Digital Selective Calling (Dsc); General; Dsc Distress Alert; Transmitting A Dsc Distress Alert - Standard Horizon HX890 Owner's Manual

10. DIGITAL SELECTIVE CALLING (DSC)

10.1 GENERAL

This HX890 is designed to generate a digital maritime distress and
safety call to facilitate search and rescue. This unit will only be effective
as a safety device, when it is used within communication range of a
shore-based VHF marine channel 70 distress and safety watch system
(or another vessel equipped with a compatible DCS transceiver).
The range of signal may vary but under normal conditions should be
approximately 5 nautical miles.
Digital Selective Calling (DSC) is a semi-automated method of establishing a
radio call, it has been designated by the International Maritime Organization
(IMO) as an international standard for establishing VHF, MF and HF radio
calls. It has also been designated as part of the Global Maritime Distress and
Safety System (GMDSS). It is planned that DSC will eventually replace aural
watches on distress frequencies and will be used to announce routine and
urgent maritime safety information broadcasts.
This system allows mariners to instantly send a Distress Alert with GPS position
(when connected to the transceiver) to the Coast Guard and other vessels within
range of the transmission. DSC will also allow mariners to initiate or receive
Distress, Urgency, Safety, Routine, and Position Report, Automatic Position Poll-
ing, and Group calls to or from another vessel equipped with a DSC transceiver.

10.2 DSC DISTRESS ALERT

The HX890 is capable of transmitting and receiving DSC distress messages
to all DSC radios. Distress Alert transmissions from the HX890 will include the
latitude and longitude of the vessel when the internal GPS unit is activated.

10.2.1 Transmitting a DSC Distress Alert

To be able to transmit a DSC Distress Alert an MMSI number must be
programmed, refer to section "6.4.2 Programming the MMSI".
Basic Operation
1. Lift the red spring-loaded DISTRESS cover on the right
side of the transceiver. Press, then press and hold the
DISTRESS key for 3 seconds. The radio display will count
down (3 - 2 - 1) and then transmit the Distress Alert. The
backlight of the display and keypad flashes while the radio's
display is counting down.
WARNING
NOTE
!!DISTRESS!!
UNDESIGNATED
24 ° 25.9755
POS: N
118 ° 59.4566
W
12:56
TIME:
UTC
Time for 3sec.
NATURE POS QUIT
35