# Transmitting in port



## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

I know the rules said you were not supposed to, but how many of you tx'ed in port?

I used to do it all the time on the Aussie coast. If there was traffic for me on the VIS list, I would call him and take it.

Of course we we not supposed to, but as far as I was concerned, if there was traffic for us, I wanted it ASAP. 99.9% of Captains backed me as well.

I never did it overseas, apart from one time I used the main tx alongside in Japan to QSO a QANTAS aircraft on SSB on 10 MHz (the ship had a Kelvin Hughes _Zeeland _main tx that covered from 2-30 MHz ....very good on the 14 MHz ham band as well...). 

We had all been ashore with the crew and hosties from the aircraft, and I must have arranged a sked for the next day...that was about the only thing I remember from the night ashore....freq and time scribbled on a crumpled piece of paper in my pocket....B\)

Never heard a thing about it....myself and the 2nd mate chatted with the pilots and hosties for about 30 mins....(Thumb).


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## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

On a tanker discharging at Lavera and Naples, we were about to QTP Lavera, when a qtc appeared at GKA. Better not use the radio Sparks said the OM, tankers etc.... On QTO it was orders for a full discharge at Lavera, so a quick u-turn was in order. I could never quite fathom why the agent didn't know ?

David
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## gwzm (Nov 7, 2005)

In 1963 was on board Brocklebank's SS Makrana tied up alongside in Aquaba when we got a request from a port official to send traffic to a ship that was due about 24 hours later. Apparently the local coast station JYO was "out of order" for some reason and the Master OK'd it. 
There was a sting in the tail though. The jumbo derrick had been rigged and was touching the main aerial. Apparently the dried on salt spray on the jumbo derrick was arcing and sparking as I keyed the main TX. The dockers thought we were trying to electrocute them.
gwzm


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

After transmitting, some messages from Isafjord in northwest Iceland, I was visited by a very large policeman who told me in no uncertain terms to desist. I heard later that all the communications in the area were conducted by radio and I suppose I was disrupting them.

A couple of days later, the same policeman returned one of the deckhands who'd been in the lock up. The deckie looked to be in fairly poor shape and the cop picking him up with one hand and dropping him onto the deck - about a five foot fall - didn't help.. He sure was an angry Viking - glad I did what he told me.
Something tells me he wouldn't have bothered with a report to Geneva!

John T.


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## Baulkham Hills (Jul 11, 2008)

It was common practise on some runs to transmit in port. In the early 80's I was on a ship trading down the coast of West Africa from Monrovia to Matadi in the congo river. The transmitter was used regularly because shore communications was so poor, in Matadi there was no shore side communications and even the agents messages to the owners were sent via the ship. In reality I was far busier working the key via Ost (Ostende) in Matadi than when I was at sea. Lots of obstructions (derricks etc) which made contact difficult in port as well as the usual static. I know of one event where the Master received a change of port rotation via a telegram but did not inform anyone onboard and the Sparky said nothing and the ship turned up at the wrong port. It cost him his job. 
What about the countries which sealed the transmitter or the Radio room, Saudi Arabia (which was still sealing the main transmitter long after GMDSS was introduced and the main transmitter was redundant) Indonesia and Poland during the communist era.

Cheers


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

My two colleagues on RMS Amazon worked GNF from London docks with their Vernons pools entry. Got a telling off from said coast station as well. The 1st and 2nd R/O's got stroppy with me because I refused to do it but I stuck to my guns.
We did use to work Montevideo from the harbour. You could see the radio station but it would have been easier to walk up there and put the message through the letter box as they seldom seemed to answer anybody....!
rgds
Graham Powell


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## RayL (Apr 16, 2008)

On one unique occasion the Naess Sovereign called at Banias in Syria and the Morse key was screwed down by a very strict official for the duration of our stay. It was speculated that the Syrian government was worried about relations with the Russians but I never really grasped what was behind it.

A group of visitors came on board and I made the mistake of joining them on the top deck (a misplaced effort to be polite and sociable). Catching sight of my binoculars, a wild-eyed man grabbed them off me and spent a minute or two examining the local scenery. It was a great relief when he finally chose to hand them back to me.


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## Basil (Feb 4, 2006)

We used our aircraft voice HF SSB on the ground without restriction.
I used to wonder what the difference was; any ideas?


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Baulkham Hills said:


> It was common practise on some runs to transmit in port. In the early 80's I was on a ship trading down the coast of West Africa from Monrovia to Matadi in the congo river. The transmitter was used regularly because shore communications was so poor, in Matadi there was no shore side communications and even the agents messages to the owners were sent via the ship. In reality I was far busier working the key via Ost (Ostende) in Matadi than when I was at sea. Lots of obstructions (derricks etc) which made contact difficult in port as well as the usual static. I know of one event where the Master received a change of port rotation via a telegram but did not inform anyone onboard and the Sparky said nothing and the ship turned up at the wrong port. It cost him his job.
> What about the countries which sealed the transmitter or the Radio room, Saudi Arabia (which was still sealing the main transmitter long after GMDSS was introduced and the main transmitter was redundant) Indonesia and Poland during the communist era.
> 
> Cheers


Good post Baulkham Hills. Same thing happened in the Nigerian Creeks - last ship up to Warri took over from the one leaving as far as I remember. Just got eta's from the ships bouncing up the creeks as no local radio station and Satcom hadn't been thought of.

