stations. Your call would be handled by the closest station with the best radio reception.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Wotname

FWIW, Marine HF for voice distress working is alive and well in Australia.



YMMV.



From https://mast.tas.gov.au/safe-boating...s-in-tasmania/

The entire network of Coast Radio Stations around Australia continuously monitor the distress frequencies 4125, 6215 and 8291 kHz. Since the areas of coverage of coast radio stations overlap, it is possible that a distress or urgency call will be heard by several Coast Radio Stations. Your call would be handled by the closest station with the best radio reception.

Australia is rather unique in that regard but non of this beats being able to communicate directly with the relevant Mrcc centre.

[argonauta1]

HF SSB remains the only "party line" communication system available. Hence without it there could be no Nets. To cruise in splendid isolation stick with Sat systems. To be part of the yacht community the SSB is essential. The fully equipped vessel needs both + VHF of course

[sck5]

I have a solution! I wanted redundancy in safety systemsand so had SSB, satphone and sat text. I know it costs more to do this but in the grand scheme of getting a boat ready for an ocean passage, it wasnt the most expensive thing at all (at least with a 20 yr old boat it wasnt)

[Bluechart]

I’ve used the ICOM M802 SSB for many years with good reliability. I’ve found it generally easy to contact the Maritime Mobile Service Network 14.300 MHz to “check in” while traveling to/from the US/Mexico west coast and Hawaii. Some conversations have taken longer than others, but they have always received my position/destination/boat name/call sign etc. I’m convinced that in an emergency they could get help to us.
(Use a KISS counterpoise)

SSB Weather info has been more difficult because of propagation and
Downloading files more than once a day via SailMail (limits).

A year ago we got the Iridium GO! That has enabled the downloading of weather at anytime and as many times and formats as I need.

And we’ve used voice with the I GO! To talk to family and friends. Any number in my phone (IPhone) can be used, and of course I have Emergency USCG as well as many other emergency numbers, just in case. This voice service is reliable, yes a few times we had to call back to reconnect, but it works.

And yes, we encountered those boats who could not obtain weather info or communicate with anyone! (No phone, no email, no weather when out of cell range.)

several times folks requested weather info, some ignored the analysis they requested,,,,,
And chose to wait when weather looked good, and went out into bad weather forecast,,,,

Everyone does it their own way.

Personally, I like to know, I can communicate with others.
(It’s also super helpful to call and text and email harbors in US/Mexico for slip assignments!)

[betwys1]

Originally Posted by sck5

I have a solution! I wanted redundancy in safety systemsand so had SSB, satphone and sat text. I know it costs more to do this but in the grand scheme of getting a boat ready for an ocean passage, it wasnt the most expensive thing at all (at least with a 20 yr old boat it wasnt)

Here's a glimpse at how the Other Half lives, marine safety-wise:

https://www.inmarsat.com/en/solution...ns/safety.html

...some possibly usful pointers to other maritime services too.

[Amapola]

By all means, if SSB gives you more comfort, get one. A lightning strike fried our SSB which we very rarely used. We replaced it with an inReach which we use all of the time.

[Happ]

There are many systems available and each fills a need. Which need is really up to you. I have seen my needs changed. Today I wouldn’t go offshore without a Sat Phone. It would be onboard in case of an emergency. Other than that I would use one of the portable units so friends can track where I’ve been. It also serves for getting weather, emailing and texting.

My recommendation is imagine yourself on your boat and ask yourself what are your requirements or needs and then find the solution.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by Jammer

A finding from this poll is that many boats lack long-distance voice communications suitable for use in an emergency.

Of the poll respondents who make passages out of VHF/cellular range from shore, about half have HF-SSB (with some of these having satellite data capability of some kind in addition). The other half use various satellite services that either do not have a voice component at all (InReach etc) or that have a voice component that is not usable in an emergency (Iridium Go!, Starlink).

Help me understand the thinking. Are the myriad posters saying "HF is dead, use satellite" really depending on InReach? Are people working though medical emergencies or complex boat repairs via text message? Does everyone have a designated sailing buddy ashore to serve as their text-to-telephone intermediary? Are all the Inmarsat and Iridium satphone users out sailing rather than participating in the poll? Are passage makers depending on buddy boats or rallies to provide another level of communications support? Is this is indicative of a luddite return to 19th century sailing solitude?

I am trying to get my head around the idea that InReach is a sufficient replacement for HF-SSB and I just can't. Give me some therapy.

Not all offshore passage danger possibilities are equal. Sailing offshore on a passage begins with your individual voyage risk assessment and how you plan to handle it. Only the rich can outfit their vessel with stores, equipment, and crew to handle every possible situation...even then s*** happens.

You place a high bar on communication that can ONLY be satisfied by verbal communication with civilization. In my journeys I have outfitted for possible happenings that never came to pass for one reason or another and others that did...there is nothing wrong with good thorough planning and accepting some level of risk. If you must have it then get it and move on.

[jalmberg]

We crossed the Atlantic this summer, west to east, with an Iridium Go (and a spare), and an SSB. We used the SSB to check into nets for the first week or so, but then were basically out of range.

We were sailing with a buddy boat who was usually within a hundred miles. We had zero luck with our planned SSB chats and ended up depending on the Go for texting.

Weather was all by the Go, though I was ready to download synoptic charts by SSB if I had to.

In an abandon ship situation, we would have taken the Go (always fully charged) and an iPhone in a waterproof case. This would have allows us to raise the alarm and get SAR working. Thé Go itself has a Help button that is a backup for the EPIRB. Our children had our float plan, and the Go helped create a tracking page on our blog that would have pin pointed our last known location to SAR.

There’s no practical way to bring an SSB into a life raft.

We also had an EPIRB and a good handheld VHF with built in AIS. I hoped this would allow us to spot and call passing ships, and to communicate with SAR.

I’m an ‘all of the above’ guy when it comes to safety equipment.

[s/v Jedi]

I’m thinking that those who praise the SSB forgot about the propagation tables, having to wait for half a day for the band to open up etc.