# HF chatting ...



## Worldspan (Jan 2, 2012)

I never got much opportunity to chat with friends during my short time on Orontes (GBXM). I was normally on the 12 to 4 and the Chief RO (Palmer and on one trip Harrup) had his cabin next to the radio room. I was severely warned about chatting and how US coast stations could DF you; and of the awful consequences if one was caught. But I suppose a lone R/O could do much as he pleased. I’d be interested to hear about people’s experiences. Were fictitious call signs used? Or did one arrange skeds and just pop up on a frequency with a series of Vs? Were people often caught?

W


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## mikeg (Aug 24, 2006)

Used to chat frequently on Shell ship-ship HF schedules. Usually started with an exchange of staff/crew lists and then a short chat - never thought there was any legal consequences involved just as long as the QSO's were conducted responsibly.


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## Mayday (May 26, 2009)

Worldspan said:


> I never got much opportunity to chat with friends during my short time on Orontes (GBXM). I was normally on the 12 to 4 and the Chief RO (Palmer and on one trip Harrup) had his cabin next to the radio room. I was severely warned about chatting and how US coast stations could DF you; and of the awful consequences if one was caught. But I suppose a lone R/O could do much as he pleased. I’d be interested to hear about people’s experiences. Were fictitious call signs used? Or did one arrange skeds and just pop up on a frequency with a series of Vs? Were people often caught?
> 
> W


We used to have a sked in Container Fleets/OCL with a collective call sign on 16 MHz 2nd working frequency every day at 0900z.

Never heard of it being illegal and it was used extensively.

Jmac.


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## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

Company skeds using a collective call sign were commonplace and actively encouraged by Cunardbrock, at least.

Oddly, looking back, they were generally thought to be a bit of a time-waste and not often well worked.


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Worldspan said:


> I was severely warned about chatting and how US coast stations could DF you; and of the awful consequences if one was caught.


Think someone was either a control freak or jerking your wire. Intership working was provided for in all bands, both MF and HF and both on W/T and R/T. Every company that I sailed with had HF schedules for their fleet (even a couple that had only 4 or 5 ships). 

As others have said, we exchanged crew lists and other information of interest to those involved. That is how I found out that the love of my life in Durban (we had 4 days there) was also entertaining the lecky on the City boat following us and the 2/O on the one ahead. Heartbroken I was. (*))


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## NoMoss (Mar 14, 2007)

Union-Castle used company skeds all the time to exchange and passenger info for the port ahead via the Mail ships which had such a regular 'time table'.


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## Worldspan (Jan 2, 2012)

*HF chatting*

Thanks for the replies.

I don't recall any company skeds for Orient Line but can see that such arrangements would have been approved.

But when I was at Norwood Tech College, there was a story that ex-students would get together by calling GNTC on the 8 mhz calling band before moving off elsewhere. I tried this a few times but with no success. Such contacts would have been purely personal, of course, and I guess that was Chief's concern.

W


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

BP and Royal Mail had intership HF skeds. The RML one was always interesting as the pursers were always trying to find out the current Peso/Pound exchange rate. We also had daily skeds with the Falkland Islands as well. I can remember working Port Stanley from the London Docks.
rgds
Graham Powell


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

Niarchos had a company sked at 40 mins past the hour every 4 hours from 0040Z using the 16MHz second working frequency, or, if you had more than two, whichever was higher up the band. It was part of the job to attend, and every so often one would get a request from the office to send in a list with dates/times/callsigns of contacts. Anyone not showing up regularly received a letter asking why.
It was a great way to clear traffic and any R/O whose ship was anchored off Skaramanga shipyard found himself acting as a coast station for the duration.

One could also discuss equipment problems and exchange port information. With 50-60 ships in the fleet it was never quiet.

As a matter of curiosity, though, there was no collective callsign, just: LNR


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## Tony Selman (Mar 8, 2006)

Both companies I worked for had skeds as described above. In (Cunard) Brocklebank they were actively worked and apart from aforementioned crew lists etc they were used a lot to QSP traffic to some of the harder to raise stations. In P & O they were not quite so active but still worked by everything except passenger ships where you were too busy.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Your chief sounds like a real goose...

