SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA 



C135 



practicable in the ship and readily accessible to the radio officer. The 

 switchboard shall, wherever possible, be situated in a radio room; if it is 

 not, it shall be capable of being illuminated. 



ip) While the ship is at sea, accumulator batteries, whether forming part 

 of the main installation or reserve installation, shall be brought up to the 

 normal fully-charged condition daily. 



(q) AJl steps shall be taken to eliminate so far as is possible the causes 

 of, and to suppress, radio interference from electrical and other apparatus 

 on board. If necessary, steps shall be taken to ensure that the aerials 

 attached to broadcast receivers do not cause interference to the efficient or 

 correct working of the radiotelegraph installation. Particular attention 

 shall be paid to this requirement in the design of new ships. 



(r) In addition to a means for manually transmitting the radiotelegraph 

 alarm signal, an automatic radiotelegraph alarm signal keying device shall 

 be provided, capable of keying the main and the reserve transmitters so as to 

 transmit the radiotelegraph alarm signal. The device shall be capable of 

 being taken out of operation at any time in order to permit immediate 

 manual operation of the transmitter. If electrically operated, this keying 

 device shall be capable of operation from the reserve source of energy. 



(s) At sea, the reserve transmitter, if not used for communications, shall 

 be tested daily using'a suitable arti6cial aerial, and at least once during each 

 voyage using the Teserve aerial if installed. The reserve source of energy 

 shall also be tested daily. 



(r) All equipments forming part of the radiotelegraph installation shall be 

 reliable, and shall be so constructed that they are readily accessible for 

 maintenance purposes. 



(w) Notwithstanding the provision of Regulation 4 of this Chapter, the 

 Administration may, in the case of cargo ships below 1,600 tons gross 

 tonnage, relax the full requirements of Regulation 8 of this Chapter and the 

 present Regulation, provided that the standard of the radiotelegraph station 

 shall in no case fall below the equivalent of that prescribed under Regula- 

 tion 14 and Regulation 15 of this Chapter for radiotelephone stations, so 

 far as applicable. In particular, in the case of cargo ships of 300 tons 

 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 500 tons gross tonnage, the 

 Administration need not require: — 



(i) a reserve receiver; 



(ii) a reserve source of energy in existing installations; 



(iii) protection of the main aerial against breakage by whipping; 



(iv) the means of communication between the radiotelegraph station 

 and the bridge to be independent of the main communication 

 system; 



(v) the range of the transmitter to be greater than 75 miles. 



Ch. 4 



