In case you get lost... Fair chance you will be found using Nautilus Lifeline

[cvchief]

I am thinking I might need a PLB for Carnival. Can't use the Nautilus on land and I got lost last year and missed my flight. I am afraid it might be worse this year.....

[youtubehq]LzAXb7qCCAo[/youtubehq]

 

[briankinley2004]

You can use the Nautilus on land but only VHF equipped parade floats, any boats with VHF that are awake and the marine police types can hear you. They would probably scratch their heads when they got a distress signal with GPS coordinates at El Moro. They would be expecting a boat but the technology does work on land as well as at sea. If there are rednecks in Cozumel you might have one that has VHF or HAM in his casa that would come get you. VHF is primarily used by sea going types but there is nothing that would prevent it from being used on land as long as you have line of sight.

 

[Mike]

VHF is primarily used by sea going types but there is nothing that would prevent it from being used on land as long as you have line of sight.

It's illegal to use a marine band VHF radio on land.

I suggest getting a set up like this :

 

[briankinley2004]

In Mexico or US? I guess the dive ops talking to their boats are in violation unless they are standing on the dock

 

[Mike]

You can look into the technicalities of it, it's basically along the lines of distinguishing between mobile VHF vs non-mobile VHF units. A boat is mobile, a Nautilus is mobile, a hand held marine VHF radio is mobile. None can be used on land. If you put your boat on a trailer you can't use the VHF radio mounted in it until you put the boat back in the water. If you step off the dock with your Nautilus onto the boat while it's tied up to the dock you're within the law, if you step off the boat onto the dock you're not. If you broadcast a non-emergency message on the water not addressed to a specific unit you're in violation. A non-mobile unit like at a dive shop has a limited coast license so they can broadcast on land.

Would you be caught, would you be fined? Depends where you are, in the US, people definitely have been caught and have been fined. In Mexico? Couldn't tell you. Are these US only rules? No, they are internationally adopted. However in the US the FCC has jurisdiction and enforcement, in Mexico, might be Juan's Taco stand.

If you download the manual for a Nautilus Lifeline, they specifically state not to broadcast on land, not to broadcast general messages.

Most of this is moot, because as of now there are so few of these things even around that they just aren't even a factor. However, I'm betting that eventually, if they do become popular enough and you're in US waters there will be an issue with using these in non-emergency use even on water. There seems to be a gray area that is being skirting in regarding the technicalities of not actually being on a vessel, the whole diver in the water hailing a dive boat to pick them up in a non-emergency situation (the chatting feature of the unit) may end up being challenged. The wording about mobile VHF radios is very specific about being on a vessel, when the rules were made their was no such device like the Nautilus, it's a totally new category of VHF radio.

 

[cvchief]

Hmmm.... How about if we had a kiddie pool on the float and we were in the pool?

 

[briankinley2004]

Legal or not I know for a fact that dive ops both in Cozumel and US use the VHF to communicate with their land bases. I won't name the op but one used my Nautilus and called their land base but it was from the boat . The Nautilus does have two channels you can preset. One is for emergency and the other for communication. I always ask the boat what channels they monitor. If your in the water in a non emergency situation you should talk to the boat on the non-emergency channel. In most cases 16 is reserved for emergency and intial contact only.

 

[Ron Lee]

Mike, in a true emergency, any form of communication would be viable in my opinion. That may be universally true but I cannot provide a factual reference.

 

[Fatterboy]

I worked for a river boat company that pushed barges up and down the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers, we continually used VHF to communicate with the boats (we had 2) to arrange meeting points along the banks for supplies and personel transfers. Occasionally spoke with the Corps of Engineers. They have a mat sinking unit that travels up and down the Mississippi "paving" the bottom. Is a very interesting set-up, ya oughta search it sometime.