roy@phri (Roy Smith) (10/15/88)
This past weekend, I was on a boat with a marine VHF radio. One of
the things you can do with this is to call (on channel 22?) the marine
operator and ask her (NOTE: all written references that I've seen refer to
the marine operator as "her") to place a call for you. Presumably, you
either have to call collect or charge the call to a calling card.
Who handles the call? Does AT&T have all the marine operator
service? Can you get to an alternate long distance carrier if you want to?
Are there marine AOSs? Is there any way to receive an incomming call (i.e.
initiated by a shore station, calling a vessel at sea)?
--
Roy Smith, System Administrator
Public Health Research Institute
{allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net
"The connector is the network"johnl@ima.ISC.COM (John R. Levine) (11/02/88)
In article <telecom-v08i0162m06@vector.UUCP> roy@phri (Roy Smith) writes: > This past weekend, I was on a boat with a marine VHF radio. ... > Who handles the call? ... A very interesting question. When I have called home in Boston via the Camden ME marine operator, the call showed up on the local telco part of the bill even though it was an inter-lata call. Hmmn. I have the impression that marine telephone, like IMTS, is a stepchild of deregulation. >... Is there any way to receive an incomming call (i.e. >initiated by a shore station, calling a vessel at sea)? Yes, you can call the marine operator, tell her what vessel you want, and she'll page them. If they don't answer, as is usually the case, you can leave your name and number. A few times a day at well-known times the operator lists the names of vessels for whom she is holding traffic, and the vessel can then call in to get the message. The official way to get the marine operator from shore is to place the call through your local operator. It turns out, though, that the marine op has a regular local number and if you know that number you can just call it and you won't be charged the marine surcharge. In many places the marine phone system is badly overloaded, and many boats now have cellular phones. Some cellular systems such as the one in the Virgin Islands probably handle more boats than cars. -- John R. Levine, IECC, PO Box 349, Cambridge MA 02238-0349, +1 617 492 3869 { bbn | think | decvax | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something Rome fell, Babylon fell, Scarsdale will have its turn. -G. B. Shaw
larry@uunet.UU.NET (Larry Swift) (11/04/88)
In article <telecom-v08i0162m06@vector.UUCP> roy@phri (Roy Smith) writes: > This past weekend, I was on a boat with a marine VHF radio. One of >the things you can do with this is to call (on channel 22?) the marine >operator and ask her (NOTE: all written references that I've seen refer to >the marine operator as "her") to place a call for you. Presumably, you I regularly hear and have talked with male operators (else they are women with very low voices!) >either have to call collect or charge the call to a calling card. Or you can be pre-registered with the marine service company. > Who handles the call? Does AT&T have all the marine operator >service? Can you get to an alternate long distance carrier if you want to? No on both counts, in my experience. And the far Southwest Florida service is outrageously expensive. The Tampa area is GTE and more reasonable. >Are there marine AOSs? Is there any way to receive an incomming call (i.e. >initiated by a shore station, calling a vessel at sea)? Marine operators broadcast for vessels that have in-coming traffic waiting for them on channel 16. Larry Swift UUCP: {peora,uunet}!pdn!larry Paradyne Corp., LF-207 Phone: (813) 530-8605 P. O. Box 2826 Largo, FL, 34649-9981 She's old and she's creaky, but she holds!