Uniden America UT655 User Manual

VHF595 CLASS ‘D’ MARINE RADIO

MODEL 18114520 (BLACK) / 18114512 (WHITE)

Owner’s Manual

MAKING A DISTRESS CALL

Lift the red cover. Press and hold the DISTRESS button for three seconds. Your radio transmits your boat’s location every few minutes until you receive a response.

Lift the red cover

and press the

DISTRESS button.

NOTE: If the radio displays

Enter User MMSI

, cancel the automatic distress call and make a normal voice distress call.

Making a Voice Distress Call

Speak Slowly — Clearly — Calmly.

For future reference, write your boat’s name & call sign here:

1. Make sure your radio is on.

2. On the microphone, press the 16/9-TRI button to switch to Channel 16 (156.8 MHz). (If the corner of the display does not show 16, press the 16/9-TRI button again until it does.)

3. Press the PUSH TO TALK button on the microphone and say: MAYDAY – MAYDAY – MAYDAY.”

4. Say “THIS IS {name or call sign of your boat}.”

5. Say “MAYDAY {name or call sign of your boat}.”

6. Tell where you are: (what navigational aids or landmarks are near, or read the latitude and longitude from your GPS).

7. State the nature of your distress, e.g. are you sinking, medical emergency, man overboard, on fire, adrift, etc.

8. Give number of persons aboard and conditions of any injured persons.

9. Estimate present seaworthiness of your ship (e.g. how immediate is the danger due to flooding or fire or proximity to shore).

10. Briefly describe your ship (length, type, color, hull).

11. Say: “I WILL BE LISTENING ON CHANNEL 16.”

12. End message by saying “THIS IS {name or call sign of your boat}, OVER.”

13. Release the PUSH TO TALK button and listen.

If you do not get an answer after 30 seconds, repeat your call, beginning at step 3, above.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Making a Voice Distress Call Inside Front Cover Introduction 1

Features 1 Explanation of Terms 1

Getting Started 1

What’s Included 1 Parts of the Radio 2 Parts of the Microphone 3 Turning on the Radio 3 Setting the UIC Channel Mode (USA/CAN/INT) 4

How It Works 4

Normal Mode Operation 4 Scan Mode 6 Weather Mode 7

Using Your Radio 8

Using Your Radio 9 Making a Voice MAYDAY Call 9 Setting the Volume 9 Setting the Squelch Level 9 Changing the Channel 10 Making a Transmission 10 Boosting the Transmission Power 10 Choosing Triple Watch or Dual Watch 10 Using FIPS Codes for Weather Alerts 11 Changing Display and Sound Options 12 Setting the GPS Position Manually 12

Using Digital Selective Calling (DSC) Features 12

What is DSC? 12 Advanced DSC Features 13 What is an MMSI Number? 13 Entering MMSI Numbers 13 Using the Directory 14 Making DSC Calls 15 Making an Automatic Distress Call 17 Receiving a DSC Call 17 Test Calls 18 Position Request and Reply 20 Putting the Radio into Standby 21 Disabling Automatic Channel Switching 21 Renaming Channels 21

Installing the Hardware 22

Mounting the Radio 22 Connecting the Radio 23 Connecting the Accessory Cable 23 Connecting to a GPS Receiver 24 Connecting to a Chartplotter 25 Connecting to an External Speaker 25

Maintenance and Troubleshooting 26

Engine Noise Suppression 27

Specications 27

Radio Specifications 27

Reference Tables 28

Channel Descriptions and What They Mean 28 Marine Radio Channel Chart 29 Weather Channels and Frequencies (US, CAN, and INT) 31 Emergency Alert System (SAME) Information 31 No Response Event Code 33 NMEA Operation 33

Regulations and Safety Warnings 34 Three Year Limited Warranty 35 Notes 38

INTRODUCTION

Features

•

Submersible Design

Complies with IPX8 water-resistant standards, which means the radio can be submerged in 1.5 meter of

water for 30 minutes without damage.

