On the Rally WhatsApp group Malcolm started a brief discussion around communication during the rally and the potential for use of DSC and the association obtaining a Group MMSI number. Rather than clutter that up, and for future reference I thought it perhaps better to bring it here.
My current sailing is generally very low radio traffic, so monitoring 16+local is fine, on a busy summer day I tend to drop the harbour frequency once clear of the lock but other than that the radio remains fairly quiet. I am however conscious that the VHF may be rather busier in the Solent, and this may have an impact on battery life.
Previously on rallies we've picked a quiet working channel and it has worked well. Though I do recall "chasing" the Royal Navy off "our" channel in the Clyde :-)
Is traffic in the Solent sufficiently low that the same approach will work or is it worth considering options?
If so and if sufficient people have (/can be bothered with) DSC radios it may be worth enquiring with Ofcom regarding an Association group MMSI. The form just appears to ask why you want it and who the organisation is.
We could still nominate a standard working channel so calls would get received by all monitoring, DSC or non-DSC. The potential difficulty is a call from a non-DSC may not get picked up but arguably that is no different to now.
Thoughts?
(Other than, must go and find my radio and top the battery charge up!!)