Cobra Mrf 80b - Manual

2 English Important Safety Information Introduction Important Safety Information • Before installing and using your CobraMarine VHF radio, please read these general precautions and warnings. Warning and Notice Statements To make the most of this radio, it must be installed and used properly. Please ...

4 English Recommendations for Marine Communication NOTICE AVOID using or storing the radio at temperatures below -4°F (-20°C) or above 140°F (60°C). NEVER connect the transceiver to DC power greater than 16 volts or to any DC source with reversed polarity. Doing so will damage the transceiver. DO NO...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® FCC Licensing Information 5 FCC Licensing Information • CobraMarine VHF radios comply with the FCC (Federal Communication Commission)requirements that regulate the Maritime Radio Service. This CobraMarine radio incorporates a VHF FM transceiver designed for use in th...

6 English VHF Marine RadioProcedures User Responsibility and Operating Locations All users are responsible for observing domestic and foreign governmentregulations and are subject to severe penalties for violations. The VHF frequencieson your radio are reserved for marine use and require a special l...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Voice Calling 7 Limits on Calling You must not call the same station for more than 30 seconds at a time. If you do not get a reply, wait at least two (2) minutes before calling again. After three (3) calling periods, wait at least 15 minutes before calling again. Cha...

8 English Digital Selective Calling (DSC) The vessel Corsair calling the vessel Vagabond: Corsair: “Vagabond, this is Corsair (station license number call sign).” Vagabond: “Corsair, this is Vagabond. Over.” Corsair: “Vagabond go to working Channel 68. Over.” Both parties switch over to the agreed u...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) 9 VHF Marine Radio Protocols Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) • An MMSI is a nine (9) digit number used on a marine radio capable of using digitalselective calling (DSC). It is used to selectively call other vessels or s...

10 English Radiotelephone Calls Radiotelephone Calls • Boaters may make and receive radiotelephone calls to and from any number on the telephone network by using the services of public coast stations. Calls can be made — for a fee — between your radio and telephones on land, sea and in the air.See p...

MAYDAY PAN SECURITE Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Emergency Messages and Distress Procedure 11 Emergency Messages and Distress Procedure • The ability to summon assistance in an emergency is the primary reason to have a VHF marine radio. The marine environment can be unforgiving, and what may ini...

12 English Emergency Messages and Distress Procedure If You Hear a Distress Call You must give any message beginning with one (1) of these signals priority over any other messages. ALL stations MUST remain silent on Channel 16 for the duration of the emergency unless the message relates directly to ...

For Example Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Emergency Messages and Distress Procedure 13 “Mayday — Mayday — Mayday” “This is Corsair — Corsair — Corsair” [or “IL 1234 AB”], repeated three (3) times. “Mayday Corsair (or IL 1234 AB)” “Navy Pier bears 220 degrees magnetic — distance 5 miles” “Struck s...

14 English VHF Marine Channel Assignments VHF Marine Channel Assignments • Three (3) sets of VHF channels have been established for marine use in the U.S.A.,Canada and the rest of the world (International). Most of the channels are the samefor all three (3) maps, but there are definite differences (...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® VHF Marine Channel Assignments 15 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator) Channels 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 60, 61, 84, 84A, 85, 85A, 86, 86A, 87, 87A, 88* For calls to marine operators at public coast stations. You can make and receivetelephone calls through these statio...

16 English VHF Marine Channel Assignments VHF Marine Radio Protocols Channel Channel Map Frequency Power Number USA Int’l Canada Transmit Receive Limits 01 • • 156.050 160.650 01A • 156.050 156.050 02 • • 156.100 160.700 03 • • 156.150 160.750 03A • 156.150 156.150 04 • 156.200 160.800 04A • 156.200...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® VHF Marine Channel Assignments 17 VHF Marine Radio Protocols Channel Use 01 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator) 01A Port Operations and Commercial, VTS in selected areas 02 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator) 03 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator) 03A Gov...

18 English VHF Marine Channel Assignments VHF Marine Radio Protocols Channel Channel Map Frequency Power Number USA Int’l Canada Transmit Receive Limits 18 • 156.900 161.500 18A • • 156.900 156.900 19 • 156.950 161.550 19A • • 156.950 156.950 20 • • • 157.000 161.600 1 watt CAN 20A • 157.000 157.000...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® VHF Marine Channel Assignments 19 Channel Use 18 Port Operations, Ship Movement 18A Commercial 19 Port Operations, Ship Movement 19A Commercial 20 Canada (Coast Guard Only); International (Port Operations, Ship Movement) 20A Port Operations 21 Port Operations, Ship M...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® VHF Marine Channel Assignments 21 Channel Use 63 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator), Port Operations, Ship Movement 63A Port Operations and Commercial, VTS in selected areas 64 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator), Port Operations, Ship Movement 64A U.S. (Gov...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® World City Time Zones 25 World City Time Zones • In order to set correct local time as compared to different World City Time Zones,enter the hour “offset” as listed below. The correct local time appears on the VHF forCities all over the world. See page 43 for setup i...

