[Elecraft] Cruise Lines

[David Bunte]

Joe -

A few years ago tethered was a QCWA group that cruised in the Caribbean on
a Holland America ship. They had two stations set up with permission of the
Cruise Line. It turns out that the fellow who played in the Piano Bar each
evening was also a Ham and operated as well. I worked them from home on 40
CW. Then another friend went on an Alaska Cruise, also with Holland America
and secured permission to bring his QRP rig and a whip antenna that he
clamped to a deck railing to get on the air.

I realize that the most recent of these was about 7 or 8 years ago but my
guess is that you got the “standard” response, and would encourage you to
keep trying.

73 de Dave  -  K9FN

On Wed, Oct 16, 2019 at 10:49 AM Joseph Shuman via Elecraft <
elecraft at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

> Going on a cruise in a few months, so I emailed the cruise line about
> operating at sea with a KX2.  Here is the reply:  “Ham Radios, Shortwave
> Radios or Satellite Radios (portable or standalone) may not be brought on
> board as they pose a risk of interfering with onboard navigational
> equipment.”  OK!  The line has a right to say no. But...
>
> I have operated my KX2 QRP 40m portable with a GPS and Laptop in the
> transmission RF envelope with no interference problems.  I know maritime
> uses mostly 156-162 MHz for ship to ship or ship to shore, some specific HF
> frequencies (outside of our bands) are allocated for emergency
> communications and satellite navigation is typically 1150-1610 MHz.  Most
> ships now have WiFi and rely on phone apps for on-board communication, so
> there are a few thousand phones on board operating in the GHz range that
> are no problem.  Also, as a USN Sub Service vet I learned a few things
> about at-sea comms 40-some years ago, and considering the improvements in
> our technology...
>
> Sorry if I seem to be ranting, but opportunities to operate at sea (for a
> OM in Ohio) are rare and this cruise line’s position seems to me to be the
> easy answer: ban all Hams outright.
>
> Keeping Watch-
> shu KE8KJZ
>
> Joe Shuman
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