Where Does NBDP Fit in GMDSS

and How to Use It ?

Written by Capt Rajeev Jassal on January 30, 2017

Raise your hand if you think NBDP is more ignored equipment of

GMDSS system.

If I was with a group of deck officers right now, I am sure I would

see many hands raised. NBDP is surely an ignored equipment.

But it is ignored because NBDP is a dead horse, hardly used and

gathering dust at one corner of the bridge.
Even only few coast stations these days have the NBDP facility.

All agreed but if we have this equipment on board, we must know

about it. That remains the logic for all the equipments on board.

So in this post, I will go through all that one may have to know
about NBDP.
 Lets start.

What is NBDP ?

In simple terms, NBDP (Narrow Band Direct Printing) is a telex. A

way to communicate with text rather than by voice.

It is said that NBDP was introduced in the GMDSS to help

seafarers whose first language was not English. They did not have
to speak to broadcast their distress message, instead they could
type and send.
If we go by the literal meaning of the NBDP, then we can
understand that

It uses narrow band width for transmitting the message and

When a message is received, it prints the message on the screen and on the printer
connected with NBDP

So what can NBDP do..

NBDP can send and receive text messages with to and from a single station

NBDP can transmit text message stored in the equipment (SD card or floppy)

NBDP can broadcast a message to all the stations that have their NBDP tuned in to
the frequency on which message is transmitted

You can easily draw an analogy between NBDP and whatsapp or viber.

Is NBDP really required on board ?

NBDP is required for sea area A2 as per SOLAS chapter IV, regulation 9.3.1

But if you had noticed, on some ships you will find that there is no NBDP.

This is because as per SOLAS chapter IV, regulation 9.3, the requirement of
having NBDP can be fulfilled by providing an additional Inmarsat ship earth
station.

So on the ships with no NBDP, you may find additional Sat-C terminal.

What is ARQ and FEC mode ?

If you wish to know about NBDP, you must know about ARQ and FEC.

These are two modes of transmission for NBDP.

ARQ Mode
ARQ mode is used for one to one communication. For example when our ship
wish to communicate with a specific ship or coast station.
 With ARQ,

you send an information (text) when you are transmitting station

You press Over key (F9) and you become receiving station. You now can read the
message what other station is sending

When other station presses Over, you again become the transmitting station and
this process goes on.

FEC Mode
FEC (Forward error correction) mode is for one station to one or many stations
type of communication. This mode is used for broadcasting the message. For
example if a ship need to broadcast a distress telex message, FEC mode should be
used.
Unlike ARQ mode, FEC is only one way. That is, with FEC we can transmit
our message and then end the communication.
 With FEC mode

You send the information you wish to send

Once the information is sent, you disconnect the connection

You cannot switch between transmission and receiving mode

So if you want to communicate with other station, you need to choose ARQ mode.
But if you just want to transmit your message, you can choose FEC mode.

So when transmitting a distress message to all station through NBDP, you must use
FEC mode

Options on NBDP screen and what these

mean ?

A NBDP screen typically looks like this.

The options you see on top of the screen are accessed by function keys. I see
sometimes the keyboard functions keys marked with these options for ease of use.
Even if it is not there, we can always mark it like this.
Lets see what each of these functions are for

WRU, HR and OVER keys

The literal meaning of the first two terms is

WRU (Function Key F7): who are you ?

HR (Function Key F8): Here is

This is the way identity is exchanged between the stations interacting with each
other.
When you are connected with a station and before you start transmitting any telex
message, you need to press these two keys.

This will send your identity and ask for the identity of another station.

Logically this is similar to how we start any communication. For example, during
R/T communication we pronounce the ships name and call sign.

The Over (Function key F9) is used to switch the direction of traffic. The
information sending station becomes the information receiving station and vice
versa. As two way communication is only possible in ARQ mode, Over key is used
when communicating in ARQ mode.

One station finishes his message, presses over and then waits for receiving the
message of other station.

The function of this key is similar to saying over over walkie talkie after we
finish our message.

GA+?
This is the code that you will see when communicating through NBDP. The
meaning of this code is Go ahead.

When you see this code on you screen, this means that now you are the
transmission station and you are ready to send your message. Again this code will
appear in ARQ mode.

Methods of sending message

On NBDP, we can either

 Send a message file stored in floppy or SD card of the NBDP or

Manually type the message on the keyboard.

In ARQ mode, when you are the transmitting station, you can just start to type the
message and it will be received by other station as you type.

Or you can choose the file to send and it will be transmitted to the receiving
station.

