Sec. 80.829  Survival craft nonportable radiotelegraph installation.

    (a) A survival craft nonportable radiotelegraph installation 
required by law to be provided in a motor lifeboat must include the 
following components as a minimum:
    (1) A transmitting and receiving antenna and antenna accessories,
    (2) An artificial antenna for testing purposes;
    (3) A transmitter with keying arrangements for use of 
radiotelegraphy, an associated radio receiver with headphones, and a 
suitable device for converting from the power supply battery voltage to 
the voltages used by the transmitter and receiver;
    (4) A power supply;
    (5) A device for a ground connection to the water when the lifeboat 
is afloat.
    (b) Components of a survival craft nonportable radiotelegraph 
installation specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section must be type 
accepted of Secs. 80.263 and 80.265.
    (c) The radiotelegraph equipment must be installed in a cabin large 
enough to accommodate both the equipment and the person using it. The 
operation of the radiotelegraph installation must not be interfered with 
by the survival craft engine while it is running, whether or not a 
battery is on charge.
    (d) The antenna must be a single wire inverted L type with a 
horizontal section of the maximum practicable length and a height above 
the mean waterline of not less than 6 meters (20 feet), and must be so 
designed that it can be quickly erected and utilized by a person in the 
lifeboat while afloat.
    (e) The ground system must comply with the following requirements:
    (1) The radio installation when installed in a metal hull lifeboat 
must be grounded to the hull of the lifeboat. The ground connection must 
be physically located in a position where it is inaccessible to the 
normal movement of occupants or accessories in the lifeboat;
    (2) The radio installation when installed in a lifeboat having a 
nonmetallic hull must be grounded to a bare plate or strips of corrosion 
resistant metal having a total area of at least 6 square feet and 
located on the hull of the lifeboat below the waterline.
    (f) When the lifeboat is afloat the installation must be capable of 
developing an antenna current such that the product of the maximum 
height of the antenna above the mean surface of the water, expressed in 
meters, and the r.m.s. antenna current on the frequency 500 kHz, 
expressed in amperes, is not less than .6.
[51 9 FR 31213 , Sept. 2, 1986, as amended at  58 FR 44953 , Aug. 25, 1993]