• Large, dot matrix display

• Advanced DSC Class D functions, including Test Calling

• Channel select buttons on the microphone

•

Memory scan mode

•

Transmitter Power Level Select

•

Battery level display and tone

•

Triple Watch Operation

Lets you save channels to memory and monitor them in quick succession.

Lets you boost the transmitter power from 1 watt to 25 watts for added transmission distance.

Sounds an alert tone if the battery voltage goes too high or too low.

Checks the Coast Guard Distress/Hailing channels 16 and 9 in the background.

• All marine VHF channels for the U.S., Canada, and international waters

•

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather channel watch

Sounds a warning tone when a hazard alert is

issued for your area.

Explanation of Terms

Term What it Means

DSC Digital Selective Calling. A VHF radio standard for communicating among boats and sending automated distress calls. FIPS Federal Information Processing Standard. A set of location codes roughly equivalent to your county codes.

WX Weather Radio

GPS Global Positioning System

NMEA National Marine Electronics Association. The organization that governs standards for electronic equipment used on boats.

NMEA 0183 is the standard for serial data communication used by GPS.

Maritime Mobile Service Identity number. A unique, nine-digit number that identifies you and your boat when making DSC

MMSI

calls. It is also used by the Coast Guard if you send an automated distress call.

Station Any DSC radio, whether it’s operated on a boat, at a marina, or by a shore station.

GETTING STARTED

What’s Included

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Mounting Bracket and Knobs

button

Mounting Hanger and

Mounting Hardware

DC Power Cable Accessory Cable

Mounting Hardware

Parts of the Radio

ENT

1W/25W

button

CHANNEL UP &

CHANNEL DOWN

button

DISTRESS

button

CALL/MENU

button

WX-MEM

LCD

display

(channel scan)

button

Button Press to... Press and hold to...

ENT-1W/25W Choose an option on a menu or to display the GPS data. Change the transmit power (see page 10). Channel Up Move up one channel at a time. Move quickly up the channels. Channel Down Move down one channet at a time. Move quickly down the channels.

1st press: Go to Channel 16.

16/9-TRI

2nd press: Go to Channel 9.

3rd press: Go back to the original channel. CLR-SCAN Go to previous menu or cursor position in menu mode. Start scanning the channels saved in memory. WX-MEM Listen to the current weather conditions in your area. Save a channel into memory or remove a channel from memory. CALL-MENU Display the call menu. Display the normal menu.

VOLUME-PWR (power

knob - turn clockwise to

increase volume)

CLR-SCAN

button

16/9-TRI

(Triple/dual-watch

SQUELCH knob (turn

clockwise to decrease

channel noise

Go into Triple Watch or Dual Watch mode (see page 10).

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Button Press to... Press and hold to...

DISTRESS Select the nature of your distress for a distress call.

Connector/Cable Connects to... For details, see ...

Antenna connector

Power cable pigtail

Accessory cable pigtail

External VHF antenna with a male PL259 (SO238) connector and 50 Ω impedance. Minimum 4 ft, 3dB rated antenna for sailboats, 8 ft, 6 dB rated for power boats.

Nominal 13.8 VDC power supply with negative ground (10.5 VDC to 16.0 VDC) (Red wire +, black wire -).

GPS Receiver, GPS Chartplotter, and External Speaker. Connecting accessories (see page 23)

Transmit a distress call.

Connecting the radio (see page 23).

Parts of the Microphone

Button Press to... Press and hold to...

( + ) Move up one channel at a time. Move quickly up the channels. ( - ) Move down one channel at a time. Move quickly down the channels.

16/9-TRI

PUSH TO TALK Cancel scanning and stay on a channel. Talk on a channel.

1st press: Go to Channel 16. 2nd press: Go to Channel 9. 3rd press: Go back to the original channel.

Go into Triple Watch or Dual Watch mode (see page 10).

Turning on the Radio

Turn the VOLUME-PWR knob clockwise to turn on the radio. As it powers on, the radio displays the user MMSI number; if there is no MMSI set, the radio displays MMSI not entered.

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When it powers on, the radio selects the last channel used.

Setting the UIC Channel Mode (USA/CAN/INT)

The radio comes preset to use the UIC channels assigned for the United States. If you are operating in an area that uses Canadian or international UIC channels, you will need to change the channel mode.

