Resistance to DSC VHF

[SV Enough]

Originally Posted by St. Elsewhere

I have a 1997 Simrad RS8300 VHF that has the red SOS button and GPS feeding information to it. It does not have the Selective Calling function of the later units. I have never had to use it.

There is no way to test it. I am told that it is illegal to press the button to send an SOS with no emergency even if you call the CG ahead of time. Fourteen years later what is the chance that the MMSI number is still in it, and that it would transmit GPS data?

Unfortunately you are right. Later class D sets allow you to do selective calls to someone you have their MMSI or poll a passing commercial vessel position if you you have there MMSI. Tow Boat US will do DSC test now.

Your friend,
Mark

[SV Enough]

Originally Posted by troppo

I think the nxt VHF I get I will get one with DSC and set it up. I have not thought about it before, I am usually the calm one in any crisis, but in a bad one I may go to pieces or it may be me unconscious and my sailing buddy freaking out. Seems like a good idea to make use of the technology.

If you buy it in the US or anywhere else for that matter you will get it weather you want it or not. US law prohibits the manufactures, import or sale of fixed VHF without DSC in the US. By 2015 portable VHF will also have it by law.

Your friend,
Mark

[SV Enough]

I will post the Tow Boat US MMSI direct and group calling MMSI tomorrow. Group calling is another DSC feature allowing you to simultaneously "call" multiple VHF radios at the same time, but it takes a little explaining as it is as strait forward as it would initially seem.

Your friend,
Mark

[Greg S]

"For those that have or get a DSC VHF these are the USCG MMSi for various location with Rescue 21 active. Find the one closest to you and put it in the radio phonebook.

The bottom two are special MMSI for anywhere in US water including Sea Area A1 and the International MMSI all nation respond to in there waters and Sea Area A1. One or both also need to be in the phonebook."

Mark,

Do you really need these numbers in the radio phonebook for the DSC distress to reach them? Or is that just to be able to contact them directly as you've described earlier?

[Bash]

Originally Posted by SV Enough

The CG 40 questions checklist for the legal types and keeping comm open and crew engaged could still go on as the important stuff needed to get help moving is done automatically.

Yeah! What's the deal with the script for the 40 questions?

Yachtie: Mayday, Mayday. This is the sailing vessel Tomcat. We are being boarded by pirates."

CG: Vessel hailing the Coast Guard, this is the United States Coast Guard. What is the nature of your distress?

Yachtie: The name is "Tomcat," not "Vessel Hailing." I'm being boarded by pirates.

CG: Vessel hailing. Roger. Can you please describe the vessel.

Yachtie: It's a sailboat, dammit! White! A white effing sloop! And there are flames coming out the stern where we just too an RPG.

CG: Vessel hailing. Roger. How many passengers are aboard?

Yachtie: Three. Oops. Now there are two. They just threw my wife overboard. I need you to send help!

CG: Vessel hailing. Roger. Are your passengers currently wearing personal flotation devices?

[delmarrey]

Here's a good read on the subject, with links. MMSI, GMDSS, DSC, and AIS Transponders

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

I wouldn't say I'm resistant to it.......The old Apelco radio still has stellar range and works. When it breaks I'll get the ais/dsc super radio but not a moment sooner.

+1 (of course, it may take 10-20 years longer!)

[estarzinger]

In a Feb. 23 letter, Rear Admiral R.E. Day explained to NMEA President David Hayden that, “Of the roughly 100 digital selective calling distress alerts we are now receiving each month, approximately nine out of 10 do not have position information (i.e. do not have a GPS navigation receiver interconnected to their DSC-equipped VHF radio), and approximately six out of 10 have not registered their MMSI. Despite the promises DSC technology offers in significantly reducing the alerting and search time for mariners in distress, there’s little a Coast Guard watchstander can do after receiving a distress alert with no position information, using an unregistered MMSI, and having no follow-up voice communications.”

[cfarrar]

I have programmed my DSC radio with a registered MMSI, and the radio has position data from my GPS. That's all I need in order to send a distress call, right? Is there a benefit to programming MMSI numbers into the phone book?

