Keep DSC equipped VHF radios turned on 24/7

Status
Not open for further replies.
Grant Stevens - USBR said:
I tried everyday when I was on the lake in 2017 and 2018 (1 week in June and Thanksgiving week), no response.

Instructions for a Standard Horizon:

1) Go to the menu Setup/DSC Setup/Group Directory, enter the following:
WaynesWords 022 222 222

2) To place a group call, press:
CALL, then select Group Call
select WaynesWords
select the channel (68 for example)
select "YES" for Transmit Y/N

<Any radio in range with the group number 022222222 programmed in as indicated in 1) above, should now ring and display:

RECEIVED: GROUP CALL
From: Squirrel
Category: Safety
Channel: 68
Since: 1:03
ACCEPT/PAUSE/QUIT

If you click Accept, your radio will tune to 68, an ack will be sent to the calling radio that you accepted, and either side can now start to talk as both radios should now be on channel 68 "Wayne's got free beer at buoy 23!"


Have fun!
Click to expand...
Great instructions, they actually are almost word for word from my manual. I will try it next trip to LP and hopefully I am close to the free beer buoy! So fortunate to be a member of this forum with all the great advice, thank you all for your willingness to share information. DW
 
Littlesaltwash said:
Being a newbie I am not going to remember any of this when I need it. Are the procedures standard for : starting an emergency signal, responding to an a emergency signal, and passing one on? Should all that info be in an owners manual? What, or are there any Lake Powell specific signals for emergency?
Click to expand...

https://www.boatingmag.com/when-to-use-mayday-pan-pan-or-securite

Take a look at this website it's full of good information about emergencies. As far as who you are calling it will be anyone that can relay the message to National Park Service if they can't hear you. The traffic they have to deal with is insane. Imagine a 911 center that gets every person's call and just toe up the channel with their conversation. The biggest mistake I usually hear in regards to people announcing an emergency is they do it once a minute or longer You shouldnt be waiting to long between hails but you don't want to just keep talking so whoeover is listening can't ask you important information or relay it for you. Usually waiting 15 seconds in between hails is good. Hope that's the information you were looking for, if I misunderstood I'm sorry.
 
Grant Stevens - USBR said:
I tried everyday when I was on the lake in 2017 and 2018 (1 week in June and Thanksgiving week), no response.

Instructions for a Standard Horizon:

1) Go to the menu Setup/DSC Setup/Group Directory, enter the following:
WaynesWords 022 222 222

2) To place a group call, press:
CALL, then select Group Call
select WaynesWords
select the channel (68 for example)
select "YES" for Transmit Y/N

<Any radio in range with the group number 022222222 programmed in as indicated in 1) above, should now ring and display:

RECEIVED: GROUP CALL
From: Squirrel
Category: Safety
Channel: 68
Since: 1:03
ACCEPT/PAUSE/QUIT

If you click Accept, your radio will tune to 68, an ack will be sent to the calling radio that you accepted, and either side can now start to talk as both radios should now be on channel 68 "Wayne's got free beer at buoy 23!"


Have fun!
Click to expand...
Grant, do I have to get my own MMSI number to make this work? I can program the group number in and click yes to store but it “goes away” never to be seen again! I do not get the chance to name it and when I press call it asks me for the MMSI number. I guess I will have to call support to get this done. Maybe I will get it done before my next trip, maybe not.
 
Grant Stevens - USBR said:
Yep,
Most of the dsc functionality is disabled without a mmsi.

