RTCM
A meeting of the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) was held in May 2007. The RTCM is a composite of industry, government and service organizations. It is attended by groups such as the USCG, the FAA, USPS and many others. Their decisions are presented to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for adoption by all treat Nations. Some 300 people were at this meeting.

Loran
One item of interest would be Loran-C. Last year, the USCG announced that effective Jan/07, they would no longer spend money on maintaining Loran stations and Loran would be left to die off. The money saved would go into their Rescue 21 program which is the implementation of DSC radio. There was a huge backlash, mostly from commercial boaters who use Loran.

The US Congress said that they would kill funding for Loran if the Secretary of Transportation were to sign a statement that Loran-C was absolutely unnecessary. Congress also directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to do the same thing if that was Homeland’s position. Neither Secretary would go out on a limb and sign such a statement, so instead, the two Secretaries asked the Institute for Defense Analysis to present a report on Loran as a backup for GPS. This report is to be released and a decision is to be made in August of this year.

Even thought the results of this report have not been officially released, the following has already taken place, so that makes us think that there has been some leaking of the report’s details. First, $100,000,000 has been spent to upgrade Loran radio stations by replacing 18 of the system’s 20 transmitters with new solid state equipment. Also, the station’s clocks have been replaced with the same type of atomic clocks that are used on GPS satellites.

A new electronic Loran system (called ‘eLoran’) has been proposed. This system will be similar in accuracy to that of GPS. Three manufacturers (including Furuno) have announced that they are developing receivers for the new eLoran system. Some of these models will be a combination of eLoran and GPS. These models will use both types of signals simultaneously to provide a single readout of even greater accuracy than is available today.

Inmarsat
CPS refers to Inmarsat in our Maritime Radio Course in module 2, GMDSS. At year’s end, the old Inmarsat satellites will be removed and the newer version called Inmarsat C will replace them. These new satellites have additional features for making contact with vessels at sea. These can be used for normal communications as well as for distress when out of VHF range.

DSC
Two years ago it was reported that the entry level DSC VHF radios, SC-101, were not safe enough for GMDSS use and it was hoped that they would be discontinued. In the US, there was enough pressure from radio manufacturers who wanted to allow the SC-101 standard to remain that the movement to discontinue them was stopped. In Canada it was said by Industry Canada that it would take an act of Parliament to change the regulations and that was not foreseeable.

Now there are reports of problems with SC-101 radios. First, they can miss distress calls because their receiver is off when transmitting. If a distress call occurs during a transmission, the call is not received. More capable models such as Class D have two receivers, one of which is constantly tuned to Ch 70, so distress calls will not be missed.

It also appears that SC-101 radios have a deficiency in transmitting mode and there are reports that some distress signals have not been received. This was found to be especially true of hand held radios. It was reported by the FCC that the SC-101 standard has been removed from handheld VHF radios with DSC and manufacturers have three years to completely convert to supplying hand helds that meet Class D standards.

There is also a movement that want to make DSC mandatory on all new hand held radios. At the present time, new fixed mount radios must have DSC capabilities but that is not required on hand helds.

One problem is the fact that MMSI numbers are issued to a vessel’s radio station, but in practice, hand helds are easily moved from one vessel to another.

It appears that the issuance of MMSI numbers in the US has run into a problem. The number is assigned to a vessel’s radio station. If a vessel does not renew its licence, the MMSI # may be in limbo. With different agencies issuing MMSI numbers there appears to be some room for error. There may be multiple radios with the same MMSI number.

There is also a problem with people buying DSC radios and not getting MMSI numbers. Many do not realize that their radio does not work on DSC functions unless an MMSI # has been installed. Some are obtaining MMSI numbers but do not actually install the number onto their equipment. There is a need to teach the public about both the requirement to obtain the number and to also install it. This problem is more acute in the US than it is in Canada because we have a certification program and they do not. People taking our classes learn about obtaining MMSI numbers and the need to install them.

Future Developments (combining AIS, VHF, eLoran, GPS and RADAR)
Britain already has an eLoran system up and running and are using it with something they call E-Navigation. It uses virtual navigation aids that are displayed on an AIS monitor as buoys and markers, although no physical buoys or markers exist. The eLoran and AIS/VHF/GPS systems are all integrated on a single monitor. This is all in the experimental stage right now, but it is the coming hot ticket in the electronic revolution. They claim that regardless of the weather conditions the virtual navaids are always available for the mariner to see on his electronic display and allows safe operation under the most extreme conditions.

AIS is being integrated with other electronic devices to provide a variety of displays. Low cost AIS (well under $1000) are on the horizon, awaiting government approval.

Morton Biback is currently Commander of the York East District of Canadian Power & Sail Squadrons. He also heads up the national CPS Electronic Navigation Course committee.

About three years ago he was appointed as liaison officer to the USPS Training Dept.