Channel 16

rigi36 · 04 October 2010, 21:10

I have been told that regardless of what channel you are on (watching), a message on Ch. 16 will override that particular channel and any conversation on it as it is of higher power.

Is that right?

Pikey Dave · 04 October 2010, 21:39

Simple answer no! If you're on dual watch & 16 is the other channel it will switch to 16 but only if.

BogMonster · 04 October 2010, 22:50

As above ... if enabled, dual watch skips from your working channel to 16 every few seconds to check for a signal (you can usually see this skip on the display if you watch it for a while), if there is a signal on 16 then it stays on 16 for as long as the signal is there, if nothing (or when the signal on 16 stops), it goes back to your working channel.

Personally I prefer to leave my set on scan if I'm not transmitting and usually have 3 or 4 channels continually hopping but then the airwaves here are not exactly busy

jyasaki · 05 October 2010, 16:30

If you're *not* on dual watch or scan, you'll only hear whatever channel you've selected (that's not necessarily completely true: a DSC radio may switch you to another channel I think, but not without a lot of warning.)

As far as power, my radio has certain channels that come up in Low Power mode (5W, I think) and must be switched to full power (25W.) I believe Channel 16 is one of these.

Whether or not one broadcast will step on another on the same freq has to do with a lot of things, ultimately ending up with the amount of power each has at the receiving antenna. A transmission on one channel will not affect one on another channel.

jky

tompaddock · 24 October 2010, 22:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxhar

I have been told that regardless of what channel you are on (watching), a message on Ch. 16 will override that particular channel and any conversation on it as it is of higher power.

Is that right?

No, unless you're on dual watch, in which case the radio will switch to Channel 16 if there's a transmission on it. This only occurs in dual watch, and because the radio is flicking between Ch16 and your other channel, and hence you pick up transmissions on both. However, priority is given to Ch16, so if you were receiving on another channel and a transmission came through on 16 whilst you're in dual watch, you'd receive the transmission on 16.

I apologise; I'm sure that's not the best way to explain this at all :/

wavelength · 25 October 2010, 13:09

Quote:

However, priority is given to Ch16, so if you were receiving on another channel and a transmission came through on 16 whilst you're in dual watch, you'd receive the transmission on 16.

No once the radio is receiving a carrier on one channel thats it! It aint listening to ch16 any more.

Quote:

As far as power, my radio has certain channels that come up in Low Power mode (5W, I think) and must be switched to full power (25W.) I believe Channel 16 is one of these.

ch16 normally comes up as hi power-after all you may be going there to send a distress call and you dont wanna be mucking about with lo power then! The guard channels either side of 16 will come up as lo power so as to lessen the chances of interference with 16, the distress and calling channel.

TonyC · 25 October 2010, 16:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavelength

No once the radio is receiving a carrier on one channel thats it! It aint listening to ch16 any more.

Just tried it, and when on scan, if it picks up a carrier on a channel other than 16, as soon as there is traffic on 16, it switches to it, so it still scans 16 if your listening to other traffic

wavelength · 25 October 2010, 17:02

well you do surprise me but if you've tried it who am I to argue. What set and how far from the transmitting station?

wavelength · 25 October 2010, 17:30

well tried it on a navman and icom and they do-well done that man. A silight break in listening on the working channel allows the 16 to jump in if a transmission is on then. Bloody technology!

9D280 · 27 October 2010, 12:20

The logic of how it switches to CH16 form dual or tri watch will depend on the make & model of the radio. I had a handheld many years ago that if it picked something up on 16 while on DW meant you to had to switch it back to DW mode after they'd finished talking!

Ch16 will always default to high power. Others default to low depending on their intended use (e.g I think there's a dedicated channel for the EU canals that is permanently on reduced power (no 25W option) so you don't accidentally end up talking to the lock control 3 locks down the canal & causing confusion.....)

jwalker · 27 October 2010, 13:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

...As far as power, my radio has certain channels that come up in Low Power mode (5W, I think) and must be switched to full power (25W.) I believe Channel 16 is one of these.

That is the case in the US and possibly Canada too but not in the UK. It's a good reason for not importing a VHF radio into the UK because ch16 will default to low power. Some US units will allow low power to be overridden to give full power but it will normally revert to low power as soon as the PTT switch is released. Rather inconvenient in use.