(LOL)

As others have said, it was done all the time.

I even knew an R/O that used to QSO his pilot mate on the 10 MHz aviation band 12/10 MHz split... and another that used to regularly QSO his wife at home on a 6 MHz odd split channel.....

Hypothetically of course, your honour....


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## holland25 (Nov 21, 2007)

Blue Funnel with as many or more ships had no intership HF scheds.

I am glad to hear that. I was beginning to think I had been remiss in my duties, since I couldnt remember any HF skeds during my time with them.(1957-1960)


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## hawkey01 (Mar 15, 2006)

When I was on a relieving trip on Aureol/GMGJ we had a daily sked with Apapa/MACE - think that was her callsign. I know it was on the night watch. Cannot remember how the H16 hours went but seem to recall being 0000-0600 for the night watch. Someone will have it I am sure.

Hawkey01


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## sparks69 (Dec 18, 2005)

In fact the twice (American FCC and Indian Government) I got a letter of "You have been a naughty sparks" were as a result of long range chatting with a pal on the Loniar skeds.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

A mate of mine got a similar "naughty" letter from the Japs for excessive calling...

He had it framed and mounted in the radio room...


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## Ken Lake (Oct 25, 2008)

Reardon Smith ships actively used their collective callsign (cant remember what it was now) to exchange position info, crew lists etc and in my case there was a map of the world on the ships notice board showing the position of each ship and a crew list for each. At that time they had 14 or 15 ships which traded worldwide.

Ken


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

What, was the chief on watch in port???

Eh?


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

R651400: "...In Sydney I had a visit from a couple of Irish first trip R/O's from either the Orontes or Oronsay and after showing them the radio room I invited them for a beer which they declined because they had signed the temperance pledge!"

Disgraceful, they should have had the "Authority to Operate" removed from their tickets!

John T


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Was it in the days of the Area Scheme? He may have been copying traffic to the ship from the Area Broadcast - sounds like a job for a Junior to me!

John T


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Yep - to use a good old Australian expression - what a wank er!

Those 2 R/O's should have been immediately dismissed....not drinking....the _shame_....

What a happy ship that must have been......!

Not.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Yes, R651400, different times and not all bad ... respect for elders, etc. Signing the Pledge is a bit over the top though, I wonder how long it took before they broke out?

John T.


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## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

Cant remember any H?F skeds with Blue Funnel, too busy counting the ***shaw.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Tai Pan said:


> Cant remember any H?F skeds with Blue Funnel, too busy counting the ***shaw.


...hello, it's starting to come out now!

John T


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## Shannoner (Feb 6, 2008)

R651400 said:


> t.p I think this may have come from radio college and can only leave it to Republic of Ireland former pupil R/Os to pass comment.
> Far cry from the delights of going to sea that was banded about in my alma mater!!


See post #8 in this thread http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?t=21825

That is more or less what we Irish Student R/Os got up to. So I can't believe the two mentioned earlier were Irish! (Pint) (*))


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## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

Funny thing Trot, my grandaughter was rooting through Grans champhor wood chest the other day and came across a piece of silk, enough to make about two dresses, been there 50 odd years now still as good as new. happy days counting cash, silk, pearls, shirts etc.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

A camphorwood chest? That's a "white envelope" on steroids! Nice work.

John T


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## Tony Selman (Mar 8, 2006)

Tai Pan is not treasurer of The Radio Officers Association for nothing you know. Old habits die hard. The camphorwood chest is for the easy to get at at non valuable stuff. The proper ***shaw is in the massive safe in his cellar.


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## brose (Jun 21, 2007)

*HF chatting*

Hi,
One of my promotion's pal was on duty on a cargo ship off US coast. He started chatting with a friend RO on another ship from the same company. Maybe (according to him..) the chat lasted about 2/3 minutes. Back in Antwerp he was called at the SAIT company and got a severe blame because of a report from US coast guard claiming of an illegal procedure... It was in the year 1959
happy New Year to all
Brose (ex RO)


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

R651400 said:


> Sorry don't thinks so.
> Picked up from good old English and an even older Greek expression.
> Malaka!
> Hard to pin down your experience from profile but these guys and the time were I would say par for the course.



