[Elecraft] Cruise Lines

[Rick Tavan]

Yes, cruise lines and their captains are all over the map on ham radio.
FWIW, I sailed from FO to VP6 in June/July this year with a letter of
authorization to operate in FO. On the M.S. Paul Gaugin, I requested and
received permission to operate on board. I first asked our cabin steward
who sent a junior officer from Engineering to talk to me. I explained that
I wanted to string an antenna across the pool deck, out of reach of people
and only while in use. He understood, took the request to a higher
authority, and relayed verbal permission back through the cabin steward. No
idea how high up the chain it went. I only operated on board for about an
hour while anchored off Pitcairn. It was fun but I was very weak. Did
better on land from FO.

Ponant Cruise Line recently bought the Gaugin. Dunno what that will do.
I've sailed with Ponant but never took radio gear.

/Rick N6XI

On Wed, Oct 16, 2019 at 7:49 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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Rick Tavan
Truckee and Saratoga, CA