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3-1
3. DSC OVERVIEW
3.1 What is DSC?
DSC is an acronym meaning Digital Selective Calling. It is a digital distress and gen-
eral calling system in the MF and HF bands used by ships for transmitting distress
alerts and general calls and by coast stations for transmitting the associated acknowl-
edgements.
For DSC distress, safety and urgency callings in the MF and HF bands, the frequen-
cies are 2187.5, 4207.5, 6312.0, 8414.5, 12577.0, and 16804.5 kHz.
3.2 DSC Message
DSC calls are roughly divided in two groups: distress messages and general (safety,
urgency and routine) messages. Below are the types of DSC messages.
*SPECIAL MSG: To send these messages, set [SPECIAL MSG] to [ABLE]. See
section 6.18.
Call Description
DISTRESS ALERT Your ship sends distress message.
DISTRESS RELAY
AREA
Your ship relays distress call to all ships in a specific geographical area.
DISTRESS RELAY
INDIVIDUAL
Your ship relays distress call to a coast station.
MEDICAL MSG* Inform areas that your ship is carrying medical supplies.
NEUTRAL MSG* Inform areas that your ship is not a participant in armed conflict.
INDIVIDUAL MSG Call to a specific address.
PSTN MSG Call over Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
TEST MSG Send test signal to a station to test your station's functionality.
GROUP MSG Call to a specific group.
AREA MSG Call to all ships in a specific geographical area.
POSITION MSG Your ship requests position of other ships.
POLLING MSG Confirm if your ship is within communicating range with other ships. (Re-
ceive and answer only)
Distress, Safety, Urgency DSC calls
Routine DSC Call
Option
Routine DSC Call
TRANSCEIVER
UNIT
CONTROL UNIT
Distress, Safety, Urgency and Routine DSC Calls