1. Press and hold CALL-MENU to display the normal menu, and choose the Setup sub-menu.

2. Select USA/CAN/INT. The screen displays the UIC channel setup.

3. Choose the channel mode you want to use: US (USA Mode), Canadian (Canada Mode), or international (Intl Mode).

4. Press ENT-1W/25W. The radio activates the new channel mode and exits the menu.

HOW IT WORKS

Your radio has three basic modes of operation:

Mode What It Does Use It When To Turn it on./off...

Normal

Scan

Weather

Monitors a single marine radio channel and lets you talk on that channel.

Monitors all the channels you save into memory.

Monitors the selected NOAA weather channel.

In addition to the three basic operation modes, your radio also provides three different “watch” modes which you can activate during any of the three basic modes. In these watch modes, the radio briefly checks for activity on a specific channel then returns to its previous mode.

Watch Mode What It Does Use It When To Turn it on./off...

Weather Alert

Triple

Dual

Checks for alerts on the last weather channel you used every seven seconds.

Checks for activity on channels 16 and 9 every two seconds.

Checks for activity on channel 16 every two seconds.

You want to talk to another station on a specific channel.

You have a small group of channels you use most often and want to check them for traffic.

You want to hear the current and forecasted weather in your area.

You want to be made aware of severe weather conditions in your area.

You want to monitor a channel yet maintain a watch on channels 16 and 9.

You want to monitor a channel yet maintain a watch on channel 16.

(default mode)

Press and hold the CLR-SCAN button.

Press the WX-MEM button.

Select WX-ALERT Mode in Setup submenu, and then choose ON or OFF.

Press and hold 16/9-TRI for two seconds.

Change Triple Watch to Dual Watch in the setup menu, then press and hold 16/9-TRI for two seconds.

NOTE: You are required to monitor channel 16 whenever your boat is underway. You should have either Triple Watch or Dual Watch on at all times.

Normal Mode Operation

Normal mode monitors whatever channel you select, and you can transmit on that channel also. While using normal mode, the display

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lets you see the following information (not all indicators will display at the same time):

Message Meaning

GPS Data OK The radio is receiving valid GPS data. Check GPS The radio is not receiving valid GPS data: check the GPS status screen and the GPS connection.

Input Position

Battery Low The battery voltage output is too low (below 10.5 VDC). Battery High The battery voltage output is too high (above 16.0 VDC).

The radio has been unable to receive valid GPS data for at least four hours; it can no longer track your position. You need to manually input your position (see Setting the GPS position manually on page 12).

Using the radio in normal mode

• To transmit, press and hold

PUSH TO TALK

on the microphone. Release the button when you are finished talking.

• For the best sound quality, hold the microphone about two inches from your mouth while you’re talking.

• Press

CHANNEL UP

on the radio or the microphone to move up one channel at a time. Press and hold either button to scroll

quickly up the channels.

• Press

CHANNEL DOWN

on the radio or the microphone to move down one channel at a time. Press and hold either button to

scroll quickly down the channels.

• To change the transmit power, press and hold the and 25 watts each time you press and hold

ENT-1W/25W

for two seconds. The transmit power switches between 1 watt

Normal mode with Weather Alert Watch

If you activate Weather Alert Watch while operating in normal mode, the radio checks the most recently-used weather channel every seven seconds. If it detects a weather alert for your area, it will change the channel to the last-used weather channel. The radio will not check the weather channel while you are actively transmitting; it waits until your transmission is finished and then checks the weather channel.

To turn Weather Alert Watch on or off, press and hold

WX-Alert Mode

. Use

CHANNEL UP

and

CHANNEL DOWN

CALL-MENU

to choose

while the radio is idle. Select

WX Alert Mode

setting ON or

Setup

Off

and then

Normal mode with Triple and Dual Watch

If you activate Triple Watch while operating in normal mode, the radio checks channels 16 and 9 every two seconds; with Dual Watch turned on, the radio only checks channel 16. The radio will not check channels 16 or 9 while you are actively transmitting; it waits until your transmission is finished and then checks the channels.

