PatSea wrote:I know that changing the MMSI number in a radio requires that it be sent back to the radio manufacturer or to a qualified dealer.
Standard-Horizon HX890 radios can have their MMSI changed in the field. Contact technical support at Standard-Horizon for details.
MMSI IN GENERAL
In general, an MMSI is assigned to a vessel, not to a radio, but for hand held radios NOT associated with one particular vessel, that rule is not maintained, and a special category MMSI should be used, in which the MMSI is associated with the hand held RADIO and the OWNER of the radio is the contact person.
If a handheld radio is not associated with one particular boat--which is the situation we are discussing in this topic--then the hand held radio should not be programmed with an MMSI that is associated with one particular boat. The radio should have its own MMSI.
There is a special category of MMSI that has been created specifically for hand held radios NOT associated with a particular boat. But, in the USA, the FCC cannot provide these special MMSI numbers, and instead recommends the hand held radio not associated with a particular boat be programmed with an MMSI from a private registry agent (such as BoatUS or United States Power Squadron).
A hand held radio not associated with a particular vessel IS ASSOCIATED with a particular person.
There is no category of MMSI that NOT associated with a particular vessel and also NOT associated with a particular person.
WHAT TO DO IN THIS SITUATION
If the HX890 radio that is to be removed from the boat it has been associated with by encoding of that boat's FCC-issued MMSI and then used on another boat, there really is no particularly recommended procedure for this that does not involve changing the MMSI in the radio.
The most logical way to proceed, from what I can see, would be to:
--get a new MMSI for the new boat on which the radio will be used from a licensed-by-rule registry agency like BoatUS
--contact Standard Horizon; give them the new MMSI you want in the radio, and they will give you an unlock code to re-program it
--reprogram the radio to the MMSI of the new boat
--use the radio
When the radio is returned to the owner, repeat the process above. Here I assume the radio can be re-programmed more than once, so you better verify that with Standard-Horizon.
Actually, the simplest procedure will be to just buy a radio for the other boat, get an MMSI (either from the FCC if necessary or from a licensed-by-rule registry agency, and follow the normal procedure. You can buy a great DSC radio for $140. You can get an MMSI from BoatUS for free. In the total cost of a long trip by boat, $140 cannot be a deal-breaker.
If the owner of the HX890 has an FCC-issued MMSI encoded into the radio, there is no way you can use that radio properly without changing the MMSI. If you were to contact the FCC and transfer the MMSI to another boat, it could cost $220 (for another FCC MMSI) and probably $60 (to modify the the existing license).
You are proposing to do something that was really not ever envisioned in the administration of MMSI numbers. The concept of a MMSI did not envision that people would loan their DSC radio to a friend for temporary use.