Very Important Safety Gear: the VHF-DSC Radio

If you have a digital selective calling (DSC) radio aboard (it has a red “distress” button on the front), have you read the radio’s manual for this important piece of safety gear? Does the radio have an integral GPS or must it be connected to an existing GPS or a GPS chart plotter on the boat? The Coast Guard reports that 80% of the VHF-DSC Mayday calls have no vessel location because the radio is not connected to an operating GPS. Without a precise location, rescuers cannot respond quickly to the emergency. If the instructions in the radio and GPS manuals about hooking the radio up to a GPS look too complicated, contact a marine electronics installer and get it done. The cost is worth it. If the radio has a built-in GPS, then you only need an MMSI number.

Any DSC radio must have an MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity) number programmed into it so the emergency feature works. This number identifies the vessel; you will fill out an application form with the boat information. If the boat will operate only in U.S. waters, you can get a number for free from BoatUS (www.BoatUS.com/MMSI).

If a U.S.-registered boat travels to foreign waters (Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean or abroad) you will need to get the MMSI number, for a small fee, from the FCC at
http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/index.htm?job=home.

After you’ve hooked up the DSC radio to a GPS, read the radio manual and see what else a DSC radio can do for you. There is a very nice tutorial about DSC radio on the BoatUS website at http://www.boatus.com/foundation/dsc/player.html.