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#1
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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Handheld aboard dinghy
We sail Long Island Sound and nearby coastal waters. Our sailboat has
a permanent VHF radio, but we do not have an FCC license. Can we legally use a handheld VHF aboard our inflatible dinghy, to talk back and forth to our boat or others? If so, what should we use for a callsign or boat name for the dinghy? The dinghy has a state registration but no official "name". |
#2
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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Handheld aboard dinghy
A Marine VHF License is no longer required by US Citizens in US waters.
On the minus side, A Marine VHF can not be used on land unless you are in a business that provides a service to boaters. |
#3
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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Handheld aboard dinghy
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#4
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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Handheld aboard dinghy
"Leonard" wrote in news:1133107418.196625.3130
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com: A Marine VHF can not be used on land unless you are in a business that provides a service to boaters. Er, ah, that's not exactly right, either. To use ANY marine VHF radio, walkie or not, on land requires a "Marine Utility Station License" requested on Form 605. As you can see from the text right off the FCC's website below, you don't qualify... "MAY I USE MY HAND-HELD MARINE VHF RADIO ON LAND? You must have a special license, called a marine utility station license, to operate a hand-held marine radio from land -- a ship station license IS NOT sufficient. You may apply for this license by filing FCC Form 601 with the FCC. To be eligible for a marine utility station license, you must generally provide some sort of service to ships or have control over a bridge or waterway. Additionally, you must show a need to communicate using hand-held portable equipment from both a ship and from coast locations. Each unit must be capable of operation while being hand- carried by an individual. The station operates under the rules applicable to ship stations when the unit is aboard a ship, and under the rules applicable to private coast stations when the unit is on land." http://wireless.fcc.gov/marine/ Using your walkie from the DOCK or from anywhere ashore to call anyone is illegal, even though thousands do it all the time. FCC has no time for nitpicking and are way undermanned after all the budget cuts. Unless someone reports you, and is willing to testify against you in Federal court, your chances of prosecution are near zero....in reality. The CG will cuss you out if they hear you telling someone you're on the dock. I've heard that. One of our local bigshot boat dealers was using a bunch of Marine VHF walkies at a local boatshow. He doesn't qualify, no matter how big his company is, as he's not a bridgetender or waterway controller. When I pointed this fact out to the bigshot in the suit in the boatshow parking lot, he told me to go to hell in so many words and that he didn't require a license. He ****ed me off and I popped open my cell to call FCC's info line. (It was Friday, they're open on Friday..(c I asked the nice man in the Enforcement Bureau to explain it to him and handed my cellphone over to him. FCC guy was unimpressed with his company standing in the yacht sales community and told him to take all the walkies off the air, immediately. Channel 72 wasn't his company's private business band channel, after all. After he stomped off, I gave FCC his name and address so they could communicate the rules to him further. Scratch another boat dealer that's not going to give me a great deal on a new yacht...(c; I think the rules are stupid on the dock. But, alas, if they didn't have them, you'd hear Dad calling Mom on the boat from the office like a telephone. |
#5
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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Handheld aboard dinghy
Bruce in Alaska wrote in news:bruceg-
: Mothervessel They used to get a great kick out of the boat name on my jetboat.... "Tess Tickles II" One of my doctor friends used to call me from his Hatteras: "Two Testicles, this is Ivy B, ovah...." Your dingy doesn't HAVE to have the same name as your boat on the air.... |
#6
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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Handheld aboard dinghy
We used to have a boat named "Serendipity", and the call sign for our dinghy
was "Little Dippity". "Larry" wrote in message ... Bruce in Alaska wrote in news:bruceg- : Mothervessel They used to get a great kick out of the boat name on my jetboat.... "Tess Tickles II" One of my doctor friends used to call me from his Hatteras: "Two Testicles, this is Ivy B, ovah...." Your dingy doesn't HAVE to have the same name as your boat on the air.... |
#7
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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Handheld aboard dinghy
In article ,
Larry wrote: I think the rules are stupid on the dock. But, alas, if they didn't have them, you'd hear Dad calling Mom on the boat from the office like a telephone. These rules are not US FCC only rules, they are by International Convention, and setup under ITU Regulations of which the USA is signitory. If you can't use a cellphone you can buy your own Business System and get a License for that. Bruce in alaska -- add a 2 before @ |
#8
posted to rec.boats.electronics
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Handheld aboard dinghy
Thanks for the answers! Can we just make up a name for our dinghy as a
callsign and change it anytime we want to? Our sailboat is documented, so it has an "official" name, but the dinghy just has the registration numbers painted on it. |
#9
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Handheld aboard dinghy
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#10
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Handheld aboard dinghy
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