--On 2005-3-28 9:08 PM -0700 "Mike Fatchett, W0MU" <w0mu@w0mu.com>
wrote:
> It seems to me that people are relying on "cheap" ham radios for
> emergency communications.....If they can afford an expensive boat why
> in the world would you skimp on your emergency communications
> equipment? Are these folks cheaper than the average ham???!!!!!
Cheaper? I don't think so. However owning a boat carries a very heavy
on-going cash flow burden, so sailors are very careful about where
their boat money goes.
Let's look at the cost of adding HF to a boat. (These numbers are real
-- I obtained all of the following prices last month at the Vancouver
Boat Show.) The best show price for an Icom IC-M802 with AT-140 tuner
was CAD$3000. The rest of the year that package is around $3500. This
gives me all the maritime MF/HF frequencies I'm licensed for. No
amateur operation. To have the radio "opened up" to allow amateur
operation (in reality, full access to the entire 2-30 Mhz range)
typically costs another $500-1000. So at best I'm looking at $3500 for
an "opened up" IC-M802 with tuner (and perhaps as much as $4500).
Compare that to my FT-897 with AT-100 tuner and TCXO (and a bunch of
other goodies) I bought for $1300. Add 30 minutes labour and it, too,
has full DC-daylight coverage (including marine VHF). I just saved
$2300.
I can do a lot with that $2300. That's almost half the price of that
autopilot I want. An autopilot is not a luxury item -- it's a must-have
for off-shore passage making. $2300 will also buy me a RADAR system --
another safety must-have. $2300 would allow me to replace my ancient
refrigeration system with one that draws half the power of my present
system. (Try living on a power budget of 300 amp-hours@12VDC some
time.) $2300 is close to what I'm going to have to spend over the next
couple of months to haul the boat out of the water, scrape and paint
the bottom, and replace all the sea cocks. I could spend $2300 in a
half-hour today just renewing the running rigging (something I *will*
have to do before next year). The list is endless.
In that context, it's very very easy to justify putting that $2300 into
something other than the radio. Is that the right thing to do? Nope. Is
it the practical thing to do? Yes.
In no way do I agree with unlicensed operations on the amateur bands.
Nor do I approve of people using non-type accepted gear on maritime
frequencies. I just wanted to give everyone some context to help
explain why things are the way they are.
--lyndon (VE0WX, aboard S/V Bandido I; http://orthanc.ca/sailing/)
P.S. For the record: I currently have no HF gear whatsoever on board
:-)
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