[Elecraft] Cruise Lines

[Fred Jensen]

Don't know if this info will help but ... in 2005, we booked a cruise on 
Princess from Ft. Lauderdale thru the Canal to Los Angeles.  It was 16 
days which was about 5 days too many, I really began to get tired of the 
Big White Boat.  The Canal transit was fantastic though.  I wrote to 
Princess asking to take my KX1, and included photos and specifications 
of the radio, LiFePO4 battery [with DOT certification], and antenna as 
any good engineer would do.  The answer was swift ... "Absolutely not, 
you might interfere with the [-------] which included navigation, 
communications, lifeboat radios, microwave ovens, pool pumps, and 
blenders in the bars, and it might start a fire among other such things 
as we may think of."

On the premise that while HQ may think they're in charge the Captain 
actually runs the ship, I took my wireless apparatus anyway.  After 
settling in, and noting the small size of our "balcony" which more 
resembled a "shelf" and wondering how I was going to turn this into a 
radio shack, I took my stuff to the purser's desk where I showed a very 
young 8th or 9th officer my license, explained my radio, and answered 
his questions.  He was particularly interested in the KXPD1 touch 
paddle.  He told me I had the Captain's permission to use my radio while 
at sea, but not in public spaces and I was not to remove any paint.  He 
willingly wrote this into my ARRL mini-logbook into which I also logged 
a dozen Q's while in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, all SA.

Our cabin was on the port side [left as you face the pointy part of the 
boat] which put a few thousand tons of steel between me and North 
America for essentially the entire trip.  I did hear one NA signal, very 
weak, W9RE working some contest.  In the end, trying to get something to 
radiate from our "shelf" turned out to be quite a bit of trial and 
error, and the thrill of operating afloat waned.  I have a base-loaded 
knock-off of an M1 whip, however the resonator looks an awful lot like a 
pipe bomb on the airport X-Ray and I chose a random wire instead since 
I'm already toast at TSA with braces on my legs and some scrap metal in 
my shoulder.

Our kids gave us an Alaskan cruise for our 40th anniversary.  It was 
Holland America, I did the letter thing and they said "As long as you 
have the proper license, you're welcome to bring your wireless device."  
I ultimately left it home and just enjoyed the cruise.  YMMV

73,
Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

On 10/16/2019 7:48 AM, Joseph Shuman via Elecraft 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
>