_Forbidding_ fellow r/o's from the radio room because he was taking a list?

Come on....

Was he afraid of people watching him?

Pretentious wan ker.

Or probably just another weird sparky in reality....

(*))


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## Worldspan (Jan 2, 2012)

R651400 said:


> This doesn't surprise me one bit.
> In Sydney I had a visit from a couple of Irish first trip R/O's from either the Orontes or Oronsay and after showing them the radio room I invited them for a beer which they declined because they had signed the temperance pledge!
> On visiting their ship I was only allowed to peep through the radio room door as the Chief or the Second were on watch at the time and not to be disturbed.


Well, I’m not Irish! But 4th, then 3rd, on Orontes (GBXM) in 1958 when Orient was still a separate company. The chief, Mr Palmer, (and on one trip Harrup) and the 2nd (Boyce) were old-timers. I’d been told that Palmer was a misery but he was on leave for my first trip. To an 18-year-old, they all seemed ancient but were considerably younger than I am now. (BTW, what was retirement age at Marconi in those days?) 

Boyce had been a chief on one of the NZ liners (Rangi-???) but for some reason this had come to an end. He was quite nostalgic about it. I’m sorry now about my relationship with Mr Boyce, who meant well and wanted to teach me to do things his way. I won’t admit to having been cocky, but must have been something of a know-all. I’d been an enthusiastic SWL for years and was familiar with the way ships worked on both MF and HF. There was once a big bust up about a telegram to Switzerland. His practice was to send anything via DAN for onward relay but I was intrigued by the whole idea of Switzerland having a merchant navy and wanted to work HEZ for a change. He was furious when he saw what I'd done – (could it have upset the accounting system?)

Anyway, they were both very strict about the ‘no chatting rule’. I got caught in the act a couple of times, and was seriously bawled out.

W


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## beedeesea (Feb 28, 2006)

Shannoner said:


> See post #8 in this thread http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?t=21825
> 
> That is more or less what we Irish Student R/Os got up to. So I can't believe the two mentioned earlier were Irish! (Pint) (*))


Non-drinking Irish ROs would have been as rare as rocking-horse s--t!
There was an organisation known as the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, which young Catholics were encouraged to join. They must have had some peculiar selection criteria for Orontes, though, to end up with these two AND an a---hole for a Chief.

Brian


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## Shannoner (Feb 6, 2008)

R651400 said:


> Ref you posting 8 to my thread "Lecturers we once knew" not sure exactly what point you're trying to make?
> Would you believe I didn't know then what signing the pledge was!!
> Now with hindsight methinks a couple of novices on sabbatical from future priesthood!


If you read post #8 in that thread, it is a little anecdote from my college days, the point that I was trying to make was that we Irish student R/Os certainly hadn't taken the pledge (*)) So the two you met were certainly unusual.......and for your info some of the hardest drinkers I know are Priests [=P]


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

SN seems to be having an explosion of honesty- on other threads, Pat with his "cargo brand", Tai Pan and "***shaw", now Shannoner mentions tippling Priests! Elsewhere, "bagging off" has been mentioned several times. Not sure, but I think that refers to shoplifting in the Dai Maru. Luckily for me, none of it happened on any ships I was on. 

John T


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## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

Now Trot, I am disappointed, I always thought "bagging off" was something to do with damaged cargo.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Tai Pan said:


> Now Trot, I am disappointed, I always thought "bagging off" was something to do with damaged cargo.


Well, by all accounts the lift girls in the Dai Maru were "damaged goods" - it was a glamour job in it's time, but they had to put up with a lot of monkey business from the locals. No wonder they were pleased to see innocent Gaijins when the lift doors parted. I still remember their welcoming smiles.

Re the chats on the wireless, I remember having an extended yarn on an Oldendorff ship and blanking out a footy match from the Fatherland - whoops. The German Masters had a very fast morse capability as part of their training and he was able to understand enough to give me a yellow card! Oh well, you never hear anything good if you listen at key holes.

John T


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