26 English Included in this Package Included in this Package • You should find all of the following items in the package with your CobraMarine VHF radio: NOTE Cobra Accessory Harness CM 140-001 is an optional wire harness that is used to interface the MR F80 radio with the Cobra MC 600C Serieschartp...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Mounting and Powering the Radio 27 Installation and Start-Up Mounting and Powering the Radio • Before using your CobraMarine VHF radio, it must be installed on your vessel. Installing Your Radio Choose a location for your radio where it will be conveniently accessibl...

Microphone Bracket Mounting Kit To Install The Microphone Bracket Mounting Kit: Install the microphone bracket mounting kit on avertical surface near the transceiver using thesupplied stainless steel screws. Flush Mount A Flush Mount kit is included with your CobraMarine VHFradio to allow its instal...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Antenna Requirements and Attachment 31 Installation and Start-Up Antenna Requirements and Attachment • Antenna Requirements Your CobraMarine VHF radio requires an external marine antenna to send signals into the air and to receive them. The radio is arranged to use a...

32 English Antenna Requirements and Attachment WARNING Do not transmit when anyone is within the MPE radius of the antenna unlessthat person or persons are shielded from the antenna by a grounded metallicbarrier. This is especially important on vessels with antennas mounted asdescribed in B where no...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® External Devices and Connections 33 External Devices and Connections • Your CobraMarine VHF radio is set up to connect auxiliary devices for navigation,convenience and added versatility. As is the case with the antenna, choosing thesedevices is best done with the adv...

Nothing comes close to a Cobra ® External Devices and Connections NOTE Satellite acquisition time is dependent on the GPS device. CobraMarine Chartplotter MC 600C Series Your CobraMarine VHF radio is set up to connect directly to your chartplotter with acustom accessory cable that eases the installa...

36 English Getting Started Getting Started • Refer to the foldout at the front of this manual to identify the various controls and indicators on your radio. Throughout this manual you will be instructed to press, or to press and hold buttonson the transceiver or on the microphone/speaker. Press mean...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Getting Started 37 DSC Position Request Alarm Medium-loud, continuous, low-pitched series of closelyspaced, four (4) beeps [three (3) short – one (1) long]groups — sounds when a POSITION REQUEST call isreceived. Press any button to turn it Off. DSC Individual Alarm M...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® 39 Local Mode Button The radio features a Local Mode button that decreases radio sensitivity when operating inside populated areas. When the Local Mode button is On, the power of an inbound receive (Rx) signal is reduced without distortingthe waveform. Reducing an in...

40 English Getting Started Introduction Standby and Receive Standby mode is the usual mode for the radio whenever it is turned On. From Standby Mode, You Can: Change your radio’s settings using setup routines. Receive messages on the current channel as well as DSCmessages. Receive NOAA alerts if Wea...

Introduction Nothing comes close to a Cobra ® Setup Mode Programming 41 Setup Mode Programming • Setup Menu Use the Setup menu in the CobraMarine VHF radio to turn On and Off many features, to adjust feature preferences and entera user MMSI number. NOTE Basic Setup menu programming is described in t...

42 English Setup Mode Programming LCD Display Lamp AdjustThe LCD display has a backlight lamp to make it visible in the dark. The lamp can be adjusted for brightness or turned off. Make all lamp adjustments in the LAMP ADJ menu.The lamp will operate at the HIGH level until adjusted to HIGH, MEDIUM, ...

Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Special Features 45 Special Features • Rewind-Say-Again™ Feature The MR F80 radio has a Cobra exclusive playback feature, Rewind-Say-Again™ . This feature allows you to replay the last 20 seconds of an incoming audio transmission. It alsoallows you to record call det...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 47 Voice Transmission Operating Your Radio Voice Transmission • Use the Transmit (TX) mode to communicate with safety services, other vessels and shore stations. When using thiscapability, follow appropriate procedures and observe theexp...

48 English Voice Transmission Transmit Power Output The radio transmits selectively at 1 or 25 watts of power.Cobra suggests maintaining the low power setting for short-range communications to avoid overpowering nearby stationswith the signal. Use the high power setting for long-rangecommunications ...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 49 Voice Transmission NOTE If the Talk button is held down for five (5) minutes, the radio automatically ceases transmitting to preventunwanted signal generation and a three (3)-beep errortone sounds. As soon as the Talk button is releas...

50 English NOAA All Hazards/WeatherRadio and Alert, w/SAME NOAA All Hazards/Weather Radio and Alert, w/SAME • NOAA broadcasts weather information as described in theNOAA Weather Channels section on page 25 of this manual.Listen to one of these receive-only channels at any time. Thetransceiver also i...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 53 Advanced Operation Advanced Operation • There are several features in the CobraMarine MR F80 VHFradio that provide quick access to the voice calling channelsand allow monitoring more than one (1) channel at a time. Channel 16/9 This f...

Operating Your Radio Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Advanced Operation 55 Memory Channels Program or select an unlimited number of channels for the Memory Scan mode. To Program Memory Channels: 1. From Standby mode, select a channel to record using the Channel Up/Down buttons. 2. Press and hold th...

