BruceK
Well-Known Member
Yes but where as changing it in ofcom may be a simple procedure changing your CG66 isn't. That requires paperwork and delays.
DSC Radio and MMSI - Swapping between boats
- Thread starter Bigplumbs
- Start date
Yes but where as changing it in ofcom may be a simple procedure changing your CG66 isn't. That requires paperwork and delays.
Bru
Well-Known Member
Yes, it seems you can (now*) change all the details of Boat "A" to match Boat "B" on the Ofcom website but as far as the global GMDSS systems, including the UK Coastguard, are concerned it will still be Boat "A" albeit with (eventually, after the information propagates) different details
The MARS ITU database, for example, will state incorrectly that Boat "B" used to be Boat "A" (it will show Boat "A" as the previous name of Boat "B").. The call sign will be wrong, as will the MMSI on both Boat "A" and Boat "B" (call signs and MMSI numbers are issued to a vessel and remain with that vessel)
So whilst I grant, due to system failures, you may be able to do it, it is not the correct way to do it. It may cause you problems and it will certainly cause future owners confusion at the very least.
* It should not be possible to do this, the Ofcom website is flawed
Edit: It won't be enforced. It will all go potentially wrong when you need assistance and press the big red panic button. You may have changed the details of the boat on the Ofcom website, but you can never be sure that change has been correctly propagated to the emergency services systems
The MARS ITU database, for example, will state incorrectly that Boat "B" used to be Boat "A" (it will show Boat "A" as the previous name of Boat "B").. The call sign will be wrong, as will the MMSI on both Boat "A" and Boat "B" (call signs and MMSI numbers are issued to a vessel and remain with that vessel)
So whilst I grant, due to system failures, you may be able to do it, it is not the correct way to do it. It may cause you problems and it will certainly cause future owners confusion at the very least.
* It should not be possible to do this, the Ofcom website is flawed
Edit: It won't be enforced. It will all go potentially wrong when you need assistance and press the big red panic button. You may have changed the details of the boat on the Ofcom website, but you can never be sure that change has been correctly propagated to the emergency services systems
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Bigplumbs
Well-Known Member
What information do you feel is useful in the database when you press the red button especially if the craft you swap between are very similar in size etc.
The DSC Mayday will still be sent and the GPS Coordinates correctly sent. I am sure any other details on the database are not that important.
As for the Call sign. That is seldom 'affixed' to the vessel and hardly anyone ever uses it in my experience.
The issue is that for smaller craft there is no real way that the craft is called/registered/referenced by unlike cars that have a VIN number and Registration Number. That is why the system can never really work properly
Bigplumbs
Well-Known Member
BruceK
Well-Known Member
You are scratching the surface. Data held in the CG66 also holds information like number of persons you expect to have aboard and max occupancy, life saving equipment / rafts etc. A photo of your vessel etc. Do not underestimate these. I have been involved in a rescue with the stricken vessel in tow and had the RNLI pass me at great speed because the vessel they were looking for did not match the one in tow. That was because of a name convention. The boat I was towing was called CJ. They were looking for a charter boat called Sea Jay. Small things make a big difference when time is everything.
Bigplumbs
Well-Known Member
Yes but is a CJ66 a discretionary thing you can have or is it mandatory
Bru
Well-Known Member
If you don't know what a CG66 is, clearly you don't have enough understanding of the way GMDSS systems are managed (or not managed) to understand the implications of your wheeze to avoid spending a measly few quid getting your equipment properly configured and your boat details properly registered
Bru
Well-Known Member
Similar is not the same as identical
Vessel size, colour, sail plan, home port, shore contact details yada yada
And whilst the call sign may not be displayed on the boat, some officious little official somewhere might just one day notice that the call sign was issued to a Westerly Centaur but the boat in front of them is a Sabre 27 (to pick examples of similar but not identical boats)
No big deal in the UK, we don't generally do officious officials (surprisingly) but I wouldn't want to be caught out in that way by the French!
