Topband: Maritime gear programmable on ham bands?

[Mike Armstrong]

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 at 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?