An MMSI number, obtainable from OFCOM needs to be entered before the Digital Functions of the radio become available. WARNING: Most marine radios only permit this number to be entered one time only. Following an incorrect entry the radio will need to be returned to the UK distributors to have the invalid entry erased.

DEMO mode

At switch-on the ‘soft key’ menu at the bottom of the screen briefly displays a ‘DEMO’ option. This option inhibits any radio transmission, useful for testing / exploring the radio without the danger of accidental messages being transmitted. In DEMO mode no GPS position will be provided. Enter DEMO mode by quickly pressing the DEMO soft key followed by the ENTER soft key to confirm that you really do wish to enter DEMO mode. The confirmation is necessary because this mode will inhibit all transmissions. Note also that if the radio is left switched on in DEMO mode but is unused (no buttons pressed) for a minute the radio will start a countdown to return to normal mode.

If the DEMO soft key is not pressed promptly the ‘DEMO’ option disappears and the radio goes into standby mode and searches for a GPS fix. It can take around 30 seconds for a GPS fix to be obtained after which the StandBy screen is updated to show UTC Time, Date dd/mm, Latitude and Longitude, Speed Over ground and Course Over Ground. The StandBy screen also shows the battery charge, the radio frquencies (INTL) and the transmission power currently set. The radio can obtain a GPS fix from within a cabin or behind a window but on occasion may report ‘GPS data lost!’. The radio will automatically update its GPS data as soon as reception conditions permit this.

A series of soft key options appear at the bottom of the Standby screen leading to all the different facilities.

Overview

The main features of this radio are;

Communication

• It supports Digital Selective Calling (DSC)
  
• It supports UK radio frequency bands
  
• It supports Bluetooth links to a mobile phone
  
  Navigation
  
• Supports a Man Over Board function (MOB)
  
• Supports Waypoint navigation
  
• A very rudimentary compass
  
  Miscellaneous
  
• Supports a ‘say again’ function that repeats the last message
  
• Supports light signals - flashing light - torch - SOS
  
• Supports use of an emergency battery pack (Alkaline or non-rechargeable Lithium)
  
• It will float if dropped into water
  
• Supports a lapel microphone as an additional accessory
  

The above features are discussed in more detail below.

The radio uses a range of ‘soft keys’ to access the various functions. The top row of keys have their functions shown at the bottom of the display screen. These functions vary dependent upon the currently selected screen.

It Floats

UK Radio bands

The radio supports the full range of UK radio bands. In particular M1, corresponding to Channel 37A or 157.85Mhz often used by UK sailing clubs and Channels 8 & 77 often used by coastal clubs and small cruising vessels. Note that the use of channels M1 and M2 is limited to UK waters only. The radio can automatically operate in both Simplex mode (a single frequency is used for both transmission and receiving) or Duplex mode (separate channels are used for transmitting and receiving) dependent upon the selected channel.

Battery

The Part No. for the main Lithium pack is CM 110-034

The Part No. for the emergency Alkaline pack is CM 110-035 (holder only).

In normal use the radio is placed upright into the charging cradle to recharge. An amber light in the cradle indicates charging, this light extinguishes when charging is complete. Dependent upon the state of discharge recharging can take up to 6hrs. The charging cradle may be powered from the main supply via a 12v transformer or a 12v car supply. The required supply accessory (supplied with the radio) is plugged into the rear of the cradle.

Heavy users may wish to purchase an additional lithium battery pack in order that one pack may be placed on charge whilst the other is in use. For this purpose a small plastic insert is provided, as an accessory, for the cradle to enable just the battery pack - instead of the complete radio - to be inserted into the charging cradle. Do take care when removing / inserting the battery pack into the radio not to damage the fine neoprene water seal. Do not lever with a screwdriver blade!

GPS

The latitude and longitude data is available in 3 different selectable formats. To select a suitable format go to StandBy /screen/Menu/GPS and select the preferred Coordinate System. The third option matches the UK chart system DDD°,MM’,SS’’. Once selected this format will be used on all screens displaying Lat and Lon.

