Technician Class Amateur Radio License Classes
Do you plan to go cruising? If the answer is yes then you should be interested in classes to be offered at the Oakland Yacht Club on qualifying for your Amateur Radio License.
With a Technician Class Amateur radio license you can enjoy the privileges of HF radio in Mexico by applying for a reciprocal license in Mexico. This means that you can use the High Frequency or HF bands such as the 20 meter or 14 Mhz band reserved for higher class licenses in the USA because Mexico only has one class of amateur radio license. HF radio is necessary in order to communicate over distances longer that line-of-sight which is what you experience when you use you Marine VHF radio.
Much has changed in the last twelve years since my wife and I sailed out the Golden Gate, took a left and cruised up and down the West Coast of Mexico for four years. One of the biggest changes is that the number of Amateur Radio licenses classes has been reduced for five to three, Technician, General and Extra. In addition, the requirement that you be proficient in Morse code has been dropped.
With modern technology and utilizing digital modems like the Pactor modem, today's cruiser can send and receive email while at sea with the complete assurance that the message was exactly what was sent, Again because of the use of a technology called Digital Signal Processing you can receive messages when the signal is not even audible. This provides an extra level of safety should you need emergency assistance while at sea or in a remote locale.
In addition to preparing you to pass the FCC license examinations, these classes are designed to provide you with the skills and knowledge to be better able to communicate via radio and also to understand the principals of electricity that you can apply to the operation and maintenance of you vessel.
The course will be presented on four Saturdays, June 23, June 30, July 7 and July 14.
It will be from 9am to 4pm at the Oakland Yacht Club.
Enrollment is limited to 20 persons so we can provide the kind of personal experience that will give the students the most benefit from the classes.
Because of the need to pre-order the classroom material, registration ends June 13, 2012
The fee for the classes will be $45 for the course and will include the ARRL publication "The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual" with practice exam software CD, retailing at $29.95
For further information or to register for class contact:
Rich Beckett - (510) 565-4706
Or Oakland Yacht Club - (510) 522-6868
