Tom, I was talking about ham radio, not marine radios. Someone talked about
"open" radios and that is what I was speaking to. Marine radios are another
subject altogether. The concern is that the marine guys are using AMATEUR
RADIOS to do marine business..... And they are. They open the radios so they
transmit anywhere and use them for whatever purpose they wish. Not just the
amateur radio freqs. The question of the necessity of having amateur radios
that can be modified to operate outside the ham bands then comes up....... MARS
is one of the valid reasons for having amateur radio equipment that can operate
outside the bands.
It was just a side note to the main conversation which is having the marine
guys using our radios on the amateur frequencies to do BUSINESS...... Not only
on our freqs, like160 meters, but even assigning the buoys callsigns that fall
within the amateur radio block. One of the ones listed this morning is an
active amateur radio callsign, as a matter of fact. I believe it was NM7E if I
remember correctly.
I said nothing about using marine radios for MARS...... not sure where you got
that. :)
Mike AB7ZU
Kuhi no ka lima, hele no ka maka
On Oct 1, 2012, at 18:11, "Tom W8JI" <w8ji@w8ji.com> wrote:
>> I don't think anyone has mentioned the ONE VALID use for an "open" radio and
>> that is MARS system service. It still exists and with the advent of radios
>> that can transmit almost anywhere without modifying the RF circuitry, MARS
>> ops have moved further and further away from the freqs that are closest to
>> the ham bands.
>>
>> At any rate, wasn't sure if MARS had been forgotten :)
>
> Why would someone buy an $1800 ICOM marine radio for MARS, when they could
> get a $900 Ham radio and have both sidebands and other modes with the same
> basic performance?
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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
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