ham/marine ht

[2fat2ski]

Does anyone know of a ham radio that will broadcast on marine bands and techie license bands.I've had my technician class license for 10 years and havent used it much.It would be alot easier to get back into ham if i could find a dual purpose ht.Right now ive got the radioshack htx200 and it wont broadcast on marine bands.I would like something i could use on the water as well as off,without having to buy two seperate units.I dont have a marine radio on the boat.I also live in a pretty ruff area so i need something that wont be a hassle to take off the boat every night.

 

[KRS]

Re: ham/marine ht

I have never seen one, I looked for a ham/cb/cell/marine combo unit once, it was fruitless.<br /><br />By the way, KD7QNQ here.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: ham/marine ht

Dont most ham radios operate in the 10 to 28 MHz range?

 

[2fat2ski]

Re: ham/marine ht

not really sure... I havent been around radios in a long time.My license renewel came due so I renewed it and decided to give it another try.I'm as bad as the worst newbie youve ever seen because I never really got into it in the first place.I left cb for ham and its 2 different worlds.Alot to relearn. Anyways I gonna give it a fair try and see how I like it and I'd like to combine my main pastime with a new one.I'll run a ham rig on the boat either way Just wish I could get a combo unit.Save some cash ya know. By the way I'm kb9mfb

 

[KRS]

Re: ham/marine ht

That range is for marine single-sideband radiotelephone, not HAM.

 

[KRS]

Re: ham/marine ht

Here is the marine frequency table, for the typical marine channels.<br /><br />I cross referenced this to the US Amateur bands, they don't overlap. You may be able to mod a radio to xmit in that range, but that would be illegal and subject to FCC fines and regulation.<br /><br />The marine bands (not single-sideband radiotelephone) are very close to the 2m HAM band, which is 144mHz-148mHz.

 

[2fat2ski]

Re: ham/marine ht

oooo well that blows the single radio idea out of the water.I'll be on inland lakes.I'm about a half mile from lake michigan,wisconsin side, but I wont be on that lake.Any ideas on some ham radios that would stand up to the abusive marine environment?My little radshack htx202 wont even hit the local repeater from any of the close by lakes. I remember a trick of putting your back tires into the lake and it was supposed to help talk dx. Could I run one antenna with a splitter to both radios?If i can I'll mount both radios in one box to a single coax. Easier to remove.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: ham/marine ht

I think you would run into an SWR (standing wave ratio) problem trying to work that wide of range. When SWR's increase output power is sacrificed. I would recommend two radios and two antennas.

 

[Boatist]

Re: ham/marine ht

There are lots of 2 meter radios that will receive the VHF Marine band. Many can be modified to transmit outside the ham band and include the VHF Marine band as simple as cliping one diode. However to do so is a vilotation of FCC rules. Also Ham radios are not designed to have a stable transmiter outside the Ham band, but many would work good. VHF Marine is limited to 25 Watts, also transmiter offsets are not the same. Many VHF Marine channels are simplex and you could manually set the transmiter offset on the duplex channels. Lots of chances to mess up.<br />Advanced class 30 years plus and I also don't use my Rigs near as much as in the past. 73's<br /><br />Bottom line is are you willing to risk your Ham licence, Fines, and possible Jail time to use a 2 Meter Ham radio on the marine Band.

 

[2fat2ski]

Re: ham/marine ht

ya I wouldn't want to risk my license.I guess I'll have to run 2 completly different rigs.Put an alarm on the boat to keep the crackheads away and hope the day dont come that I have to leave them in the boat over night.Wish someone would make something light to pull all your electronics out at 1 time.As it is I have to pull my gps ,stereo,pinpoint display,poles,tackle and battery every night after being out on the water.I'm going out tonight to pickup a marine radio. Weve got a swapmeet tonight or tomorow night on the local repeater so ill see if theres anything on there for a solid ham radio. <br />oooo the pain of having toys lol.<br />Thanx for the help.<br />Final conclusion.....get 2 radios and 2 anttennas.

 

[KRS]

Re: ham/marine ht

One more thing <br /><br />The fiberglass boat won't provide any ground plane, and you may need to add a metal plate backer where you mount it, or purchase a ground plane antenna.<br /><br />If you are working on 2M only, then the ground plane isn't as necessary.

 

[jhebert]

Re: ham/marine ht

The VHF Marine band is 156-162 MHz. The Amateur 2-meter band is 144-148 MHz. Most modern radios can easily operate on both of these bands, but are not designed or sold with that capability built into them.<br /><br />The problems in trying to use a single radio for both are primarily regulatory and not technical. Radios for VHF Marine Band use must be type-accepted, and will not provide any amateur band coverage. Radios sold for Amateur use will not be able to transmit in the VHF Marine Band. Often these limitations can be overcome with simple modifications, however that does make a radio acceptable for use in the Marine Band.

 

[JB]

Re: ham/marine ht

Ahoy, JimH.<br /><br />Welcome to iboats. <br /><br />Glad to see you here.

 

[jhebert]

Re: ham/marine ht

Pleased to be here! Thanks.<br /><br />de K8SS

 

[jurgenscraft]

Re: ham/marine ht

Some years back I experimented with a Alinco Dj-v5t/e and had the following results, between 155Mhz and 165Mhz rx. Sensitivity and selectivity down by 40% at best, in some cases even more,Tx output power down to a few milliwatts because of antenna miss match, high swr causing transmitter power cut back, and out of band transmitting final circuits not tuned for this vhf band, in fact under actual test conditions coms over a distance more than 200 meters became noisy and unreliable,as well as the above this particular radio is not marine rated and would not last long in the marine enviorment why not go to a ICOM outlet and buy the correct radio be it either a hand held or a maritine mobile rig, de William Wright ZS6WC.

 

[KRS]

Re: ham/marine ht

William,<br /><br />do you mean the DJ-G5?<br /><br />I use one and didn't know any others existed, my favorite radio, unless you didn't mean the G5.

 

[Rock Hall]

Re: ham/marine ht

If you are going to mount an antenna on the boat for 2m, get a 5/8 wave. does not require a ground plane. 1/4 will need a good ground plane to work.<br /><br />I'm planning the sa,e project this year for my boat. Putting a Yaesu FT-2500 on the boat for 2m. I havent decided on an antenna. The problem I'm running into is that marine antennas use a 1" mount and many 2m use 3/8-24. I've got quite a collection of Ham-Stick type antennas. I need to be able to fold it down like the marine antenna.<br /><br />I may even try a little HF on the boat this year.<br /><br />Mark

 

[phantoms]

Re: ham/marine ht

Originally posted by Rock Hall:<br /> The problem I'm running into is that marine antennas use a 1" mount and many 2m use 3/8-24. I've got quite a collection of Ham-Stick type antennas. I need to be able to fold it down like the marine antenna.

Mark, you might try some local plumbing supply outlets for an adapter from the 1" to the size you need for the ham antenna. This way, you can use any of the folding marine mounts.

 

[Rock Hall]

Re: ham/marine ht

Thanks for the suggestion. I didnt think of that. The thing a little different with the 3/8-24 ham antennas is that the theaded end of the antenna is actually the connection. I'll come up with something.<br /><br />Thanks Again