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Subelement D
Other Equipment
Section 23
Survival Craft VHF
Which statement is NOT true regarding the requirements of survival craft portable two-way VHF radiotelephone equipment?
  • Watertight to a depth of 1 meter for 5 minutes.
  • Effective radiated power should be a minimum of 0.25 watts.
  • Correct Answer
    Operates simplex on Ch-70 and at least one other channel.
  • The antenna is fixed and non-removable.

Which statement is NOT true regarding the requirements of survival craft portable two-way VHF radiotelephone equipment?

Operates simplex on Ch-70 and at least one other channel.

For SCT (Survival Craft Transreceiver) Ch-70 is not a requirement, but it is mentioned as an additional capability in IMO requirements, some of which include:

  • Watertight to a depth of 1 meter for 5 minutes

  • Power Minimum of 0.25 watts

  • Must be able to transmit and receive on    Ch-16 and Ch-6.

  • The antenna is fixed and non-removable.


Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 Chapter I Subchapter D Part 80 Subpart W - Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)

§ 80.1095 Survival craft equipment.

47 CFR 80.1095(a) At least three two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus must be provided on every passenger ship and on every cargo ship of 500 tons gross tonnage and upwards. At least two two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus must be provided on every cargo ship of between 300-500 tons gross tonnage.

Portable two-way VHF radiotelephone must be stowed in such locations that they can be rapidly placed in any survival craft other than life rafts required by Regulation III/26.1.4 of the SOLAS Convention.

Alternatively, survival craft may be fitted with a fixed two-way VHF radiotelephone installation. Two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus, portable or fixed, must conform to performance standards as specified in CFR § 80.1101.

More info is available on:

IMO VHF Requirements

RESOLUTION MSC.80(70)

RESOLUTION MSC.149(77)

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Which statement is NOT true regarding the requirements of survival craft portable two-way VHF radiotelephone equipment?
  • Correct Answer
    Operation on Ch-13.
  • Effective radiated power should be a minimum of 0.25 Watts.
  • Simplex voice communications only.
  • Operation on Ch-16.

Which statement is NOT true regarding the requirements of survival craft portable two-way VHF radiotelephone equipment?

Operation on Ch-13.

Requirements for survival craft portable two-way VHF radiotelephone radio include:

  • Effective radiated power should be a minimum of 0.25 Watts.
  • Simplex voice communications only.
  • Operation on Ch-16.

The Ch-13 is used for Bridge-to-Bridge within ship communications, and is not required for a SCT. (Survival Craft Transmitter)

Ch-16 (International Distress, Safety and Calling channel) clearly is a requirement.

Simplex voice communications simplifies the radio making it usable by anyone.

ERP of 0.25W or more means the SCT will put out enough power to be heard.


(Note that Question 23D6 indicates that a 1 watt minimum is required. But, 23D1 (this question) specifically indicates Effective Radiated Power.

The 1 watt transmitter minimum is to ensure the 0.25 watt ERP, effective radiating power, minimum can be met. What transmitter sends to an antenna is not what is radiated, unless specific tuning is done, which may be difficult.

For more info, please see Wikipedia's article on Survival craft transceiver

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With what other stations may portable survival craft transceivers communicate?
  • Communication is permitted between survival craft.
  • Communication is permitted between survival craft and ship.
  • Communication is permitted between survival craft and rescue unit.
  • Correct Answer
    All of the above.

With what other stations may portable survival craft transceivers communicate?

All of the above.

Communications is permitted between:

  • survival craft.
  • survival craft and ship.
  • survival craft and rescue unit.

Distress communication made by Survival Craft Transmitter (SCT) asks for help from anyone available. Thus it is permitted for all venues.

§ 80.332 Equipment to aid search and rescue operations.

47 CFR 80.332(a) Survival craft stations may transmit distress, urgency and safety signals, calls and messages.

47 CFR 80.332(b) EPIRB's may transmit only in accordance with the requirements of subparts V and X of this part.

For more info, see Wikipedia's article on Survival craft transceiver.

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Equipment for radiotelephony use in survival craft stations under GMDSS must have what capability?
  • Correct Answer
    Operation on Ch-16.
  • Operation on 457.525 MHz.
  • Operation on 121.5 MHz.
  • Any one of these.

Equipment for radiotelephony use in survival craft stations under GMDSS must have what capability?

Operation on Ch-16.

VHF Channel 16 (156.800 MHz) is the channel for international hailing and distress.

For more on VHF Channel 16, see Wikipedia's article on Channel 16 VHF


Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 Chapter I Subchapter D Part 80 Subpart H - Frequencies

§ 80.364 Frequencies for VHF digital small message services (VDSMS).

