Continuous listening watches were maintained on distress frequencies of:
- 500
- 2182
- 4125
- 6215
Silent periods on 2182 were for three minutes each half hour, and on 500 for three minutes at quarter to, and quarter past, the hour.
The main watch receiver for 2182 was on Great Barrier Island, with the audio fed back to Musick Point over the Telecom network. The reason for this was that the background noise level was much lower at Great Barrier.
The local receiver at Musick Point could be switched in, if necessary.
For 500 kc/s, operators could choose either the Dansk or Nautel transmitter (some operators preferred the MCW tone of one transmitter over the other).
In addition to these frequencies, VHF channel 16 was also monitored, with the main working channel being 71. Channel 68 was also available.
Once initial contact was made with a vessel on any of the watch frequencies, they moved to the appropriate working channel.
» More information from Paul can be found on the Oliver Road Transmitters page.