56 English Product Features Introduction Advanced Operation Scanning of Memory Channels During Memory Scan mode, the radio rapidly switches from one recorded channel to another. When any activity isdetected, the radio stops the scan for 10 seconds for brieflistening on that channel. The scan continu...

Operation from the Microphone Use the microphone to select operation modes and accomplish approximately 90%of all radio functions. Microphone features include: Instant Channel 16/9 button is used to access emergency channels. Channel Up/Down button is used to change channels. Push to Talk (PTT) butt...

58 English Product Features Introduction Digital Select Calling (DSC)Setup Digital Select Calling (DSC) Setup • Digital Selective Calling (DSC) uses digital signals to increase messaging range. Thisprovides the most reliable message delivery per watt of output power. Digital signalsare less suscepti...

1. Enter the Setup menu and scroll to USERMMSI menu. 2. Press the Enter button. A blinking cursor displays at the first digit under USERMMSI ID ENTRY. 3. Rotate the Channel knob to scroll through the number list to the digit of the MMSI number being entered. 4. Press the F1 and F2 Function buttons t...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 61 Digital Select Calling (DSC)Setup To Enter a Group MMSI Number: 1. Enter the Setup menu and scroll to GRP MMSI menu. 2. Press the Enter button. A blinking cursor displays at the first digit under GRP MMSI ID ENTRY. The leading zero(0)...

62 English Product Features Introduction Digital Select Calling (DSC)Setup Individual Directory DSC can be used to call another vessel or station directly. This allows the user to make a call to a specific vessel thatcould be monitoring any channel. An alarm will sound onthe receiving radio to make ...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 63 Digital Select Calling (DSC) Operation • The Send menu displays when the Distress button is pressed. NOTE This radio follows Class-D DSC protocol with a dedicated Channel 70 receiver. Sending Distress Calls Sending and receiving distr...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 65 Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation The Distress alarm sounds to confirm that the message is transmitted. At the end of the transmission, the radiomaintains a watch on Channel 16 and Channel 70 for anacknowledgement. Press any butto...

66 English Product Features Introduction Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation receiving a DSC Distress call and the alarm will soundfor approximately two (2) minutes. Press any buttonto clear the Distress alarm instantly. Regarding Distress Relay Calls This radio cannot send Distress Relay calls. O...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 67 Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation 5. Depending on the type of message selected, the radio automatically switches to a voice channel. a. After Urgency and Safety calls, the radio switches to Channel 16. Once on channel, press the T...

68 English Product Features Introduction Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation Sending a Geographical Call This radio does not send Geographical calls. Only largeships and shore stations with specially equipped radios sendGeographical calls. Receiving a Geographical Call Geographical calls are trans...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 69 Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation Sending an Individual Call Use the DSC Individual call feature to requestcommunication with one (1) exclusive station. The DSCIndividual call does not alert all other stations within range. To Sen...

70 English Product Features Introduction Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation Receiving an Individual Call When another station makes an Individual call to the radio: The Individual alarm sounds. The caller is identified on the LCD. The radio switches to the channel selected by the caller. Call inf...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 71 Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation Receiving a Group Call When another station makes a Group call to the radio, the Individual alarm sounds, the caller is identified on the LCD, call information is placed in the Call Log , and the ...

72 English Product Features Introduction Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation If You Receive a Position: The requested position with the station name and MMSI will show on your screen. Press the Enter button to return to Standby mode after you have noted the station’s position. NOTE If the MRF80 is...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 73 Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation Receiving a Position Request When you went through the DSC Setup process, you set a position request reply type. (See page 63 to change yoursetting.) Depending on the setting you chose, when aPosi...

74 English Product Features Introduction Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation Operating Your Radio Sending a Position Send Position Send uses your connected GPS in similar fashion to the Position Request function, except that you initiate the activity to let another station know where you are. To S...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 75 Digital Select Calling (DSC)Operation Call Log and Distress Log Call Waiting functions similarly to the Caller ID function on your telephone. It will capture the caller’s MMSIidentification number and any other data included in a DSCm...

76 English Maintenance andTroubleshooting Operating Your Radio No display on LCD whenradio is turned On Improper powerconnection Ensure power connectionsare proper and secure Will transmit at 1 watt, but not at 25 watts Selected channel islimited to 1 watt Switch to another channel Will not transmit...

Operating Your Radio Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Specifications 77 Specifications • General Number of Channels All U.S.A., Canadian, and International NOAA Weather Channels Channel Spacing 25 kHz Modulation 5 kHz Max. Input Voltage 13.8 VDC Current Drain: Stand-by 100 mA Receive 500 mA Transmit...

78 English Product Features Introduction Warranty and Trademark Operating Your Radio Limited 3-Year Warranty • For Products Purchased in the U.S.A. Cobra Electronics Corporation warrants that its CobraMarine VHF radio, and thecomponent parts thereof, will be free of defects in workmanship and materi...

Introduction Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra ® Product Features 79 Operating Your Radio Product Service Product Service • If you have any questions about operation or installing your new CobraMarine VHF product, or if you are missing parts… Please call Cobra first! DO NOT RETURN THIS PRODUCT TO THE S...