Can you use AIS data to initiate DSC calls directly from B&G Zeus2?

[samoorelex]

I have just installed a Standard Horizon GX2400 on my boat. We have a B&G Zeus2 MFD. Both are linked via an N2K network.

On the detail page for AIS is a "Call" button.
It's not active.
Is there a way I can pass a PNG back to the radio to initiate a call without having to look it up on the radio?

I know it's possible with B&G VHF radios.

Thanks!

[Rusty007]

It will only work with a B&G or Simrad radio.

[continuouswave]

Originally Posted by samoorelex

Is there a way I can pass a PNG [sic] back to the radio to initiate a call without having to look it up on the radio?

Devices that are rated as NMEA-2000 certified devices should include a list of NMEA-2000 parameter groups they can either SEND or RECEIVE and make use of. Parameter groups are numbered and are usually referred to with the nomenclature PGN-xxxxxx, where x is a number

To know if Device A will respond to a particular PGN sent by Device B, you should--in theory--be able to look at the literature from the manufacturer of each device and see if there is a PGN that performs the function you want, that Device B can SEND it, and that Device A can receive it and perform the function requested. Whether or not all manufacturers adhere to that recommended practice is unknown.

Because the NMEA-2000 protocol is not documented in any publicly-readable publications, it is hard to know if such a DSC CALL SET UP PGN exists.

There is some prior discussion about this on the PANBO blog. See

https://mt.panbo.com/2015/04/direct-...-standard.html

There is a standard NMEA-2000 PGN 129808, DSC CALL INFORMATION. According to PANBO this PGN is to be SENT from a radio to other devices, to transmit the DSC call information content to the other devices, such as a chart plotter.

There are comments in the PANBO discussion that a proprietary PGN has been created by some manufacturers to permit a chart plotter to set up a DSC call on a radio. Since this PGN is proprietary, it would not be likely to work with radios of a different manufacturer than the chart plotter manufacturer, which is indeed the reported observation here and in PANBO.

NMEA has shed some light on PGN 129808 with this publication:

https://www.nmea.org/Assets/20150328...on%202.100.pdf

Apparently there were or are errors in the implementation.

Also, the NMEA-2000 PGN search does not find 129808 in its results.

https://www.nmea.org/content/STANDAR...00_pgn__search