"...Coast Guard Auxiliary, Shell Point Station" Flotilla 13 maintains VHF radio watches from April to November, on weekends and holidays. Our station facilities include two VHF  radios for surface communications and one VHF radio for aircraft. We also have 9 authorized radio facilities in  the Shell Point area that are used to cover periods where we are not on duty at the station.

Shell Point Station A 100 foot commercial radio tower is located on the south side of the building next to the radio room. There are lights on the top of the mast. Attached to the top of the tower is the main directional, four gang, 15 DB VHF/FM commercial antenna. It extends the mast height to 15 feet, so the antenna is 115 feet high. A secondary 7.5 DB VHF/FM antenna is positioned on a stand-off bracket at the 85 foot level. A 3 DB, VHF aircraft antenna is also on a stand-off bracket at the 50 foot level. A fourth antenna is on a mast at the south-east corner of the building. It is 53 feet high and is a radio directional antenna with a 235 degree span. A 8 foot whip antenna is used for the transmit side of the RDF equipment. All of the antenna coaxial cable is run through a conduit into the building and goes through a metal box containing relays that control the antennas. These relays are used to groud the antennas to help prevent equipment damage caused by lightning. The relays are controlled by the main power switch.

We have two matching all channel VHF/FM transceivers, one for monitoring channel 16 and the other one monitors channel 83. The main radio (16) is connectyed to the main antenna (115 feet), and the secondary radio is connected to the lower antenna (85 feet). A spare radio can be quickly put on line in the event of a radio failure. We have one VHF aircraft radio that can be used to keep in contact with patrol aircraft. A ten channel scanner is used to monitor other marine frequencies. The radios are powered by a Gel-cel battery with a 10 Ampere charger. All radio equipment runs off of 12 volt battery to eliminated any A/C hum. If this system fails, we also have a 110 VAC to 12VDC converter. We also have a 2400 Watt, 110 VAC generator. In the event of a power failure, a second switch will switch to battery back-up power.

Shell Point Station 1557 Shell Point Road Crawfordville, FL 32327 (850) 926-5654