If the Distress button is used the radio will transmit the GPS position along with the distress type description (See Making a Distress call).

More information is available about the GPS system from the StandBy screen /Menu /GPS /Status option. The GPS status screen provides the usual GPS location data but also indicates the status (Search or Fix 3D) of the system and the number of satellites currently in view (more satellites= greater accuracy) and the quality of the link (solid dots= good link).

Bluetooth

To pair the radio with your phone switch on the radio Bluetooth option (from the Stand by screen keep pressing 'More' until the Bluetooth soft key icon appears on the leftmost soft key). Select Bluetooth/On. With your phone Bluetooth switched on the radio signal will be visible under 'MR HH600'. Select the MR HH600 option on your phone and connection will be automatic - the radio will beep as the connection is established. If you are not using your mobile phone then leaving the radio Bluetooth option off StandBy screen/Bluetooth icon will save power.
An incoming call will need to be accepted to be answered. On detection of an incoming call the screen will display options to Answer / Decline. Press Enter to continue with the call.

Man Over Board

The Man Overboard screen provides:

• The GPS location at the time the MOB button was pressed.
  
• The Time the button was pressed
  
• The Bearing of the MOB GPS reading from the radio position.
  
• The Distance of the radio from the Overboard position
  
• NO MESSAGE WILL BE TRANSMITTED.
  

There will be a ‘soft key’ option to go to the Navigation screen. This will be automatically updated to show the marked MOB position and the bearing of the position from the boat. The navigation screen may be used to navigate back to the MOB position….. but bear in mind that both wind and tide may have caused the person to have drifted from the original marked position.
As soon as the radio returns to the MOB position the radio will emit an intermittent warbling tone indicating that you are near to the target position.

Standby Screen

Multi Scanning

The Cobra radio is also capable of monitoring (Scanning) a greater variety of channels almost simultaneously should this be necessary. To include a channel for routine scanning select the required channel on the StandBy screen. Press the MEMory soft key. This will 'tag' the channel ('mem' will appear at the top of the StandBy screen whenever a memory tagged channel is selected). Continue to tag other channels as needed by selecting the target channel and pressing the MEM soft key.
To start scanning across the tagged channels press the SCAN soft key.The radio will switch between all the tagged channels stopping whenever a message is detected on one of the selected channels.
NOTE: Scanning will only be successful if the SQUELCH level on the radio is correctly set.
Both the MEM key and SCAN keys are toggles. To stop the scanning process simply press the SCAN key again. Similarly to remove a tagged channel from memory select that channel and press the MEM key. The 'mem' icon will be removed from the top screen.

Compass

Navigation

If ‘Course Up’ is selected the course arrow will remain stationary and the Cardinal marks on the compass ring will move around to reflect the direction of travel – the direction of travel will be the cardinal mark(s) at the top of the screen. If ‘North Up’ is selected then the cardinal marks will remain static, with North shown at the top of the screen, and the Course arrow will swing to indicate the direction of travel.

At the left hand side are three data boxes.

The upper box shows the value of the Waypoint /MOB bearing relative to the boat . The bearing value is in degrees magnetic(M) or true(T). Note that in the UK magnetic declination is approaching zero and for many UK cruising purposes the difference between M and T may be ignored.

The second box shows Speed Over Ground in knots, based on latest GPS readings. This could be useful in tidal conditions where actual progress towards the Waypoint can be assessed.

The third box provides a reading of the Distance, usually in Nm, from the Waypoint, again based upon the latest GPS readings.

The final box simply shows the index of the current Waypoint. As waypoints are added to the directory they are given an index number. If the Nav option has been selected following an MOB keypress this box will show MOB, and the Waypoint marker will show the bearing of the MOB marked position,

On the Right hand side of the screen the Time is displayed (UTC) and below that the date is displayed dd/mm. On the lower line is the Scale value, relating to the distance represented by the compass circle radius. The scale value will update based on the distance from the target waypoint or MOB position.

