For you cruisers if you had to chose only one type of radio (besides VHF) which would you choose and why? Marine HF or Amateur HF. I have been wrestling with this for a couple of weeks now. Since I don't have any long distance cruising experience I thought I would go ask the experts. Thanks, Shane
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
It depends on a number of things
For strictly personal ie: non-commercial communications, I would use and recommend amateur radio services. If you have business to conduct, you are required by law to use commercial marine services. If in doubt, use marine HF or find a telephone. Vonage has a lot to recommend it for economical phone services to foreign countries but I think you would have to be online (high speed) or on shore. That information is from their ad - not any personal experience. Amateur radio (ham) use requires an operators license and you need to learn a little about radio theory and morse code and take a test to get that license. It is not that difficult to learn but some will never get past this hurdle. The ham equipment is a lot less expensive generaly. Ham radios are not type accepted like marine units are. In most cases a ham radio is lot more flexible in that the radios have a lot more things which you can adjust. That is a two edged sword. It gives you more capability and therefore generally more range for the same conditions. The down side is that more knobs require more knowledge about what they do. If you are not willing to spend the time to learn it, or have crew members who will need to operate the equipment, simpler is better. Amateur radios can usually be modified to operate on marine frequencies and modes. The FCC can and will know if you do this and they may or may not choose to enforce the rules. They have the capability to id a specific transmitter - on frequency or not. Fines are in the tens of thousands of dollars. It is not legal to operate a ham radio on marine services EXCEPT IN AN EMERGENCY. I believe the Coast Guard can also inspect the equipment and levy fines but I do not know too much about their enforcement practices. A marine HF radio requires a vessel license for its use and the operator must likewise have a radio operators license. My guess is that it would be wise to have the appropriate licenses aboard if you have the equipment aboard. Both services have potential email capability. All HF email is relatively slow and subject to atmospheric conditions and interference. Commercial (marine) service includes Sailmail which costs about $200 annually. I think there are others too. There are some service limitations on message length and file sizes. Digital equipment for HF use is not regulated by the FCC as transmitters are and you can use the same equipment for either service. This equipment can allow you to receive and print out weather faxes providing you can tune the receiver to the proper frequency. I find that the ham operators are far more numerous, knowledgeable and helpful if you need a message relayed or a phone patch home. Not to say that boaters are not helpful but they are fewer in number and generallly have less capability and motivation. I have found hams usually are more generous with their skills and capability and that is not surprising since this is their hobby. Either service will be subject to atmospheric conditions and limitations. You will probably only be able to communicate at night over long distances (generally speaking). Ham info is on the ARRL web site License info - FCC and CG web sites Sailmail - guess which web site? They all have links to other informative sites.
For strictly personal ie: non-commercial communications, I would use and recommend amateur radio services. If you have business to conduct, you are required by law to use commercial marine services. If in doubt, use marine HF or find a telephone. Vonage has a lot to recommend it for economical phone services to foreign countries but I think you would have to be online (high speed) or on shore. That information is from their ad - not any personal experience. Amateur radio (ham) use requires an operators license and you need to learn a little about radio theory and morse code and take a test to get that license. It is not that difficult to learn but some will never get past this hurdle. The ham equipment is a lot less expensive generaly. Ham radios are not type accepted like marine units are. In most cases a ham radio is lot more flexible in that the radios have a lot more things which you can adjust. That is a two edged sword. It gives you more capability and therefore generally more range for the same conditions. The down side is that more knobs require more knowledge about what they do. If you are not willing to spend the time to learn it, or have crew members who will need to operate the equipment, simpler is better. Amateur radios can usually be modified to operate on marine frequencies and modes. The FCC can and will know if you do this and they may or may not choose to enforce the rules. They have the capability to id a specific transmitter - on frequency or not. Fines are in the tens of thousands of dollars. It is not legal to operate a ham radio on marine services EXCEPT IN AN EMERGENCY. I believe the Coast Guard can also inspect the equipment and levy fines but I do not know too much about their enforcement practices. A marine HF radio requires a vessel license for its use and the operator must likewise have a radio operators license. My guess is that it would be wise to have the appropriate licenses aboard if you have the equipment aboard. Both services have potential email capability. All HF email is relatively slow and subject to atmospheric conditions and interference. Commercial (marine) service includes Sailmail which costs about $200 annually. I think there are others too. There are some service limitations on message length and file sizes. Digital equipment for HF use is not regulated by the FCC as transmitters are and you can use the same equipment for either service. This equipment can allow you to receive and print out weather faxes providing you can tune the receiver to the proper frequency. I find that the ham operators are far more numerous, knowledgeable and helpful if you need a message relayed or a phone patch home. Not to say that boaters are not helpful but they are fewer in number and generallly have less capability and motivation. I have found hams usually are more generous with their skills and capability and that is not surprising since this is their hobby. Either service will be subject to atmospheric conditions and limitations. You will probably only be able to communicate at night over long distances (generally speaking). Ham info is on the ARRL web site License info - FCC and CG web sites Sailmail - guess which web site? They all have links to other informative sites.
E
Ed
E
Ed
Wet sand it.
Wet sanding it will save you lots of time. I use 80 grit wet and dry and it will knock off paint faster than anything. yeah is messy but your going to get miserable dry sanding it anyway. I have done a 30 footer in a few hours with a flexable sanding block and strips of wet and dry make about 5 or 6 stokes and rinse it in a bucket. hit the boat with the hose and go. it is not too hard and you dont have to hold a sander upside down for hours at a time.
Wet sanding it will save you lots of time. I use 80 grit wet and dry and it will knock off paint faster than anything. yeah is messy but your going to get miserable dry sanding it anyway. I have done a 30 footer in a few hours with a flexable sanding block and strips of wet and dry make about 5 or 6 stokes and rinse it in a bucket. hit the boat with the hose and go. it is not too hard and you dont have to hold a sander upside down for hours at a time.
S
shane
ham radio
amateur radio has a new mode called echolink which is quite wide ranging and worldwide that is available with the first step license (technician) ... no morse code! for a general (second step license only 5 wpm morse is required but there are all kinds of exceptions and ways to satisfy the req (sending or receiving but no need to do both) kh7wg
amateur radio has a new mode called echolink which is quite wide ranging and worldwide that is available with the first step license (technician) ... no morse code! for a general (second step license only 5 wpm morse is required but there are all kinds of exceptions and ways to satisfy the req (sending or receiving but no need to do both) kh7wg
- Status
- Not open for further replies.