Anyone tried to get DSC data OUT of Icom IC-M504 VHF?

[ranger58sb]

Fair question

A qualified "yes" (maybe). The connected cable looks like a standard size that runs to (some of?) the other systems... but I can't see the internal wires or the pin-outs (short of pulling the radio out; not quite ready for that). There's a label on that cable -- of course its upside down and 3 feet away from my closest access point -- that looks like it has the installers notes for NMEA IN (+/-), NMEA OUT (+/-), etc.

So I can't quite do perfect trace, but the electronics dealer's installer did a bang-up job of connecting everything else to everything else, near as I can tell...

I think I haven't figured out yet how easiest to cause that radio to receive (cause someone to send me) a DSC position report, in order to then see if it flows through to the plotter. Still working it...

Squelch too LOW? I usually keep squelch fairly HIGH to weed out all the crappola...

Have you spoken with ICOM?

-Chris

[ranger58sb]

Another small step. Boat neighbor has an ICOM 402S, with connected GPS, and with MMSI... but the MMSI (apparently) hadn't been entered into his system.

Once we got over that hurdle...

I called his radio with a position request, he manually told his radio to answer (couldn't find an auto ack function), and my radio displayed his coordinates...

But that info was apparently either not passed through to the plotter, or I don't have the display set correctly to show me the money.

Ruminating...


-Chris

[ak-angler]

I know this is an older thread... But, did you ever get this working?

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by ak-angler

But, did you ever get this working?

No, I never got any sensible response from Icom despite that I sent them data logs from every possible test that they or I could think of.

I learned not to trust Icom´s claims about features that are not used by most people.

[ak-angler]

That sucks. But, thanks for the reply.

[clownfishsydney]

I have this working on my radio on my power boat. However, as was done in one of the last posts, this only works if you request a position from another boat or someone sends an SOS. We use this in my dive club to show other members' boats where we are diving. When sailing last year, we used this with a couple of other yachts to show each other where we were anchored etc.

Our Icom 402 will not work as it only has NMEA in and not out for some strange reason.

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by clownfishsydney

I have this working on my radio on my power boat. However, as was done in one of the last posts, this only works if you request a position from another boat or someone sends an SOS. .

Can you please confirm that you managed to get a 504 to send to your plotter the position of another boat that has replied to a DSC position request?

Sent from my SM-G9287 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[DotDun]

I've had my 504 sending DSC to my Furuno NavNet3D for years. When I request and receive a position via DSC, it displays on the chart plotter.

[clownfishsydney]

Originally Posted by svlamorocha

Can you please confirm that you managed to get a 504 to send to your plotter the position of another boat that has replied to a DSC position request?

I do not have a 504, I was speaking about another radio on another boat. My point was that DSC does not plot on chartplotters just in response to a call, only a request for a location or an SOS.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by DotDun

I've had my 504 sending DSC to my Furuno NavNet3D for years. When I request and receive a position via DSC, it displays on the chart plotter.

Can you hum a few bars about what it takes to set that up?

I've got an M604 connected to an NN3D MFD... and the radio gets it's GPS data from the plotter/GPS... but I don't know how to move data the other direction -- from the radio to the plotter -- and then display it...

-Chris

[Captain Bill]

SVLamoraocha, it's not clear to me that your radio has received a position report. Ranger42 says his radio displays the position of the other vessel when he gets a position report. Perhaps I missed it in reading this thread, but I didn't see that you reported that the radio displayed the position, but no sentence came out of the nmea out port. If the radio doesn't report a position on its display, I doubt it's going to put out a position on the NMEA output. There also seems to be a bit of confusion about DSC operations in your posts. Clownfishsydney is correct. Only SOS and specific position request responses or position reports are output to the plotter. A DSC radio does NOT send a position report to the calling boat when answering a "Call". Furthermore a position request auto response is a separate setting from the auto acknowledge setting for a "call". This was to please commercial fishermen who might not mind talking to another boat, but do not want another boat to be able to track them to their favorite fishing spots. Just because another boat has auto acknowledge set up on their call response it does not mean they have it set up on their position request response. Also there is no such thing as an "All Ships" position request. You must send it to a specific MMSI number or group, which must already be stored in your radio's address book or manually entered. I have a couple of friends that I use DSC with regularly, but we each had to work together to get the things communicating the first time. Once I managed to get mine set up correctly with one friend, I had to help others get theirs set up correctly.

My experience has been that few DSC radios are correctly set up for effective use of DSC. My current radio has an AIS receiver built in and on numerous occasions I have attempted to "call" another boat using their MMSI number off of the AIS display using DSC. I have never received a reply to a dsc call that way. I call them by voice using the ship name and they always answer, even big ships. I think the use of DSC is so rare that the bridge crew does not know what the incoming call noise is, let alone how to respond to it. It's really too bad because despite it's limitations it's quite useful when enabled and used.

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

SVLamoraocha, it's not clear to me that your radio has received a position report. Ranger42 says his radio displays the position of the other vessel when he gets a position report. Perhaps I missed it in reading this thread, but I didn't see that you reported that the radio displayed the position, but no sentence came out of the nmea out port.

There is good stuff in your post but my tests are not what you think they were. I am sorry if my writing was not specific enough.

I ran tests with several radios in close proximity, for a total of about 100 position requests and DSC initiated calls ( half and half). I may have been sloppy when talking about calls, but position requests is what matters.

The 504 would receive the correspondent's position and show it on screen every time. The problem is that the relevant sentences ending DSE or DSE only came out of the NMEA port (logged with laptop) three or four times total between the two, and only at the beginning of the tests. I wonder if the OUT wires were not connected to the plotter in those initial tests.

I had no problems when doing the same test with the West Marine radio of another boat in the same dock.

Now I suspect that the 504's awful behavior of sending OUT to the plotter the same GGA and RMC sentences it gets IN from the plotter may have created a loop that hogged the limited bandwidth of the 0183 channel and hence may have prompted the radio not to add DSE and DSC sentences to that traffic jam.

When I say plotter I mean 0183 gateway that links the radio to the NMEA 2000 network where the plotter is.

Sorry for not being clear. I hate Icom because this time I had all the toys available to run all sorts of tests that worked with the WM radio and most of the time did not work with the Icom radio

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by svlamorocha

When I say plotter I mean 0183 gateway that links the radio to the NMEA 2000 network where the plotter is.

What brand gateway?

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by DotDun

What brand gateway?

Furuno
Not a standalone gateway but the one that comes built-in with various Furuno devices. I think I was using the 0183 gateway of the Furuno device that has the knob to control the autopilot course.
Cheers

Sent from my SM-G9287 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by svlamorocha

Furuno
Not a standalone gateway but the one that comes built-in with various Furuno devices. I think I was using the 0183 gateway of the Furuno device that has the knob to control the autopilot course.
Cheers

Sent from my SM-G9287 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

You need to check the gateway documentation to see if it specifically states support for DSC/DSE sentences. I have not found any gateway that supports these sentences.