Tortugas MOA, west of Key West

[danpass]

Anyone ever fly around there?

I'll be there (Fort Jefferson) next weekend and I'll have my aviation HT with me.

Just curious if it would be possible to say 'hi' on the CT 118.575 or some other VHF freq

http://vfrmap.com/?type=vfrc&lat=24.575&lon=-82.2&zoom=10




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[MIDNJAC]

Yes, it is a cool area. No supersonic flight over it, and if I remember correctly the minalt is like 3000 ft over the top of it. Never had the chance to actually go out there on foot and check it out, but it looks cool from the air at least.

 

[danpass]

I was reading some NPS environmental impact report that spoke of sonic booms lol.

Am I good with 118.575?


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[MIDNJAC]

Nobody flying out there (Hornet or F-5 wise) is going to be up a VHF freq. I have no idea what we used as area common out there, but it was a UHF freq. Might be able to reach a helo or something though if they are out there.

Either way, anyone flying out there is probably doing training and not just flying around for fun, so you probably wouldn't get much of a response anyway other than confusion

 

[danpass]

ah, well. I was just thinking back to another thread where pilots mentioned responding to boats calling hello on 16.

 

[MIDNJAC]

ah, well. I was just thinking back to another thread where pilots mentioned responding to boats calling hello on 16.

Our radios can get 16/maritime common, but I don't know of anyone who has really ever monitored it (as you would have to give up an entire radio to do so) unless we needed to reach a boat/ship of interest. Maybe some of the airframes that have a more maritime mission do though.

 

[pilot_man]

People more avoid the MOA than fly in it. Silly National Park rules and lack of sonic booms and such.

I monitor bridge to bridge all the time but that is mostly because there are sailors out there who can still act like sailors and still talk on the radio like sailors do and it's fun to listen to.

 

[MIDNJAC]

I monitor bridge to bridge all the time but that is mostly because there are sailors out there who can still act like sailors and still talk on the radio like sailors do and it's fun to listen to.

Maybe I should do that more often

 

[danpass]

I'll also have a radio that can do marine VHF lol.

What I'm doing is camping for three nights and 'activating' the grid for ham radio (6m VHF, 20m HF will be my focus)

 

[Brett327]

People more avoid the MOA than fly in it. Silly National Park rules and lack of sonic booms and such.

I monitor bridge to bridge all the time but that is mostly because there are sailors out there who can still act like sailors and still talk on the radio like sailors do and it's fun to listen to.

Marine 16 is great for SSC. I also tune in now and then and will even talk to the ship I'm rigging if there's something interesting about it. The bridge watch is usually pretty jazzed to be talking with the jet that's buzzing around it. I've also been called an "American cowboy" in the GOO. Good times.

 

[xj220]

We did that all the time in the P-3. Sometimes the guys were really cool and work with us for training. Other than that it wasn't too exciting.

 

[Brett327]

You try saying "hello" on channel 16. Then research what channel 16 is used for... hint it's not "maritime common".

Yeah, neither is guard, but don't tell the USAF that.

 

[HercDriver]

You try saying "hello" on channel 16. Then research what channel 16 is used for... hint it's not "maritime common".

Yeah, it's the best when a couple of guys in Hatteras boats doing some weekend fishing are shootin' the shit while I'm trying to talk to a vessel in distress. Sometimes they will try to speak in short sentences, because then no one will notice we're on a distress frequency. So sneaky.

 

[Uncle Fester]

The Park Service will go bananas for noise disturbances around Ft Jeff. Makes the Greater Keys Spotted Whatevers break their eggs or something. When I was controlling there they made a point of hawking guys' altitude and mach when they were anywhere near the MOA.

 

[danpass]

Yeah, in my permit I cannot use white light after dusk/before dawn as it will confuse the turtles.

It's nesting season, dontcha know anything?

(they're talking about steady, on-for-hours, white light)