The Channel 16 has allocation of 158.000 MHz.

§ 80.369 Distress, urgency, safety, call and reply frequencies.

47 CFR 80.369(e)(3) The frequency 156.800 MHz is the international radiotelephone distress, urgency, safety, call and reply frequency for ship, public and private coast stations.

Stations operating on 156.800 MHz must be able to transmit and receive using G3E emission.

47 CFR 80.369(e)(4) The frequency 156.450 MHz (channel 9) is available for intership, ship and coast station general purpose calling by noncommercial vessels, such as recreational boats.

Distress, urgency and safety calls should initially be made on 156.800 MHz (channel 16) or, if equipped with DSC, on 156.525 MHz (channel 70).

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Equipment for radiotelephony use in survival craft stations under GMDSS must have what characteristic(s)?
  • Operation on Ch-16.
  • Watertight.
  • Permanently-affixed antenna.
  • Correct Answer
    All of these.

Equipment for radiotelephony use in survival craft stations under GMDSS must have what characteristic(s)?

All of these.

Radiotelephony equipment must include:

  • Operation on Ch-16.
  • Watertight.
  • Permanently-affixed antenna.

Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 Chapter I Subchapter D Part 80 Subpart
E - General Technical Standards

§ 80.223 Special requirements for survival craft stations.

47 CFR 80.223(a) Survival craft stations capable of transmitting on:

47 CFR 80.223(1) 2182 kHz must be able to operate with A3E or H3E and J2B and J3E emissions;

47 CFR 80.223(2) 121.500 MHz must be able to operate with A3E or A3N emission.

47 CFR 80.223(b) Survival craft stations must be able to receive the frequency and types of emission which the transmitter is capable of using.

47 CFR 80.223(c) Any EPIRB carried as part of a survival craft must comply with the specific technical and performance requirements for its class contained in subpart V of this chapter.


Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 Chapter I Subchapter D Part 80 Subpart
W - Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS).

§ 80.1095 Survival craft equipment.

47 CFR 80.1095(a) At least three two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus must be provided on every passenger ship and on every cargo ship of 500 tons gross tonnage and upwards.

At least two two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus must be provided on every cargo ship of between 300-500 tons gross tonnage.

Portable two-way VHF radiotelephones must be stowed in such locations that they can be rapidly placed in any survival craft other than life rafts required by Regulation III/26.1.4 of the SOLAS Convention.

Alternatively, survival craft may be fitted with a fixed two-way VHF radiotelephone installation. Two-way VHF radiotelephone apparatus, portable or fixed, must conform to performance standards as specified in § 80.1101.

47 CFR 80.1095(b) At least one radar transponder or AIS-SART (collectively, “search and rescue locating devices”) must be carried on each side of every passenger ship and every cargo ship of 500 tons gross tonnage and upwards.

At least one search and rescue locating device must be carried on every cargo ship of 300 tons gross tonnage and upwards but less than 500 tons gross tonnage. Such search and rescue locating devices must conform to performance standards as specified in § 80.233 for AIS-SARTs or § 80.1101 for radar transponders.

The search and rescue locating devices must be stowed in such locations that they can be rapidly placed in any survival craft other than liferafts required on cargo ships in forward and aft areas (see Regulation III/26.1.4 of the SOLAS Convention).

Alternatively, one search and rescue locating device must be stowed in each survival craft other than those required by Regulation III/26.1.4 of the SOLAS Convention.

One of these search and rescue locating devices may be the search and rescue locating device required by § 80.1085(a)(3).

47 CFR 80.1095(c) Survival craft equipment must be tested at intervals not to exceed twelve months.

For batteries used for survival craft equipment, the month and year of its manufacture must be permanently marked on the battery.

Also, the month and year upon which 50 percent of its useful life will expire must be permanently marked on both the battery and the outside of the transmitter.

Batteries must be replaced if 50 percent of their useful life has expired or if the transmitter has been used in an emergency situation.

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What is the minimum power of the SCT
  • Five watts.
  • Correct Answer
    One watt.
  • ¼ watt.
  • None of the above.

What is the minimum power of the SCT

One watt.

SCT - Survival Craft Transceiver. Portable, lightweight, handheld VHF transceiver; simple to use, rugged, watertight; used in lifeboats, etc. They need to put out at least one watt of power.

(Note that Question 23D1 indicates that a 0.25 watt minimum is required. But, it specifically indicates Effective Radiated Power.

The 1 watt transmitter minimum is to ensure the 0.25 watt ERP minimum can be met. What transmitter sends to an antenna is often less than what is actually radiated.

For more info, please see Wikipedia's article on Survival craft transceiver

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