Bad news about the Sparks who lost his job because he respected the confidentiality of communications regulations - guess who would have lied like a pig in sh*t to get out of that one!

John T.


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## 7woodlane (Apr 20, 2009)

Picture the scene. Sailing up the Elbe, literally ten minutes from mooring in Hamburg, crew ready for the off. I had shut down long ago, then heard DAO's traffic list on the Ch.Steward's radio and our callsign !!! Dashed into the radio room, and got the message off DAO. Change of orders - turn round, proceed Middlesbrough immediately, and we did. Was I popular ? 
David.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

7woodlane said:


> Picture the scene. Sailing up the Elbe, literally ten minutes from mooring in Hamburg, crew ready for the off. I had shut down long ago, then heard DAO's traffic list on the Ch.Steward's radio and our callsign !!! Dashed into the radio room, and got the message off DAO. Change of orders - turn round, proceed Middlesbrough immediately, and we did. Was I popular ?
> David.


Who was DAO? Do you mean DAN DAN the Funker Mann?

What the hell? Reeperbahn, Eros Center, Herbertstrasse (aka Winkelstrasse) and Bratwurst or "Over the Border",the Robin Hood, the Captain Cook, and Newboulds pork pies (THE BEST). 

Not to worry, Hamburg was there for another day.

John T.


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

One of the guys I was in college with told me that he was on an Esso tanker, mooring ropes over the side when he got a change of orders!.
rgds
Graham Powell


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## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

No DAO was Kiel.

I was the Sapele guardship for 12 days on the sawmill berth. Last ship up etc..... Lokoja Palm/GWWJ. Even had a 'runner' for QTC's to/from the local agency.

David
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## 7woodlane (Apr 20, 2009)

From memory, and that is not always a good sign, I am sure (?)that DAO was Elbe-Weser radiostation.
David.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Was DAO a VHF station operated remotely by Norddeich? The memory banks seem to be ticking over.

John T.


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## Larry Bennett (Aug 28, 2005)

Having visited both DAN and DAC in the 1980s I can confirm that:

DAC - ELBE-WESER RADIO (located in Cuxhaven)
DAO - KIEL RADIO

I am pretty sure they weren't remoted from DAN (at least they weren't in the mid-80s).

Larry +


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## Bob Murdoch (Dec 11, 2004)

In 1959, on my first solo trip on Ellerman Wilson's Tasso, we berthed in Latakia in Syria. We Brits were not too popular even then with our Syrian friends ( did the Suez carry on have something to do with that I wonder and the following Arab brotherhood, which did not last long). We were tied up nose to the breakwater and stern to a bouy, definitely no shore leave. A group of local squaddies came on board, real scruffy looking bunch but all armedand a couple asked for the wireless man. A very nervous 17 year old me duly arrived on the bridge and was given an armed escort to the radio room which was aft the chart room. The heedyin proceeded to seal the radio equipment by sticking tape across the headphone socket. Much waving of rifles and loud threats not to use radio till out of Syrian waters.
An armed guard was placed on the radio room door and that was that.
The few Syrians we did speak to were very friendly but not the uniformed ones.
The dock was lined with Russian and other eastern block flagged ships unloading heavy equipment and aircraft.
Cheers Bob


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## 7woodlane (Apr 20, 2009)

Thanks to all for putting me right about DAO. Got mixed up 'twixt Kiel and E/W. It happened over 50 years ago. That's my excuse anyway. m/v Supremity was the vessel. I'm just pleased that they (the 21 others) let me live.
David.


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## Larry Bennett (Aug 28, 2005)

Back to the original thread - it was common practice for vessels to arrange 'skeds' with GKA whilst QTP so that no traffic would be missed. Any to-ship traffic that came in would be transmitted 'blind' at an agreed time and frequency (normally in the GKG series of transmitters) and QSL would be sent once QTO. Traffic would be sent twice and held until the QSL received from the ship.

This was the legendary 'point 43' at GKA and was a listed duty - if there were no skeds then the R/O would work ships as normal until the next sked time came up.

Larry +


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## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

The "sealing" of the radio office and sometimes the radar room was common in the Mid East ports.
Invariably carried out by the " group of local squaddies came on board, real scruffy looking bunch but all armed" fraternity, none of whom knew the first thing about disabling a comms system and often sealing a fuse box feeding the bridge lighting or whatever.

The practice of Rx from GKA in sked form was also the norm, and often proved useful. I worked a pattern for a number of months in the Red Sea/Persian Gulf which served well..........often from the same operator.


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

Hi Larry, Forgotten all about point 43. I seem to remember some sort of tick sheet with a list of ships and times. 
rgds
Graham


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## andysk (Jun 16, 2005)

In northern Mozambique, Nacala had no radio station apart from a low powere and somewhat sporadic VHF watch, so the common practice was to find someone else going in there from a previous port, Mombasa, Dar Tanga or some such like, and arrange an HF sked for passing arrival info to the agents etc. No charges were ever made, at least not by me anyway ! This I did on Clan MacIver with Luminence I think it was in 1977/78.


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