Ham Radio Question

[Camonkeygirl]

Has anyone brought a ham radio onto the ship? My DH has gotten really involved with it, and wants to bring his on the train and the Wonder. Does anyone know if there are restrictions or is there any signals to be picked up. We are sailing on the repo cruise in Sept from Vancouver to LA.

Thanks for the information.

 

[Meskamooska]

Hi!

Congrats on getting into the wonderful world of Ham Radio. This will provide a lifetime of fun (and if the DH has gotten into it I HIGHLY recommend your getting your license as well if only so that you can get on the radio and talk to him .

As for using the radio on the ship, my understanding is that you need to get special permission to bring or use Ham equipment onboard any ship and I am going to assume that DCL will have rules which might be even more restrictive than other lines but I could be mistaken.

My advice would be to contact the cruise line directly and ask what the rules are regarding radios. It would be pretty neat to make some DX contacts from the ship.

If you find out anything about this, please share.

Take care, 73's (Ham speak for good wishes) help lots of people and have a "Wonder"ful day!

Tisza KI6DBR

 

[Lexa]

What a good question....I'm not bringing my radio with me, but would love to know if there are any restrictions for our future sailings.

 

[Camonkeygirl]

Hi!

Congrats on getting into the wonderful world of Ham Radio. This will provide a lifetime of fun (and if the DH has gotten into it I HIGHLY recommend your getting your license as well if only so that you can get on the radio and talk to him .

As for using the radio on the ship, my understanding is that you need to get special permission to bring or use Ham equipment onboard any ship and I am going to assume that DCL will have rules which might be even more restrictive than other lines but I could be mistaken.

My advice would be to contact the cruise line directly and ask what the rules are regarding radios. It would be pretty neat to make some DX contacts from the ship.

If you find out anything about this, please share.

Take care, 73's (Ham speak for good wishes) help lots of people and have a "Wonder"ful day!

Tisza KI6DBR

Thanks for the information. I will have him contact the cruise line and see what the restrictions are.

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

DH has his lic. and so do I...It comes in handy when we have to take 2 cars on long trips!

I asked this question awhile back and while my understanding is that you need special permission from the cruise line...You need additional permission from the Captain as well. There may only be certain frequencies that you can transmit on. From what I remember it wasn't easy to do. DH came to the conclusion that he can "ham it up" when he's at home and enjoy the cruise.

Wait until you get into QSL cards...Now that has been amazing!

Hope this helps!
73's

 

[insureman]

I'm thinking this might run into international issues for a Ham operator. As a pilot I am not required to have a radio station license unless I travel to a foreign country such as Canada and Mexico. There are also FCC and other agencies that regulate marine radio. Don't forget that DCL ships are not US ships but are flagged in the Bahamas so they might have a say in this also.

 

[Donald_Quackers]

I would agree, contact DCL first. I decided not to bring my radio, even if it used different frequencies.

73's as well!

K9VAH

 

[truck1]

What ever you do, DONT ASK RESERVATIONS(800 number). You ask them about ham radios, theyll be thinking TS3. Send a snail mail letter or see if you can find a number to the office in Celebration. That would probably be the best bet for accurate inforamtion.

 

[Camonkeygirl]

Thank you for all the information. I am trying to talk him out of it, but he wants to have it for the train portion of our trip. DH may just have to leave it off in a suitcase.

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

Just spoke with DH...who was able to find the info you will need.

In short, you need the written permission from the Captain. (Or Master of the ship and no one else...) Permission from the cruise line (You probably won't get being post 9/11...it's a bit of a perceived security issue) And b/c it is a foreign flagged vessel the operative authority of the vessel (in this case the Bahamas) You would have to get a lic. there. (see this link)

http://www.qsl.net/oh2mcn/c6.htm

DH was uncertain about trains...but is guessing it would be just as difficult b/c trains are federally regulated.

HTH

 

[GrumpyGoat]

I'm the DH mentioned by the OP in the original post on this thread and I realize it's an old thread, but things have changed and I feel it prudent to mention that there is now a blanket prohibition on ham radios on board the Disney ships. It's the last item on their list of prohibited items.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/prohibited-items/list/

 

[scgustafson]

Has anyone brought a ham radio onto the ship? My DH has gotten really involved with it, and wants to bring his on the train and the Wonder. Does anyone know if there are restrictions or is there any signals to be picked up. We are sailing on the repo cruise in Sept from Vancouver to LA.

Thanks for the information.

Specifically not allowed per the prohibited items list (last item):

Items prohibited on board ship and on Castaway Cay.

• Ham radios

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/prohibited-items/list/

 

[Neptune's Fork]

I'm not a ham radio operator, nor do I have any experience with it, but I was curious as to what sort of signals you'd receive out at sea, and how would they differ than on land (i.e., just shipping transmissions?).

 

[NS8VN]

With an HF rig you could get signals from around the world if the ionosphere is cooperating. Amateur radio has its own slices of frequencies, these don't include shipping or other private parts of the spectrum. You would be talking to other amateurs. But even with ships that do allow it, or special ham cruises, there are laws that have to be carefully followed since you are outside the country you are licensed in.