Recommendations for Nautilus/lifeline?

[divinh]

So... both previous interpretations say the MMSI is an ID assigned to the Nautilus, /not/ the ID of the boat/boat group to be communicated with...

 

[Russjstewart]

What I was told by Nautilus help desk. The new Nautilus Marine Rescue GPS (w/o marine radio) has a unique MMSI with Man Over Board (MOB) code of 269 to be transmitted during the emergency alert broadcasting. For example, my MMSI code is 972696005
97 is to indicate that is a Natilus device
269 is the code for MOB
6005 is my ID

So, when I press the red button, boat AIS will display that a Nautilus device (97) has been activated as MOB (269) by me (6005).

View attachment 684021

My understanding is, and the disclaimer here is that I do not own a lifeline and have never activated one, is that yes you will need a mmsi for the lifeline but if you are using DSC you will need to program the mmsi of the station you want to call in the initial call. I think the manual could be worded a bit better as it says outside Europe, Canada and the US
“• International: Full distress alerting with AIS and DSC.
If a ship MMSI has been programmed, DSC will first be sent to your own ship. After 30 mins., DSC will be sent to all ships.”.

in the US the manual says “USA: Full AIS alert will be transmitted. DSC alert will be sent first to your programmed ship MMSI. After 30 minutes, transmission will switch to your programmed group MMSI. Refer to steps 4 and 5 for details on MMSI programming.”

Does that mean if programmed for the US pushing the button will send out a general alert or just to the mmsi of the ship you have programmed? Are you able to ask the help desk this question please?

While AIS and DSC use similar technologies and have the same distance constraints they are not the same thing, and have a different price point. I can buy a DSC radio for AUD260.00 and only need one aerial.
If I want an AIS receiver the receiver is a similar price but i have to interface into a chart plotter, and need a separate AIS aerial or a splitter.

 

[Dan]

My understanding is, and the disclaimer here is that I do not own a lifeline and have never activated one, is that yes you will need a mmsi for the lifeline but if you are using DSC you will need to program the mmsi of the station you want to call in the initial call. I think the manual could be worded a bit better as it says outside Europe, Canada and the US
“• International: Full distress alerting with AIS and DSC.
If a ship MMSI has been programmed, DSC will first be sent to your own ship. After 30 mins., DSC will be sent to all ships.”.

in the US the manual says “USA: Full AIS alert will be transmitted. DSC alert will be sent first to your programmed ship MMSI. After 30 minutes, transmission will switch to your programmed group MMSI. Refer to steps 4 and 5 for details on MMSI programming.”

Does that mean if programmed for the US pushing the button will send out a general alert or just to the mmsi of the ship you have programmed? Are you able to ask the help desk this question please?

While AIS and DSC use similar technologies and have the same distance constraints they are not the same thing, and have a different price point. I can buy a DSC radio for AUD260.00 and only need one aerial.
If I want an AIS receiver the receiver is a similar price but i have to interface into a chart plotter, and need a separate AIS aerial or a splitter.

Do you see my post, above? My Nautilus Marine Recue GPS comes with MMSI, which is 972696005 and I explained what those numbers represent. I can’t make any call from it as it does not have marine radio.

I don’t need to program it to any boat’s MMSI. I just press the red button it then would broadcast the man overboard (MOB) to any boat that has DSC or AIS receiver.

I’m not referring to the old Nautilus Lifeline with built-in marine radio. I think you are confusing my device with the old generation. Mine is shown below.

 

[tursiops]

The original NLL Radio (that I have) does not have AIS, only DSC. One has to obtain an MMSI and program it into the unit. If you press the Red button, your programmed MMSI is sent along with your GPS position to anyone listening. Think of the MMSI as being like a telephone number. If I want to send a distress signal, I don't care who hears it, the more the better. If I just want to talk to someone, I press the Green button for my preprogrammed chat channel -- like 68 or 78 -- or the Orange button for Channel 16. In principle, Channel 16 will bring me help too, but I have to tell them where I am by reading my GPS coords to them. The DSC signal, being digital, also has a somewhat greater transmission range and includes my location info.

The newer NLL has AIS plus DSC., but no voice capability. Digital message only. The calling protocol is different, and allows the unit to call "your" boat for a while (by using your boat's MMSI) before it sends out a general call. Your unit is still individually identified, as Dan has described above.

 

[Dan]

Subscribed. I am diving with Nautilus in Socorro in a couple months and was tentatively planning to use my marine park fee and trip insurance credits to buy one during the trip. Well, if I don't spend them at the bar onboard first.

You can’t use the marine park fee credit for drink. That means you can drink as much as you want as long as you bring enough cash or your credit card is accepted.

 

[O-ring]

You can’t use the marine park fee credit for drink. That means you can drink as much as you want as long as you bring enough cash or your credit card is accepted.

I guess I'll be getting a Lifeline then..

 

[divinh]

Summary?

Nautilus Lifeline - unique MMSI *changeable* by using software on a laptop or PC, DSC broadcasts MMSI to all nearby ships... though MMSI of up to three ships can be added to transmit direct to or to a Group.

Nautilus GPS - MMSI pre-assigned, Ship MMSI and Group MMSI to communicate with changeable by using software on a laptop or PC *OR* mobile app using camera flash on mobile, DSC broadcasts pre-assigned MMSI to Ship MMSI, Group MMSI, then all nearby ships

 

[divinh]

We have the original unit. I just read through some instructions from DiveHatteras website and found them helpful. The most helpful was the reminder to do a pre-dive check by clicking the orange button 3 times quickly to get a message of "Good to go" before you close the unit and go diving.

I have the original unit with 1.02 of the software. Pressing the orange button 3 times goes into updating the Channel for Chat. To test for "Good to go"...

- Press orange button to get to menu mode
- Press green button until "Procedures" is reached
- Press orange to select "Procedures"
- Press green until "Self Test"
- Press orange to select "Self Test"
- Wait til "Good to go" message, meanwhile light will flash, then various messages of things being tested

I noticed that if GPS hasn't locked onto satellites, then Self Test will just exit without "Good to go".

 

[tursiops]

Kimela, if you haven't upgraded your Lifeline Radio to version 1.02, you should.
Go to the Lifeline site at Nautilus Marine Rescue GPS - Free to use, Diver Rated to 425 ft. | Nautilus LifeLine
Scroll to the very bottom, and click on Lifeline Radio.
The Middle orange box on the Left "Nautilus Lifeline Radio Support" has LOTS of good info.
Get the Operations Manual V1.02
Install the Desktop software (PC or MAC)

 

[Janie88]

Summary?

Nautilus Lifeline - unique MMSI *changeable* by using software on a laptop or PC, DSC broadcasts MMSI to all nearby ships

Nautilus GPS - MMSI pre-assigned, Ship MMSI and Group MMSI to communicate with changeable by using software on a laptop or PC *OR* mobile app using camera flash on mobile, DSC broadcasts pre-assigned MMSI to Ship MMSI, Group MMSI, then all nearby ships

Kimela, if you haven't upgraded your Lifeline Radio to version 1.02, you should.
Go to the Lifeline site at Nautilus Marine Rescue GPS - Free to use, Diver Rated to 425 ft. | Nautilus LifeLine
Scroll to the very bottom, and click on Lifeline Radio.
The Middle orange box on the Left "Nautilus Lifeline Radio Support" has LOTS of good info.
Get the Operations Manual V1.02
Install the Desktop software (PC or MAC)

Thanks for the info. My husband has the original Nautilus Lifeline too, and I just shared this info with him. I got the new one, so I guess we should be in good shape should the need arise.