Nautilus Life Line from a divers and Captains view

[Divin'Papaw]

So what is this Lifeline? There are many alert systems by that name and in hiking there is a whole like of other products.

Nautilus Marine Rescue nexGen GPS

The compact Nautilus Marine Rescue GPS radio is incredibly simple to use.

www.divegearexpress.com

 

[seeker242]

This part isn’t exactly right. First, the MMSI is supposed to be assigned to a vessel, not an individual, though the vessel owner is normally included. Changing MMSI once set is usually not permitted by the user. All capable radios allow MMSIto be set by the user once, but generally don’t allow it to be changed. Idea is that it stays with the boat. The MMSI registrar should have a means to update the contact information for a particular MMSI number, but you won’t be able to change from it to whichever boat you happen to be on. I suspect this is why Nautilus discontinued the original model, as they were using an interpretation of the MMSI rules that may not have been entirely correct. I’m not quite sure how the new version handles that.

For the new ones, from what I have seen in the documents, only the AIS MOB is broadcast. It's essentially a recreational version of AIS-SART. The DSC VHF on ch 70 is only sent to the number that you have preprogrammed into it, which needs to be reprogrammed according to what vessel you are on. It's no longer broadcast because you no longer have an MMSI to broadcast to begin with.

 

[DandyDon]

Nautilus Marine Rescue nexGen GPS

The compact Nautilus Marine Rescue GPS radio is incredibly simple to use.

www.divegearexpress.com

He said...

I used to have a Nautilus radio but it flooded. I now carry a LIfeline.

 

[Belzelbub]

So what is this Lifeline? There are many alert systems by that name and in hiking there is a whole like of other products.

Papaw posted the link to the current version. The Original Nautilus was called Lifeline. The Lifeline had voice capability, the new one doesn’t. New one has AIS capability, but the original didn’t. Both have GPS and DSC capability.

Neither have satellite capability. If diving in a remote area, a PLB would be best. If there are AIS or DSC sources nearby, that might be quicker.

 

[Belzelbub]

For the new ones, from what I have seen in the documents, only the AIS MOB is broadcast. It's essentially a recreational version of AIS-SART. The DSC VHF on ch 70 is only sent to the number that you have preprogrammed into it, which needs to be reprogrammed according to what vessel you are on. It's no longer broadcast because you no longer have an MMSI to broadcast to begin with.

Aah. I see. I thought he was asking about the original Lifeline. Not sure I like that. I could see the value of only calling your boat in a non-emergency.

However, in an emergency I would hope that both AIS and DSC alerts were sent. While AIS is becoming available on private boats, the vast majority don’t have it.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

DGX description says “Press the RED button and your GPS position accurate to { 5 feet | 1.5 meters } along with a man overboard distress message will be broadcast to all Automatic Identification System (AIS) equipped ships (any vessel that has a modern marine radio) up to { 34 mi | 54.7 km } away (line of sight). The unit can programmed ahead of time to ALSO send a special Digital Selective Calling (DSC) message to the specific ID of the marine radio on your own vessel.”

 

[seeker242]

DGX description says “Press the RED button and your GPS position accurate to { 5 feet | 1.5 meters } along with a man overboard distress message will be broadcast to all Automatic Identification System (AIS) equipped ships (any vessel that has a modern marine radio) up to { 34 mi | 54.7 km } away (line of sight). The unit can programmed ahead of time to ALSO send a special Digital Selective Calling (DSC) message to the specific ID of the marine radio on your own vessel.”

Yup, that means AIS is broadcast to everyone but DSC VHF is not. The FCC Approval request letter has a clearer description. Says DSC only transmits to user's host boat. The new version does not require an MMSI and broadcasting without one would be illegal. This is why current voice VHF DSC radios will not have a full functional DSC until you program your radio with your own boat's MMSI.

 

[Steve Roquemore]

I carry all these signaling devices in my BCD pockets. All of them tethered together, so I won’t lose any of them when I pull them out of my BCD pockets.View attachment 687366View attachment 687367

Never too much safety.

 

[Rick Brant]

So if a drift dive goes awry and there are multiple divers separated from the boat, and a Nautilus owner is far from the boat, would it be typical to use the yellow button so that the location is shared but the cavalry is not summoned?

 

[tursiops]

So if a drift dive goes awry and there are multiple divers separated from the boat, and a Nautilus owner is far from the boat, would it be typical to use the yellow button so that the location is shared but the cavalry is not summoned?

The Nautilus never calls the cavalry, only your boat.