TravelTalkOnline Forums People Talk BVI People Talk Got a new VHF handheld, but have an issue

I just bought a new handheld VHF (Standard Horizon HX870) that has DSC capability for transmitting distress signals.

It turns out that the DSC transmit feature will not work until the radio has been programmed with an MMSI number. There are several ways to obtain an MMSI number, and the most common ones assume that the number is assigned to a particular boat. But I don't own a boat anymore, and I bought the radio mainly for chartering.

Have any of you TTOLers dealt with this?

Dan <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />