VHF Marine Radio Protocols
VHF Marine Radio Protocols
55
Nothing
Comes Close to a Cobra
®
54 English
Operating Your Radio
Digital Select Calling (DSC)
Setup
Digital Select Calling (DSC)
Setup
DSC Set-Up
•
Digital selective calling —
DSC
— employs digital RF signals which tend to carry
further and be less susceptible to distortion from noise and atmospheric conditions
than analog ones. The result is greater range and more reliable message delivery
per watt of output power.
But, that is not the only advantage of DSC equipped radios. Those radios are set up to
interface with GPS and to automate many of the operations involved in sending and
receiving messages. That results in more compact and accurate messages and less
congestion of the airwaves.
The price of these benefits to the user is the time it takes to do the required set-up
to make the DSC features work. A little time spent when your radio is new will pay
dividends over its life.
User MMSI Number
The nine (9) digit MMSI number, similar to a telephone number, is a unique identifier
for a vessel. DSC incorporates this number into every message that is Sent (Tx) or
Received (Rx). Enter the MMSI number as soon as you receive your MMSI number from
the issuing agency.
NOTE
The radio does not operate in the DSC mode until an official MMSI number is
entered. An error tone will sound when attempting to operate in the DSC mode
without an MMSI number.
NOTE
An MMSI number can only be entered one time. To enter a new MMSI number,
please contact Cobra customer service.
NOTE
An alert tone and message will sound each time you try and use the radio until
an MMSI is programmed.
To Enter Your MMSI Number:
1.
Enter the Settings menu and scroll to DSC SETUP menu
with the
Up/Down
soft keys or the
Channel Up/Down
buttons.
2.
Press the
ENTER
soft key and scroll to
RADIO MMSI
ENTRY
with the Up/Down soft keys or the channel Up/
Down buttons.
3.
Press the
ENTER
soft key. The blinking cursor will appear
at the first digit under
RADIO MMSI ENTRY
.
4.
Use the
Up/Down
soft keys or the
Channel Up/Down
buttons to scroll through the number list to the first digit
of your number.
5.
Press the
ENTER
soft key to select the digit and the
blinking cursor will move to the next digit of the number.
6.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all nine (9) digits of your
MMSI number are entered.
7.
Check that you have entered the number correctly. The
radio will ask you to re-enter your number to confirm.
8.
Press
ENTER
soft key to save the MMSI number and the
radio will return to the DSC SETUP MENU.
NOTE
After the MMSI number has been entered, the RADIO
MMSI ENTRY menu option will move to the bottom
of the DSC SETUP MENU. This is done because the
MMSI entry is entered only once.
If You Incorrectly Enter Your MMSI Number
YOU CAN DO THIS ONLY ONCE!
You will have to contact Cobra
®
Electronics (see product
service on page
66
for details) for reset before you can enter a new MMSI number into
the radio.
Because the MMSI number is so important to DSC operation, this limitation is imposed
on all DSC capable radios to prevent constant changes and the potential introduction of
errors in the process.
EXIT
ENTER
DSC SETUP MENU
RADIO MMSI ENTRY
RADIO ATIS ENTRY
INDIVIDUAL DIRECTORY
GROUP MMSI
POSITION REPLY
AUTO CHANNEL SWITCH
EMERG
DEMO PROG OK
ATTENTION!
DSC IS NOT
AVAILABLE.
PLEASE ENTER
MMSI NUMBER
EXIT
ENTER
RADIO MMSI ENTRY
MMSI _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
EXIT
ENTER
RADIO MMSI ENTRY
MMSI 123456789
EXIT
ENTER
RADIO MMSI ENTRY
RE-ENTER MMSI NUMBER
MMSI _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
EXIT
ENTER
RADIO MMSI ENTRY
CONFIRM ENTRY
MMSI 123456789
EXIT
RADIO MMSI
MMSI 123456789
