Put your DX/Contesting station to work on the Pacific Seafarer's Net. You could end up saving one or more lives.
The Pacific Seafarer's Net is always interested in boosting the roster of list reporters. The duties of the list reporter include receiving during the vessel rollcall session of the Pacific Seafarer's net and copying the callout data for each vessel. This could probably be a one night per week assignment or be an "as-required" voluntary assignment for any one station. In other words, you can step up on any night you wish. The list reporter DOES NOT have to be a licensed ham operator. If you are a short-wave listener with good receive conditions, internet service, and a desire to perform a greatly appreciated service to the sailing mariners and their landbound relatives, you can be a list reporter.
What is the "List Report"?
The Pacific Seafarer's Net tracks vessels on a nightly rollcall.
Nightly we take the position reports and sea conditions of any small vessels
who wish to participate. The list reporter takes down the information put
out by the boats during the rollcall and emails it to a server in New Zealand.
The reporter's job is finished at that point and the rest happens automatically.
The data is then redistributed to all subscribers and several chart plotting
websites. The weather data that is gathered is used by high seas weather
forecasters in New Zealand. If you wish to receive the vessel position
reports nightly you may do so by subscribing to the "
YOTREPS"
(short for Yacht Reports) list which is usually emailed out each night,
but occasionally we miss a night. An example of the YOTREPS list report
is posted at
http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/pacseanet.php.
When we email this out, it goes to all subscribers, the various weather services, the Pangolin YOTREPS system database, and 3 web charting plotters and trackers.
Many relatives of the people on these vessels at sea express their joy at the availability of this tracking and charting service since it gives them a way to keep up on their progress and status which removes uncertainty. Again, on the map look for their ham call or vessel name.
What are the requirements to be a List Reporter?
The list reporter does not have to be a Ham Operator. The reporter can be a shortwave listener. The list reporter should have good recieving conditions with a good SSB reciever capable of copying weaker signals. This is because the sailboats who report on the rollcall list often are using 20 to 100 watt transmitters and backstay antennas and are often 2000 miles or more away. Most of them are in the South Pacific over 3500 miles away. The net controller will repeat each report given by the sailing vessel, so if the reporter cannot hear the sailboat, he/she can get the data from the net controller.
If you are a shortwave listener and wish to participate as a list reporter, you can download and use the popular "ICQ" program or AOL Instant Messenger to stay in touch with me on your night as reporter in case you need a repeat of a particular report. If you are a ham operator, you may also eventually wish to be a rollcall net controller. The best thing to do is to listen in to our net and then you can get an idea of how we operate and what we do with the information we collect.
Our website is at http://www.pacsea.org It is a quick-loading page so that any of the USCG or other search and rescue information may be gotten to as fast as is possible on the internet. You might want to bookmark it for that purpose. Also you can get to all the sites mentioned in this memo from there.
So if you would like to put that large investment of ham radio gear to work in a life-preserving effort for the sailing hams of the Pacific, check us out. It is a very rewarding endeavor and greatly appreciated by those who sail the oceans and their loved ones who are shoreside. You may contact me via email at aspect@wcinet.net.
Robert Reed
Amateur Radio Station N6HGG
The Pacific Seafarer's Net
Humboldt Bay, California