nahmint
Member
The topic came up on another forum and it occurred to me that it might be a good time to start the thread here as well... as we all start ramping up our plans for a new boating/fishing year. When I was rigging my new boat in 2008, I became aware of the potential life saving benefits of having a Vhf/chartplotter with Dsc (digital selective calling) capability and chose to have the system installed. I understand that pretty well all Vhf radios today are Dsc capable.
In short, virtually all commercial vessels around the world now monitor channel 70 full time... ch 70 is exclusively dedicated to Dsc use. Now as more and more recreational/charter boats add the capabilility, emergency assistance has never been closer for all of us who are out on the water. That's gotta be a good thing!
Dsc is basically a ship to ship communication system and when a boat makes an emergency call, simply by pushing the Dsc button on the Vhf, all Dsc capable boats within approx. 20Nm will immediately receive an alert along with the boat's position, and immediate voice contact will be enabled with the boat in distress. What a great life line to have available. Dsc has several other key operational options that are explained in the manuals.
All this said, of course it is most important for us all that boat operators KNOW how to use their Dsc... just like radar/chartplotters, the technology has little value unless boaters are able to use it. Following my study/practice with my system, I decided to laminate the basic Dsc instructions... in bold print... and now keep them on the dash in my boat, so that anyone in the cabin can hopefully use the basic system if needed...
Anyway,thought it might be a useful thread to toss out...
Cheers,
Larry
In short, virtually all commercial vessels around the world now monitor channel 70 full time... ch 70 is exclusively dedicated to Dsc use. Now as more and more recreational/charter boats add the capabilility, emergency assistance has never been closer for all of us who are out on the water. That's gotta be a good thing!
Dsc is basically a ship to ship communication system and when a boat makes an emergency call, simply by pushing the Dsc button on the Vhf, all Dsc capable boats within approx. 20Nm will immediately receive an alert along with the boat's position, and immediate voice contact will be enabled with the boat in distress. What a great life line to have available. Dsc has several other key operational options that are explained in the manuals.
All this said, of course it is most important for us all that boat operators KNOW how to use their Dsc... just like radar/chartplotters, the technology has little value unless boaters are able to use it. Following my study/practice with my system, I decided to laminate the basic Dsc instructions... in bold print... and now keep them on the dash in my boat, so that anyone in the cabin can hopefully use the basic system if needed...
Anyway,thought it might be a useful thread to toss out...
Cheers,
Larry