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It seems
there are more acronyms in the world of electronics than there are electrons.
It’s DSL this, DSP that; here a DGPS, there a DSC, everywhere a
DDEC.
Though
all this technoalphabet soup may seem like BS, one of these letter combos
is revolutionizing the way your VHF sends an SOS, which could save your
life if you’re ever broken down, offshore, and SOL.
The
Digital Selective Calling (DSC) label is the must-have acronym for the
new generation of recreational boating radios. If you attend the Miami
International Boat Show next month, you’ll see it on radios from
every major marine electronics maker, like Datamarine’s latest launch,
the SEA 157 VHF, DSC Radiotelephone. But what exactly is DSC, and why
is it an abbreviation worth knowing about?
The
purpose of the DSC system is twofold: to make distress calling faster
and more accurate and to allow you to call individual boats and land-based
stations privately, as you would on a telephone. Developed in the early
1990s by the U.S Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, the DSC system has been
a central part of the emerging Global Maritime Distress and Safety System
(GMDSS).
Because
watch stations around the country became swamped with Channel 16 distress
calls as the boating industry boomed, DSC’s prime objective was
to speed up the transmission of calls and change them to a textual format.
To that end, signals from all DSC-enabled radios are designed to automatically
include vessel identification and location and other vital information.
This data can be transmitted over radio waves within seconds.
The
best way to understand how DSC works is to take a look at each word in
the acronym.
Digital.
This means all data signals are sent over radio waves in the computer
language of ones and zeros. When you send a DSC message, it automatically
includes your nine-digit Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number
(which you receive when you register the radio), the MMSI of the boat
or station you’re calling, and the priority of the call. In order
of declining importance, they are Distress, Urgent, Safety, and Routine.
If you link your radio to a Loran or GPS unit, your message will also
automatically contain your position.
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