Amateur Radio Licence on a Boat

[Alpha Fishstick]

Thank you all for chiming in. All of your input had been helpful in learning more about Operating on the water.

Has there ever been “BOTA” (Boats on the Air)?

There was a guy I heard calling CQ from a Cargo Ship somewhere in the Pacific. He had a huge pile up of people wanting to talk him on the boat. This seemed very interesting to me and when looking at a map I saw all the grid squares containing water only! Got to thinking this could be fun!

I’ll call the Canadian Authority and inquire about creating a station callsign specific to the boat.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Alpha Fishstick

I’ll call the Canadian Authority and inquire about creating a station callsign specific to the boat.

FIRST, you get your HAM certification (AKA Amateur Radio Operator Certificate). You then can (sortof) choose a suffix for yourself. Must provide several alternatives (4 IIRC) that have not already been taken. You'll be informed of which call sign is yours. FYI, it is NOT a call sign specific to any boat... not here in Canada.

[alctel]

Originally Posted by continuouswave

That document is a good reference. My interpretation is you perhaps COULD apply for a second STATION LICENSE and get a STATION CALLSIGN for the amateur radio station on your boat, so long as the station would only be operated when the boat was not in Canadian territory and thus was in international waters.

Maybe you can contact that authority for clarification.

This is exactly my understanding.

You can apply for a second callsign for yourself (the VE0) but you can only use it from international waters.

Clear as mud, right?

[justlearnin]

My 2 cents is that it is can call/mm/ or can call/mm/prefix of the country you are at or nearest area. ie va3 ???/mm a3 (if you were in Tonga) Ps I have a ve0 call. 73s ( I got my VE0 because I used to talk to a ve0nel. It was a Canadian warship in the 70s and is now a dive site in the St.Lawence river.)