v1.5 · Shipping
Satellite + position reports.
Position reporting and weather GRIB pulls over Iridium and inReach. Scheduled and on-demand. VHF monitoring and recording. Satellite free-text messaging.
Platform · Communications
The bridge from blue water to ashore.
Very High Frequency (VHF) radio with recording and transcription. Digital Selective Calling (DSC) monitoring. Satellite messaging via Iridium and Garmin inReach. One app that routes the right message through the right channel — you bring your own satellite plan.
What's covered
Every channel in one place.
Each satellite device comes with its own app. That works fine until you want position reports, weather pulls, and text messages to share the boat's context — your current position, your passage plan, your next waypoint. That context lives in 32°N, and that is why the integration is here rather than inside a third-party app.
VHF
Very High Frequency radio.
- Live monitoring of all channels via connected VHF radio
- Automatic recording of all received traffic
- AI transcription of recorded calls — searchable by date and channel
- Channel 16 watch always active when underway
- Transmit from the platform UI on supported radios
DSC
Digital Selective Calling.
- Automatic monitoring for DSC distress calls on Channel 70
- Distress alerts with caller MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity), position, and nature of distress
- DSC position polling for boats in your contacts list
- Distress relay via the platform with full position context
Satellite
Satcom — bring your own plan.
- Iridium GO! and Iridium Certus
- Garmin inReach Mini 2 and inReach Messenger
- Globalstar SPOT X
- Position reports on schedule or on demand
- Compressed weather pulls (GRIB files) over low-bandwidth links
- Free-text messaging routed through whichever device is active
VHF + AI
Every call, recorded and searchable.
Why record VHF?
Incident investigations, harbour master instructions, weather broadcasts, marina berth assignments — these are conversations you want to refer back to. A paper log cannot capture audio. 32°N records everything the radio receives and lets you search it by date, channel, and keyword.
The AI transcription runs locally on the hub — no audio leaves the boat. The index is in the local data store, queryable through the platform. Search "marina fuel dock" and find the exchange from two weeks ago.
DSC distress — automatic context.
When a DSC distress call arrives on Channel 70, the platform immediately cross-references the caller's MMSI against the known-vessels list, shows their last-reported position on the chart, and surfaces the information needed to relay to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC).
You are not hunting through a paper MMSI directory at 2 am. The context is there. The relay form is pre-filled with your own vessel data. You confirm and send.
SOS always uses the most reliable channel available — satellite if connected, DSC on VHF as fallback. The platform decides the routing automatically.
Satellite messaging
One interface, whichever device is on the boat.
Iridium GO!, Garmin inReach, Globalstar SPOT X — each is excellent at being a satellite endpoint. The problem is they each want their own app, and those apps do not know your passage plan, your crew list, or your current waypoints. 32°N fixes the integration layer.
Scheduled position reports.
Set a check-in interval — every 4 hours, every 6 hours — and 32°N sends an automatic position report to your named contacts via whichever satellite device is active. The report includes current position, SOG, COG, and next waypoint.
Compressed weather pulls.
GRIB weather file downloads are routed through the satellite link when you are offshore, using compressed formats (GRIdded Binary 2 with lossy compression) to minimise expensive bandwidth. The weather app picks up the file automatically.
Free-text messaging.
Send and receive messages from named contacts. The app manages the character limits and compression for each device type. Replies arrive in the same thread view regardless of which satellite device handled them.
SOS routing.
Activating SOS from anywhere in the platform sends the distress alert via the highest-reliability channel available: satellite first, DSC on VHF as a secondary. Your position, vessel name, and MMSI are attached automatically.
Bring your own satellite plan. 32°N does not add a subscription on top of your satellite carrier. You pay Iridium, Garmin, or Globalstar directly for airtime. The platform just routes your messages through the device you already have on board. This is true for every paid data provider in 32°N.
Training
Practise before you need it.
The communications app includes a simulated radio environment for practising VHF procedures and DSC distress operations — no live transmission, no risk of broadcasting on Channel 16 during a drill.
VHF procedure simulation.
Simulated Channel 16 calls, marina berth requests, and weather broadcasts. Practice the correct phonetic alphabet, vessel name spelling, and call format without transmitting. Reviewed after each session with notes on procedure errors.
DSC distress drill.
Simulated distress calls from random vessel positions. Practise the full relay sequence: receive call, identify vessel, cross- reference chart, compose relay, transmit to coast guard. Timed to build the reflex to do it quickly under pressure.
Roadmap
Where this is going.
v2 · Next
DSC integration + VHF transcription.
DSC distress monitoring with context-aware relay assist. VHF recording with AI transcription running locally. Channel 16 watch automation — logs all received traffic, alerts on distress keywords.
v2+ · Later
Radio training module.
Simulated VHF procedures and DSC distress drills. Timed practice sessions reviewed by the AI with procedure feedback. No live transmission ever used.
Read about the full platform.
The demo lets you explore 32°N without any hardware. The platform page has the five-layer architecture — communications sits in the apps layer, drawing on the bus and AI gateway from the layers below.