Quote:
Originally Posted by duckie
Isn't it fantastic that people (who I presume are volunteers) put these ingenious things together?
Can anyone provide feedback about :
how hard it is to get an amateur radio operators licence? (eg cost, hours of study, exploding brain cells)
- whether many cruising yachts use it?
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Duckie,
MARS - Military Affiliated Radio Stations, are all volunteer, mostly civilian or off duty military, ametuer radio (HAM) operators. They provide the radio connection, (patch) between two land line conventional telephones, allowing service members to call home for free or at a reduced expense.
How do you get your amatuer license?
http://www.arrl.org/
Click on Learning About Amatuer License near the top left, or Getting Started on the top right, under Quick Links.
Cost? Depends how you go about it. Maybe around $150. for membership, an online course, books, and the exam fee. If you get serious about it, likely you will be buying additional books on radio related topics.
Hours of study? Depends what you already know about math, radio, electricity, and electronics. It is possible to get it done in a few weeks if you are dedicated to it.
The test pool questions, with answers, as I recall are about 450 questions, of which your exam will have 35 questions from the pool.
Many cruising yachts, are licensed Ham Operators, well many others are not.
Cheers,
Jeff
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