During this time of year when many cruisers are in the Bahamas and maybe without WiFi service or inexpensive cellular service, Jim West (KJM) and Glen Tuttle (KPK) who run the SSCA HF Radio Service, have decided to offer their services twice each morning.

Published 7 years ago, updated 5 years ago

The first SSCA Net will remain at 0715 hrs EST or 1215 hrs UTC on SSB frequency 8.104 immediately following the Coconut Telegraph Net.

The intended audience for this net is primarily Caribbean cruisers and focuses heavily on news and updates from the Caribbean Safety and Security Net (Safetyandsecuritynet.org).

The second SSCA Net will begin at 0815 hrs EST or 1315 hrs UTC on SSB Frequency 8.104 which is 15 minutes before the start of the Cruiseheimers Net.

The intended audience will primarily be Bahamas and East Coast cruisers.

The primary purpose of both nets will be to provide current news updates of interest to cruisers from such sources as the Caribbean Safety & Security Net, Noonsite, The Salty Southeast Cruisers Net, Caribbean Compass, Bahamas Chatter, etc., as well as providing our land-based resources to cruisers.

Jim and Glen can provide radio checks, float plans, telephone patches to family and friends in the United States, calls to medical, veterinarian or mechanical professionals, Internet searches, or any other assistance that may be required.

Although these nets are a service provided by the SSCA, all vessels are welcome and encouraged to participate.

Any vessel having an emergency or priority traffic which SSCA are not copying is advised to contact the Cruiseheimers Net which begins at 0830 hrs EST on frequency 8.152 and/or the Doo Dah Net at 1700 hrs EST on frequency 8.152.

Everyone is reminded that in a true emergency, anyone with or without an Amateur Radio license, may use any frequency including the Maritime Mobile Service Net (MMSN) on frequency 14.300.  This frequency is guarded by dedicated net controllers beginning at 0700 hrs EST until approximately 2300 hrs EST and trained to assist vessels with emergencies.

Glen and Jim are discussing plans to further expand their services to include an SSCA Transatlantic Net operating on the 12 MHz band in the future.

Any suggestions and comments regarding the SSCA HF Radio Service may be sent to Glenn at KPK@ssca.org or to Jim at KJM@ssca.org