A tool for safety at sea
The AIS is an anti-collision system, a safety system to avoid accidents between boats. It offers very interesting functions with a VHF, to be able to contact a boat, which could make collision course with us.
To know your intentions, whether you are going to pass in front, behind, or just announce yourself, you can easily use the CALL function, a function available on all VHF DSC.
Call between VHF DSC
In the video, you can see a concrete example made with 2 VHF. One VHF that serves as a "calling" station and the second one that receives the call. The procedure is simple, we define a call channel and we send the call. The VHF that is called, recognized by its unique identifier (MMSI) will ring like a telephone. The operator just has to accept the call and exchange voice messages using the microphone.
We can see here that the use of DSC is really very efficient, since it allows to explain one's position, to specify one's maneuvering intentions, with a direct call to the boat one wants to address. Safety at sea gains a lot.
