Jens,
DSC is cool....and it is one of the greatest advancements in maritime comms....(greatest thing since sliced bread?? not sure, but it is cool...)
BUT...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jd1
When I first heard about DSC, I thought it was the neatest thing since sliced bread. The concept was very much like a telephone - you have your radio on and if somebody calls you it in effect 'rings' to tell you that someone wants to talk to you.
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But, what you describe here is how most VHF-DSC
gear works....not MF/HF-DSC
gear....well, certainly not the M-802....now the Sailor 6350, now that's a great rig!!! (but, it will set you back about $10,000 - $12,000!!!)
You've gotten some good info here....maybe I can add some clarification???
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jd1
In comes the default configuration of the M802.....
Maybe I don't fully appreciate the logic behind DSC? If it is supposed to work in a sort of phone like fashion then why the short beep?
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You're confusing the "DSC" system with individual radio design peculiarities....
And, as I wrote above, most VHF-DSC radios DO operate the way you desire....but many MF/HF-DSC radios are different....
I apologize to the purists for using some generalities here, but for ease of explanation / clarification Jens, here are a few points to remember, that will start to make things easier to understand...
MF/HF-DSC was implemented by the IMO under the SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) conventions in 1992, as part of the GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and
Safety System), and although the "Distress" signaling part of the MF/HF-DSC system is alive and well, and is working quite well actually.....over the past 23+ years, some things have changed!
Ironically, the VHF-DSC system has GROWN in popularity and many VHF-DSC radios DO operate as you describe you wish the M-802 would....
Not the least of these changes over the past couple decades, is the rapid increase in use of
satellite data
communications for much of the business /
shipping traffic, as well as much of the personal communications of crews (e-mails and SMS), and hence many of the intended "routine" uses of DSC signaling such as coast station-to-ship / ship-to-coast station, and ship-to-ship, traffic signaling, etc. never caught on, and hence there was little effort put into modern MF/HF-DSC radios in making them easy-to-use for this application, etc.
(although, if you listen to 12577 and 8414.5, most days you here quite a bit of DSC traffic, and only one-in-a-while is there a "distress" message....)
And, although the GMDSS was supposed to allow non-trained personnel (not the radio officer) to signal distress, etc. as well as use various communications gear, the fact is that it was still designed and spec'd out by radiomen / trained personnel.....so we ended up with a rather "technical" system after all...
Also, understand that the Icom M-802 is not a GMDSS-compliant radio....although it "technically" meets the GMDSS Class E requirements, it was never submitted for GMDSS compliance....and hence Icom could design it to meet the expected needs/desires of their market / make whatever changes they needed to make it less expensive and better suit the needs of their customers...
Now, throw all of those factors together....and you get what we have now....
An MF/HF-DSC system that works VERY well, but with very few pleasure craft using it!!
> 450 MF-DSC shore stations worldwide, and > 80 HF-DSC shore stations worldwide....and 100's and 100's of SOLAS vessels at sea daily....all of whom are monitoring MF/HF-DSC....and many of them DO use MF/HF-DSC, daily.....but again, few pleasure craft do...
{Is this a "chicken vs. the egg" argument??? not sure, but I don't think so....as with the reduction in both cost and complexity of sat comm gear, we have many pleasure craft sailors who opt for fried chicken nuggets instead!

}
I know I haven't
solved your issue....but at least I explained it pretty well...
And, I hope this does help...
Fair winds...
John