Mary Ellen1 Posted October 11, 2013 #1 Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) Hi there, I was thinking it might be fun to bring a handheld radio scanner with us on our upcoming B2B2B. Just to see what we can listen to... Ship communications, maritime chatter, port traffic... whatever! DH, however, is convinced that it's impossible -- that all of these comms have moved to digital and/or encrypted frequencies, and there's no way to pick anything up with the scanners we've got. Does anyone have any recent experience with this? Better yet, does anyone know which frequencies to listen to? Does anyone know what frequencies Carnival uses? Or if their channels are encrypted? Thanks, cruisers. :) Edited October 11, 2013 by Mary Ellen1 clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HO HO Posted October 11, 2013 #2 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Didn't find anything in the CCL FAQ's, so there may not be any restriction....but I'm leaning toward your DH's impression that everything has gone digital and perhaps even encrypted...however, nothing ventured, nothing gained... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flutie03 Posted October 11, 2013 #3 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Ham radio is alive and well. Its a hobby of my dads and he has had communications from all over Sent from my SPH-L710 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Ellen1 Posted October 11, 2013 Author #4 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Didn't find anything in the CCL FAQ's, so there may not be any restriction....but I'm leaning toward your DH's impression that everything has gone digital and perhaps even encrypted...however, nothing ventured, nothing gained... Yes, I checked the CCL FAQ's too. No specific mention that it's restricted. But I saw a post on another board here that said it's now prohibited under the "household electrics" clause. But I think that refers to operating, transmitting, setting up an antenna, etc. Not what I had in mind... Still trying to learn if the frequencies are all digital and/or encrypted... Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WLHyatt Posted October 11, 2013 #5 Share Posted October 11, 2013 There are a couple of things here: 1. On-ship walkie talkie communications will not be digital, you should be able to pick them up between 100 and 200MHz, or 400 to 500MHz FM, maybe narrow band, but I doubt it. 2. Ship-to-ship radio is single sideband somewhere in the vicinity of 29 MHz, but could be as low as 1MHz to 50MHz. The down side of this is they mostly monitor this and only use it during maritime incidents or when communicating with ships in the area to find out if they intend to make any moves. 3. Ship-to-shore is probably mostly done on satellite now and will be digital and/or encrypted. They probably have an HF or MF radio on the ship that allows long distance communications for times when Satellite is either over the horizon or other impairments. I know about #2 because I am a ham and during the behind the fun tour, while on the bridge I looked at the comminications station and made a mental note of what areas they had the radios set to. I do not remember exact frequencies, but I bet if you look up maritime sideband frequencies you will find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG_Steve Posted October 12, 2013 #6 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Here is a starting point found via google. Glad you brought this up. I don't use my scanner much, and never thought to bring it along. http://scanmaritime.com/frequencies.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Ellen1 Posted October 12, 2013 Author #7 Share Posted October 12, 2013 There are a couple of things here:1. On-ship walkie talkie communications will not be digital, you should be able to pick them up between 100 and 200MHz, or 400 to 500MHz FM, maybe narrow band, but I doubt it. 2. Ship-to-ship radio is single sideband somewhere in the vicinity of 29 MHz, but could be as low as 1MHz to 50MHz. The down side of this is they mostly monitor this and only use it during maritime incidents or when communicating with ships in the area to find out if they intend to make any moves. 3. Ship-to-shore is probably mostly done on satellite now and will be digital and/or encrypted. They probably have an HF or MF radio on the ship that allows long distance communications for times when Satellite is either over the horizon or other impairments. I know about #2 because I am a ham and during the behind the fun tour, while on the bridge I looked at the comminications station and made a mental note of what areas they had the radios set to. I do not remember exact frequencies, but I bet if you look up maritime sideband frequencies you will find them. Great info! And very specific. Thanks! And great point about the satellite comms likely being encrypted (but not necessarily the other stuff). That makes sense. Here is a starting point found via google. Glad you brought this up. I don't use my scanner much, and never thought to bring it along. http://scanmaritime.com/frequencies.htm Fabulous! I'll make a note of the frequencies listed for the Victory. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecps92 Posted December 17, 2013 #8 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Hope you enjoy the info from the site :rolleyes: Great info! And very specific. Thanks! And great point about the satellite comms likely being encrypted (but not necessarily the other stuff). That makes sense. Fabulous! I'll make a note of the frequencies listed for the Victory. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arush5268d Posted December 17, 2013 #9 Share Posted December 17, 2013 A ham radio scanner will not get you very far. You will need a multi-band scanner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilee Posted December 17, 2013 #10 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Would a hand held VHF radio do the job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arush5268d Posted December 17, 2013 #11 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Would a hand held VHF radio do the job? If its set for the right band then you could hear other transmissions on that band IF you also have the ability to scan through unprogrammed freqs. Your typical 2 way radio does not have the ability to scan all the possible frequencies in the band it is designed for. Scanners do that. 2 way radios can scan the frequencies that have been programmed in them ahead of time (some models, not all) Seriously though - this scanner idea is not a good idea for anyone unless you are comfortable with scanner procedures. If you are not then you need to figure out how to use a scanner and what they do first - before trying to use it on a cruise ship otherwise you'll just end up taking up room in your luggage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecps92 Posted December 17, 2013 #12 Share Posted December 17, 2013 1.) Actually some have begun to use Non Analog modes (NXDN, TRBO) Some of the newer ships are already Narrowbanded. 