Has DSC proved to be a bit pointless?

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asteven221

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Does anyone ever use the features of DSC e.g calling others using the mmsi number etc? Or used the red button for help?

When it came out I thought it was a great idea, especially the red button and linking it to gps. The idea of a quick press of a button to get help was great. However over time I suspect there are thousands of radios with an mmsi number linked to previous owner of the radio, or installed in a different boat. At best that seems to me to make the whole DSC concept a bit pointless, whilst potentially dangerous in an emergency situation.

Both my current radios have an mmsi number linked to previous owners. My last three boats were the same. I suspect all my old radios will still have mmsi numbers linked to me. What was the idea behind not allowing users to change the details whenever the needed to change them? I suspect very few people go to the hassle of uninstalling their radio to then send it back to the manufacturer for an update.

I don't think I have ever called anyone using their mmsi number. I just phone them. Even going back to when DSC arrived on the scene when I bought into the idea, I quickly found that I couldn't be bothered with the faff finding their mmsi number and just called them on Chan 16.

Sorry if I am out of touch here, but I think I am right to say that you can't just call up ofcom and get them to update their records to match the radio's mmsi number? It would make more sense for the number embedded in the radio to stay put forever, but allow the records to be changed to match the radio - not the other way around.
 
I asked Ofcom to do that when I bought my boat but, because it was Spanish, it had to have a new UK specific MMSI, even though I keep it in Spain and it will never come back to the UK. To answer the first question, I've never used the DSC and, when I asked at the marina Capitanerie who would answer a DSC mayday, I just got a shrug of the shoulders.
 
I still have an old coal fired non dsc radio which is playing up. I might have to replace it with a modern one. I have never missed having dsc though.
 
As long as the radio stays in the boat it's installed in it's dead easy to change the owners details - online at Ofcom. The MMSI stays with the boat: the only time it ever needs to be changed is if a radio gets taken out of one boat and installed in another boat.
 
jwilson said:
As long as the radio stays in the boat it's installed in it's dead easy to change the owners details - online at Ofcom. The MMSI stays with the boat: the only time it ever needs to be changed is if a radio gets taken out of one boat and installed in another boat.
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Or if it's re-registered under another flag.
 
I actually did use DSC to contact another boat, just this weekend, after owning the set for a couple of years. Was ok, but pretty easy to miss the alert (I may be able to adjust that) and the operating system shows every sign of being designed by committee.

The red button has to be worth having though and I have the option of calling another vessel direct from an AIS screen, though I will probably never use it.
 
zoidberg said:
You're looking for 'fact, logic and reason'.....

Not much of that behind OfCom's activities.
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Unless you want to use them, they are well known among the ham radio crowd and to. A lesser extent sailors as a rare agency which actually tries to be helpful if you contact them.

DSC hasnt been the greatest bit of tech design success...
 
On club cruises I have called other yachts via mmsi, mostly not a good response. The recieveing yacht thiking its is an alarm,not a call, and just cancelling the sound. I guess not enough incomming calls to realise what the sound means.

No one calls me anyway so I do not know how or if i would react.

Unless I need to use the distress function, there is not much benifit in my having the set. I hope not to find out about this benifit.
 
DSC sets allow use without this function. If people haven't found DSC for non-emergency useful, then this is the result of their own choice. I haven't found it necessary to call ships, but occasionally call friends or coastguards, when it is handy, and an improvement on Ch 16 calling. The system is not ideal, if only because manufacturors deal with it in confusingly different ways, but among other things I value it for giving me the ablity to call others when a seelonce is in effect.
 
Presumably the point of DSC is to avoid cluttering up Ch16?
In my neck of the woods, most of the traffic on 16 is merchant vessels calling the CG at the various reporting points up and down the Minch. Surely the ideal candidate for a DSC call. Or at least the could assign a working channel for this. So if even the CG don't bother, it strikes me that DSC is a solution looking for a problem.
 
In Norway, less than 10% of emergency calls are made using DSC - leisure boats use it a little more than commercial/fishing.
Very often, the vessel is already in contact with the coastal radio before the situation becomes serious enough to warrant a mayday. In fact, fishermen have been known to float in their survival suits, requesting assistance with the boat, but "nothing serious".
As to non emergency use of DSC, I have no data. I have tried calling a companion boat and the coastal radio. The boat did not understand what the alarm was about, the coastal radio sounded surprised.
 
I installed a DSC radio with the expectation that I'd be able to summon the rescue services at the push of a button. That was following an incident in which I lost my boat, and was winched out of the grounded wreck by an RAF helicopter. It very nearly lost my life at the same time, so I believe my reasoning is sound.
 
I like DSC and do use it quite a lot. I think that much of the problem is a lack of commitment from the manufacturers - the ergonomics of DSC are pretty poor on most modern radios. Our first DSC equipped radio had a full ten key numeric keypad to enter MMSI numbers - using the DSC to call another boat was as easy as dialling a phone number. Since then, we have had more standard radios and the task of calling up another boat is far more tedious.

Our new boat has a fully integrated Garmin system which is wonderful - the plotter and radio work closely together. I can see another boat in the distance, identify it on the plotter via its AIS entry, then call it via DSC through the plotter. It takes away a lot of uncertainty - there was an occasion a few years ago when I found myself in a narrow channel approaching a large boat that was moving unsteadily with their course very difficult to predict. I wanted to get clarification of his intentions, but could not see the name of the boat. What was I going to do? Put out a call on 16 along the lines of "Rusty old dredger wandering across the Medway, this is AWB approaching you, please clarify your intentions"? With my current system, I could have pointed to him on the plotter screen, selected a channel and the plotter would have taken care of calling him.....
 
asteven221 said:
Does anyone ever use the features of DSC e.g calling others using the mmsi number etc? Or used the red button for help?
Click to expand...
All the time, a really useful set of sadly under used functionality. OK it takes a wee bit of time to set up on the radio, but it takes time to set up a new contact on your mobile phone, but to select X on channel Y and know that X will answer without all the Ch16 shenanigans is fantastic.

Thankfully, I've never needed to use the red button, but knowing it is going to squirt my position (which has a further transmission range than voice) to the CG is worth the hassle as you stand knee deep in the oggin.
 
I bought my first DSC C.2005 and sent my first call to Holyhead Coastguard. Their response: Station calling HH Coastguard with mmsi xxxxxxxx give your vessel's name, over.
Never bothered since.
 
As I said above, I have not had occasion to call up a ship, but something has just occurred to me. When I call the CG, they fix the working channel. With my older set, when calling a ship I would fix the channel in the usual way, but with these integrated AIS/radio systems, how is the channel fixed, or does it default to Ch6, which is what my set does unless I direct otherwise?
 
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