Guard (121.5) police get it wrong
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Penko, trust me I know exactly how the whole lost comms/Air Force thing works. You will have to have been a complete muppet to even get close to having a pointy grey thing on you wing. The big clue is that you, in your wonderjet, have been over continental Europe for a matter of minutes without having heard a single transmission on the freq you think is you ATC freq. Monitor your ATC freq, have 121.5 on in the background (a little like the ATIS or Company freq - not difficult really) and just get on with it.
Join Date: Jul 2002
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Not later than last week I overheard a French crew helping out another French crew which was being called on an ATC frequency. The conversation was in French and very to the point and professional but it didn't take long before some annoying brats thought it was necessary to point out they were on guard. Needless to say they blocked out most of the transmissions until the helping crew replied in impeccable English that he was fully aware that he was on guard but that he was helping a lost colleague. The silence after this intervention was deafening.
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Do you really have the ATIS running in the background? Must be short one sector days only in your company 
You have a point, if it goes silent for a long time, something might be wrong. However, I can guarantee you, silence is a difficult thing to detect (it's deafening). I bet you a frantic controller will beat you to it by calling your name on 121.5 far quicker than you will notice the absense of any transmissions.
You have a point, if it goes silent for a long time, something might be wrong. However, I can guarantee you, silence is a difficult thing to detect (it's deafening). I bet you a frantic controller will beat you to it by calling your name on 121.5 far quicker than you will notice the absense of any transmissions.
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Users of 121.5 please note
I think we'd all agree blocked transmissions are usually quite annoying. On busy frequencies they can take up valuable time when we're all working hard, pilot and controller alike. On guard, it could be dangerous.
I think we should re-double our efforts at best practice on the radio. This means listening out for a few seconds before you transmit. This is especially important on 121.5, given that it is the only frequency of which I am aware that regularly suffers from upwards of a dozen simulataneous transmissions. Mainly from mitteleuropeans. Mainly saying exactly the same thing.
So next time sombody mistakenly calls on guard. Listen out, and wait for the previous station to finish his transmission of "You're on guard" before beginning your transmission of "You're on guard". That way you will be clearly heard, everyone can have their bite at the cherry and you can all get it out of your system. Otherwise you will all cross each other and block the frequency.
I think we should re-double our efforts at best practice on the radio. This means listening out for a few seconds before you transmit. This is especially important on 121.5, given that it is the only frequency of which I am aware that regularly suffers from upwards of a dozen simulataneous transmissions. Mainly from mitteleuropeans. Mainly saying exactly the same thing.
So next time sombody mistakenly calls on guard. Listen out, and wait for the previous station to finish his transmission of "You're on guard" before beginning your transmission of "You're on guard". That way you will be clearly heard, everyone can have their bite at the cherry and you can all get it out of your system. Otherwise you will all cross each other and block the frequency.
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Guard Police
They are just as annoying as the Arabs that always yak on the freq. And yes most of the time you will here "you're on guard" with snobby Oxford English accent. 
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For what it is worth, a link to the General AViation safety council website
http://www.gasco.org.uk/pages/news_i...1&i_PageID=353
http://www.gasco.org.uk/pages/news_i...1&i_PageID=353
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Tired of the jabbering
I used to be a Guard Policeman ( at times ), I am now reformed.
Monitoring the primary is my main concern, and I have been both distracted and at times unable to hear ATC when someone simultaneously transmits on guard. I guesstimate 99.9% of the transmissions are either in error or general bull**** communications that have no justification to be used on this frq.
Now, I just turn down the volume of Guard low, very low. Sort of like turning your wife down so you can hear the TV. After we coast out of Europe, and the nuisance jabbering ends, the volume goes up.
Monitoring the primary is my main concern, and I have been both distracted and at times unable to hear ATC when someone simultaneously transmits on guard. I guesstimate 99.9% of the transmissions are either in error or general bull**** communications that have no justification to be used on this frq.
Now, I just turn down the volume of Guard low, very low. Sort of like turning your wife down so you can hear the TV. After we coast out of Europe, and the nuisance jabbering ends, the volume goes up.
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jenkingeorge,
I suggest you read the rest of this thread, and a couple of the other ones on the same subject here on PPRuNe, and you'll soon enough know where the problem is.
121.5 is for emergencies of various kinds, and for those who need to practise what to do in such an emergency.
