[Public-List] VHF, DSC and GPS

[Kirk Little via Public-List]

I've been using the Matrix with built in AIS and DSC for years and love it, they did not have built in GPS when I bought it so it is fed a GPS signal via the Uniden Mystic which lives in it's 12v charging cradle.  That discontinued unit is still found sometimes on Ebay, and has VHF, GPS, DSC, basic chartplotting, all in a handheld unit that uses virtually no power compared to Matrix which I believe pulls around .65 amps.   If AIS has any value to you I would strongly suggest replacing your VHF with the Matrix AIS/GPS unit for $300.  Your old VHF becomes a nice spare.  You get an additional GPS on board, DSC, plus AIS without the hassle of a second antenna or splitter.  More or less plug and play and Its a great piece of equipment.  The cruising grounds where I live have too many live-aboard boats in a small area and the hailing channel becomes quite busy and intrusive, a lot of us are switching to DSC calls between boats to keep the calls more private and without annoying the rest of the fleet.  Underway I also use the DSC position sending function on the Matrix to let ships know where I am if there is any collision hazard, much easier than trying to get them to answer a VHF call, seems things are trending towards more use of the DSC function,  its worth having even without considering the distress/safety functions.   

-Kirk on Salsa