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Press and hold 16/9-TRI (on the radio or the microphone) for two seconds to turn Triple/Dual Watch on or off. (To change between Triple or Dual Watch, see page 10.)

Normal mode with both Weather Alert and Triple/Dual Watch

You can activate Weather Alert Watch and Triple/ Dual Watch at the same time. The radio performs both checks at their scheduled time.

Scan Mode

You can save channels into memory and then use scan mode to monitor those channels. When the radio detects a signal on a channel, it pauses on that channel as long as the signal is received; when the transmission stops, the radio will continue scanning.

In scan mode, you can get the following information from the display (some indicators will not always be displayed).

Using the radio in scan mode

• You cannot transmit while in scan mode.

• You must have two or more channels in memory to start a scan.

• To save a channel into memory, select the channel, then press and hold

WX-MEM

for two seconds. Memory will show on the

display.

• To remove a channel from memory, set the radio to that channel, then press and hold

WX-MEM

for two seconds. Memory will

no longer show on the display.

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• To activate scan mode, press and hold

• When the radio automatically stops on a channel, press

• To end the scan, press the microphone’s scanned channel.

CLR-SCAN

. Press and hold

CHANNEL UP

PUSH TO TALK, CALL-MEM

CLR-SCAN

again to return to the previous mode.

to leave that channel and resume scanning.

, or

WX-MEM

buttons. The radio remains on the last

Scan mode with Weather Alert Watch

If you activate Weather Alert Watch while operating in scan mode, the radio checks the most recently-used weather channel every seven seconds, then continues scanning the next channel in memory.

To turn Weather Alert Watch on or off, press and hold CALL-MENU while the radio is idle. Select Setup and then WX-Alert Mode. Use CHANNEL UP and CHANNEL DOWN to choose WX Alert Mode setting On or Off.

Scan mode with Triple and Dual Watch

If you activate Triple Watch while operating in scan mode, the radio checks channels 16 and 9 every two seconds, then goes on to scan the next channel; with Dual Watch turned on, the radio only checks channel 16.

Press and hold 16/9-TRI (on the radio or the microphone) for two seconds to turn Triple/Dual Watch on or off. (To change between Triple or Dual Watch, see page 10.)

Press and hold the CLR-SCAN key to turn off Scan mode and set the radio to Triple/Dual Watch mode.

Scan mode with both Weather Alert and Triple/Dual Watch

You can activate Weather Alert Watch and Triple/Dual Watch at the same time. The radio performs both checks at their scheduled time.

Weather Mode

In cooperation with the FCC, NOAA also uses the weather channels to alert you of other hazards besides weather (child abduction alerts, nuclear, biological, etc.). In weather mode, the radio monitors one of the ten NOAA weather channels. If any type of alert is received for your area, the radio sounds an alert tone and displays the type of alert. In weather mode, the display shows the follow ing:

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Using the radio in weather mode

• You cannot transmit while in weather mode.

• To enter weather mode, press

• Weather mode can filter out alerts that do not affect your location if the location code (FIPS code) of the alert is entered in your radio (see page 11). If you have no FIPS codes programmed into your radio, the radio will notify you of all alerts in any area.

• To turn off the radio’s alert tone, press any button.

• To cancel weather mode and return to the previous marine channel, press the

WX-MEM

button again.

Weather mode with Weather Alert Watch

Because weather mode already monitors the weather channels, you don’t need Weather Alert Watch to check the weather channel every seven seconds. If you activate Weather Alert Watch while operating in weather mode, it operates as a type of “sleep mode”: the radio stays on the weather channel and mutes the speaker. If an alert is detected for your area, the radio sounds an alert tone and turns the speaker back on. This mode is very useful when you are anchoring for the night but want to stay informed of any hazards in your area.

Weather mode with Triple and Dual Watch

If you activate Triple Watch while operating in weather mode, the radio checks channels 16 and 9 every two seconds; with Dual Watch turned on, the radio only checks channel 16.

