Dsc Overview; What Is Dsc; Dsc Message - Furuno FS-1575 Operator's Manual

3.

DSC OVERVIEW

3.1

What is DSC?

DSC is an acronym meaning Digital Selective Calling. It is a digital distress and gen-
eral calling system in the MF and HF bands used by ships for transmitting distress
alerts and general calls and by coast stations for transmitting the associated acknowl-
edgements.
For DSC distress, safety and urgency callings in the MF and HF bands, the frequen-
cies are 2187.5, 4207.5, 6312.0, 8414.5, 12577.0, and 16804.5 kHz.
Routine DSC Call
3.2

DSC Message

DSC calls are roughly divided in two groups: distress messages and general (safety,
urgency and routine) messages. Below are the types of DSC messages.
Call
DISTRESS ALERT
DISTRESS RELAY
AREA
DISTRESS RELAY
INDIVIDUAL
MEDICAL MSG*
NEUTRAL MSG*
INDIVIDUAL MSG
PSTN MSG
TEST MSG
GROUP MSG
AREA MSG
POSITION MSG
POLLING MSG
*SPECIAL MSG: To send these messages, set [SPECIAL MSG] to [ABLE]. See
section 6.18.
Distress, Safety, Urgency DSC calls
Distress, Safety, Urgency and Routine DSC Calls
Option
TRANSCEIVER
Your ship sends distress message.
Your ship relays distress call to all ships in a specific geographical area.
Your ship relays distress call to a coast station.
Inform areas that your ship is carrying medical supplies.
Inform areas that your ship is not a participant in armed conflict.
Call to a specific address.
Call over Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
Send test signal to a station to test your station's functionality.
Call to a specific group.
Call to all ships in a specific geographical area.
Your ship requests position of other ships.
Confirm if your ship is within communicating range with other ships. (Re-
ceive and answer only)
UNIT
Description
Routine DSC Call
CONTROL UNIT
3-1