Note: I see we're supposed to update my MMSI information "bi-annually." I just did so via the Boat U.S. website. Took a couple minutes.

[St. Elsewhere]

Originally Posted by SV Enough

Unfortunately you are right. Later class D sets allow you to do selective calls to someone you have their MMSI or poll a passing commercial vessel position if you you have there MMSI. Tow Boat US will do DSC test now.

Your friend,
Mark

My 14 year old RS8300 does not display GPS data, so I can't tell if this unit is actually receiving the position data, let alone transmitting it. I wonder if the later class D sets do so. Otherwise it seems that the process suggested above will only tell you that your SelCall function is working.

If the authorities are interested in solving the missing position data problem, a means of testing the installations must be created. Such requirements exist in the aviation industry, and periodic checks of similar systems are required.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Greg S

Do the Coast Guard, police, FWC and other on the water support organizations monitor SPOT?

Short answer to your question: no. SPOT is monitored by a private company (that's why you pay an annual fee) and when you send a 911 they turn around and call the appropriate local authorities. You will probably get faster response by calling those authorities directly, but SPOT as a backup certainly can't hurt.

I have one and use it mainly for giving friends and family the occasional "warm and fuzzy" by sending OK messages. In an emergency I would use DSC and EPIRB first, and then SPOT.

[SV Enough]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

In a Feb. 23 letter, Rear Admiral R.E. Day explained to NMEA President David Hayden that, “Of the roughly 100 digital selective calling distress alerts we are now receiving each month, approximately nine out of 10 do not have position information (i.e. do not have a GPS navigation receiver interconnected to their DSC-equipped VHF radio), and approximately six out of 10 have not registered their MMSI. Despite the promises DSC technology offers in significantly reducing the alerting and search time for mariners in distress, there’s little a Coast Guard watchstander can do after receiving a distress alert with no position information, using an unregistered MMSI, and having no follow-up voice communications.”

BINGO!!! You have captured the essence of this thread, education. Please pass it onto your mates and we might just improve the situation in a small way. How does it go, "it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."

Your friend,
Mark

[Kettlewell]

Apparently the Coast Guard in New England prefers you to communicate via cell phone in an emergency. At least that's what they always ask the boater in trouble to do. However, the initial contact is usually made on VHF channel 16, before the CG asks the person to call via phone. One advantage I can see in using channel 16 is that everyone within range is alerted, not just the minority that have DSC and understand how to use it. I can remember quite a few times when a rescuer was able to assist long before the CG could get there, or in some cases even before the CG finished with their 40 questions. There was one nasty case in Narragansett Bay where people were in the water and injured from a flipped cigarette boat. A SeaTow operator immediately headed toward the scene and was pulling people out of the water while the CG was still asking questions.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

And a SPOT would tell where you were even after the boat had sunk. So, it's a toss up on what to really have.

The answer is simple: Both.

[SV Enough]

Originally Posted by Greg S

"For those that have or get a DSC VHF these are the USCG MMSi for various location with Rescue 21 active. Find the one closest to you and put it in the radio phonebook.

The bottom two are special MMSI for anywhere in US water including Sea Area A1 and the International MMSI all nation respond to in there waters and Sea Area A1. One or both also need to be in the phonebook."

Mark,

Do you really need these numbers in the radio phonebook for the DSC distress to reach them? Or is that just to be able to contact them directly as you've described earlier?

Pitting any of these in your radio phonebook are not required. But should you wish to "call" the CG for matters other than DISTRESS you can do so over DSC quickly and simply using routine select DSC VHF to VHF procedure. No bellowing over channel 16 or 22 adding more congestion.

An important thing to remember is that entities such as the CG, private towing and rescue companies GUARD channels, so their Auto Switch feature is disabled. For those of us that use our radio for pleasure boating auto switch allows my radio to switch your radio to the working channel I selected before making the DSC call. It will be in the radio's manual.

Your friend,
Mark