VHF Compliance in Belgium and the Netherlands
Written by Paul Lawson
Updated at December 12th, 2023
Due to recent decisions made at the World Radio Conference, many existing international channels will no longer be allowed for voice communication. These channels are being repurposed for the implementation of the VHF Digital Data Exchange System such as VDES.
Most Countries/Flag states will not be implementing these changes for some time to come however, Belgium and the Netherlands are implementing these changes from January 2024.
Considerations:
-
If the VHF Radio onboard is an FM8800/8500 then theses Radiotelephone sets will need to be replaced with the newer FM-8900S Radiotelephone.
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The FM8900S should be updated to the latest software version v04.01.
Version v04.01 International channel band.
-
Duplex Channels 27-28 have been removed.
- Simplex Channels 1027-1028 have been added.
Note:
If the vessel operates in Belgium or Netherlands regional waters, then there is a requirement for an authorized service engineer to attend the vessel and manually remove the following channels from the international band:
Channel |
Frequency TX MHz |
Frequency RX MHz |
24 |
157.200 |
161.800 |
25 |
175.250 |
161.850 |
26 |
157.300 |
161.900 |
84 |
157.225 |
161.825 |
85 |
157.275 |
161.875 |
86 |
157.325 |
161.925 |
For further information please contact your local authorised Furuno dealer.
