1
The facility should conform to
the provisions of the relevant ITU-R Recommendations pertaining to
the DSC system.footnote
2
The DSC facility should comprise:
-
.1 means to decode and encode DSC messages;
-
.2 means necessary for composing the DSC message;
-
.3 means to verify the prepared message before
it is transmitted;
-
.4 means to display, in plain language with a
minimum of 160 characters in two or more lines, the information contained
in a received call;
-
.5 facilities to automatically update the ship's
position and the time at which the position was determined from a
suitable electronic position-fixing aid which may be an integral part
of the equipment. For equipment which does not have an integral position-fixing
aid, such facilities should include a suitable interface conforming
to the appropriate international standard;footnote
-
.6 means for manual entry of position information
and the time at which the position was determined; and
-
.7 means to activate an alarm when no position
data is received from the electronic position-fixing aid or, in the
case of manual input, the position information is over 4 hours old.
Any position information not updated for more than 23½ hours
should be erased.
3
Distress Message Storage
3.1 If the received messages are not printed immediately,
sufficient capacity should be provided to enable at least 20 received
distress messages to be stored in the DSC facility.
3.2 These messages should be stored until readout
and should be erased 48 hours after their reception.
4
It should be possible to initiate
and make distress and safety calls from the position from which the
ship is normally navigated. The means for initiating a distress alert
should be as prescribed in 2.5 to 2.7 of
Part A.
5
Initiation of DSC distress calls
should take precedence over any other operation of the facility.
6
Self-identification data should
be stored in the DSC unit. It should not be possible for the user
easily to change these data.
7
Means should be provided to enable
routine testing of the DSC facilities without radiation of signals.
8
Provision should be made for a
specific aural alarm and visual indication to indicate receipt of
a distress or urgency call or a call having a distress category. If
should not be possible to disable this alarm and indication. Provision
should be made to ensure that they can be reset only manually.