Getting a Ham licence and consequences of not...

[Tucker Terra]

Just out of curiosity, How hard is it to get a ham licence, what is involved, and how do I get one?

Second, whats the consequences if i got caught in possession a 2 meter radio without a license, and, living in a small town of Maine, whats the chances of being caught

Just wondering. I got a 2 meter moded radio from a friend that covers marine band and my volunteer fd I am on and I use it to communicate to the fd. I dont use it for any other Ham communication


Your thoughts please.......................
Thankss!

[231]

Just out of curiosity, How hard is it to get a ham licence, what is involved, and how do I get one?

It's not hard to get a ham license. Google ARRL and follow the links for "getting started."

Second, whats the consequences if i got caught in possession a 2 meter radio without a license, and, living in a small town of Maine, whats the chances of being caught

Just wondering. I got a 2 meter moded radio from a friend that covers marine band and my volunteer fd I am on and I use it to communicate to the fd. I dont use it for any other Ham communication

It's not illegal for you to own an amateur radio. It's illegal for you to transmit there unlicensed. Chances of being caught transmitting unlicensed depend on the amount of active hams in your area and whether or not you choose to transmit. Getting your technician ticket isn't hard all. So if you are thinking of doing that, why not? It's not expensive either. Sure would beat looking over your shoulder too. Who knows, you might even find yourself having some fun with it.

[Tucker Terra]

Yeah. I might look more into it just so if something happens my a** is covered. I dont plan on transmitting on any band than the fd but who knows what could happen. The tickets probably pretty expensive too.

thanks

[ChiefDoc]

Also keep in mind that your two meter radio is only type accepted for the Amateur two meter band. They CAN be modified to transmit out of band in the public safety and marine bands (as yours is apparently), but they are not type accepted by the FCC to do so.

[Night Crawler]

Also keep in mind that your two meter radio is only type accepted for the Amateur two meter band. They CAN be modified to transmit out of band in the public safety and marine bands (as yours is apparently)

Which means if your caught using it on the Fire Department frequency you and the FD are liable for using a non-type accepted radio.

[Night Crawler]

Also having a Amatuer license won't get you out of that one.

[IdahoPete]

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There ya go.

[231]

Also keep in mind that your two meter radio is only type accepted for the Amateur two meter band. They CAN be modified to transmit out of band in the public safety and marine bands (as yours is apparently)

Which means if your caught using it on the Fire Department frequency you and the FD are liable for using a non-type accepted radio.

Oops...they are absolutely right! I had completely forgot about that.

[Tucker Terra]

yeah but how would they ever catch me if i am only using it on the FD frequency. I wouldnt think FCC would be that strict to give firefighters a hard time for that.

Im not saying I dont believe you, I am just trying to figure it out thats all. Howd i get caught?

[Tucker Terra]

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There ya go.

Thanks for that too by the way

[Night Crawler]

yeah but how would they ever catch me if i am only using it on the FD frequency. Howd i get caught?

Don't worry about it I know I wouldn't how's anybody to know.

[Tucker Terra]

i could see how i would/could get caught on the HAM frequencies if i were on them, but if im not then I cant imagine getting caught. Even a police officer; I have fire license plates and it looks no different than a fire dept radio, he'd have to really know his radios I would think. Unless theres something I'm missing that is

thanks for all the input though

[ChiefDoc]

i could see how i would/could get caught on the HAM frequencies if i were on them, but if im not then I cant imagine getting caught. Even a police officer; I have fire license plates and it looks no different than a fire dept radio, he'd have to really know his radios I would think. Unless theres something I'm missing that is

thanks for all the input though

I wear a lot of hats, I am a cop full time, a volunteer firefighter like yourself, an licensed Ham and enjoy CB. So I get that it is easy to have a radio to use for multiple things. But...I keep everything legal and use the specific radio for each service. I could get my PD radio programmed with a 2 meter freq easy enough, and could easily mod my 2 meter to use as a backup for the FD and PD...but I don't. Ask your vol. FD if they are willing to take that liability with you to use that non-type accepted two meter radio. I would be willing to bet they would not.

And yes, I keep my CB stuff legal also and have a heck of a good time with it, barefoot and all. It's all in the antenna system.

As for the Amateur Radio license, it is very easy to get your Technician license and not costly at all. Much like CB, though, you will be constantly buying once you get started.

Best of luck to you!

[tubehead]

"Im not saying I dont believe you, I am just trying to figure it out thats all. Howd i get caught?"

i used to make it a hobby to catch rogue operators on ham handhelds. its much harder than ratchet jawing cb'ers with huge antennas but its not impossible.

if you a firefighter you best bet for an all in one radio is get a commercial radio that works on your FD freqs and also covers ham freqs. its ok to use commercial radio gear on ham but not vice versa.

[cajunham]

"Im not saying I dont believe you, I am just trying to figure it out thats all. Howd i get caught?"

i used to make it a hobby to catch rogue operators on ham handhelds. its much harder than ratchet jawing cb'ers with huge antennas but its not impossible.

if you a firefighter you best bet for an all in one radio is get a commercial radio that works on your FD freqs and also covers ham freqs. its ok to use commercial radio gear on ham but not vice versa.

On FD Frequencies and use, the Fire Dept Tech Person will probably warn you and if you put his license (A grol), he will take care of it.