[FedCom] Coast Guard issues its own distress call - NorthJersey.com

Wed Sep 28 05:36:13 EDT 2011

???   Have you even read the Past postings of What "Rescue 21" is?

IT also includes RFF [aka RDF] sites.   Google "Rescue 21"

But relying on RDF is not an option, they still need to respond, just like
your Police and Fire on a Dropped or Hang-up 9-1-1 call

Bill Dunn           N1KUG
Cruise Ship Frequencies
http://scanmaritime.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: fedcom-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:fedcom-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of bernieS
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 3:23 AM
To: Discussion of Federal Government Communications
Subject: Re: [FedCom] Coast Guard issues its own distress call -
NorthJersey.com

For a fraction of what USCG says it costs them to follow up on these 
hoax mayday calls, they could probably deploy RDF (radio 
direction-finding) gear at each USCG station, and also some 
solar-powered buoys with automated RDF gear to provide approximate 
directional info of the transmitters reporting the maydays.  That 
would at least indicate if the calls were coming from a direction 
consistent with where they were being reported.

-bernieS

At 07:35 PM 9/27/2011, you wrote:
>http://www.northjersey.com/news/130518688_Coast_Guard_issues_its_own_distre
ss_call.html

>In the overnight hours of a mild June morning, a caller told the Coast
Guard
>the crew was abandoning ship in Sandy Hook Bay because their sailboat was
>taking on water.
>
>
>STAFF PHOTOS BY TYSON TRISH
>Buy this photo
>Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Dan Blouch patrolling Sandy Hook Bay
>this summer.
>Buy this photo Coast Guard rescuers from the Sandy Hook station sped to the
>location. A helicopter and rescue aircraft from the federal agency deployed
>from Atlantic City and Massachusetts. A state police helicopter assisted.
>
>The end result: no boat, no sailors and an $88,000 Coast Guard price tag.
>
>False alarms
>The U.S. Coast Guard received the following number of probable
>hoax/uncorrelated mayday calls: Fiscal year (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30)
>
>For the coverage area that encompasses northern New Jersey, New York City
>and the Hudson River:
>
>2008: 35
>2009: 55
>2010: 49
>2011: 36
>
>For the coverage area of Sandy Hook to Cape May:
>
>2008: 6
>2009: 9
>2010: 11
>2011: 10
>
>Uncorrelated maydays are radio calls the Coast Guard receives with very
>little information other than "Mayday" or "Help." There is no location or
>name reported and no descriptions.
>
>Source: U.S. Coast Guard
>
>During a U.S. Coast Guard search, it costs approximately:
>
>$1,830 an hour to operate a 25-foot response boat
>
>$4,492 an hour to operate a 45-foot response boat
>
>$11,078 an hour to operate a helicopter out of Atlantic City
>
>$12,566 an hour to operate a fixed-wing aircraft
>Hoax distress calls have always been a frustrating part of the Coast
Guard's
>job, putting rescuers and other boaters with possible emergencies in
>unnecessary danger. But it's taxpayers who must foot the bill for those
>responses.
>
>Since 2008, the agency received 211 of what it officially labels
>"uncorrelated mayday" and probable hoax calls for an area that includes New
>Jersey, New York City and the Hudson River. And with a few more weeks left
>in the boating season, more could occur.
>
>"It's a bad economy, everybody's hurting and this makes it worse," said
>Petty Officer 1st Class Dan Blouch of Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook.
>
>"It goes beyond frustration," added Chief Warrant Officer Brandon S.
Brewer,
>commanding officer, Public Affairs Detachment New York. "It's us
potentially
>putting our crews at risk when there's not really a distress call. And that
>coupled with the fact that God forbid there is a real distress call at the
>same time, our resources will be tied up searching for someone who's not
>there."
>
>In the region that encompasses northern New Jersey, New York City and the
>Hudson River, the calls spiked from 35 in fiscal 2008 to 55 in 2009. But
>they dropped to 36 in fiscal 2011, which ends Friday.
>
>Calls in the coverage area of Sandy Hook to Cape May gradually climbed from
>six in fiscal 2008 to 11 in 2010 with 10 reported so far in 2011, according
>to agency statistics.
>
>"There's no rhyme or reason to an increase or decrease, but it's dangerous
>and it's expensive no matter what - whether it's one or 100," said Charles
>Rowe, public affairs officer for Coast Guard Sector New York.
>
>On average, several thousand dollars is expended every time rescue crews
>respond to a suspected hoax call. For example, an 87-foot patrol boat
>dispatched to a scene costs $3,667 per hour while a helicopter out of
>Atlantic City costs $11,078 per hour.
>
>When a distress call is received, the Coast Guard always responds with
radio
>communications or by launching a rescue boat or helicopter, said Commander
>Stacey Mersel, chief of the command center for Coast Guard Sector New York.
>
>"When we get the call, we never assume it's a hoax," she said. "We think
>it's the real deal. The goal is to save a life."
>
>Dispatchers are also assisted by relatively new direction-detection
>technology called Rescue 21 that more accurately locates radio distress
>signals and narrows a search area.
>
>The nature of suspected hoax calls vary with some consisting of only one
>word such as "Mayday" or "Emergency" before the connection is lost. Others
>have been made by unsupervised children using the radio on their parents'
>boats or intoxicated boaters playing practical jokes.
>
>Rescue officials speculate that fake distress calls are sometimes made
>because the offenders are seeking attention or want to feel powerful.
>
>"It's very frustrating because you're out there searching for hours and you
>don't find anybody and you don't know if it's a hoax," said Blouch during a
>patrol of the Sandy Hook area this summer.
>
>In the June 14 incident in Sandy Hook Bay, the Coast Guard spent nearly
>$88,000 during the 600-square-mile search for the Courtney Lynn crew after
>receiving two distress calls. The first claimed the 33-foot sailboat was
>taking on water. The second, 20 minutes later, reported the four crew
>members were transferring to a small gray dinghy because the vessel was
>sinking.
>
>Federal officials were told the crew didn't have a hand-held radio, flares
>or a sound-producing device.
>
>Officers later determined the transmissions were false distress calls and
>the case remains under investigation. A $1,000 reward has been offered for
>information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person who wasted
>the rescuers' time.
>
>The difficulty of finding the hoax caller depends on the circumstances of
>the case, said Bill Hicks, special agent in charge for the Coast Guard
>Investigative Service's Mid-Atlantic region.
>
>"Sometimes it's very difficult because there are hundreds of places where
>people could facilitate the call from," he said. "Sometimes it's easy
>because people tell you what their name, phone number and address are."
>
>The investigative service, which has units scattered throughout the
country,
>turn the cases over to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution.
Offenders
>who make false distress calls face hefty punishment including a maximum
five
>to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, an $8,000 civil penalty and
possible
>reimbursement.
>
>
>Bill Dunn           N1KUG
>Cruise Ship Frequencies
>http://scanmaritime.com/
>
>
>
>
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