Nautilus Lifeline radios no longer eligible for MMSI registration

[jeffromonty]

curios to see the fix for this. as i have been thinking about getting one.

 

[KenGordon]

The MMSI is designed to be applied to ALL the radios (same MMSI) in use on a specific boat, not ALL the boats that a specific radio might use!
Perhaps internationally the solution is for Lifeline users to use the MMSI for whatever boat they are on....they can still speak directly to their boat, or to any Ch 16 users, and if they send out a DSC then any boat so equipped will hear it, AND the local coast guard if there is one will at least know what boat to look for and to contact.

Excellent plan. Ship has issue with divers in the water, signals a mayday. Divers surface a couple of miles away, signal mayday as have not seen the boat, another does the same somewhere else. Now the coast guard have three locations for the same ID. What can possibly go wrong?

The lifeline only let's you set the MMSI once. After that it is back to the factory. The MMSI is sort of like a MAC address. It needs to be unique. Who knows what would happen if radio X hails radio Y with ID yyyyyy and radio Z also acknowledged it. Boat says to port, can I come in? Port says, wait until I call back. 10 minutes later a lifeline gets a call back from the port...

 

[SubAquatix]

Who told them, and how do you know this?

It was sent to subscribers via mail. They said it was a directive of both USCG and FCC, but did not provide specifics. A quick call to USCG Morehead City with the CO provided additional "unofficial data" you may want to call your rep in your area as well.

 

[tursiops]

The lifeline only let's you set the MMSI once. After that it is back to the factory.

Not according to their website.
"How do i change my MMSI number? International regulations state that only the radio manufacturer may change an MMSI number. The Lifeline is the only marine radio that allows this change WITHOUT sending it back to the factory. Email your name, unit serial number and place of purchase to info@nautiluslifeline.com and we will clear your MMSI. All you have to do after that is connect your LifeLine to the desktop software and click “Check for Updates”. Please allow 2 business days."

---------- Post added March 14th, 2015 at 01:43 PM ----------

It was sent to subscribers via mail. They said it was a directive of both USCG and FCC, but did not provide specifics. A quick call to USCG Morehead City with the CO provided additional "unofficial data" you may want to call your rep in your area as well.

Subscribers to what? Snail mail or email?
I'm a LL users, bought it from the company, duly registered with the company and with BoatUS, have received nothing from the company.

 

[KenGordon]

Not according to their website.
"How do i change my MMSI number? International regulations state that only the radio manufacturer may change an MMSI number. The Lifeline is the only marine radio that allows this change WITHOUT sending it back to the factory. Email your name, unit serial number and place of purchase to info@nautiluslifeline.com and we will clear your MMSI. All you have to do after that is connect your LifeLine to the desktop software and click “Check for Updates”. Please allow 2 business days."

Ok, but you take the point that it is not an operation that the user is expected to perform. This is so you can transfer it between owners rather than stepping off one boat onto another.

When I am outside of UK waters I don't especially care that the local coast guard know I am a diver. I care that they know there is someone in distress at a particular place. After the spoken mayday, call sign and MMSI you are going to mention the fact you are a lost diver. I have a greater expectation that that will get through than some database lookup.

 

[kelemvor]

Subscribers to what? Snail mail or email?
I'm a LL users, bought it from the company, duly registered with the company and with BoatUS, have received nothing from the company.

Subscribers to MMSI registration through BoatUS. BoatUS sent out the only official communication I've seen. The communication was sent via eMail. If you have a BoatUS MMSI for your lifeline and haven't seen the eMail they might be still sending or it went to your spam bin.

I've not seen anything from Nautilus directly. Since the Nautilus website now shows instructions to register for MMSI from a company other than BoatUS I suspect it was a falling out between Nautilus and BoatUS.

 

[tursiops]

Ok, but you take the point that it is not an operation that the user is expected to perform. This is so you can transfer it between owners rather than stepping off one boat onto another.

When I am outside of UK waters I don't especially care that the local coast guard know I am a diver. I care that they know there is someone in distress at a particular place. After the spoken mayday, call sign and MMSI you are going to mention the fact you are a lost diver. I have a greater expectation that that will get through than some database lookup.

And what call sign do you use?

 

[KenGordon]

The one assigned by Ofcom, the UK equivalent of the FCC. The ones for a handheld are distinct from those for ship or shore stations.

 

[kelemvor]

It is pretty comical in a day when our government records and permanently stores every radio, telephone, text, and electronic communication ever made they would complain about limited resources to issue and store a unique identifier to MMSI applicants. If that limitation is true, someone high up in the USCG or FCC needs to be terminated for incompetence.

 

[tursiops]

Subscribers to MMSI registration through BoatUS. BoatUS sent out the only official communication I've seen. I've not seen anything from Nautilus directly. Since the Nautilus website now shows instructions to register for MMSI from a company other than BoatUS I suspect it was a falling out between Nautilus and BoatUS.

OK, I got the same email from BoatUS, which does not mention any "directive" from FCC or USCG. I suspect you are correct that USCG asked BoatUS to stop the registrations, but that is somewhere on the fine line between speculation and hearsay.

So the second act of the play will start with the US Power Squadron doing the registrations. That will work for a while, probably a shorter while, then the same thing will happen. But it does buy time for Nautilus to figure out a better game plan.

More importantly, for me and all the others that really want to use the system in international waters, the MMSI we get is not in any database other than the USCG; this may not be needed in any overseas incident, but it does not help. I assume the same thing is true if you are Canadian and get your MMSI (or its equivalent) from Canada, or the same for any of the other countries.