Ham Radio

[GeoffH]

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

Geoff, I know nothing about ham radio, but am just curious.  What would happen if you did transmit?  Who and how would they catch you?  What would be the penalty?  Or is adherence to rules based mostly on an honor system?

In 1st world countries (and I'll use Australia for an example) there are both vigilant amateurs who will report unlicensed transmissions to the relevant government authority and active government authorities who will often take action.  It does depend upon the country where the offense is being committed, the country where the offense is detected and to some extent the severity of the violation.  

For example Indonesian fishing boats have for some years transmitted using amateur radios rather than licensed commercial marine radios simply because they're cheaper to buy.  And Indonesia doesn't seem very interested in taking action (or perhaps they simply don't have the resources to do so).

In the Philippines there is widespread unlicensed use in the VHF and UHF short range radio bands, there have been education campaigns to encourage licensing with some success I've read.  It is more difficult to operate unlicensed on the HF bands simply because the signals travel a much greater distance and are both more likely to be detected by and to cause interfence to licensed stations (HF radio is capable of travelling hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers under the correct conditions) which makes it easier to detect unlicensed operators.

Also HF radios tend to be much more expensive than VHF/UHF radios, it's possible to buy a cheap chinese built dual band hand held radio for about 1500 peso but the cheapest of HF radios is going to be 20,000 to 30,000 peso, an amount that is outside the budget of most Filipinos for a 'hobby'.

I'm not familiar with the penalties that apply in the Philippines for unlicensed radio operation although those for importing transmitting radios without the correct documents can be strict.  

Like many situations however in the Philippines I suspect that resources would restrict active enforcement and you could probably get away with VHF/UHF until you interfered with someone important who made a complaint (and that might be for a long time).  HF I suspect would be a lot more problematic.

Never the less I have to say I strongly recommend against going down that path and suggest not transmitting without the appropriate local license (whether that's obtained via a local license or via reciprical rights from your home country).

[Marvin Boggs]

To ask a follow-on question:  What is the purpose of licensing, other than for govts. to raise money collecting fees?  For example, does licensing ensure that your transmit frequency won't interfere with something important, etc.?  I understand that we need to abide by the rules, just a curiosity question.

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, Marvin Boggs said:

To ask a follow-on question:  What is the purpose of licensing, other than for govts. to raise money collecting fees?  For example, does licensing ensure that your transmit frequency won't interfere with something important, etc.?  I understand that we need to abide by the rules, just a curiosity question.

I will step in to answer this - at least partially, @GeoffH, if that's okay?

Amateur radio licensing is done mainly to ensure that the user has anywhere from basic to somewhat advanced understanding of how it works and how radios are constructed. Before I became licensed, I really had no clue about how it worked. The studying helped me learn a lot of that.

It is also done to educate the user about laws and regulations for using these radios. You are right that some of this is to ensure you don't interfere with important communications such as air traffic, military, government, emergency services, commercial, even local TV reception at your neighbours' home(s), among others. Lots of the questions you have to answer relate to these.

So, between gaining technical and regulation knowledge, you should be a responsible user and not mess up others communications.

On board my yacht, I was licensed for amateur and marine HF services. You would not believe some of the bozos using the marine HF frequencies because there is no educating required to gain those licenses... just pay a modest fee, buy your radio and you are on your way.

There are also a number of "pirates" that use some amateur frequencies too. sometimes they get caught, often they get away with it. There were some a few years back who would purposely interfere with international yacht networks that were used for health and safety purposes, personal communications and weather advice. They were just jerks using a lot of power and stupid tape loops to interfere just for the sake of interfering.

Think a bit about driving here in the Philippines as an example of unregulated use of a system? Sure, many people actually learn the rules and obey some or most of them. Then there are so many "pirates" - think jeepney drivers with no licenses, just cowboys on wheels! Look at the number of impounded bikes located in various places due to people busted for violating various rules... Now imagine radio frequencies populated with lots of guys doing the same thing with communications?

And to back up what Geoff said when answering your question about transmitting without a license... please don't even consider it for both your own peace of mind and others? Imagine requiring something needed that could be organized for you using amateur radio (it happens all the time in disasters), and there is somebody getting his kicks out of messing up your conversations?

Edited September 29, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Marvin Boggs]

Thanks for the insight!

[Tommy T.]

Good news!!!

I was poking around in some old files and found the serial numbers of my two HF rigs that are in storage in USA!

So my next step will be to contact PARA and see about that reciprocal license and see about what I will need to do to import the radios. It will still be another year, maybe two, until I actually get them here. But I am excited to set them both up - one at our home and the other for interested students.

[GeoffH]

That is good news!  I've not made any real progress sad to say but you've motivated me.  I'm going to email PARA next week (I've been putting it off for no good reason) and ask to join so I can start the process of obtaining a Philippines license and find out what's involved in bringing in a Transceiver.

[Tommy T.]

That's good to hear. The more I think about it, the more I remember that first experience at my neighbour's home in his "shack". It just overwhelmed me to talk with someone thousands of miles away... I loved all the dials, switches and knobs... It must be a "guy" thing?

I really am eager to set up some systems here. I know I will enjoy and I know the kids will enjoy too. It will also possibly be a backup for emergency communications? We have moderate earthquakes here about every two to four weeks. And the heavy thunderstorms from time to time bring flooding too. At any rate, it is good training and there is the fun aspect too!

[GeoffH]

An update to my slow moving Amateur Radio plans for the Philippines.

I have arranged pick up of my Yaesu FT-450D, LDG tuner and G5RV antenna and I've now got the serial numbers recorded as per the requirements for obtaining a license via PARA ( Philippine Amateur Radio Association ) plus I've got a Yaesu FT-70DR VHF/UHF C4F digital hand held radio and an Openspot 2 which will let me access digital rooms across the world.

It's my intention to set those up in CDO at our house after the license is organized with PARA when I head back to the Philippines in about 3 or 4 months.

Also whilst I was in Australia I organized to sit the examination to get a USA Ham license with VE Exams Australia, last month I passed the USA technician license (there are 3 levels of license Technician then General and then Extra) and was given a USA call sign to go with my Australian call sign and today I passed my General exam, the upgrade should appear on the FCC database in a couple of weeks.   

The General license has a lot more access to HF spectrum but more importantly holding a USA General class license I will be able to rent time on USA based HF stations and operate them remotely, something I cannot do with my Australian Amateur license.

That will give me three strings to my bow; operating HF from the house in CDO directly, operating from the house on UHF digital and remote operating with a signal originating in the USA and offer me some redundancy.

At some point I will attempt to upgrade to the highest USA license class but possibly not this trip to Australia (I think time will get the better of me).

NB the picture below is the examiners and the successful candidates taken today in the meeting room of the Eastern And Mountain District Amateur Radio Club (EMDRC - https://www.emdrc.com.au/ )

 

Edited February 1, 2020 by GeoffH

[Tommy T.]

Nice job Geoff and friends. Have you heard yet whether you can get a reciprocal license here in Phils that you can use on a long term basis? If you ever need it, I can administer exams as an Extra Class holder. But you would need to round up two more, I think... Of course, you would have to come to Davao where I would be pleased to buy you a few cold beers...

[bastonjock]

5 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Nice job Geoff and friends. Have you heard yet whether you can get a reciprocal license here in Phils that you can use on a long term basis? If you ever need it, I can administer exams as an Extra Class holder. But you would need to round up two more, I think... Of course, you would have to come to Davao where I would be pleased to buy you a few cold beers...

Might take you up on the Training Tommy