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

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"

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.