Tag Archives :DSC

An MMSI is a unique nine digit number that is entered into certain marine radio communications equipment. When using this equipment to send a distress alert, or to indicate some other emergency, the number assists emergency services to identify you and/or your vessel. Since marine VHF transceivers now operate under a class licence, there is no requirement for an official call sign and maritime ship station license,  ...

you don’t want to be fumbling about trying to remember the training when you really need it.. You, as skipper, should have a good understanding of how it works, how to adjust it and how to send an emergency message. Ideally, at least one other person aboard should also have a working knowledge of the basics.  ...

Having a marine (VHF) radio aboard your boat can be a lifesaver.  VHF radios are the handiest and fastest way to contact other boaters or to ask for help on the water.  In an emergency, when you use a radio, anyone with a radio can hear you and can come to your aid, perhaps sooner than first responders.  Or you may be the boater who rescues someone because you heard their radio call.   ...

In an emergency, communication is vital and a marine radio is essential. Mobile telephones, although useful as a backup communications system, cannot replace a marine radio.  ...

Marine VHF radio is installed on all large ships and most seagoing small craft. It is used for a wide variety of purposes, including summoning rescue services and communicating with harbors, locks, bridges and marinas, and operates in the VHF frequency range, between 156 to 174 MHz. Although it is widely used for collision avoidance, its use for this purpose is contentious and is strongly discouraged by some countries, including the UK.  ...

How to broadcast a MAYDAY emergency call if a vessel or person is in grave and imminent danger and immediate assistance is required: Check that your VHF radio is on and high power setting is selected  Select Channel 16 (or 2182kHz for MF)   ...

The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) has recently published guidance about marine radio distress relays on their website. The changes follow on from a consultation between the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the Association of Marine Electronic and Radio Colleges (AMERC) and the RYA itself. As a result, the RYA has issued revised guidance regarding the procedure for sending a ‘Distress Relay’.  ...

Distress alerts may be transmitted as a single frequency or a multi-frequency call attempt preceded by a dot pattern. MF/HF equipment should be capable of using both single and multi-frequency call attempts. Where a distress alert attempt contains more than one consecutive distress alert on the same frequency, these consecutive alerts should be transmitted with no gap between the end of one call and the start of the dot pattern of the following call to enable bit synchronization to be maintained  ...

This is an epidemic problem as ninety percent of boaters who call the Coast Guard for emergency help have not both registered and interconnected their VHF radios, meaning that our 21st Century safety network will not work.  ...

First, what is a handheld VHF? A handheld VHF is as it sounds, a VHF radio that fits in your hand. These radios are a lightweight, compact solution that can go anywhere you do, even outside your vessel. The trade-off for having a portable solution is that it will have a decreased range when compared to its fixed mount counterparts。  ...