Thanks Larry,

The written test has never been a problem for me.. (I'm not all that
knowledgeable, just a good test taker).. I agree, the prep for the test
looks pretty easy.. In fact I took the General back in the '50s, but
couldn't pass the code, even a 5 wpm for novice..

I have several programs for exam prep and code practice.. And 50 years
later, I still can't copy 5 wpm..

I'm just waiting for all the "ole timers", who have influenced the FCC for
year, to die off and allow the code requirement to be dropped. Good typing
skills would be more appropriate today.

I QSL some on the ham bands and I'm still amazed that these "ole timers" are
still yakking about their tower, the crab grass, what 'Ma' cooked for Sunday
Dinner. I shouldn't complain, they have preserved the ham band for almost
100 years.

I'm not interested in running contest, just exchanging boating info and
maybe comments on how I rigged my longwire and ground plane.. Much the same
as we discuss on these rec.boat news groups.

I have already "open" my rig up can now transmit on the marine bands. I have
also installed a Pactor IIb and will have it upgraded the next time I'm down
in The Bay Area. However my cruising season is too short to invest in the
SeaMail annual fee. I'll use my cell phone or internet cafes for this
summers trip.


Call 'em on the HF radio on various bands on their calling frequency. Be
prepared to move to their working frequency as they won't talk to you on
the guard channel.

Then how do I know what "working channel" they might ask me to shift to?? If
we are assuming Duplex, it takes me a minute or so to program these freq.
into both VFOs. While in Simplex it's just a matter of tunning up or down
the dial.. The USCG assumes I would punch in a channel number.. What I'm
asking, is some recommended working channel that I can have preprogramed for
each band.

thanks for those links to the various channels/freq. They are in a better
format than what I was using.


Steve
s/v Good Intentions