I installed my new radio in the new boat and it is a lot different than the radio that I had for the last 16 years. If is screaming an alarm at power up saying that I need to enter my MMSI number. Has anyone done this in an easy way? How did you obtain your MMSI number?
Went through this when I had my VHF installed last year. Radio made it almost impossible to use with out entering the #. I really felt taken, as nothing was mentioned when purchasing the radio. When I first started searching on how to get the #, found a few different sites that would give it to you, but you had to pay for it, price was anywhere from $20-$60 depending on who you went with. After further digging, I finally found a site that would do it for free. You had to give them quite a bit of info though. Just took a look through my saved web addresses and I se one for Maritime Mobile Service identity. Not sure if this was it or not. Might just be the site that gives you info on how to get it. There is also a FCC site Ship Shore radio stations. Just looked up those sites, they are not where I got the #, but they give you help in looking. I had to go to about 4 different sites before I found one that would do it for free. Just need to search the internet. It’s crazy in that they tell you for private use, no # is needed, but my VHF wanted that # to use it’s features. Took some looking, but it is out there for free. I may have the site written on my radio manual, but that is with my boat at the cottage, and I probably wont be there for a week or so.
I just did mine recently.
Went through BoatUS.
If you don’t have a Coast Guard station or nearby commercial ships for it to hail to, I wouldn’t bother registering it.
If you do however, it’s absolutely worth your time and a few bucks.
It’s just like having a Personal Locator Beacon or EPIRB “*if the Coast Guard patrols your water.
With a simple flick of the “oh $hit button,” they know your coordinates, your name, your cell #, your designated backup contact(s), your vessel description, vessel type, vessel name, expected number of passengers, registration number, etc, etc.
It instantly gets all of your information across in an emergency, versus panic stricken screaming over the radio.
Once they receive the signal, they have all the info they need to find you (even if you lose contact, the boat sinks, capsizes, burns up, etc)
If there was a way to disable it, I would have been happy to do it. However, it was way too annoying to fight through the alarms on power up to be able to just ignore it. I went ahead and registered with BoatUS for $25. The internal GPS on the radio seems to work pretty good so they should be able to find me for rescue or recovery.
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