Yaesu Musen HX260S Owners Manual

Owner’s Manual

Contains

FCC / INDUSTRY CANADA Information
Maintenance
Service
VHF Channel Charts
Warranty

Supplement

For Marine VHF Radios

NOTE

Please fill out the enclosed warranty registration postcard attached to the front
of this manual. Should the warranty registration postcard be missing, please
register on line at www.yaesu.com or contact Standard Horizon at:

17210 Edwards Road
Cerritos, CA 90703

FCC RADIO LICENSE INFORMATION

Standard Horizon radios comply with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
requirements that regulate the Maritime Radio Service.

Station License

An FCC ship station license is no longer required for any vessel traveling in U.S.
waters which uses a VHF marine radio , RADAR or EPIRB, and which is not required
to carry radio equipment. A license is necessary however for a DSC MMSI number,
any vessel required to carry a marine radio on an international voyage, carrying a HF
single side band radiotelephone or marine satellite terminal. FCC license forms,
including applications for ship (506) and land station licenses can be downloaded via
the Internet at www.fcc.gov/forms. To obtain a form from the FCC, call [phone].

Radio Call sign

Currently the FCC does not require recreational boaters to have a Ship Radio Station
License. The USCG recommends the boats registration number and the state to be
used.

Canadian Ship Station Licensing

You do not need a license if your vessel is not operated in sovereign waters of a
country other than Canada or the U.S.A. If y ou do need a license contact their nearest
field office or regional office or write:

Industry Canada
Radio Regulatory Branch
Attn: DOSP
300 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, KIA 0C8

page 1 Standard Horizon Marine Radios

FACTORY SERVICE

In the unlikely event that the radio fails to perform or needs servicing, please contact
the following:

Standard Horizon Factory Service
115 N. Wright Brothers Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84116-2838
Telephone [phone]
Fax No. [phone]

WARRANTY INFORMATION CARD INSTRUCTIONS

THANK YOU for buying STANDARD HORIZON (a division of YAESU USA) products!
We are confident your new radio will serve your needs for many years!

Please complete the Owner’s Record below for your records. Then complete the
Warranty Information Card that should be attached to the front of this manual, detach
it and mail it to STANDARD HORIZON. Should you ever return the equipment to
your STANDARD HORIZON Dealer or to STANDARD HORIZON for in-warranty
repair, the Owner’s Record, or other proof of purchase, must be included with the
unit to provide warranty information.

In addition to the warranty, STANDARD HORIZON includes a lifetime “flat rate”
program to provide service after the warranty period has expired. If you wish to
obtain the flat rate price for out-of-warranty repair, you must include the information
on the Owner’s Record with the unit when you return it to your Dealer or to
STANDARD HORIZON.

Lifetime Flat Rate Service Program: For the original Owner only, for the lifetime of
the unit, STANDARD HORIZON will repair the unit to original specifications.

Note: The flat rate amount is payable by the Owner only if STANDARD HORIZON or
the STANDARD HORIZON Dealer determines that a repair is needed. After the repair,
a 90-day warranty will be in effect from the date of return of the unit to the Owner.

This service program is not available for equipment which has failed as a result of
neglect, accident, breakage, misuse, improper installation or modification, or water
damage. (depending on the product)

Model

Purchase Date Dealer

Marine Radios Standard Horizon page 2

Serial Number

OPERATING PRACTICES

Emergency (Channel 16 Use)

Channel 16 is known as the
defined as a threat to life or property. In such instances, be sure the transceiver is on
and set to CHANNEL 16. Then use the following procedure:

1. Press the microphone push-to-talk switch and say “Mayday , Mayda y , Mayday.
This is , , ” (your vessel's name).

2. Then repeat once: “

3. Now report your position in latitude/longitude, or by giving a true or magnetic
bearing (state which) to a well-known landmark such as a navigation aid or
geographic feature such as an island or harbor entry.

4. Explain the nature of your distress (sinking, collision, aground, fire, heart
attack, life-threatening injury, etc.).

5. State the kind of assistance your desire (pumps, medical aid, etc.).

6. Report the number of persons aboard and condition of any injured.

7. Estimate the present seaworthiness and condition of your vessel.

8. Give your v essel's description: length, design (power or sail), color and other
distinguishing marks. The total transmission should not exceed 1 minute.

9. End the message by saying
listen.

10. If there is no answer, repeat the abo v e procedure. If there is still no response,
try another channel.

Calling Another Vessel (Channel 16 or 9)

Channel 16 may be used for initial contact (hailing) with another vessel. However, its
most important use is for emergency messages. This channel must be monitored at
all times except when actually using another channel. It is monitored by the U.S. and
Canadian Coast Guards and by other vessels. Use of channel 16 for hailing must
be limited to initial contact only. Calling should not exceed 30 seconds, but may
be repeated 3 times at 2-minute intervals. In areas of heavy radio traffic, congestion
on channel 16 resulting from its use as a hailing channel can be reduced significantly
in U.S. waters by using channel 9 as the initial contact (hailing) channel for non­emergency communications. Here, also, calling time should not exceed 30 seconds
but may be repeated 3 times at 2-minute intervals.