2.) Ship-Ship can also be VHF Marine 3.) Ship back to home office is generally Internet (Data) and Satellite for Voice. There are a couple of things here:1. On-ship walkie talkie communications will not be digital, you should be able to pick them up between 100 and 200MHz, or 400 to 500MHz FM, maybe narrow band, but I doubt it. 2. Ship-to-ship radio is single sideband somewhere in the vicinity of 29 MHz, but could be as low as 1MHz to 50MHz. The down side of this is they mostly monitor this and only use it during maritime incidents or when communicating with ships in the area to find out if they intend to make any moves. 3. Ship-to-shore is probably mostly done on satellite now and will be digital and/or encrypted. They probably have an HF or MF radio on the ship that allows long distance communications for times when Satellite is either over the horizon or other impairments. I know about #2 because I am a ham and during the behind the fun tour, while on the bridge I looked at the comminications station and made a mental note of what areas they had the radios set to. I do not remember exact frequencies, but I bet if you look up maritime sideband frequencies you will find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WLHyatt Posted December 17, 2013 #13 Share Posted December 17, 2013 1.) Actually some have begun to use Non Analog modes (NXDN, TRBO) Some of the newer ships are already Narrowbanded. 2.) Ship-Ship can also be VHF Marine 3.) Ship back to home office is generally Internet (Data) and Satellite for Voice. Yep. Agreed. I was speaking on a high level, and the satellite/digital includes Internet VPNs and things like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txcruzer53 Posted December 18, 2013 #14 Share Posted December 18, 2013 If you are interested in listening to staff/crew on board the ship I seem to remember someone posting a while back that most of this is done via the walkie talkie (or push to talk) function of the cell phone issued to the crew and as such cannot be monitored by a scanner. Long distance comms are likely via satellite as indicated by an earlier post. Short range (less than 15 miles or so) ship to ship comms are likely on a marine channel in the 156 MHz range. What you may hear in foreign ports will vary widely depending on the prevalence of radio comms in that country and the bands used for different type services such as public safety, business, etc and may or may not be in English. You could always listen to everyone running around on the ship with the blister pack family radios. Those are in the 460's range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrailfan Posted December 18, 2013 #15 Share Posted December 18, 2013 (edited) There are a couple of things here:1. On-ship walkie talkie communications will not be digital, you should be able to pick them up between 100 and 200MHz, or 400 to 500MHz FM, maybe narrow band, but I doubt it. 2. Ship-to-ship radio is single sideband somewhere in the vicinity of 29 MHz, but could be as low as 1MHz to 50MHz. The down side of this is they mostly monitor this and only use it during maritime incidents or when communicating with ships in the area to find out if they intend to make any moves. 3. Ship-to-shore is probably mostly done on satellite now and will be digital and/or encrypted. They probably have an HF or MF radio on the ship that allows long distance communications for times when Satellite is either over the horizon or other impairments. I know about #2 because I am a ham and during the behind the fun tour, while on the bridge I looked at the comminications station and made a mental note of what areas they had the radios set to. I do not remember exact frequencies, but I bet if you look up maritime sideband frequencies you will find them. On item 2 - don't forget Marine VHF-FM, in the 156-158 MHz range... however, those will mostly be used near the coast for tug/pilot traffic, communication with the Port Captain or other officials, drawbridge calls, and Marine radiotelephone. Ships do use certain VHF channels to communicate with each other while in the channels. try this: http://www.hf-antenna.com/docs/US_VHF_Marine_Frequency_List.pdf I would imagine the ships and tenders communicate on these channels also, at tendering ports. You might also find some VHF or UHF traffic on the business band frequencies, as the crew members and shore-side line handlers moor the ship or get it under-way. I doubt they use digital communication for this... ADDED: The SSB channels and frequeincies are listed at: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=mtHighFrequency Edited December 18, 2013 by oldrailfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecps92 Posted December 18, 2013 #16 Share Posted December 18, 2013 YMMV on this, however my experiences http://scanmaritime.com has been much different. And the use of the VOIP phones has been limited as noted by the many confirmations at http://scanmaritime.com/frequencies.htm Generally Cruise Ships / Ocean Liners use UHF for internal Ship Ops and VHF Marine for Ship/Ship, Ship-Shore, Port Control, CG etc Cruise Ship Monitoring Part I http://www.scannerdigest.com/sd60-newsletter.pdf Cruise Ship Monitoring Part II http://www.scannerdigest.com/sd63f_-_newsletter.pdf If you are interested in listening to staff/crew on board the ship I seem to remember someone posting a while back that most of this is done via the walkie talkie (or push to talk) function of the cell phone issued to the crew and as such cannot be monitored by a scanner. Long distance comms are likely via satellite as indicated by an earlier post. Short range (less than 15 miles or so) ship to ship comms are likely on a marine channel in the 156 MHz range. What you may hear in foreign ports will vary widely depending on the prevalence of radio comms in that country and the bands used for different type services such as public safety, business, etc and may or may not be in English. You could always listen to everyone running around on the ship with the blister pack family radios. Those are in the 460's range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallFour4 Posted December 18, 2013 #17 Share Posted December 18, 2013 (edited) Carnival changed the policy back to allowing HAM gear. For a while post 9/11 they would not allow them (at least in Galveston) to pass security. I took my radio with me for both cruises this year and the Glory trip to Canada was really nice listening in on marine VHF. My HT has full range of reception, so it's really nice. In the Port of Galveston the marine VHF is active for cruise ship communication between vessel and pilot, and once the pilot boards it's between pilot and other vessels. (well duh...) Enjoy. Edited December 18, 2013 by BallFour4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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