[Lowfer] Navtex

[Garry Hess]

As J.B. notes, the Prescott (Wiarton), Ontario station has been down for 
some time now so decoding Curacao is not too hard, provided the New 
Orleans station isn't long-winded. Decodes here in the past have always 
been clear if "ZCZC H..." was from Wiarton or Curacao since the latter 
included something like "COAST GUARD NETHERLANDS ANTILLES", "FROM RCC 
CURACAO", etc.

Propagation here to the west has been quite poor for some days now but 
last night NDB signals from Cuba, Turks & Caicos Islands, and Trinidad & 
Tobago in the Carribean were good so it wasn't surprising to decode an 
"H" message. But this one was different:

ZCZC HD92
THIS IS MRCC FORT DE FRANCE
PHONE: 596 596 70 92 92
TELEX: (42) 912008
FAX: 596  63 24 50
INM C: 422 799 024
MAIL: ANTILLES AT MRCCFR.EU

MAYDAY RELAY - MAYDAY RELAY - MAYDAY RELAY

MRCC FORT DE FRANCE REPORTS:
OVERDUE CONCERNING F/V NAME: TAKE IT EASY - 22 FEET OPEN KEEL BOAT LEFT 
PORTSMOUTH IN DOMINICA ON FEBRUARY 01TH 2014 TO DESTINATION 30/35 MILES 
WEST AND STILL NOT RETURNED - 2 PEOPLE ON BOARD - BOAT COLOR: GREEN 
OUTSIDE - YELLOW INSIDE

ALL SHIPS IN THE VICINITY ARE REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT WHEN 
PROCEED TO THE DISTRESS AREA AND REPORT ALL INFORMATION TO MRCC 
FORT-DE-FRANCE COORDINATING THE OPERATIONSNNNN

I wonder if this message was transmitted not from Curaco (callsign JPC), 
but rather from MRCC, Fort de France, a search and rescue center located 
on Martinique 
(http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/UN_USA08/2009%20Martinique%20SAR.pdf, and 
http://www.coastalradio.org.uk/worldcoastal/fortdefrance/fortdefrance.htm)? 
The Navtex information at 
http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=13077 indicates a station 
on Martinique with callsign FFP is planned. Perhaps it has come online 
and is using "H" for ID.

-- 
73, Garry, K3SIW, EN52ta, Elgin, IL