To choose the file on Furuno NBDP, after exchanging the answer back (WRU,
HR)

Press the function key F3 then 3 key to open the [File to Send] window

Choose the file to send from the list by pressing up/down arrow

Press enter to send the file

How to send / Receive a routine message on

NBDP ?
Now that we know something about NBDP, let us discuss how we can send a
routine message to another ship on NBDP.

I will show this on Furuno GMDSS station.

First thing is to know the MMSI number of the other ship and agree on the
working frequency.

To communicate with another ship, both your station and station of other ship need
to be on same frequency and NBDP station should be active.

To make the connection with other ship station (on Furuno equipment).

Press the function key F3 to open operate menu and set the working frequency by
choosing option 9.

After operating frequency is set, press function key F3 (Operate) and choose
manual calling option
 Select the ARQ mode (remember for one to one communication we have to use
ARQ mode) and then input the ships MMSI number in the ID.

Press enter. After you hit Enter one of these two message will appear. It will
either show

Channel busy check, if the frequency is busy. or

Connect Send Lock, if the frequency is open for communication

Now if Connect send Lock is highlighted on screen, you are all done to
communicate with the other ship.

When you are connected with the other station, it will show the stations ID and
frequency you are communicating on.

Exchange answer back by pressing F7 (WRU) and then F8 (HR) keys and start
communicating.

As I said earlier, when you are done with sending your message, press F9 (over)
key to switch the transmission to other ship.
 When you see GA+? on your screen, it mean that the other station has switched the
transmission to you and you can again start to transmit your message.

To end the conversation

Exchange the answer back by pressing F7(WRU) and F8 (HR) keys

After exchange of answer back, press F10 (End) key to disconnect the line.

How to transmit a distress message on NBDP

?

Usual way of GMDSS distress communication is

Send the DSC alert to all ships and coast station on an appropriate distress DSC
frequency

Switch to corresponding Radio Telephony (RT) frequency and broadcast your

distress message starting with Mayday Mayday Mayday

Now when we have transmitted the DSC alert, how a ship receiving it know where
they can listen to your distress call ?

This information is right there in the DSC alert message. In the DSC alert message
that a ship sends, it need to mention

First is the Mode of communication it will broadcast its message. That is if the
message will be broadcasted on RT or NBDP. J3E is the code for RT
communication and F1B is for NBDP.

Second, the frequency on which the receivers need to switch on. The frequency
will be the corresponding frequency on which DSC alert is received.
 So now if you want to communicate the distress message on NBDP, first step will
be to let that know to ships and coast stations who would receive your DSC alert
by choosing the Telecommand as F1B

After you have sent the DSC alert, switch to NBDP corresponding frequency.

To transmit your Mayday message,

You can either type and save the Mayday message in floppy drive or SD card of
NBDP, or

You can type directly while transmitting your message

Either way, you have to follow these steps.

Press Function key F3 and select manual call.

Choose the FEC option. Remember for broadcasting to all the parties we cannot
use ARQ mode which is for one to one communication.

Leave the station ID as blank. This is to be entered only if we are sending the
message to a particular station.

Press enter. If the frequency is clear, you will see Connect Send as highlighted.

Now you are ready to either send your message by input to the keyboard or by
choosing a pre-typed file.

To Send the stored message, press function key F3 and then select File to send
option.

Press enter and your file will be transmitted.

How to receive a distress communication on
NBDP ?

When you receive a distress DSC alert. Check if the telecommand is J3E or F1B. If
it is F1B, you need to be on NBDP to receive the distress message.

To receive the distress message on NBDP, switch to NBDP frequency

corresponding to the frequency on which DSC alert was received.

Press the function key F3 and choose Manual Reception.

Select FEC mode and press enter key. When a call is detected, Lock will get
highlighted.

When the line is connected, [Connect] is highlighted.

When the receiving the message is complete, the NBDP connection will
automatically cancel.

The received message will be stored in the Floppy (or SD card) of the NBDP.
NBDP Test procedures

Now that we know how to operate NBDP, testing of NBDP should not be an issue.

Actually NBDP does not require much of the testing. There is a self test in the
equipment that should be done as per the maker guidelines.

Apart from that, it is a good practice to communicate with another ship at least
monthly and keep the records.

Conclusion

NBDP is hardly put in use onboard ships. Many ship owners are now preferring to
have another set of Sat-C on board rather than having NBDP fitted on board.

In spite of all that, if we have NBDP on board, we must know about how to operate
it. After all if it is on board, it is very much a part of GMDSS station