If I hadn't bought the KX3 I would have considered the 599 but I like the features I have installed with the KX3.

Thanks Sparks. They don't mention much about comms. I wish I remembered where I got that information...

Gil.

Quote from: gil on April 23, 2023, 11:26:59 PMYep, there was also the case of the ship Bounty, reproduction of the original, that sailed in a hurricane off the coast of Florida years ago. Their satellite comms failed in the storm but they were able to send an email to the coast guard via Winlink! If I remember well the captain did not make it but around 14 crew were saved (can't remember this second).

Thank you Gil, most interesting! I never heard about this. Here are more details:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounty_(1960_ship)

Thanks Sparks. Julian and I are in contact and might have some common stuff down the pipe...

Gil.

Great point Ray, I didn't think about the broadcasting thing.. HF will be heard somewhere most of the time, and any radio operator would jump on a distress like it was his life's mission!
Gil.

I remember reading about that TALL ship and the use of ham WINLINK being the only communication method to get the rescue started. Another advantage of HF radio is that - unlike a satphone- HF radio is a BROADCASTING method and if using a common mode CW, SSB voice &etc. MANY station have the potential to hear the distress call, not only the one phone number dialed from the satphone.  Satphones tend to lose signal when under huge columns of clouds, like the cells and super cells involved in violent weather.  I've been there and experienced that.  Satphones have their places, but if it'saboard the ship for summoning emergency assistance,, better to go with an EPIRB, for all the many reasons.

All in all, I'd rather have an old Sparky on the other end of the radio link, with headphones screwed-on tightly. 

de RadioRay  ..._ ._

Hello Ray :-)
Yep, there was also the case of the ship Bounty, reproduction of the original, that sailed in a hurricane off the coast of Florida years ago. Their satellite comms failed in the storm but they were able to send an email to the coast guard via Winlink! If I remember well the captain did not make it but around 14 crew were saved (can't remember this second)..
Gil.

Right! 

Because we live waaay out in the country, we had one choice: to get internet, we got Hughes satellite internet a decade ago. We had big thunder storms several times per week and the signal droped to zero.  Seems their satellite microwave downlink does not penetrate several miles of thick, cumulo-nimbus clouds.  Scatter and absorption is a REAL problem on certain microwave frequency bands. Fortunately, since then , fiber-optic internet has come to our area  :-)  Got rid of Hughes immediately.

- de RadioRay  ..._ ._

Hello.
One only has to subscribe to satellite TV and wait for the first storm to know that satellites do not always work!
Gil.

Hello.
I updated the site engine to Simple Machines 2.1.3. As usual, please let me know if you notice any degradation of service or bugs. Thank you.
Gil.