Hello folks, thank you for sharing your experiences with testing the Lifeline.
In reading a few of your comments, we thought we should add a little bit of information for those who are curious about DSC, the standards associated with it, and testing the Lifeline itself. A little background:
In the early 2000s, most vessels built for commercial use were equipped with a DSC-capable marine VHF radio. In 2009, regulations passed within the GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) which required non-DSC-equipped commercial vessels to be fitted with DSC-capable radios in order to ensure that monitoring channel 70 became standard across the board. It was also recommended at this time that non-commercial vessels be equipped with DSC-capable radios for the sake of implementation within this network. This is one of the many reasons why Nautilus chose the three-tiered "Chat-Hail-Distress" (Green, Orange, Red) system for the Lifeline. With a commercial network in place and a recommendation for non-commercial operators, VHF and DSC are ideal mediums for the Lifeline's utility.
As for testing the DSC capability of your Lifeline, keep in mind that it is illegal in most countries to send false or test DSC distress messages due to the range of the technology. Please ensure that you check with your local authority before doing so. We have, however, implemented a 'Distress Test Mode' which was added a few months ago in a firmware update. This mode is accessible by pressing and holding the Green and Orange buttons together to enter the menu mode, and then scrolling to the 'Distress Test Mode' function. Here, you can see exactly what the Lifeline does while in distress mode without actually sending out the data packet.
Testing the normal VHF portion of the radio can be done at any point while at sea (operation of VHF radios on marine frequencies while on land is also prohibited in most countries). As long as there is another radio tuned to the same channel, the Lifeline will be able to communicate with that radio while line of sight is maintained with the antenna.
We hope that the above has answered some questions about how to test the Lifeline, and that it has also offered some insight as to why we chose VHF and DSC as the device's method of communication. It is our pleasure to answer any questions you may have and offer any information we can.
Sincerely,
The Nautilus Lifeline Team