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NCBrew
Captain

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USA
338 Posts
Initially Posted - 06/15/2020 :  08:37:24  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
My VHF makes beeping sounds, like beep, beep seems like they are in 2 beeps followed by 2 more. This goes on for a while then stops.

I never entered an MMSI number and it reminds me every time I turn it on.

Where do I get an MMSI number?
1998 Catalina 250WK
Ravaging
Albemarle Sound,NC

I spent most of my money on boats and beer, the rest I just wasted.

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5231 Posts
Response Posted - 06/15/2020 :  10:14:57  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Hi NC,
Which radio do you have? I just purchased a Standard Horizon GX1400 VHF and I entered my old MMSI number into the new radio. You can obtain a free MMSI number by going to the following website on Boat US

https://www.boatus.com/MMSI/MMSI/Home

My old radio worked fine until we had some lightning, so I had to update it. Neither the old nor the new VHF have a built-in GPS so I connected it to a handheld Garmin 76 I had laying around. I could’ve purchased the next model up with a built in GPS for like $60 more. If I had not connected the GPS to the radio, it would have been pretty pointless to have DSC without active Lat/Long, and it would have beeped incessantly! The old one left it as optional.

DSC is great for folks who don’t know the protocol for distress calls on a VHF, or in an extremely rare situation where you cannot talk on the radio (cardiac arrest, asthma attack, etc). I have never called a Mayday, thank the gods, but I have called a Pan-Pan when my daughter spotted what looked like a head in the water. It was an errant mooring ball with “hair”.

I alerted the USCG the same way as a Mayday, but used the words Pan-Pan (sounds like pon-pon), gave my vessel name, my name, the time, my location and the nature of the distress — repeated it twice. USCG returned my distress call immediately and we worked it out.

I also was programming my old DSC radio one day using the menus and suddenly my cell phone rang. It was the local CG station. The Officer in Charge asked me whether I was in distress and I told him that I was fine. He asked whether I was on the boat testing my VHF because they received a test call from my MMSI number. I told him I was OK and I was working on the radio. Moral of the story is that it really works fine.

I’ve also received occasional DSC alerts from other nearby radios. More often than not it’s someone out of gas or an overturned dinghy sailor. It’s a nice thing to have in place just in case.
Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain — Milford, CT
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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9013 Posts
Response Posted - 06/15/2020 :  20:47:26  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Hi Patrick... Bruce pointed you to a site for setting up and obtaining an MMSI, which involves entering information about you and your boat. This goes into a system so the Coast Guard instantly has it in an emergency when you push the Distress button. If you're radio has GPS built in or is connected to a GPS, it will also transmit your location to them when you push the button. I suspect your radio is complaining that you haven't set that up. I suggest reading up on how DSC distress calls work--they automatically lead to you talking to the Coast Guard, who already has a lot of information so the discussion can focus on the situation and help can be dispatched ASAP.
Dave Bristle
Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT
PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired),
Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.