Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Tomorrow!

 

Really. That’s awesome.

 

There is often quite a misunderstanding when it comes to amateur radio operators and "out of band" operation. And often times amateur radio operators quote Part 97 Section 403 to justify transmitting on public safety or business band frequencies.

I would encourage anyone interested, to do their own research and not just take my word for it. But it will entail some research on your part and researching Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

When you see the statement in Part 97 Section 97.403 you need to understand that as defined in the CFR, this section is applicable only to Part 97. It does not give statutory authority to operate in any other "Part" or band. That holds true for authority given is the other Parts as well. Authority given in Part 90 or Part 95 for example is restricted to that specific Part of the CFR.

The authority given in Part 97 stays in Part 97! In an emergency you could operate in any Part 97 authorized frequency under certain conditions as provided in Part 97.403. No authority is granted to operate elsewhere. You can be fined and prosecuted.

Case in point. Hikers here in San Diego got lost. One was an amateur radio operator. He transmitted for help on a UHF law enforcement frequency. The FCC seized his equipment and he received a very large administrative fine. Although he had good intentions, he did violate the law and suffered the consequences. And I'm not even getting into the fact that most amateur radio equipment is not certified (FCC Type Accepted) to operate in other services. Most are certified to operate in the Part 97 bands only.

I just don't want to see someone getting in trouble while trying to communicate in an emergency situation. If you are working with ARES or RACES or other organizations in partnership with public safety, the only legal way to communicate on their frequencies is with their permission and an FCC type accepted radio for that service.

73

 

Ive heard of people doing Military Auxiliary Radio Service and being able to talk on military freq..... but that was very long ago...

 

If you belong to Arrl . They will send out a email to you. Explaining when the military exercises will be going on. Time date and frequency and your participation in it. I received several last year in 2017.

 

It's posted now. Congratulations!

 

Well said

 

MARS is an entirely different license. Additionally, the HF MARS mod is not technically legal either. All those guys should be using a channelized commercial HF rig. But everyone looks the other way.

The MARS / Amateur interop excercises take place from time to time. Amateurs are never permitted to transmit on MARS frequencies. Amateurs listen to a MARS frequency, and transmit on an amateur frequency, while MARS listen on amateur and transmit in MARS. So everyone is staying in thier own allocation.

 

The wait is over .

KC1JXQ

 

This is what I used to get my cramming out of the way. Plus the guy that taught my HAM class/test day was the one who developed hamstudy.org Dude knew his stuff!

 

You know you can get retirement points too for monitoring the station, 2.5 a month up to age 65.

 

Is it automatically done? or do you have to apply for the 2.5 points?

 

You need to fill out a form and have an officer sign it. One sec, I'll pm you the form.

 

Well not too much damage was done. Ended up going with the Kenwood tm-v71a. Doing as much as we do away from the vehicle and the overall easy to use interface sold me on it.

2 gentlemen at a local Ham Radio Outlet store were kind enough to walk me through everything. I'll have to go back for my HF rig after my general.

All this just in time for our Tacomaworld waterfall trip. If you're in VT or NH and hear KC1JXQ, that'd be me!

 

Look at the band plan for VT / NH. There are only 80-ish repeater pairs in the entire 2m band. Exactly how many depends on what steps the local coordinating body is using. Program all 80 pairs into one bank, carrier squelch only. Then scan that bank with one side of the radio. If you hear a signal 9/10 times the repeater is encoding the same tone that guards the receiver. The TM-V71A can tone scan to find the correct tone and now you can use the repeater. I've used this technique often, and it works approximately 9/10 times.

On the other side of the radio, convention is to monitor 146.52. you'll probably make more contacts if you monitor 144.39 and tone guard your receive with PL 100.0. If you hear any FSK, that is APRS, and the only way you'll hear it, is if the other station is encoding PL 100.0. Which means (in theory) they should also be listening with their receiver in tone guard with PL 100.0. put your call sign out and say voice alert. If they come back, immediately arrange a simplex frequency and get off the APRS channel. I've made more contacts this way, then monitoring 146.52.

 

Very interesting....

 

Any particular reason to dabble with satcom? I heard it is mostly "pirate" stations up there. Just laugh at the idea of putting an x-wing on the roof.

Also, anyone want to recommend a low profile antenna like the PCtel or Compactenna for 2m use? I love my 42" on the roof rack, but every tree, drive thru, and ATM overhang hates me.

 

Comet SBB-1 hands down, stop looking elsewhere. That's my parking garage/offroad antenna. Daily, I have a 37" 5/8 wave on the roof.