Using your DSC on your marine radio

[Al Gagnon]

I had talked with Mike (noslack) a few years ago about useing the DSC option on our marine radios's. Some of you guys gave out your mmsi numbers but that was the end of any interest. :p Mike and I got together recently and verified the system worked. Found that the communications were not exactly as I thought. After a little clitch we were able to communicate and it seems to be a usefull function of our marine radios. If any others are interested we can discuss on BOCA. Post if interested or have any questions. I am sure Mike will jump in with his thoughts on how to use this function. I am a sort of a computer nerd, so I always want to use all function of all my electronics. Mike is faster at understanding the transmit and receive functions and how to connect electronic items via NEMA connections:).
Al

[NoSlack]

I finally made it over to Al's place to do some DSC testing. I rigged up my radio and GPS in a portable box with a battery so I didn't have to tow the boat over.

We got off to a ruff start because I had brought along a bad antenna and couldn't transmit to Al with it. After moving the portable unit close enough to reach one of Al's antennas, things started to come together. We took turns reporting our position and requesting a position from one another until we both felt pretty comfortable with the procedures. This really looks like a great way to pass along your details with minimal chatter on the radio. If I call you on the radio and say "get over here, it's wide open Lizard fish", all you need to do is a position request and my radio automatically responds with every thing you need to know.

Both of us set up our system for the GPS to talk to the radio as well as the radio to report the information received back to the GPS. Getting this info on a big plotter screen is the way to go. Everything is on the radio but I have to use the up/down arrow to see all the info one line at a time.

Here is a screen shot of my GPS when Al reported his position.

http://www.bocapix.com/data/512/DSC_test.JPG

I really like the "Navigate To" feature on my GPS. Al had a few more steps to navigate to my position on his GPS but it is doable. I also got an icon with his boat name on the plotter screen.

I have read you can do these test yourself if you have two DSC radios on your boat. Just put your own info in them and report your position. the other radio should pick it up and plot it on the GPS.

Mike

p.s. If you guys want to post your MMSI numbers, I would suggest using the private forums.

[Al Gagnon]

Thanks Mike for your help. If enough guys show interest I will also create the group feature. What is nice is that you do not have to know if a fellow blackman owner is fishing or not. Just send a group request and then they can get back to you or you will know if they are fishing that day. I think if we use this feature, we may find other uses for it.

[Al Gagnon]

I guess no one is Interested Mike. :)
I heard the yellow tail are going off.