Prior to making contact with another vessel, refer to the channel charts in this
manual, and select an appropriate channel for communications after initial contact.

Hail and Distress Channel

Mayday

, ,” (your vessel’s name).

“OVER”

. Release the microphone button and

. An emergency may be

page 3 Standard Horizon Marine Radios

For example, Channels 68 and 69 of the U.S. VHF Charts are some of the channels
available to non-commercial (recreational) boaters. Monitor your desired channel in
advance to make sure you will not be interrupting other traffic, and then go back to
either channel 16 or 9 for your initial contact.

When the hailing channel (16 or 9) is clear, state the name of the other vessel you
wish to call and then
License (Call Sign). When the other vessel returns your call, immediately request
another channel by saying
Then switch to the new channel. When the new channel is not busy, call the other
vessel.

After a transmission, say
switch. When all communication with the other vessel is completed, end the last
transmission by stating your Call Sign and the word
necessary to state your Call Sign with each transmission, only at the beginning and
end of the contact.

Remember to return to Channel 16 when not using another channel. Some radios
automatically monitor Channel 16 even when set to other channels or when
scanning; see your Owner's Manual.

“this is”

“over”

followed by the name of your vessel and your Station

“go to”

, the number of the other channel, and "over."

, and release the microphone's push-to-talk (PTT)

“out”

. Note that it is not

Making Telephone Calls

To make a radiotelephone call, use a channel designated for this purpose, The
fastest way to learn which channels are used for radiotelephone traffic is to ask at a
local marina. Channels available for such traffic are designated

Correspondence

for USA use are Channels 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 84, 85, 86, and 87. Call the marine
operator and identify yourself by your vessel's name, The marine operator will then
ask you how you will pay for the call (telephone credit card, collect, etc.) and then link
your radio transmission to the telephone lines.

The marine telephone company managing the VHF channel you are using may
charge a link-up fee in addition to the cost of the call.

channels on the channel charts in this manual. Some examples

Public

Operating On Channels 13 And 67

Channel 13 is used at docks and bridges and by vessels maneuvering in port.
Messages on this channel must concern navigation only, such as meeting and
passing in restricted waters.

Channel 67 is used for navigational traffic between vessels.
By regulation, power is normally limited to 1 Watt on these channels. Your radio is

programmed to automatically reduce power to this limit on these channels. However,
in certain situations it may be necessary to temporarily use a higher power. See your
Owner's Manual for means to temporarily override the low-power limit on these two
channels.

Marine Radios Standard Horizon page 4

Prohibited Communications

The FCC prohibits the following communications:

n False distress or emergency messages:
n Messages to "any boat" except in emergencies and radio tests;
n Messages to or from a vessel on land;
n Transmission while on land;
n Obscene, indecent, or profane language (potential fine of $10,000).

NOAA Weather Alert Testing

In the event of a major storm or other appreciable weather condition requiring
vessels at sea or other bodies of water to be notified, the NOAA (National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) broadcasts a 1050 Hz tone that
some marine VHF radios can detect. (Refer to your radio's Owner's Manual on how
to use this feature.) This tone, when detected, will produce a loud beep from the
radio speaker to signal that a weather alert is being broadcast.

In order to test this system, the NOAA broadcasts the 1050 Hz tone every
Wednesday, sometime between 11 AM and 1 PM. Any marine VHF radio that can
detect the weather alert tone, may use this test to verify that this feature is
functioning properly,

page 5 Standard Horizon Marine Radios

Digital Selective Calling (DSC)

Digital Selective Calling is a semi-automated method of establishing a radio call, it
has been designated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as an
international standard for establishing VHF, MF and HF radio calls. It has also been
designated part of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and it
is planned that DSC will eventually replace aural watches on distress frequencies
and will be used to announce routine and urgent maritime safety information
broadcasts.
This new service will allow mariners to instantly send a distress call with GPS position
(when connected to the transceiver) to the US Coast Guard and other vessels within
range of the transmission. DSC will also allow mariners to initiate or receive distress ,
urgency, safety and routine calls to or from another vessel equipped with a DSC
transceiver.

USCG DSC Watch

The USCG has plans to upgrade its VHF National Distress System (expected by

2005), so at the time of printing only larger vessels that are required to carry VHF
DSC radios will be able to hear your distress transmission

Maritime Mobile Service Identity(MMSI)

What is a MMSI?

A MMSI is a nine digit number used on Marine Transceivers capable of using Digital
Selective Calling (DSC). This number is used like a telephone number to selectively
call other vessels.

How can I obtain a MMSI assignment?

At the time of this printing, to obtain an MMSI the user must contact the FCC and
apply for a Ship Station License form 506, or an amendment to a ship station license,
regardless of whether the license is otherwise required. This procedure is currently
under review by both the FCC and US Coast Guard. Refer to FCC ship station license
section for contact information.

Using Digital Selective Calling Features

Distress Call

Transmits a DSC Distress message to all radios equipped to receive a DSC Distress
call. Some Standard Horizon radios may be connected to a GPS to also transmit the
Latitude, Longitude of the vessel.

Marine Radios Standard Horizon page 6