rigger 47 Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Has your VHF has been enabled for DSC operation? - have you got your MMSI number loaded - is the VHF connected to a GPS, otherwise you need to manually load the position, Yes other vessels fitted with VHF DSC may pick up your DSC call but if it has not got a position in the message it could be pretty pointless, yes they may know there is a vessel in distress somewhere within VHF range - but how big an area is that. could be 30nm+ away in any direction. A DSC call will alert other equipped vessels and they should then pay attention for voice calls on the VHF or make a call themselves to get your attention. BUT every ship must have it working!!! Not 100% correct, if the ship is required to be GMDSS compliant it will, but as far as I know a NZ ship that is not trading internationally does not have to have it. From my own experience with working on GMDSS equipped ships I have had only one case of a genuine distress call via DSC on the VHF and literally thousands of false alarms. In the one genuine case we had already heard the voice distress call that was made on VHF 16, so the DSC call was confirmation BUT the message did not have a position or any other information as the yachts DSC VHF had not been setup correctly. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Do all the VHF sets sold in NZ now have to come with the Grade D functionality? So it needs to be connected to a GPS that also needs to have been configured to give the correct position. Another post on this board referencing driving through land indicates correct setup of the GPS isn't a given. I also checked my fathers launch and I needed to adjust the GPS to WGS84 from whatever the factory setting was. Link to post Share on other sites
PaulR 3 Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Has your VHF has been enabled for DSC operation? - have you got your MMSI number loaded - is the VHF connected to a GPS, otherwise you need to manually load the position, YES YES YES It was quite a battle to get a MMSI number. Ended up looking at web sites and forms that needed the "colour of eyes etc" just to push a button Back to Coastguard CBES => gave a VHF MMSI number. Loaded onto Cobra VHF & tested to Advance Trident. So all OK. BUT every ship must have it working!!! Not 100% correct, if the ship is required to be GMDSS compliant it will, but as far as I know a NZ ship that is not trading internationally does not have to have it. From my own experience with working on GMDSS equipped ships I have had only one case of a genuine distress call via DSC on the VHF and literally thousands of false alarms. In the one genuine case we had already heard the voice distress call that was made on VHF 16, so the DSC call was confirmation BUT the message did not have a position or any other information as the yachts DSC VHF had not been setup correctly. Agree not every ship but I ommitted the "nearly" every. Still any ship is better than none. Interesting about the number of false alarms. Any reasons stand out? Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Interesting about the number of false alarms. Any reasons stand out? The routine testing getting screwed up by people that really do not know how to operate or test their equipment is the main reason I can think of. I think one problem with DSC VHF is that the radio is a commonly used bit of kit (chit chat, TRs, general comms, wx info), with the added little button it has the potential to be accidently misused versus an EPIRB that only has one use. Does anyone know if the VHF operator courses that are run by CoastGuard cover DSC operation? Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Does anyone know if the VHF operator courses that are run by CoastGuard cover DSC operation? Yes, by which I mean no. Did mine in June which presumably means I received the current version of the manual. It is the last chapter, headed: GMDSS and DSC: Note: This information does not fall within the syllabus of MVOQ or MROC and is not part of the assessment. It is included for your information only. [their underlining] Same page also recommends that those who are that way inclined go to "one of the training institutions offering training and examination for the GMDSS Operators Certificate". None named, however. Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Does anyone know if the VHF operator courses that are run by CoastGuard cover DSC operation? Yes, by which I mean no. Did mine in June which presumably means I received the current version of the manual. It is the last chapter, headed: GMDSS and DSC: Note: This information does not fall within the syllabus of MVOQ or MROC and is not part of the assessment. It is included for your information only. [their underlining] Same page also recommends that those who are that way inclined go to "one of the training institutions offering training and examination for the GMDSS Operators Certificate". None named, however. NZ Maritime school run the GMDSS course, I have to revalidate my GOC / GMDSS certs later this year. Link to post Share on other sites
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