Introduction

Administrations participating in the Regional Agreement concerning the VHF radiotelephone service on the river Rhine have developed a system for the automatic identification of maritime VHF radiotelephone equipment (ATIS).

This ATIS system will eventually be employed in all maritime VHF radiotelephones, for hand-held and fixed installations, on-board inland waterway vessels sailing the river Rhine, and the Netherlands inland waterways. Implementation of ATIS on a mandatory basis for maritime VHF radiotelephones on such vessels is expected to be completed in 1994.

The ATIS signal format is based on Recommendation 493 *- Digital Selective Calling - for use in the maritime mobile service and on Recommendation 7 of the Regional Rhine Agreement.

* NOTE BY THE CCIR SECRETARIAT:

In the revision of Recommendation 493 certain terms have been changed (for example "signal" and "symbol" have been replaced with the term "character" in a number of places in Annex I.