Unless a /MM declares an emergency, amateurs working the /MM & the
mere presence of most /MMs on the upper end of 20m is in blatant violation
of local laws & international agreements - at least based on the yachties
out here (only the net controls are signing something other than HP or
TI-prefixed calls - for a reasonably active amateur not to be suspicious
based on the calls, then the operating techniques used often make it
hard not to conclude these are not licensed amateurs).
I've helped some of these dodgy geezers out when operating illegally on
the hard their mates found their stations not up to scratch - but sorry,
they are still illegal intruders unless properly licensed & depending on
where the boat is registered, this also includes endorsement or separate
station license for the vessel.
There is a long-established service for /MMs - interestingly called
something based on that name by the ITU, with licenses available from
countries that register the yachties' vessels & not only can help be
sought via that service during emergencies, but is also not subject to
restrictions such as that on the amateur service that these yachties
pay no heed to.
If elsewhere in the world there are legal yachties, great - amongst
the illegals are some real mates who I have trusted my life & that of
family members to on the high seas - but they are still illegals on the
amateur bands until they declare an emergency & only then, based
on ITU-RR provisions, may amateurs communicate with such a
non-amateur station (as specifically mentioned under a VR license,
or through local regulations based on same bit of ITU-RR, as in case
of W if my memory is correct).
They should be grateful at how much tolerance their presence is given.
73, VR2BrettGraham
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