Does anyone get the FCC license?

[darylat8750]

Originally Posted by Madwand

https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=mtBoater

"Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Radio License Information
An FCC ship station radio license is no longer required for any vessel travelling in U.S. waters which uses a VHF marine radio, radar or EPIRB, and which is not required to carry radio equipment. A license is necessary however for any vessel required to carry a marine radio, on an international voyage, or carrying an HF single sideband radiotelephone or marine satellite terminal."

Never heard of anyone doing this. Does anyone?

YES. That answers your question directly. Bye.

[JDGreenlee]

s/y Rhapsody, USCG documented, has a VHF/DSC, SSB, AIS, EPiRB, & sat phone for cruising internationally. All transmit. I applied for and received a ship's station license in addition to my "ham" license. There are two call signs. I do not use the ship's station call sign on SSB, and rarely use it on VHF. Not sure what value other than compliance with big brother a ship's station license adds.

[CSY Man]

Originally Posted by JDGreenlee

s/y Rhapsody, USCG documented, has a VHF/DSC, SSB, AIS, EPiRB, & sat phone for cruising internationally. All transmit. I applied for and received a ship's station license in addition to my "ham" license. There are two call signs. I do not use the ship's station call sign on SSB, and rarely use it on VHF. Not sure what value other than compliance with big brother a ship's station license adds.

Ham has nothing to do with Marine, keep the ham ticket in your mother's basement with the ham equipment and get a proper FCC Station Licenses for boats as well as a Marine SSB Radio if you are voyaging.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Madwand

....As well, I am wondering how the U.S. government is telling me what to do while I'm in another country or no country at all and can't do anything about my radio use.

As a US flagged vessel you are subject to boarding and inspection by US authorities anywhere in the world except the territorial waters of other nations.

In another nation, if somebody in authority wants to rake you over the coals, citing you for not having the license would be one way to do it, or one more thing to add to a list of violations. Depends on the country you are in.

[Aaarrgh]

603M5H44
From 1974
I have no idea how I remember that, when sometimes I can't even remember my own name.

AAARRGH!

[caracas]

Originally Posted by Madwand

https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=mtBoater

"Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Radio License Information
An FCC ship station radio license is no longer required for any vessel travelling in U.S. waters which uses a VHF marine radio, radar or EPIRB, and which is not required to carry radio equipment. A license is necessary however for any vessel required to carry a marine radio, on an international voyage, or carrying an HF single sideband radiotelephone or marine satellite terminal."

Never heard of anyone doing this. Does anyone?

Is your boat more than 24m in length? Do you carry passengers? Are you <150grt?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by svmariane

Bureaucracy and Red Tape? Watch this....

Ha, reminds me of Belize!

They were trained by the Brits!

[emoji38]

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Ham has nothing to do with Marine, keep the ham ticket in your mother's basement with the ham equipment and get a proper FCC Station Licenses for boats as well as a Marine SSB Radio if you are voyaging.

Your first phrase "Ham has nothing to do with Marine," is correct. The remainder lacks credibility. I'm an amateur radio operator and a voyager. I have both licenses, but in over 30 years of full time cruising, I've never used the marine bands for communication... occasional listening to wx and wefax broadcasts, but that requires no license nor a "proper Marine SSB" to achieve.

My mother is long passed away, so the basement option isn't possible, and why in the world would a rational person follow your advice? There's lots of traffic on the amateur bands and damn little on the marine bands. Having the ability to use both services is good, but if I had to choose one as a cruising sailor, I'd take ham every time.

Jim N9GFT/VK4GFT/WDJ4598

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by jrbogie

ha. i was a professional pilot for more than forty years and never got the fcc license.

I bet Columbus didn't have radio license as well.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Your first phrase "Ham has nothing to do with Marine," is correct. The remainder lacks credibility. I'm an amateur radio operator and a voyager. I have both licenses, but in over 30 years of full time cruising, I've never used the marine bands for communication... occasional listening to wx and wefax broadcasts, but that requires no license nor a "proper Marine SSB" to achieve.

My mother is long passed away, so the basement option isn't possible, and why in the world would a rational person follow your advice? There's lots of traffic on the amateur bands and damn little on the marine bands. Having the ability to use both services is good, but if I had to choose one as a cruising sailor, I'd take ham every time.

Jim N9GFT/VK4GFT/WDJ4598

I think that the area you cruise and the character of your cruising will have bearing of which type of radio is more useful (besides the legal point of marine communication on marine frequencies).
For instance, we cruise the Med and use marine VHF frequently. On the oceans, I have used satphones (no license needed).
And when a boat of a friend I was on sunk in the Red sea, we have used VHF to call friends that were some miles behind to come and take us out of the liferaft, ham radio would not help. On the other hand no one will complain that you have used a radio without license in a Mayday situation. And then again, it helps if you know the procedure for Maday call...

[CSY Man]

. My mother is long passed away, so the basement option isn't possible, and why in the world would a rational person follow your advice?

Disregard my advice, drunken post. Sh!t happens under the influence.
My apologies.

[john61ct]

Wow nice to see, very rare on any forum

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by meirriba

I think that the area you cruise and the character of your cruising will have bearing of which type of radio is more useful (besides the legal point of marine communication on marine frequencies).
For instance, we cruise the Med and use marine VHF frequently. On the oceans, I have used satphones (no license needed).
And when a boat of a friend I was on sunk in the Red sea, we have used VHF to call friends that were some miles behind to come and take us out of the liferaft, ham radio would not help. On the other hand no one will complain that you have used a radio without license in a Mayday situation. And then again, it helps if you know the procedure for Maday call...

No one, at least not me, denies the necessity for good VHF capability. The above discussion (I thought) centers around MF and HF frequencies, not VHF.

And for foreign going yanks, the license is required even for VHF,as many have pointed out. For domestic cruising, HF isn't much required, for VHF and cell phones take care of most comms requirements.

But ham radio offers both communications and an interesting hobby that resonates with cruising, domestic or foreign, so it is worth a thought.

Jim

[hellosailor]

meirriba-
When you say ham radio would not have helped...Yes and no. No, it wouldn't be the first choice, marine VHF would be the most appropriate.
But that's also why many hams have "freebanded" their 2-meter (and other) ham gear. My handheld normally can't legally be used on the marine VHF band, but it is damned useful to have it opened up so that it can and will be usable as a backup marine VHF. In an actual emergency situation, that's perfectly legal, too.
Ham radio, like a herd of cats, can be somewhat useless but also flexible enough to have many uses.
There have been all sorts of radio calls documented, where a "local incident" was reported to 911 or SAR by a ham operator thousands of miles away from the incident--because the party calling for help only had an HF radio, only could reach someone well out of the area, but that person could still reach back to the local responders.

Now, would I advise any sailor to "get ham radios" if they had no general interest in them? Hellno, satcoms and other alternatives would probably buy them more. And given the cost and space and everything associated with marine SSB...I'd say that's the wrong tool for many boaters as well. Unless they are in an area where marine SSB nets *are* going to be active and useful.