BruceK
Well-Known Member
Bigplumbs
Well-Known Member
If you don't know what a CG66 is, clearly you don't have enough understanding of the way GMDSS systems are managed (or not managed) to understand the implications of your wheeze to avoid spending a measly few quid getting your equipment properly configured and your boat details properly registered
Do you know what Bruce. You have spouted off so many times and pi**ed so many people off in the past including me. I have to say that after another person contacted me and asked to give you another chance I did. Well I now know I was wrong and I am done with you. I know you wont care as you are such a fountain of knowledge. So as they say have a nice life and enjoy your super cruiser
Added to ignor list. I am sure you wont care about that either but hopefully now I wont see your posts. Feel free to do the same to me
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Bigplumbs
Well-Known Member
My point is that most of the fields on the ofcom site are not mandatory and most people seem not to fill in loads of them. So I say again that if you have only filled in the bare minimum there is no real way to cross reference the boat to what is on the system. As you can officially edit the details on their site when the officious official came along I cant see what he could check other than the details you had input which would be for the boat before him
I also cant understand what it is Ofcom are trying to achieve as the online licence is free. It seems to me that they are just feeding the industry that produces the radios
BruceK
Well-Known Member
Do you know what Bruce. You have spouted off so many times and pi**ed so many people off in the past including me. I have to say that after another person contacted me and asked to give you another chance I did. Well I now know I was wrong and I am done with you. I know you wont care as you are such a fountain of knowledge. So as they say have a nice life and enjoy your super cruiserIf you don't know what a CG66 is, clearly you don't have enough understanding of the way GMDSS systems are managed (or not managed) to understand the implications of your wheeze to avoid spending a measly few quid getting your equipment properly configured and your boat details properly registered
Added to ignor list. I am sure you wont care about that either but hopefully now I wont see your posts. Feel free to do the same to me
erm,..........?? Read who posted that again. I just say what I see. In this case you may well circumvent the intended purpose but you do so at your own risk. Feel free to block me though, it really isn't any skin off my nose nor will it stop me saying what I see fit.
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MrB
Well-Known Member
I think Bru could be called Bruce too.
BruceK
Well-Known Member
I am sure there are plenty Bruce's here, but he's mad at me for not agreeing with him. I'm not sure how funny that is but c'est la vie.
n.herring
Well-Known Member
If you have hardly ever used a callsign then you have probably not been using your VHF
to contact the coastguard, whenever you give a passageplan or contact the CG with anything important they will want your callsign, it's an integral part of VHF use, Neil
Bru
Well-Known Member
Well I have no idea who "Bigplums" is and I have no idea what sparked that piece of over-reaction
If "Bigplums" actually has big plums, perhaps he'll have the balls to talk to me in person or in a private chat with his real identity
As it has, I've had it with offering professional advice on these forums.
In fact, I have been considering giving up on the forums for a while now and this is probably the last straw
If I have "pissed off loads of people", I really can't imagine who
I don't need this shit in my life right now. So long and thanks for all the fish
If "Bigplums" actually has big plums, perhaps he'll have the balls to talk to me in person or in a private chat with his real identity
As it has, I've had it with offering professional advice on these forums.
In fact, I have been considering giving up on the forums for a while now and this is probably the last straw
If I have "pissed off loads of people", I really can't imagine who
I don't need this shit in my life right now. So long and thanks for all the fish
[165042]
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Again I agree with this. I haven't ever filled in any more details other than my name, address and boat name. If you're that concerned you could have AIS, an EPIRB, a sat phone, flares , life raft and every other device to assist rescue.
NealB
Well-Known Member
stelican
Well-Known Member
If you don't know what a CG66 is, clearly you don't have enough understanding of the way GMDSS systems are managed (or not managed) to understand the implications of your wheeze to avoid spending a measly few quid getting your equipment properly configured and your boat details properly registered
+1
petem
Well-Known Member
Dennis, the point is that even if you remember to update MARS every time you move the radio from boat to boat it takes a while for the updates to propagate (in my experience it took many weeks for MARS to be updated after I submitted the form). So you may find that you press the Red button on your VHF and the helicopter / lifeboat is then looking for the wrong boat. If there are other boats about, that could cause all kinds of confusion, which is really what you don't need in an emergency. Regarding call signs, I don't use mine for regular communications, but I do have it as part of my Mayday script that is written on a laminated card on my dashboard.
As for some people only filling in the bare minimum of info in MARS and not completing a CG66, that's up to them. For me, I want the CG to have as much info as possible about my boat and crew for example safety kit carried, boat length, colour, max persons on board, contact numbers, etc. If you want to compete in a race to the bottom that's up to you, I'd rather follow best practice and the advice of others on here.
If it sounds to you like people have little patience for you in this thread, perhaps that's because they've witnessed Mayday calls. These can be quite distressing, even for onlookers, and the last thing you want is confusion caused by some bodger trying to save a few quid.
I'm sorry if this isn't what you want to here. Perhaps you can also apologize to Bru who you seems to have confused with someone else.
As for some people only filling in the bare minimum of info in MARS and not completing a CG66, that's up to them. For me, I want the CG to have as much info as possible about my boat and crew for example safety kit carried, boat length, colour, max persons on board, contact numbers, etc. If you want to compete in a race to the bottom that's up to you, I'd rather follow best practice and the advice of others on here.
If it sounds to you like people have little patience for you in this thread, perhaps that's because they've witnessed Mayday calls. These can be quite distressing, even for onlookers, and the last thing you want is confusion caused by some bodger trying to save a few quid.
I'm sorry if this isn't what you want to here. Perhaps you can also apologize to Bru who you seems to have confused with someone else.