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Is it worth to the VHF radio have DSC function. Anyone use it?


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Crazyhorse said all new radios are dangerous

DSC radios are a pain in the arse and are infact DANGEROUS.

 

It can not be turned off..unless you are a radio tech and know what you are doing! hehehe..

Then went on to imply that you need to be a radio tech to set them up properly.

 

Kiwifish (no relation) then said:

"They are not dangerous, only the un-educated operator makes it dangerous"

 

The fact that Crazyhorse fixed his beeping radio would indicate the issue was in its set up, and is now not a dangerous item on his boat.

 

Sorry kiwifish, are you saying I am an "uneducated operator"?

Crazyhorse did list a number of radio tech qualifications he has in this post, possibly to demonstrate he is not an uneducated operator. I see now Crazyhorse has edited out that long list of qualifications, possibly in hindsight to his above post that the issue with his radio was infact related to a set up issue. So credit there to Crazyhorse to put the shovel down and stop digging.

 

But I am with Kiwifish, DSC radio's are not dangerous.

 

What is becoming apparent between this thread, the discussion of flares versus electronic safety aids, and the very informative thread on AIS from Island Time, is that it is important to take the time to understand and correctly set up these modern safety aids / electronics. A case of reading the manual (and reading it again if you don't get it first time...)

 

Its the modern version of seamanship - RTFM.

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Oh dear, thats not what I read. Try receiving a mayday from a vessel when your no gps alarm goes off, right over the top. I removed my qualifications because I do know what I am talking about. It is a LEGAL requirement that class D marine VHF transceivers type approved for GMDSS and recreational to either be equiped with a GPS receiver OR have an external GPS position sent to them. It is also a legal requirement to have these transceivers emit an alarm at intervals when no position information is available. It is also a legal requirement that this alarm CAN NOT be user dissabled. Now, I've wasted enough time on this in phoning Maritime Safety Authority to establish the actual wording of IEC 62238 but a qick call to Justin at ICOM NZ will confirm what I have written. But then he could be lying too!? Try Lusty Blundel technical. Read into to this what you will.

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Oh a foot note, I have been a "radio tech", serviced broadcast transmitters etc and YES you need the know how and schematic of the radio to locate the IC that turns on the alarm function which is sent through the same front end audio section as the receiver. There is no "menus" on DSC radios to do this.

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Glad you got it sorted, I.t mentioned some instructions awhile back about this.

 

http://crew.org.nz/forum/index.php/topic/12399-uniden-vhf-radio-error-indicator/

 

I don’t see it as disabling, more acknowledging that there isn’t a gps connection. I have to do it on my Lowrance every time I turn it on. I would like to connect a gps input one day but on my little trailer yacht it is a lower priority. Hopefully my Garmin can do the Nmea thing, looks the easiest way.

 

In saying that the more of us that do have full functioning DSC the better our safety net will be. That’s why I don’t like to see someone bagging DSC based on incorrect information, it doesn’t take much for word to spread....

 

I have a question re DSC:

 

Although the coast guard officially do not monitor it, Are their boats really not DSC equipped? I highly doubt it, and if they are DSC equipped would they really ignore it?

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As I understand it, most of their boats are equipped with DSC, but as some aren't, and some shore stations aren't, they say it's not monitored.

Connect your gps! It's easy to do, nmea 0183 only uses 2 wires, and if you do it backwards it won't hurt anything, it just won't go...

If its nmea2000, it's even easier - just plug it in!

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Connect your gps! It's easy to do, nmea 0183 only uses 2 wires, and if you do it backwards it won't hurt anything, it just won't go...

If its nmea2000, it's even easier - just plug it in!

That’s really cool. I have a Garmin echo map 50dv, I didn’t know it was possible to do that. It’s not a 2000 but I didn’t know about 183.

 

Cheers I.T I will order the bits and add to the winter maintenance list.

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I emailed the coastguard and asked if they have DSC on board the boats, and if so will they respond to a DSC emergency alert?

 

The response:

 

“To the best of our knowledge, most Coastguard Rescue Vessels VHF radios do have DSC.

So if a CG Vessel received an alert from another vessel, they would advise the Operations Centre, who would then respond accordingly.”

 

I know they don’t officially monitor and so it can’t be relied on, but the extra safety net a DSC gives is most definitely worth it.

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