Ingangsdatum: 23-11-1996 
2.1 The installation, which may consist of more than
                one piece of equipment, should be capable of operating on single-frequency channels
                or on single- and two-frequency channels. 
2.2 The equipment should provide for the following categories of calls
                using both voice and digital selective calling (DSC): 
.1
                distress, urgency and safety; 
.2 ship operational
                requirements; and 
.3 public correspondence. 
2.3 The equipment should provide for the
                following categories of communications using voice: 
.1
                distress, urgency and safety; 
.2 ship operational
                requirements; and 
.3 public correspondence. 
2.4 The equipment should comprise at least:
                  
.1 a transmitter/receiver including antenna; 
.2 an integral control unit or one or more separate control
                units; 
.3 a microphone with a press-to-transmit switch,
                which may be combined with a telephone in a handset; 
.4 an
                internal or external loudspeaker; 
.5 an integral or
                separate digital selective calling facility; and 
.6 a
                dedicated DSC watchkeeping facility to maintain a continuous watch on channel 70.
                  
2.5 The installation may also include
                additional receivers. 
2.6 A distress
                alert should be activated only by means of a dedicated distress button. This button
                should not be any key of an ITU-T digital input panel or an ISO keyboard provided on
                the equipment. 
2.7 The dedicated distress
                button should: 
.1 be clearly identified; and 
.2 be protected against inadvertent operation. 
2.8 The distress alert initiation should
                require at least two independent actions. 
2.9 The equipment should indicate the status of the distress alert
                transmission. 
2.10 It should be possible
                to interrupt and initiate distress alerts at any time.