[FONT=Verdana, Arial]The policy of identification of emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) devices is contrary to that of MMSI and boats. The FCC requires the registration of the EPIRB without involving the boat MMSI identity. The EPIRB device comes with its own embedded identity created by the manufacturer. It is the EPIRB device itself that has an identity.[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial]The owner of the device then registers himself as having possession of that EPIRB device. When the EPIRB device is activated, it identifies itself--the EPIRB device itself--and then the owner is identified by association with the device by looking up the data in a table. The identification is a 15-character hexadecimal number. This allows for a total number of identities to be perhaps as high as 1,152,921,504,606,846,975--an enormously large number, many time larger than the number of people on the planet.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]There is also a very significant difference between registering a 406-MHz EPIRB and registering for a MMSI: there is NO CHARGE to register an EPIRB with the official government agency data base maintained by NOAA. This is in contrast with the government policy for getting an MMSI from the official government registrar, the FCC. You have to pay $160 to register, and then renew every ten years.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]There is also quite a difference in the system of communication used to relay the distress alert. With EPIRB 406-MHz, your distress alert transmission must be received by a satellite, which will then relay the message by some means, typically satellite to satellite, then satellite to earth station, then earth station to computer network. Then the system operators have to maintain a database with potentially many, many billions of identities, search that database, and find the owner of the beacon.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]With a DSC distress alert sent on VHF radio, the signal goes from your boat all boats and shore stations in range. It has to be much cheaper to maintain a system of shore stations than to maintain a system or orbiting satellites, earth stations, and data networks. Yet EPIRB registration is at no cost, while MMSI registration is $160.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]Both systems, EPIRB and DSC radios, are part of the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS). The GMDSS is "an internationally agreed-upon set of safety procedures, types of equipment, and communication protocols used to increase safety and make it easier to rescue distressed ships, boats and aircraft."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]Why do I have to pay $160 to get an MMSI? Why do I have to change the MMSI if I get a new boat? Why to I have to pay a $60 (or higher) fee to make any modification to the MMSI data (such as changing address)? [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]In contrast, an EPIRB is registered for free. You can update the data for free. There is no charge for renewal of the registration. You can carry the EPIRB with you anywhere, land or sea. The EPIRB user never pays for any of these administrative costs; he just pays once, when he buys the EPIRB.
Originally from [/FONT]http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/003679.html
I don't want have a medical emergency on my boat and find she didn't return it