When using the Navigation screen the radio will sound an alarm and invite cancellation of Navigation when the Waypoint or MOB position is nearby. In practice the accuracy of this indication is dependent upon the accuracy of the GPS signal which could be around +/- 30 yards.
The Navigation screen will always hold the last selected MoB or Waypoint position and will display that target position.

Navigating a passage using the radio

From a marine chart mark in the sequence of Lat & Lon locations that mark out your passage. If your passage is from buoy to buoy the Wpt directory enables each point to be given the name of the buoy. The Waypoint locations will be entered into the radio Wpt Directory. At the start of the passage simply select the first of the entered programmed waypoints. It is then a matter of navigating to that waypoint before selecting the next waypoint in the list and so on as you proceed on the passage. As the target waypoint approaches the radio will emit an intermittent warbling note as a warning that the currently selected Waypoint has been reached.

WPT

The Waypoint soft key displays the Waypoint directory with a list of Waypoints, if any, to viewed. Use the Up/Down keys to select from the list of Waypoints held in the Directory. After using the Up/Down arrow keys to move through the list and with the required Waypoint highlighted press the Enter soft key to select the Waypoint.
The details of the selected Waypoint will be used to update the Navigation screen.

NEW

This soft key enables a new Waypoint to be manually added to the Directory and displays an input screen to capture Name /Latitude /Longitude and for a number to be given to the Waypoint. The Waypoint may be given a name and the Latitude and Longitude manually entered in the selected format. It will then be stored in the Directory.

DIR

MARK

Making a Distress call

In an emergency use the Distress button first, because at the very least an emergency message will be transmitted to nearby ships / Coastguard and also accurate positional information will be sent together with an indication of the type of emergency. The radio will also include in the message the MMSI number allocated to the radio and will automatically switch to transmitting at high power (6w). This will enable the Coast Guard to discover who sent the message and possibly the type of vessel in trouble. This facility is the most significant advantage of using a DSC radio rather than a simple voice radio. Note the radio will transmit on the specially reserved Channel 70 intended only for digital messages and is the reason why Channel 70 must never be used for voice messages.

More information may be sent later using the Voice calling system on the emergency Channel 16. Every use of the Distress button should be followed up by a Voice communication where possible to provide more detailed information. The radio offers a quick access button to switch instantly to the emergency channel 16. Press the 16+ key.
The distress button is shielded against accidental operation by a spring loaded cover.

Lift the cover and press the red button.

The radio will display a list of emergency message options. These are designed to assist rescuers to understand the type of emergency and type of help that is needed. The top option is the less than helpful ‘Unidentified’. This will be sent if no further action is taken.

Some options are Man Overboard, Adrift, Sinking, Fire, Grounding, Collision etc. Select a more suitable option from the list if circumstances permit otherwise Press the Enter key.

The message ‘Press the Distress key for 3 seconds’ will appear. Hold down the red distress button and the radio will beep for 3 seconds and then the distress message will be transmitted. Usually an automated acknowledgement will be received, almost immediately. The radio will listen for this acknowledgement and will repeat the transmission after 3 mins has elapsed. A confirmatory message will be displayed ‘TRANSMITTED’.

The radio will automatically switch to Channel 16 and a soft key ‘CONT’ will be displayed. The option to send a Voice message will appear with guidance on what to say. The purpose of the follow up voice message on Channel 16 is to confirm the emergency and provide additional information, in particular how many people are involved and a brief description of the vessel and its situation to assist rescuers to find the vessel. Use the MIPDANIO mnemonic to remember the verbal information to provide. Note that whilst the emergency call is in operation the display screen will remain illuminated.

Digital Calling

DSC radios solve this problem by having the ability to make a call to another individual DSC radio or selected group of DSC radios regardless of the channel the target radio(s) are monitoring.
This facility depends upon the MMSI number that acts in many respects as a normal phone number. To make a digital call to another radio it is necessary to first enter the MMSI number of the target radio into the directory. (Menu / DSC Setup menu / Individual Directory).
The directory will accept a name (max 11 characters) and an MMSI number (9 digits).

To make an Individual call

To make a Group call

SQUELCH