I guess that this forum was not the place to get a
sympathetic hearing - and boy has that turned out to
be the case! I am going to add my own lack of
sympathy.
(1) NO amateur frequency is the place for emergency
communications UNLESS OTHER METHODS HAVE FAILED. This
includes 17m. The recent and tragic tsunami is an
obvious case where clear frequencies must be provided
as a matter of common humanity.
(2) There are internationally recognised maritime
distress frequencies that are continuously and
professionally monitored across the world. Equipment
is readily available for operation on those
frequencies. (Equipment type approval is mandatory and
operator certification is required in some cases.)
(3) It is illegal for a non amateur station (except a
specifically government authorised station) to
communicate with an amateur station or vice versa.
(4) No amateur station has exclusive use of any
frequency for any purpose. All amateur stations are
required to minimise any interference to other amateur
stations, and are required to avoid any interference
to primary users on shared bands.
5) Any amateur may decide to participate in that
particular aspect of amateur radio which is especially
appealing to that individual. No one usage has any
priority over any other use.
Most of the above is covered by international
agreement, and is common to all countries. Certain
countries may interpret the regulations is slightly
different ways, particularly in relation to third
party traffic.
I am never going to have a problem with 14300kHz as I
have lost my last microphone <g>, but I am afraid that
I would not consider an 'emergency (practice) net' in
any different way from any other amateur station.
73 Roger
VE3ZI
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