dk
Well-known member
What about the water then?
Talking of finite resources some of our coastal waters are now so crowded that navigating them at certain times of the year has become tricky to say the least.
Should we then pay a license fee to use the Solent at peak times? By your logic the answer surely must be yes.
With regard to radio spectra, how did the mobile phone industry cope with oversubscription - it used technology and went digital. It didn't demand an annual license fee for using the old analogue system.
Now marine VHF has also gone digital, so an almost infinite numbers of users can utilise the marine frequencies without interfering with each other. Nuisance calls - other than false distress alarms (which will be reduced as soon as every set has integral GPS so the perpetrators can be located and fined heavily), will become rare as you won't have to keep a listening watch on any voice channel. As with a GSM mobile or landline you will only 'answer' the VHF when you are called by someone dialling your specific MMSI (the equivalent of your phone no.).
The answer is always found by technology improvements - not by penalising people when they instal a vital piece of safety equipment.
Duncan
Talking of finite resources some of our coastal waters are now so crowded that navigating them at certain times of the year has become tricky to say the least.
Should we then pay a license fee to use the Solent at peak times? By your logic the answer surely must be yes.
With regard to radio spectra, how did the mobile phone industry cope with oversubscription - it used technology and went digital. It didn't demand an annual license fee for using the old analogue system.
Now marine VHF has also gone digital, so an almost infinite numbers of users can utilise the marine frequencies without interfering with each other. Nuisance calls - other than false distress alarms (which will be reduced as soon as every set has integral GPS so the perpetrators can be located and fined heavily), will become rare as you won't have to keep a listening watch on any voice channel. As with a GSM mobile or landline you will only 'answer' the VHF when you are called by someone dialling your specific MMSI (the equivalent of your phone no.).
The answer is always found by technology improvements - not by penalising people when they instal a vital piece of safety equipment.
Duncan