Press and hold 16/9-TRI (on the radio or the microphone) for two seconds to turn Triple/Dual Watch on or off. (To change between Triple or Dual Watch, see page 10.)

USING YOUR RADIO

To display the radio call menu, press CALL-MENU. To display the radio normal menu, press and hold CALL-MENU. The menu has the following options:

VHF595 RADIO 1-800-BOATING

CALL

ENT

1W/2.5 W

ENT

1W/2.5 W

ENT

1W/2.5 W

Using Your Radio

• An arrow on the left side indicates the current selection.

• Press

CHANNEL UP

on the radio or the microphone to move up a line in the menu; if you are at the top line in the menu, the

cursor jumps to the bottom of the menu.

• Press

ENT-1W/25W

• Press

CHANNEL DOWN

to choose the selected item.

on the radio or the microphone to move down a line in the menu; if you are at the bottom line of the menu,

the cursor jumps to the top of the menu.

• Press

CLR-SCAN

• From any menu screen, choose

to go back to the previous menu screen.

Exit

or press and hold

CALL-MENU

to close the menu screen.

Making a Voice MAYDAY Call

(see inside front cover)

Setting the Volume

Turn the volume knob clockwise to increase the speaker volume; turn it counter-clockwise to decrease the volume.

Setting the Squelch Level

The squelch feature reduces the level of static on the speaker by filtering out the background channel noise. At the lowest squelch level, the speaker plays all radio signals, including any noise on the channel. Setting the squelch level higher filters out channel noise and lets only actual radio transmissions through.

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While listening to a channel, adjust the SQUELCH knob until the noise is filtered out and you can only hear the transmission. If you switch to a channel with a lot of noise or with a weak transmission, you may need to adjust the squelch level again.

NOTE: Setting the squelch level too high may prevent you from hearing weaker transmissions. If you are having difficulty hearing a transmission, try setting the squelch level lower.

Changing the Channel

Press CHANNEL UP and CHANNEL DOWN briefly to scroll through the channels one channel at a time. Press and hold CHANNEL UP or CHANNEL DOWN to quickly scroll through the channels.

Making a Transmission

To make a transmission, press and hold the microphone PUSH TO TALK button. Release the PUSH TO TALK button when you’re finished talking to let the other party respond.

• To prevent stuck microphone problems or situations where to 5 minutes in a single transmission. If you talk for over 5 minutes continuously, the display shows

• For the best sound quality, hold the microphone about two inches away from your mouth.

• You cannot transmit while the radio is in weather mode or scan mode.

• See the channel lists beginning on page 29 for a list of receive-only channels.

PUSH TO TALK

is pushed accidentally, the radio limits your talk time

RELEASE MIC BUTTON

Boosting the Transmission Power

In most situations, the 1 Watt transmission power is all you need. If you find yourself far away from other stations and have trouble getting a response, you may need to boost the transmission power from 1 Watt to 25 Watts:

1. Select the channel you want to transmit on.

2. Push and hold ENT-1W/25W for two seconds. The display shows 25 Watts in the upper left hand corner.

3. The transmit power remains at 25 Watts until you change the setting back. Push and hold ENT-1W/25W for two seconds. The

display shows 1 Watt.

NOTE: Don’t forget to change the transmission setting back to 1 Watt when you move closer to other stations.

NOTE: By default, when you change to channel 16, the radio automatically boosts the power to 25 Watts. Be sure to change the power back to 1 Watt if you are not making an emergency transmission.

Some channels (for example, channels 13 and 67) limit the power of transmission to 1 Watt so that there is less interference between boaters attempting to use the channel at the same time. If you switch to one of these channels, the radio changes back to 1 Watt automatically. See the channel lists beginning on page 29 for a list of power-restricted channels.

Choosing Triple Watch or Dual Watch

In Triple Watch mode, the radio briefly checks channels 16 and 9 every two seconds. In Dual Watch mode, the radio checks channel 16 only. Generally, Triple Watch is used in areas where channel 9 is used as a hailing frequency while Dual Watch is used in areas

VHF595 RADIO 1-800-BOATING

+ 30 hidden pages

Uniden America UT655 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual