Nautilus Lifeline Radio

[Dogbowl]

I just wished Nautilus would make a PLB that is good for 100m.

I can’t agree more. There’s a market for such a product for sure, but I’m sure there’s probably a very legitimate reason why they haven’t done so. Maybe we can contact the owner and ask why.

Edit: Naïve little me just sent them this question and I'll post back if I receive a response.

 

[divinh]

I've had some time to play with the Nautilus Radio now...

After hooking it up to my laptop, I was able to see that it had the latest firmware already installed, which is good because I have no access to a real Windows machine. (My only "Windows machine" is Windows 7 running in VirtualBox and that doesn't seem to play well with the Nautilus connected, i.e. errors when connected.) Other than firmware updates, the MacOS version of the desktop program works as expected.

The two button menu system in the 1.02 firmware works great and is intuitive. I was able to conduct the Self Test, Distress Signal Test and SOS Strobe Test. All passed.

For the GPS, it took minutes to lock. (This is much longer than what my Garmin Vivoactive HR takes.) The documentation says it should be faster with subsequent locks. The plan is to get a GPS fix as soon as I get to the dive locale, then once before each dive so that subsequent locks are fast.

There's a feature in the desktop program to show the previous recorded GPS locations. One was in Canada, as expected, since the device is from there. The other looks to be French Polynesia, which is amazing since I bought this used and the last dive location for me was French Polynesia!

There was already an MMSI entered so I'll need Nautilus to issue a reset for me.

-----

I contacted the liveaboard and they monitor 16 and do boat-to-boat communications on 15 and 17. I set the Chat on the Nautilus to 17 (defaults to 68) and it's easy enough to switch to 15 with the menus.

 

[Dogbowl]

I've had some time to play with the Nautilus Radio now...

After hooking it up to my laptop, I was able to see that it had the latest firmware already installed, which is good because I have no access to a real Windows machine. (My only "Windows machine" is Windows 7 running in VirtualBox and that doesn't seem to play well with the Nautilus connected, i.e. errors when connected.) Other than firmware updates, the MacOS version of the desktop program works as expected.

The two button menu system in the 1.02 firmware works great and is intuitive. I was able to conduct the Self Test, Distress Signal Test and SOS Strobe Test. All passed.

For the GPS, it took minutes to lock. (This is much longer than what my Garmin Vivoactive HR takes.) The documentation says it should be faster with subsequent locks. The plan is to get a GPS fix as soon as I get to the dive locale, then once before each dive so that subsequent locks are fast.

There's a feature in the desktop program to show the previous recorded GPS locations. One was in Canada, as expected, since the device is from there. The other looks to be French Polynesia, which is amazing since I bought this used and the last dive location for me was French Polynesia!

There was already an MMSI entered so I'll need Nautilus to issue a reset for me.

-----

I contacted the liveaboard and they monitor 16 and do boat-to-boat communications on 15 and 17. I set the Chat on the Nautilus to 17 (defaults to 68) and it's easy enough to switch to 15 with the menus.

Great info! Now if I can get off my ass and do the same thing with my unit...

 

[Dan]

I just finished chatting with Ryan of Nautiluslifeline.com
Here is what he said:
1. If you load a boat MMSI into MRG and set the region to international, you would be able to send a test signal (by pressing the yellow button) to the boat's VHF radio.
2. If you leave the MRG's MMSI as is (what comes from OEM), then, the yellow button is useless.
3. Loading a boat's MMSI to your MRG would not delay broadcasting SOS immediately to all boats that have AIS capability when you press the red button.
4. Pressing the red button would broadcast SOS immediately & simultaneously via DSC every 4 minutes & AIS once per minute.
5. Loading a boat's MMSI to your MRG and pressing the red button will send SOS via DSC directly to that boat VHF radio for the first 30 minutes and then to the rest of the VHF radio with DSC capability.

 

[Dogbowl]

I just finished chatting with Ryan of Nautiluslifeline.com
Here is what he said:
1. If you load a boat MMSI into MRG and set the region to international, you would be able to send a test signal (by pressing the yellow button) to the boat's VHF radio.
2. If you leave the MRG's MMSI as is (what comes from OEM), then, the yellow button is useless.
3. Loading a boat's MMSI to your MRG would not delay broadcasting SOS immediately to all boats that have AIS capability when you press the red button.
4. Pressing the red button would broadcast SOS immediately & simultaneously via DSC every 4 minutes & AIS once per minute.
5. Loading a boat's MMSI to your MRG and pressing the red button will send SOS via DSC directly to that boat VHF radio for the first 30 minutes and then to the rest of the VHF radio with DSC capability.

Thanks @Dan_T , but that’s super confusing. I don’t think i get it, #3-5. #5 seems to be inconsistent with #4; maybe there’s something I don’t understand here.

 

[divinh]

It sounds like this happens...

Yellow button is only for testing between MRG and boat if you have MMSI loaded into MRG.

Red button sends SOS to all boats with AIS immediately and every minute thereafter.
Red button sends SOS to MMSI boat for 30 minutes with DSC first, then all boats thereafter, with interval of every 4 minutes. No MMSI loaded means SOS via DSC to all boats immediately, then every 4 minutes.

The only difference is how DSC is treated.

 

[Dan]

Thanks @Dan_T , but that’s super confusing. I don’t think i get it, #3-5.

First of all the MRG (new model without radio) is capable to broadcast 2 types of alert signal to DSC & AIS, while the old model with radio can only send to DSC. I'm referring to MRG here.

Let me try to explain the confusing points in other ways:
#3. Pressing the MRG red button will send alert to all boats that have AIS signal receiving capability, regardless whether you load any boat's MMSI or not. In other word, AIS signal is independent of MMSI.
#4. When the MRG red button is pressed, both DSC & AIS signals will be broadcasted at the same time. DSC signal will be sent out every 4 minutes and AIS signal will be sent out once per minute.
#5. If you enter a boat's MMSI before the trip and you press the red button during the trip, the MRG will send out both DSC & AIS signal immediately . However, DSC signal is dependent upon MMSI you load into the MRG. When you push the red button, DSC signal will be sent out to the boat (that has the MMSI number that you preloaded to your MRG before the trip) for the first 30 minutes before sending out to the rest of the world.

 

[Dogbowl]

It sounds like this happens...

Yellow button is only for testing between MRG and boat if you have MMSI loaded into MRG.

Red button sends SOS to all boats with AIS immediately and every minute thereafter.
Red button sends SOS to MMSI boat for 30 minutes with DSC first, then all boats thereafter, with interval of every 4 minutes. No MMSI loaded means SOS via DSC to all boats immediately, then every 4 minutes.

The only difference is how DSC is treated.

OK, I think I understand now. Thanks.

My next liveaboard only has DSC so this info will make a difference.

 

[Dan]

It sounds like this happens...

Yellow button is only for testing between MRG and boat if you have MMSI loaded into MRG.

Red button sends SOS to all boats with AIS immediately and every minute thereafter.
Red button sends SOS to MMSI boat for 30 minutes with DSC first, then all boats thereafter, with interval of every 4 minutes. No MMSI loaded means SOS via DSC to all boats immediately, then every 4 minutes.

The only difference is how DSC is treated.

Right on. I wish I could write as clearly as you do.

 

[Dan]

OK, I think I understand now. Thanks.

My next liveaboard only has DSC so this info will make a difference.

I do like the idea of testing my MRG DSC signal connection with the boat VHF radio. The test will raise the attention of the boat captain to be on the look out for your SOS during the trip.