Ham radio?

[JonnyBoats]

I am a amateur radio operator (WA1KLI) and am wondering if there are any other hams here who use their radios on their boats?

[George ( C&C 40 )]

Hi John,


I have an ICOM 706 MK2 with a couple of dipoles and a tuner for my C&C40 sailboat "Delphinus". My call is KG4RGM and I'm down here in Williamsburg, VA.

I used it once just to see how it worked and then took the components off the boat. ( system worked well ) From a sailor's perspective, I'm not sure there is any real world use for it unless you are doing extended cruising and want to make use of free e-mail, weatherfax, etc. Most area sailing chat seems to take place either on VHF or SSB.

From a hobby point of view you can do all sorts of things with ham radio on a boat. Illuminate old lighthouses, /MM work in contests, DXpedition work. I've never done any of these things myself though.

James Baldwin's Pearson Triton "Atom" has a ham radio setup on it that he has used all over the world. He also uses dipole antenna's in his setup over the more conventional insulated backstay with a large ground plane.

I'm not sure if this is the type of information you are looking for or not. Good luck with the station.


73,

George Jones
KG4RGM
"Delphinus"

[JonnyBoats]

I'm not sure if this is the type of information you are looking for or not.

Yes, it is. I am very interested in what works and what doesn't in the real world.

Thank you.