The ten commandments
The complete text of the Radio Regulations fills four substantial books. Even the reduced version, edited down to leave only the bits that refer to marine radio, is an A4 book about 2cm thick. The most important rules, however, can be reduced to ten commandments:-
Do not transmit without the authority of the master of the vessel.
Do not transmit false or deceptive distress or safety signals.
Do not transmit without identification (callsign or vessel name).
Do not shut down a radio telephone before finishing all operations resulting from a distress, urgency, or safety call.
Do not broadcast, other than distress messages.
Do not transmit music.
Do not make unnecessary transmissions.
Do not transmit profane, indecent or obscene language.
Do not use unauthorized frequencies.
Do not transmit messages intended to be received ashore, other than by a licensed coast radio station.
Most of these are pretty self-explanatory, except, perhaps for “Do not broadcast” and “Do not make unnecessary transmissions”. Almost by definition, everyone else’s radio messages always seem to be unnecessary chatter, compared with your own!
“Broadcasting” means transmitting a message without specifying who it is intended for and without expecting a reply.
A simple rule of thumb test of whether a message is “necessary” is “does this message relate to the ship’s business?”
So two fishermen discussing the day’s catch would be OK; a discussion of the results of last night’s football match would not.
A group of divers discussing the nearest source of diving air would be acceptable; discussing the difficulties of towing a RIB around the M25 would not.
Yachtsmen are often accused of cluttering the airwaves with chit chat. A conversation which starts with a discussion agreeing to rendezvous with a friend in a particular harbour can easily slide through a comparison of local pubs to a discussion of their menus or reminiscences of what happened last time they met.
Arranging a rendezvous is obviously an acceptable use of the radio, but reminiscing about an evening ashore, equally clearly, is not.
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