Re: [Paddlewise] Roger, Wilco. . .FWIW

Actually, you raise a good point. It's very easy these days to get a 
basic ham ticket and very useful. There are no code requirements.

The information aquired during the process is very useful for anyone 
using radio communications.

One of the advantages we hams have is the national repeater network. 
Generally, we dont use VHF for point to point communications (good 
for up to a few miles on a hand held), but we communicate with 
repeaters which then forward our audio in real time to other hams.

The repeater receives the signal on one frequency and rebroadcasts it 
on another using high power, usually 100s of watts)  and tall 
antennas. The repeaters can have a range of up to 100s of miles 
(mountain tops) and often have 911 service and phone patches.

There are thousands of repeaters throughout the US..world wide 
infact. The repeater I use here in florida is maintained by the 
Motorola Radio Club, but others may be supported by private clubs or 
even individuals.

The Gorden West "No Code Tech" book available at Radio Shark is 
excellent.. And morse, even though no longer an official requirement 
by many marine services, is still known and it's easy to signal with 
almost anything if you know code.

cya
W2PN 
> 
> 		It took me [seriously] 14 days, 1/2 hour per day of browsing through a
> $10 book I bought at Radio Shack, to learn enough to pass the "No-Code
> Technician Class" license exam.  It has proven to be worth the small
> investment in time.
> 
> 		I'm rambling again, must be time for coffee...  
> 
> 				Take care,
> 		
> >
Bob Denton
Vice President 
Undersea Breathing Systems
bob_at_dnax.com
http://www.dnax.com
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