Free and easy to get at US Power Squadrons, sea tow or Boat US (free with membership.)
Click to expand...
Got it, it was easy and it worked once I put that in. Thanks again for being patient and providing me with the information needed to make it all work. Hope to talk to you on the lake by the free beer buoy!
Merry Christmas. DW
 
It took a whole 10 minuets to get the MMSI # for my new radio thru "BOAT US". The radio, SH GX1700 is still in the box from Santa, so I'll have to wait a while to get it all set up. Maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but I only registered for the MMSI# and got a year of BOAT US included. Thanks Grant!!! Sq
 
Squirrel said:
It took a whole 10 minuets to get the MMSI # for my new radio thru "BOAT US". The radio, SH GX1700 is still in the box from Santa, so I'll have to wait a while to get it all set up. Maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but I only registered for the MMSI# and got a year of BOAT US included. Thanks Grant!!! Sq
Click to expand...
Squirrel, I had to program my MMSI number into the radio before it would let me program the group number in. Once I did that it opened up more programming options. Just an FYI that I was not aware of, thanks to Grant for walking me through the process I finally got it done.
 
Squirrel said:
Thanks for the tip. Still 2 months till I get back to the lake. Has there been a chosen “WW’s” group #? Sq
Click to expand...
I believe it is 022 222 222, that is what I programmed in mine. Grant listed that one above in a previous post. If it is different I hope he will inform us what it is. Use that and at least some of us will be in contact. LOL
 
Grant Stevens - USBR said:
Yep,
Most of the dsc functionality is disabled without a mmsi.

Free and easy to get at US Power Squadrons, sea tow or Boat US (free with membership.)
Click to expand...

Grant, I just received this from U. S. Power Squadrons when I asked if there was a charge for an MMSI #;;

We are the only group still offering it for free as a public service
to encourage wider public acceptance.
Appreciate your help in getting the message out about an MMSI
and where to find it: www.usps.org/mmsi/
George

P/R/C George Hallenbeck, AP-IN
United States Power Squadrons/America's Boating Club
www.beyondboating.org
(203) 348-7121, (617) 959-4317
gwlk@aol.com

Sq
 
Last edited:
Squirrel said:
Grant, I just received this from U. S. Power Squadrons when I asked if there was a charge for an MMSI #;;

We are the only group still offering it for free as a public service
to encourage wider public acceptance.
Appreciate your help in getting the message out about an MMSI
and where to find it: www.usps.org/mmsi/
George

P/R/C George Hallenbeck, AP-IN
United States Power Squadrons/America's Boating Club
www.beyondboating.org
(203) 348-7121, (617) 959-4317
gwlk@aol.com

Sq
Click to expand...
Squirrel, that is where I got my MMSI number, I filled out a quick and easy form and received my number and it was free. The whole process took less than 10 minutes. It is to the far right on their top bar and says MMSI. Click on that and create an account and then you get the option to get an MMSI. It was pretty simple to do. Let me know if you have trouble and I will go to their site and walk through it again but you should be fine. Good Luck!
 
Grant, Vanilla, Thanks for all the radio info. Have gotten the standard Horizon GX1700 and a MMSi number. Now I need an antenna and the appropriate cable to make it functional. I saw you recommended a Shakespeare galaxy. I also saw that maybe bigger ( 8’ ) might not be necessary due to line of site anyway. so I am looking smaller and less obtrusive. Any particular suggestions? (More then one model of galaxy?) It seems that the cost of the antenna, mount, and cable is as much or more than the radio itself. Question to you, Vanilla, or anyone out there: Humminbird recommends routing a finder’s wiring on the opposite side of the boat from the electric trolling motor’s wiring. Also separate batteries. I have not seen on any forum or in Humminbirds support any mention of interference due to VHF radio, antenna, or wiring. Would having the radio antenna in close proximity to a console finder cause problems with the finder/VHF radio? Or, if the radio is connected to the dedicated finder batteries would that have an impact? Thanks
 
