Usable mobile network in Chichester Habour

[FairweatherDave]

Itchenor not good for us on O2, and need to get near Chichester on the road before signal reliable. Also Northney marina signal poor. Life eh?

 

[Chris_Robb]

Odd, I'm on O2 and I have not had significant issues in Chichester Harbour , based at Hayling Island sailing club often venturing to Itchenor, Bosham, Emsworth.

Also based at HISC - driving froM the bridge to the club we loose the O2 signal for at least half the journey. Remember that in Greece we could pick up a good connection 25 miles off shore!

 

[Daydream believer]

Shows what c..p theory it is using a mobile phone as emergency phone on a boat.

 

[alahol2]

I've been investigating recently because we are a bit marginal at home. With my handset it matters where you hold it. Hold the bottom of the handset and the signal drops, hold the top and you get another bar of signal strength.

 

[dunedin]

Shows what c..p theory it is using a mobile phone as emergency phone on a boat.

If you say so.
Except most of us find good reception most of the way round the UK, especially if have multiple different phone.networks (avoid partners phone on same.network).
Often works better at sea than in rocky / hilly places.

 

[Daydream believer]

If you say so.
Except most of us find good reception most of the way round the UK, especially if have multiple different phone.networks (avoid partners phone on same.network).
Often works better at sea than in rocky / hilly places.

So a single hander needs a handful of phones does he/she?
I did not find good reception for either of my 2- part uk circumnavs (via cally canal)
I gave up trying to install a particular sim card on my phone, to see if i could get better reception Forget whose it was - O2 I think I bought it in the CIs & it would not install when I left

 

[Lucky Duck]

Crossing Lyme bay on Thursday my phone had good enough reception to call up google maps way beyond the received wisdom reference the range of a hand held VHF.

If for some reason the main VHF wasn’t available I suspect that, save for more congested waters, a mobile phone would be more useful in getting the coastguard’s attention.

 

[dunedin]

So a single hander needs a handful of phones does he/she?
I did not find good reception for either of my 2- part uk circumnavs (via cally canal)
I gave up trying to install a particular sim card on my phone, to see if i could get better reception Forget whose it was - O2 I think I bought it in the CIs & it would not install when I left

As my phone is so important - WhatsApp, camera, tides, cruising guides, backup navigation etc - that I carry my old phone as a spare.
Main phone on EE, spare on Vodafone. Also iPad on Three.
Haven’t covered the English East coast, but at least 95% of rest of UK including remote islands have had decent signal. Even found enough signal at St Kilda to check weather forecast by climbing hill.

 

[Daydream believer]

I fell over in my garden & could not phone the wife 50 ft away, in the house to get help.
I lay there for 25 minutes
If only I had taken a coke tin attached to a bit of string I might have called her up on that
2 tins & a bit of string stretched between, never failed when we were kids

 

[KevinV]

I live minutes from Chi Harbour, and O2 is the best network I've found at home (although still crap) - but I get next to no signal on the water.

I've used the Ofcom checker but don't trust it as I don't get anywhere near the coverage at home it suggests - so can anyone recommend a network where I can actually get some usable signal?

Thanks

Silly question, but are you certain it isn't something on the boat putting out interference? Easy to experiment by isolating the battery.

 

[Mark-1]

If you say so.
Except most of us find good reception most of the way round the UK, especially if have multiple different phone.networks (avoid partners phone on same.network).
Often works better at sea than in rocky / hilly places.

And the one time I needed to call in a Mayday in the Solent there was carrier on 16, but my mobile worked fine. And this was in the relatively early days of mobiles when signal wasn't as good as today (IMHO). The CG fail to hear vessels I can hear calling on 16 and 67 all the time IME.

I think you need both. In the Solent area I think the mobile is the most reliable way to contact the CG and VHF is the most reliable way to contact nearby vessels.

 

[Mark-1]

I fell over in my garden & could not phone the wife 50 ft away, in the house to get help.
I lay there for 25 minutes

Since I have had kids I've realized that in the busy areas I sail a whistle and oilies hung from the spreaders would be most effective at summoning the sort of help they might need.

This is after a lifetime of openly mocking the humble whistle.

It's also effective at summoning the wife to get photos of us, although she regards that as "rude". Go figure. Perhaps I should remind her of Bernard Moitessier who sired several children with a lover in the pacific and wrote to his wife to ask her to knit clothes for them and post them to him. Now *that's* rude. Forgive me if I've got my facts wrong, It's a long while ago I read his books.