On Sat, 22 Mar 2008 05:38:46 -0500, Geoff Schultz
wrote:

Brian Whatcott wrote in
:

On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:10:11 +0100, Marc Heusser
d wrote:

I am an electrical engineer and could quite easily get a licence for
amateur radio.
Does it pay off if I'd do that to access weather charts etc on a boat -
this year in Europe, both on inland waterways in France and in the
eastern North sea (between Germany, Denmark and Sweden)?

Apart from a transceiver I have a Mac that should decode the signals
without any extra hardware with MultiMode
(http://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/multimode.html).

Or are other options better?

TIA

Marc

Amateur licenses are worth another look at now. The morse code
requirement has been swept away, and there are just three available
classes - tech, general and extra.
...
Brian Whatcott
Altus OK

Just remember that you need at least a general license (which requires
code)to utilize AirMail.

-- Geoff

I say again: it is not now necessary to demonstrate Morse in order to
obtain a Technician, General or Extra License

Brian Whatcott Altus OK,