RADIO SETUP

You can achieve your Amateur Radio Licence in either a 4 or 8 week course. It will help you understand limitations of radios as well as improve your radio use skills.

After paying the $100 for the course and test, you will have your radio licence for life. This is different from a few years ago.

I have a radio licence from boating which covers VHF and GMRS/FRS high watt radios

You can achieve your Amateur Radio Licence in either a 4 or 8 week course. It will help you understand limitations of radios as well as improve your radio use skills.

After paying the $100 for the course and test, you will have your radio licence for life. This is different from a few years ago.

Yeah last time I looked at it they expired and since I am licensed through my work for high wattage radio usage I never really bothered (although that license does not apply to GMRS frequencies), maybe I should look into doing the test myself.

I have the baofeng uv-5r. Do you have a step by step guide in setting up this unit to LMAG frequencies?

I can't find a step by step guide online but I'll try to write it out for you here.

1. Power On the Radio
2. Switch to Frequency mode (press VFO/MR, channel #'s on the right will not be displayed in frequency mode)
3. Select the frequency you want to program (from the guide referenced by jsae)
4. Click Menu, type 27 (to reach the MEM option), Press Menu again, then select which channel to save it as, then click Menu again to save the change.

You may need to delete saved channels before you begin this process, this can be done using menu option 28, press menu, select the channel to delete, press menu to delete it. If you have trouble selecting the frequencies listed you might have to adjust your STEP (option 1 in the menu) to 12.5K.

Once you get the hang of it the process goes quick.

[jsae]

I am unconvinced that the marine frequencies licence applies to land mobile and amateur radio frequencies. I believe that the work license covers a different set of frequencies, too, but the handling skills are transferable.

GMRS and FRS are open unlicensed bands, you need not absolutely have a license for them. These bands have very specific requirements for power and antenna though.

I am eager to get as many members as possible licensed because we could then consider implementing more sophisticated communication hardware and external antennas.

Alternatively, with enough interest, we could look into licencing our own set of frequencies and then you would just need to program to those, without relying on the GMRS/FRS sets.

Alternatively, with enough interest, we could look into licencing our own set of frequencies and then you would just need to program to those, without relying on the GMRS/FRS sets.

Could even set up some portable repeaters if we had a huge area then... Interesting.

[Claymore]

HOLLY CRAP Jsae!!

Now that is thinking big! I think when we have our own 500+ acres for our TMS field. We will defiantly need our own channels and external antenna’s

I am unconvinced that the marine frequencies licence applies to land mobile and amateur radio frequencies. I believe that the work license covers a different set of frequencies, too, but the handling skills are transferable.

GMRS and FRS are open unlicensed bands, you need not absolutely have a license for them. These bands have very specific requirements for power and antenna though.

I am eager to get as many members as possible licensed because we could then consider implementing more sophisticated communication hardware and external antennas.

Alternatively, with enough interest, we could look into licencing our own set of frequencies and then you would just need to program to those, without relying on the GMRS/FRS sets.

If we were to licence our own frequencies then we would not need to be individually licensed. This would would be not much different from a cab company or airlines the radio their ground crews.

[jsae]

Indeed.

However, the amateur radio licensing process (the course) informs participants of an entire world of radio technology and radio skills. Most players are unaware of those aspects of wireless communications.

For example, we could use the fox hunt race that is popular in amateur radio in on of our pararescue games. We would need two fox transmitters (one for each pilot) and two amateur radio operators (one on each team). The teams would need to protect the hams in order to find the pilots since the radio operators would be the ones trying to triangulate the pilots' positions! Each team's mission would include disabling the radio operator of their opponent.

We might be able to get one of the local radio clubs to host a coarse and exam for us if we can get enough interest.

We might be able to get one of the local radio clubs to host a coarse and exam for us if we can get enough interest.

Im interested but i dont think im old enough, how old must u be to take the course?

[jsae]

The Vancouver Emergency Community Telecommunications Organization had a 12 year old girl pass with 100% to achieve her licence once.

You only need to achieve 70% to pass.