Thursday, April 30, 2015

ShipCom Emergency Net Corrects All Frequencies

The new U.S. nationwide emergency ALE net has recently corrected all frequencies to conform with international practice. Everything has been shifted down 1.4 kHz to account for USB offset when using ALE and follow-on voice.

Two sets of frequencies, separated by this 1.4 kHz, are licensed to this venture. What was happening was that the net was operating on the higher set, which is authorized for modes centered around the assigned carrier frequency. Transmitting USB, which is offset, put the signals technically off-channel.

All frequencies have been tested and found to be 1.4 kHz lower.  The new frequencies for this net are:

2679.6
4234.0
6335.6
7315.6
8085.5
10170.6
13152.0
17287.0
19755.0
22738.0 .

The two Los Angeles, CA area stations, and two at the Annapolis, MD control point, continue to make hourly soundings. While voice test counts and operator chatter have been heard on this net, there haven't been any reports of these for a while now.