Really cuts down on hailing channel radio chatter and negotiating moving channels to find a clear one. Not to mention keeping the nosy radio snoops guessing. We even plan things with several boats at once using the group function that sets up a "conference" call.

Some radios have implemented it better than others. Our Standard Horizon makes it much less painful and more useful than our friend's Icom. For us, entering an MMSI number is easy and can be given an alphanumeric name so that it is subsequently presented and referenced as something meaningful. Also, if someone calls us, we can just save their DSC info with a push of a button instead of having to enter it manually. And because the radio has built in AIS, calling ships is as easy as highlighting the one you want and pressing the call button. I think we can even do this right off the chartplotter, but I will need to check on that.

Mark