West Marine VHF650, Owner'S Manual, Page: 26 / 69

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Using Digital Selective Calling (DSC) Features
What is DSC?
Digital Selective Calling or DSC is a standard that allows you to call other
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Identity or MMSI number), just like you would call a phone number. To call
another station, just enter that station’s MMSI number and choose the
voice channel you want to talk on. The radio uses channel 70 to transmit
your MMSI number to the other station along with the voice channel you
requested. If the other station accepts your call, both radios automatically
switch to the requested voice channel so you can talk to the other station.
DSC provides a system for automated distress calls. At the touch of a
button, the radio can transmit your MMSI number, the nature of your
distress, and your current position based on data from your GPS receiver.
The radio repeats the distress call every few minutes until it receives an
acknowledgement.
The DSC standard dedicates a VHF channel—channel 70—to digital
transmissions only. Since digital transmissions require less bandwidth voice
transmissions, channel 70 avoids the problems of busy voice channels.
Advanced DSC features
The VHF650 supports the following DSC features:
Feature Menu Item Function
Individual Call Individual Contact another vessel from your directory.
Group Call Group Contact all vessels that share your group
MMSI code.
All Ships Call All Ships Broadcast to all vessels within range (used
for safety or advisory messages.)
Position Request POS Request Request the current location of another
vessel.
Position Send Position Send Transmit your current location to another
vessel.
Name and MMSI
Directory Directory Store a list of 20 names and MMSI
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Standby Mode Standby Automatically respond to all DSC calls with
an “Unavailable” status.
Received Call Log Receive Log Display the last 10 distress calls received by
the radio and the last 20 general calls.
Using Digital Selective Calling (DSC) Features