Sending a Designated Distress Call
When you send a designated distress call, the nature of your emergency is transmitted to the receiving stations.
1 Lift the spring-loaded door, and press DISTRESS.
2 Turn the SELECT dial, and select the type of distress call.
TIP: You can select CLEAR to exit the screen without sending a distress call.
3 Hold DISTRESS for at least three seconds.
The radio beeps and counts down the seconds. DISTRESS CALL COUNTING DOWN appears on the screen.
The radio sounds an alarm, switches to channel 70, and transmits your call on high (25 W) power.
4 Press any key to silence the alarm sound.
The radio tunes to channel 16 on high (25 W) power.
5 Hold PTT on the handset or radio to relay your message.
The radio waits for an acknowledgment (ACK) on channel 70 from a listening station.
Waiting For and Receiving and Acknowledgment for a Distress Call
If the radio does not receive an acknowledgment for a distress call, the radio retransmits the distress call
randomly between 3.5 to 4.5 minutes later, and continues to retransmit the distress call at random intervals
until the radio receives an acknowledgment.
When the radio receives the acknowledgment, it begins beeping and DISTRSS ACK appears on the screen.
1 Press any key to turn off the beeping.
2 Select to view additional information.
TIP: If the MMSI of the station transmitting the acknowledgment signal is an entry in your directory, the
name associated with the MMSI number appears on the screen. If the MMSI of the station is not in your
directory, the MMSI number appears on the screen.
3 Select ACCEPT.
Stopping Automatic Retransmission of Distress Calls
Select CANCEL.
The radio remains tuned to channel 16.
NOTE: Selecting CANCEL ends the automatic repetition of the call, but does not communicate to other
stations that you no longer have an emergency. If you no longer have an emergency, you should revoke the
distress call (
Revoking a Distress Call, page 13
).
Revoking a Distress Call
You do not transmit a distress call until you hold DISTRESS for at least three seconds. If you inadvertently make
a distress call, or are no longer in distress, you should cancel the call immediately by transmitting a voice
message to all stations on channel 16.
1 Select CANCEL > YES, and wait until DISTRESS CANCEL HAS BEEN SENT appears on the screen.
2 Select OK.
3 Hold PTT on the handset, and transmit an appropriate voice message to cancel the distress call (
Call Cancellation Script, page 13
).
4 Select an option:
• Select END to complete the distress-call cancellation and return to normal radio operation.
• Select RESEND to resend the distress-call cancellation and start the process again.
Distress Call Cancellation Script
When you revoke a DSC distress call (
Revoking a Distress Call, page 13
), you should transmit an appropriate
cancellation message.
For example, "All stations, all stations, all stations, this is _____(vessel name), MMSI number ____, position
____(North or South), ____(West or East). Cancel my distress alert of ____(date and time). This is ____(vessel
name), MMSI number ____. Out."
Digital Selective Calling
13
