Making a distress call
2
Lift the red cover. Press and hold the
DISTRESS
button for three seconds. The UM425 transmits your
boat’s location every few minutes until you receive a
response.
NOTE: If the radio displays
ENTER USER MMSI
,
cancel the automatic distress call and make a
normal voice distress call.
Lift the red cover
and press the
DISTRESS
button.
Making a voice distress call
Speak slowly -- clearly -- calmly.
Make sure your radio is on.
1.
On the microphone, press the
2.
16/9-TRI
button to switch to Channel 16 (156.8
MHz). (If the corner of the display does not show 16, press the
16/9-TRI
button
again until it does.)
Press the
3.
PUSH TO TALK
button on the microphone and say:
"
MAYDAY --MAYDAY-- MAYDAY.
"
Say "
4.
THIS IS
{name or call sign of your boat}.
"
Say "
5.
MAYDAY
{name or call sign of your boat}
.
"
Tell where you are: (what navigational aids or landmarks are near, or read the
6.
latitude and longitude from your GPS).
State the nature of your distress, e.g. are you sinking, medical emergency, man
7.
overboard, on fire, adrift, etc.
Give number of persons aboard and conditions of any injured persons.
8.
Estimate present seaworthiness of your ship, e.g. how immediate is the danger
9.
due to flooding or fire or proximity to shore.
Briefly describe your ship (length, type, color, hull).
10.
Say: "
11.
I WILL BE LISTENING ON CHANNEL 16.
"
End message by saying "
12.
THIS IS
{name or call sign of your boat}
, OVER.
"
Release the
13.
PUSH TO TALK
button and listen.
If you do not get an answer after 30 seconds, repeat your call, beginning at
step 3, above.
Making a DSC DISTRESS Call
For future reference, write your boat’s name & call sign here:
NOTE: There is no official VHF DSC shore infrastructure in Australia. Vessels
fitting VHF DSC equipment should realise that this equipment can only be used
for vessel - to - vessel alerting in the Australian region. There is no official
shore-based infrastructure but there are a number of volunteer marine rescue
(VMR) stations that have installed VHF DSC and a check with your local VMR
should be made.
UM425 VHF OM.indd 2
28/9/11 11:55:11 AM
