Vessel Distress Button on New Marine Radios

[Cacia]

It is a very important looking button, usually RED on the new radios.

Only problem is it does not DO anything untill 2008 in Hawaii, according to Coast Guard Auxillary member, Lenny at West Marine. Eventually it will send a GPS coordinate to the Coast Guard. Not interfaced yet, he says.

 

[dlndavid]

so be very carefull and don't get into any trouble, it is like 4 wheel drive, to get you out of trouble, not into it.

 

[Cacia]

yea but....that seems so wrong. Like having "911...just kidding!"

government regulations at their finest....

well, I bit the bullet and bought an ACR IPIRB. It sends your updated GPS coordinates to the USCG. Does anybody answer the phone? I also bought a large intertube. Seriously.

 

[wilkie]

yea but....that seems so wrong. Like having "911...just kidding!"

government regulations at their finest....

Hey, just be happy for the folks who don't know - they will feel safe!

Glad that you are making safety preparations on your new boat.

 

[chepar]

It is a very important looking button, usually RED on the new radios.

Only problem is it does not DO anything untill 2008 in Hawaii.

That's like a complete tease! Just as well, I suppose - there's something very contrary in my nature that would have me itching to press it, especially if I was told not to because it's for emergencies only.

 

[Cacia]

hahaha...I bet you like to talk to the lone-star lady or whoever that is on my radio when I try and open the sunroof. Did you go around pulling fire alarms as a kid?

Yes, I am EPIRB'd now and I feel better. I want to play with putting it in a camera housing and taking it on Captain Joe drifts.

 

[Bill51]

Not completely a do nothing button, but the USCG is not fully functioning to respond to it yet.

Assuming you’ve interfaced the VHF to your GPS, you’ve correctly applied for your MMSI identification number, entered it into your DSC capable radio, and in the case of some radios programmed the various DSC Emergency codes, your DSC Distress button will be fully functioning – but more private and commercial boaters are likely to hear it than Coast Guard ships or stations at this time. Ironically the privately owned Coast Guard Auxiliary boats in my area were equipped to receive DSC distress signals long before the actual Coast Guard boats were.

If you’re within line of sight of many other boats the DSC distress function on your VHF will probably get help to you faster than anything and when properly programmed will let the responding boats know specifics of your emergency as well as your exact location. If you’re not within line of sight of many other boats or you’ve had to quickly abandon ship than a portable 406 Mhz EPIRB with built in GPS will be able to stay with you and get you noticed and located by a satellite within 30-90 minutes. There are now some floating handheld VHF radios with DSC but we’ve discovered that if you attempt to use them while floating in the ocean your effective antenna height is so low that you’ll typically have a range of less than 5 miles.

 

[ChrisA]

It is a very important looking button, usually RED on the new radios.

Only problem is it does not DO anything untill 2008 in Hawaii, according to Coast Guard Auxillary member, Lenny at West Marine. Eventually it will send a GPS coordinate to the Coast Guard. Not interfaced yet, he says.

Not True. It WILL do exactly what it was designed for today. It will send a signal to ANY other radio that has this same feature. So if your freind buys a new radio he will get the signal. Also large ships have been required to buy these kinds of radios for years now. Most have them. He was correct that the US Coast gard does not yet have these radios. They will be the last to get them.

Many small boats are equipted the the radio and have them interfaced to a GPS and a chart plotter and will see your distress signal on ther charts and the chart plotter will automatically compute a course tothe radio sending the signal. Such systems are not even expensive. Less than a grand will get you in the door.

 

[Cacia]

So if your freind buys a new radio he will get the signal.

when I posted this, it was right after being told this by a Coast Guard reservist who works at West Marine where we were buying our EPIRB.


So..just asking

what is the chance a private vessel would respond? I mean my own daughter was on a boat where a diver died and I was quite upset. But I did not jump in my boat and go zooming off to Lanai. (and I was getting NO information from the USCG) Even though the incident was on the public VHF radio. So, I am wondering how realistic rescues by private boaters really is. I am just asking?

Are they expected to call the Coast Guard, or what?

Which brings up the public relations issue around here that I am always alluding to...everybody wants to shoot the messenger. But around here, local boaters, they seem to have a pact to NOT call the Coast Guard. If the Coast Guard heads to Maunaloa Bay from Waikiki, the phones start ringing and everybody knows before they get here. If you told me that HPD could not show up without neighbors alerting their neighbors that they were coming, well---that would be a big problem in my book. That's what they do in gang territory when the partnership with the citizens has been erroded. "Us against them" is a bad situation. I just heard a story the other day about some people requesting that the Coast Guard be called and the captain found the number for the jet ski guy at Sandy's beach. (Fire)
Unless you are sinking and they are the last hope, there seems to be a real resistance to involving them. I am not saying it is right, I am saying that is what I see and hear.

If the USCG won't risk giving any reassurance to a parent due to liabilty issues surrounding notifying next of kin....maybe private citizens have some legitimate concerns about rescuing strangers. I am not saying I would not do it, but I AM saying there needs to be a better partnership between USCG and the private boating community. I have no faith they would back me up, none. ZIP.

 

[KrisB]

Unless you are sinking and they are the last hope, there seems to be a real resistance to involving them. I am not saying it is right, I am saying that is what I see and hear.

I have heard similar whisperings over here, too... but it's not so much about the Coast Guard, it's about involving them over the VHF. The problem is that VHF is not private and you have no idea who's listening or how much (or little) of the conversation they've heard. It's very easy for people to get the wrong impression when you're talking to the CG on official matters, I would think.

So, instead of VHF, it seems people around here would rather pull out the cell phone and call the CG if that's a reasonable option... which is understandable if the only assistance you're willing to accept (or you explicitly require) is from the USCG.

Of course, that's likely the same attitude that seems to have people putting the hate on me for airing some dirty laundry about Maui dive ops that was piled at the bottom of the hamper.