TEAM RHYL RADIO ![]()
The "Rhyl" Radio team can be found out & about on many stage rallies, usually operating on 81MHz (the MSA safety frequency) providing safety cover and monitoring competitors through special stages. This is a responsible job, but your only requirement is to be organised and calm as you monitor cars and assist should there be problems. The sets are occasionally used for safety on other MSA events. Individual club members often help out on motoring events nationally by assisting with Radio Cover. (eg, Wales Rally GB, Manx, Scottish, etc)
The club currently holds & pays
the MSA licence for, 8 radios. Anyone interested in becoming part of the radio
team can find out more by contacting any of the operators below if you want
to join us.......... A radio & antenna will set you back a one off cost
of "about" £150, and the MSA licence (to use 81mhz ONLY)
will cost you a fiver (which the Club currently pays, for Club members to
use channels 1-4
The sets we currently use do have 20 other channels on them, the use of which
is prohibited without paying a separate licence fee. Some of the Clubs' members
are (2009) licenced to use these frequencies through a reciprical agreement
with a club member who is a Licence holder for these frequencies
PLEASE NOTE that you
can NOT just "buy an <MSA> set and use it" - but the Club
encourages you consider becoming a Radio Crew / Radio Marshal and will give
you all the help and guidance you need to become a Radio Operator painlessly,
should you so desire. Simply contact Iain Baxter or Arthur Jones, for full details
of how to get a radio and a licence ....... and how to use the radio AND the
network SAFELY.
The MSA run a "Radio Operators" course as part of the Rally Marshals
training days too!
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES
IS CB RADIO USED FOR RALLY SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS!
although it is used by some of us for NON SAFETY communication during
events, from "car to car" (but this use is purely as "chit
chat")
PMR 446 Radio: (The little handheld sets that everyone seems to have these days): Used for communication between runners and Radio vehicles (If there's an incident out of sight of a Radio Car) - these sets can be quite cheap to buy and have a range of up to "3-5Km" - about a mile usually, from tests I've carried out! ....(from about £20 for a "basic" set, up to £120 or more, depending what you want out of 'em!)
| Rhyl members using MSA RADIO Callsigns Rhyl 1 -
Arthur Jones (Own set) ..# |
REGULAR RHYL HELPERS CALLSIGNS: Gemini 31 -
Duncan Stock *...
Licenced
to use Amateur Radio Frequencies |
| North
West/North Wales MSA SAFETY RADIO CONTROLLERS Others may periodically be "in Control" around the North West England & North Wales areas (sometimes other areas too!) but it's these callsigns that you'll usually hear in charge around here........ Gemini
1 - Bill Wilmer |
|
Other
forms of communication that may have been tried occasionally on rallies:
Mobile phones: From
experience, these things are usually worse than usless and CANNOT be relied
upon when rally marshalling! The actual "range" of a mobile phone
is very short, and unless there is a phone mast nearby, you will not get any
reception at all. Rallies tend to take place in forests, which are very sparsely
populated areas with little or, more usually, ZERO mobile phone reception for
very large areas. Some places, of course, DO have reception, but it's the exception
rather than the rule - Mobile phones are not usually used for instage
communications other than the passing of sensitive information
Megaphone:
Very handy for assisting with getting spectators to listen. Useless
for communication with other marshals.
BT Landline: Tends to fail after the course car
has run over the wires
Shouting: User failure of vocal chords before
1st car has left Start line is a common complaint with this one
Smoke Signals: Definately
NOT recommended on Forestry Commision land
Jungle Drums: Messages often get distorted by
Impretza Turbo Lag
Optical Morse Code: The new super bright spotlamps
on some competitors cars tend to cause havoc with this one.
Further information about
Rally Radio can be obtained from:
Bill Wilmers' informative GEMINI
RADIO website
Derek Machins' excellent SILK
RADIO website