Otherwise it's a frequency where you LISTEN, and otherwise keep your trap shut. Sadly this is not the case everywhere.
CJ
I suggest you read the rest of this thread, and a couple of the other ones on the same subject here on PPRuNe, and you'll soon enough know where the problem is.
121.5 is for emergencies of various kinds, and for those who need to practise what to do in such an emergency.
Otherwise it's a frequency where you LISTEN, and otherwise keep your trap shut. Sadly this is not the case everywhere.
CJ
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A genuine question here ... when someone tries calling their ops people, or their mother-in-law, or whoever, on 121.5, why does London Centre (in the UK) not tell them they've got it wrong? - perhaps if that were routine the other 487 pilots listening in wouldn't feel it necessary to jump in themselves?
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Sorry but because of all the stupid chatter and accidental calls too company on 121.5 I turn it off now, particularly when flying in the UK (where at least it's used for helping lost 172's) and China (where god-knows what they are rattling on about).
I can't hear what's happening on Sector or Approach on VHF 1 with all the yakking going on on VHF2 so I turn it off. Sometimes I have forgotten to turn the volume up again when I leave that airspace.
That's defeating the whole purpose of a 'guard' frequency.
Use 123.45 for silly football score chat and leave 121.5 for the maydays.
I can't hear what's happening on Sector or Approach on VHF 1 with all the yakking going on on VHF2 so I turn it off. Sometimes I have forgotten to turn the volume up again when I leave that airspace.
That's defeating the whole purpose of a 'guard' frequency.
Use 123.45 for silly football score chat and leave 121.5 for the maydays.
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Gertie
We dont tell them as we would then be contributing to the problem ourselves. We leave it & hopefully commonsense will prevail on the flight deck, the guy will think "hmmm why no reply, why is that?" & check his freq selection. What usually happens however is the guard police dive in
What these self appointed guardians of 121.5 seem to fail to appreciate is this...
Aircraft A over Paris transmitts inadvertantly .
Aircraft B over Dover hears said transmission and dives in with " youre on guard"
Aircraft C over Manchester does not hear aircraft A's transmission as he is too far awy to have heard it. He does however hear aircraft B's transmission and also feels the need to inform aircraft B that he is also transmitting on guard.
Aircraft D meanwhile over Edingburg hears ac C....
If we all just left the guys alone to sort out their frequency faffs, the world sure would be a quieter place
DD
We dont tell them as we would then be contributing to the problem ourselves. We leave it & hopefully commonsense will prevail on the flight deck, the guy will think "hmmm why no reply, why is that?" & check his freq selection. What usually happens however is the guard police dive in
What these self appointed guardians of 121.5 seem to fail to appreciate is this...
Aircraft A over Paris transmitts inadvertantly .
Aircraft B over Dover hears said transmission and dives in with " youre on guard"
Aircraft C over Manchester does not hear aircraft A's transmission as he is too far awy to have heard it. He does however hear aircraft B's transmission and also feels the need to inform aircraft B that he is also transmitting on guard.
Aircraft D meanwhile over Edingburg hears ac C....
If we all just left the guys alone to sort out their frequency faffs, the world sure would be a quieter place
DD
ZbV
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Guard Police
Flying over Germany yesterday 2 flights where trying to figure ( in German) out what frequency they should be on when the guard when the obviously native english speaking guard police stepped in with the remarkable " On Guard" comment. Someone else stepped in with the "Guard Police" remark. PPRuNe vocabluary finding it's way to the real world.
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Use the system!
Flying over Germany yesterday 2 flights where trying to figure ( in German) out what frequency they should be on
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Six pages of thread on how to use 121.5...and judgments on whether or not an undercarriage problem, that might have severed a hydraulic line and ruptured a wing panel, might constitute a "real" emergency or not. I think that some people might be in a hurry to judge and short on the bigger picture here. The "on guard" crap has been going on for the last 25 years and seems to be a by product of bored pilots in automated cockpits with nothing better to get their panties in a wad over.
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Guys, once again. If you hear someone talking in a 'foreign' language on 121.5...don't immediately assume it is chatter and do not shout 'GUARD'. As I overheared today, a Spanish speaking pilot was so obviously trying to contact Barcelona ATC for a very valid reason, just to be interupted by 'ON GUAAAARD'.
Just don't.
Just don't.