Littlesaltwash said:
Grant, Vanilla, Thanks for all the radio info. Have gotten the standard Horizon GX1700 and a MMSi number. Now I need an antenna and the appropriate cable to make it functional. I saw you recommended a Shakespeare galaxy. I also saw that maybe bigger ( 8’ ) might not be necessary due to line of site anyway. so I am looking smaller and less obtrusive. Any particular suggestions? (More then one model of galaxy?) It seems that the cost of the antenna, mount, and cable is as much or more than the radio itself. Question to you, Vanilla, or anyone out there: Humminbird recommends routing a finder’s wiring on the opposite side of the boat from the electric trolling motor’s wiring. Also separate batteries. I have not seen on any forum or in Humminbirds support any mention of interference due to VHF radio, antenna, or wiring. Would having the radio antenna in close proximity to a console finder cause problems with the finder/VHF radio? Or, if the radio is connected to the dedicated finder batteries would that have an impact? Thanks
Click to expand...
RE just the VHF radio antenna portion of your post, an 8' antenna is exponentially better than a 4' for range improvement and in my experience is more important than the quality of the radio itself. Just my 2 cents.
 
We bought the Shakespeare model that has a detachable radio. We are starting with the 4’ antenna with an option to easily replace it with the 6’ if we find the range to be an issue. When not in use or when we are towing 5he antenna can be stored in the rod locker
 
Littlesaltwash said:
Grant, Vanilla, Thanks for all the radio info. Have gotten the standard Horizon GX1700 and a MMSi number. Now I need an antenna and the appropriate cable to make it functional. I saw you recommended a Shakespeare galaxy. I also saw that maybe bigger ( 8’ ) might not be necessary due to line of site anyway. so I am looking smaller and less obtrusive. Any particular suggestions? (More then one model of galaxy?) It seems that the cost of the antenna, mount, and cable is as much or more than the radio itself. Question to you, Vanilla, or anyone out there: Humminbird recommends routing a finder’s wiring on the opposite side of the boat from the electric trolling motor’s wiring. Also separate batteries. I have not seen on any forum or in Humminbirds support any mention of interference due to VHF radio, antenna, or wiring. Would having the radio antenna in close proximity to a console finder cause problems with the finder/VHF radio? Or, if the radio is connected to the dedicated finder batteries would that have an impact? Thanks
Click to expand...
All electronic devices can pick up interference from power cables. I deal with it with VFDs transducers. With that said it does not always effect them and sometimes you don’t have much of a choice where you can run wires. If you can, keep your transducer wires as far away from power supply lines as possible. I had interference in the past, I thought, and spent a huge effort to reroute them, when I finished it did not improve it. Never did figure out where it was getting it from, it may have just been the graph itself. Do the best you can to keep transducer wire away from hot wires and you should be good.
A friend of mine just informed me that ferrite magnets are cheap and can be used to remove radio frequency interference. That may help if you do get some interference with your fish finder. My friend needs to be a member, he follows this site regularly. Good luck!
 
Last edited:
Does anyone know if a hummingbird 597 with gps can be connected to dsc radio ? I can't find anything about it in the manual
 
Last edited:
This thread finally convinced (shamed?) me into ordering a VHF radio. Something I’ve been putting off for a long time.

Question: To get my MMSI number do I need to wait for my radio to arrive (serial/model number required?) or can I visit Boat US and get it done now?
 
Rivergoer said:
This thread finally convinced (shamed?) me into ordering a VHF radio. Something I’ve been putting off for a long time.

Question: To get my MMSI number do I need to wait for my radio to arrive (serial/model number required?) or can I visit Boat US and get it done now?
Click to expand...
No you don’t have to have a radio to get your MMSI#. If your already a BOAT US mem,ber, will be free, if not it's $25.00 to join Boat US, then the MMSI# is free. The other option is U.S. Power Squadron will issue you your MMSI # for free. You do need the radio to input the #. Below is all that information. Sq

Just received this from U. S. Power Squadrons when I asked if there was a charge for an MMSI #;;

We are the only group still offering it for free as a public service
to encourage wider public acceptance.
Appreciate your help in getting the message out about an MMSI
and where to find it: www.usps.org/mmsi/
George

P/R/C George Hallenbeck, AP-IN
United States Power Squadrons/America's Boating Club
www.beyondboating.org
(203) 348-7121, (617) 959-4317
gwlk@aol.com

Sq
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top