To HAM or not to Ham, that is the question

[Sailor Robius]

hi all,

should i put my mobile 2 meter HAM unit on the boat or not? what advantages or disadvantages are there? thanks in advance -rob

[sailorchic34]

Well, you'll be able to hit repeaters in most of the us from 10-15 miles or so off shore. Range is limiting and you'll still need a FCC Ship License I think. Most on boats use HF for longer range. So All the impact of HF ham but with limited range. Of course I do have 2 meter on board too.

[ljsailing]

Howdy?
I also have 2/440/50/HF on my sailboat. Great for open QSO's. Around 14.250 Alaska has a cooking net, and 14.300 is Maritime at sea. On V/Uhf, marine mobile always brings a reply. When traveling on the ICW, the local repeater has a helpful ham for local knowledge ashore (good restaurant, etc). 73

[fairbank56]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Range is limiting and you'll still need a FCC Ship License I think.

A ship station license is not required to operate ham radio equipment on board.

Eric

[dandrews]

Originally Posted by fairbank56

A ship station license is not required to operate ham radio equipment on board.

Eric

I concur with Eric, no required but you probably have one anyway.

Don

[Nicholson58]

you may need the license off shore or foreign. I needed an station license for my AIS and VHF. I haven't even thought aboput the SSB yet.

[nv5l]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

you may need the license off shore or foreign. I needed an station license for my AIS and VHF. I haven't even thought aboput the SSB yet.

That's because those are marine frequencies, ham is completely different. However, you may need a foreign license to use your ham radio in foreign waters. Depends on the country.

[btrayfors]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

you may need the license off shore or foreign. I needed an station license for my AIS and VHF. I haven't even thought aboput the SSB yet.

That's too bad. You could have acquired a station license for ALL your marine onboard transmitting equipment at the same time and for the same price. It now costs about $160, and if you don't have the station license for SSB you'll need to re-apply. When you do, be sure to check ALL the boxes, whether or not you have the equipment.

Erik and NV5L are correct re: ham licenses. A ham license is all you need to install and use a radio on the ham bands on your boat and on the high seas anywhere. In the territorial waters of a foreign country, however, you may need a reciprocal ham license from that country. Rules differ by country....see arrl.net or noonsight.com for specifics.

Bill
WA6CCA

[matauwhi]

G'day, mate. You didn't say if this would be the only other radio on your boat or not. Lots of 2 meter traffic down here, on occasion can even chat with the mates next door over in Ozzie. Cheers.

[sailorchic34]

Oops, darn blonde moments. Yes..Right. The marine radios need the ship station license...

[maxingout]

We never used a 2 meter on our circumnavigation. But if I was doing things like the inside passage to Alaska, I can see how it might be of benefit.

We did a lot of H F radio when offshore.

[msponer]

Has anyone rigged a crossband repeater on their boat?

We do this while camping, so the radio in our car repeats our handhelds and extends their range considerably. I've thought I'd rather carry a handheld ham radio in a foreign port than a marine VHF, since with tone squelch it'd only make noise when one of us was talking (instead of listening to the party line on 22), and with a repeater on the top of the mast in an anchorage, we could probably wander around most small cities and still be able to talk to each other.

But then I think-- maybe we don't have to be that well coordinated.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by msponer

Has anyone rigged a crossband repeater on their boat?

We do this while camping, so the radio in our car repeats our handhelds and extends their range considerably. I've thought I'd rather carry a handheld ham radio in a foreign port than a marine VHF, since with tone squelch it'd only make noise when one of us was talking (instead of listening to the party line on 22), and with a repeater on the top of the mast in an anchorage, we could probably wander around most small cities and still be able to talk to each other.

But then I think-- maybe we don't have to be that well coordinated.

This sounds like it might be a good idea if you are in a remote place without repeaters. Just have to make sure the rules allow it if you're in a foreign port.

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by Sailor Robius

should i put my mobile 2 meter HAM unit on the boat or not? ... -rob

Hi Rob - & Welcome to Cruisers Forum! Why wouldn't you put it on board? It probably won't get as much use as a HF rig (winlink is Wonderful!) but extra communications gear at sea is usually useful (he says, with his sat-phone in mothballs). You'll probably want to make sure your 2m antenna is above or below your marine VHF, to avoid too much coupling.

[Patrick_DeepPlaya]

Originally Posted by Sailor Robius

hi all,

should i put my mobile 2 meter HAM unit on the boat or not? what advantages or disadvantages are there? thanks in advance -rob

If your 2M is APRS enabled, you could do position updates via satellite! Wait... Or is that only on 70cm... I forget. I say bring it or at least bring it to me! I want to add ham VHF to my toys aboard.

-p