Tag Archives: USCG

USCG Alert Issued Regarding LED Lighting

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August 15, 2018 Safety Alert 13-18

Washington, DC

Let us enlighten you about LED lighting!

Potential interference of VHF-FM Radio and AIS Reception.

The U.S. Coast Guard has received reports from crews, ship owners, inspectors and other mariners regarding poor reception on VHF frequencies used for radiotelephone, digital selective calling (DSC) and automatic identification systems (AIS) when in the vicinity of light emitting diode (LED) lighting on-board ships (e.g., navigation lights, searchlights and floodlights, interior and exterior lights, adornment).

Radio frequency interference caused by these LED lamps were found to create potential safety hazards. For example, the maritime rescue coordination center in one port was unable to contact a ship involved in a traffic separation scheme incident by VHF radio. That ship also experienced very poor AIS reception. Other ships in different ports have experienced degradation of the VHF receivers, including AIS, caused by their LED navigation lights. LED lighting installed near VHF antennas has also shown to compound the reception.

Strong radio interference from LED sources may not be immediately evident to maritime radio users. Nonetheless, it may be possible to test for the presence of LED interference by using the following procedures:

1. Turn off LED light(s).
2. Tune the VHF radio to a quiet channel (e.g. Ch. 13).
3. Adjust the VHF radio’s squelch control until the radio outputs audio noise.
4. Re-adjust the VHF radio’s squelch control until the audio noise is quiet, only slightly above the noise threshold.

Safety Alert 13-18


5. Turn on the LED light(s).

If the radio now outputs audio noise, then the LED lights have raised the noise floor. (Noise floor is generally the amount of interfering signals / static received beyond the specific signal or channel being monitored.)

6. If the radio does not output audio noise, then the LED lights have not raised the noise floor.

If the noise floor is found to have been raised, then it is likely that both shipboard VHF marine radio and AIS reception are being degraded by LED lighting.

In order to determine the full impact of this interference, the Coast Guard requests those experiencing this problem to report their experiences to Coast Guard Navigation Center1. Select “Maritime Telecommunications” on the subject drop down list, then briefly describe the make and model of LED lighting and radios effected, distance from lighting to antennas and radios effected, and any other information that may help understand the scope of the problem.

This Safety Alert is provided for informational purposes only and does not relieve any domestic or international safety, operational, or material requirement. Developed by the U.S. Coast Guard, Spectrum Management and Telecommunications Policy Division.

Distributed by the Office of Investigations and Analysis.

Questions may be sent to HQS-PF-fldr-CGF-INV@uscg.mil.

A SWIM IN THE PARK

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USCG RESCUE SWIMMER TRAINING PROGRAM

A Swim in the Park is a story from our friend David.

David Pu'u is a K38 alumni and also a friend. He has chronicled many of a K38 Way of Training course through his lens.

He is a professional photographer and husband to Donna Pu'u who owns Betty Belts which is also my jewelry sponsor. Both of these humans are outstanding representations of what is right in humanity.

Take a moment to get to know David................

Jet Pump

Instructor Shawn Alladio

ASTORIA

I found myself in a wary mindset as the Air Alaska jet lifted off an Arizona runway. Shawn Alladio and I watched the desert recede below us. We are both speed junkies, so found ourselves smiling as we accelerated into the blue morning sky on the last leg of our flight to Portland Oregon.

We were enroute to Astoria and our ultimate destination, the USCG Station at Tongue Point. Shawn sometimes invites me along as she engages her job as head of K38 Rescue, a global ocean safety and training organization, which is an internationally recognized specialist in PWC (personal watercraft, aka jet ski) operations.

Jet Pump

RWC Lifesavers

PARTICIPATE

This week, Shawn was on assignment to work with the USCG STAN Team, which consisted of Five Advanced Rescue Swimmers who were building a course for the USCG on PWC operations, a new direction for the Coast Guard.

I was wary, because I knew we would be working in the Colombia River foul area off Cape Disappointment which is a series of sand bars in open ocean. I also had seen the film The Guardian, which was shot where we were going, and which documented the life and death of one of the best Advanced Rescue Swimmers ever. Then there are the countless videos of Rescue Boat training I have watched, which were filmed there.

The Bar is an infamous and legendary training ground for the CG. It would be cold, have weather, and the conditions would be whatever the Northern Pacific decided. Knowing the ocean. I was thinking about this. The proverbial running into the pit, with the best watermen and operators in the world as they acquired new skills.

Shawn has mentored me well over the years. My deep understanding of the ocean and skill in it were morphing as age is want to do to one. And here I was, seated alongside a woman who would be supervising the elite of our country’s rescue personnel. I guess that is why I would call this an adventure: some unknowns existed, and conditions could be anything.

To read the rest of the story please go to:

A Swim In The Park