Emergency calls on icom m802 without ham license

[RunningCool]

Working on ham license.
Leaving on sailing trip b4 getting said license.
If I have a real emergency, can i call out on ham frequencies without a license.

Have in-reach and maybe a Sat phone b4 i leave.
But, if they fail for whatever reason.
This is the reason for my question.

[Dockhead]

Yes, you can. You'll soon get to that question in your amateur license study.


In a genuine emergency you are allowed to use whatever frequency and equipment you want.

[ChrisJHC]

Just to clarify: are you talking about “ham” radio or a marine radio (usually VHF but also can include HF)?

Ham radio setups are very rarely found on board small vessels.
The licensing requirements are quite different.

And, as Dockhead says, in an emergency you can definitely use anything available.

Edit: Just saw the “Icom M802” part of your post so you’re obviously talking about a marine HF.

[JPA Cate]

We have friends here in Oz with a Rafiki 37, who have an Icom 802, and he has his ham license. Small world.

Anyhow, yes, Dockhead nailed it. You can use it in a genuine emergency, and other hams will talk to you in an emergency situation.

My Jim is a ham, and one time on a maritime mobile net, he took an emergency call from a woman on a boat, who was a nurse. The skipper had run out of an essential medication. The Coast Guard dropped the meds to them and it saved his life.

I think your choice is a good one. In spite of the fact that it is not "modern", still plain old SSB radio will work, and somewhere in the world, a ham radio amateur will pick up your call and relay it or telephone whoever you need to get an emergency message to.
Different nations have different agreements about 3rd party traffic, but the rules change for true emergencies. Also, fwiw, there are times you can get through using Morse code, when voice comms aren't working, as long as old hams remember their code, which used to be required.


Ann

[Wotname]

As others have said - YES, you can.

And to be very clear, that means any frequency, not just HAM freqs. and there is no requirement to have any license if it is a genuine emergency.

A real emergency is one that meets the MAYDAY justification.

I'm guessing you don't already have a marine HF licence and if you aren't planning to get one please note that you will be restricted from using the marine HF frequencies in the M802 - excepting of course, in an emergency.

[smac999]

I would trust the inreach and sat phone 100x more then the 802.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

Just to clarify: are you talking about “ham” radio or a marine radio (usually VHF but also can include HF)?

Ham radio setups are very rarely found on board small vessels.
The licensing requirements are quite different.

And, as Dockhead says, in an emergency you can definitely use anything available.

Edit: Just saw the “Icom M802” part of your post so you’re obviously talking about a marine HF.

I disagree that ham radios are uncommon on sailboats. I would say that MOST sailors who operate on marine SSB also operate on amateur HF; I know I do. The Icom M802 works fairly well as a HF ham radio set. It's what I use.

[wrwakefield]

Another emergency consideration- depending upon where you will be boating- is to connect the DSC capability on your M802.

Last I knew, many international shore-based rescue entities [including USCG] do not guard MF/HF voice channels, but do respond to MF/HF DSC calls… [Note we aren’t talking Marine VHF here…]

There are many MF/HF radio experts on the forum that know a lot more than me, so I mined my blog post on this subject and gleaned this oldie but goodie CF post on this topic.

In case any of this is useful.

Safe travels.

Cheers, Bill

[Zanshin]

I have an ICOM IC-M802 on board (I'm sitting next to it right now). It has a "distress" button which will broadcast a DSC emergency message on 2182 kHz

By default the radio is only on the marine frequencies, so you do not need a HAM license, just the international LRC-Certificate to operate it. There are "hacks" for the M802 that allow you to activate the ham channels, but you would need to be licensed to transmit there.

[RunningCool]

Thx for the replies everyone.
Yes, just got music number and dsc running.
New rig, awesome. Sure beats old SEA 222 I had

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by RunningCool

Thx for the replies everyone.
Yes, just got music number and dsc running.
New rig, awesome. Sure beats old SEA 222 I had

To be clear because there is often confusion. Where did you get the MMSI number? I note the Florida location in you profile. For a US flagged boat, if you will have ANY communication outside of US waters, or with a boat that is not US flagged, you MUST get a license and MMSI number from the FCC, and NOT get an MMSI from Boat US. This includes using the VHF. You cannot use the VHF in international water without the FCC license.

And, if that is what you got, then your M802 can be used on the Marine Frequencies with that license (you also need an operator permit, cheap and no test) without getting the additional HAM license.

The HAM license only covers HAM frequencies.

[DEAN2140]

On a transit from Tahiti to Hawaii, my mate and I heard some strange banging noises near the cabin sole. Although we never found out the cause, we hopped on the N.Z. Net (Arnold I think?) and asked if we could check in periodically and to call the CG if we didn't. When we arrived at Hilo, the CG asked to speak to us, gave us some forms to fill out (we didn't) and went on our way. (We didn't have a license.)

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by DEAN2140

On a transit from Tahiti to Hawaii, my mate and I heard some strange banging noises near the cabin sole. Although we never found out the cause, we hopped on the N.Z. Net (Arnold I think?) and asked if we could check in periodically and to call the CG if we didn't. When we arrived at Hilo, the CG asked to speak to us, gave us some forms to fill out (we didn't) and went on our way. (We didn't have a license.)

What were the forms? I assume what you did was interpreted as a pan pan, even if you didn't explicitly say so.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

I have an ICOM IC-M802 on board (I'm sitting next to it right now). It has a "distress" button which will broadcast a DSC emergency message on 2182 kHz

By default the radio is only on the marine frequencies, so you do not need a HAM license, just the international LRC-Certificate to operate it. There are "hacks" for the M802 that allow you to activate the ham channels, but you would need to be licensed to transmit there.

I believe you can transmit a DSC distress call without the separate DSC antenna (someone will correct me if that's wrong), but you cannot RECEIVE calls or acknowledgements without it.


I confess mine is sitting in a locker somewhere not connected. I should probably get around to hooking it up.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I believe you can transmit a DSC distress call without the separate DSC antenna (someone will correct me if that's wrong), but you cannot RECEIVE calls or acknowledgements without it.

.....

That is correct.The 802 has one transmitter but two receivers. One receiver is dedicated to receiving DSC via the DSC antenna.