On Wed, 07 Jul 2010 06:46:36 -0500, betwys1
wrote:

On 7/6/2010 7:38 PM, cfinn wrote:
/snip/
On Jul 6, 8:22 pm, wrote:
On 7/6/2010 7:12 PM, CindyB wrote:



The US repeater coverage is very good, even in the remote, wild wooly
west.

Email me privately if interested, and I can pass through a reference.

Cindy B
www.caracole-soaring.com

If this seems like a worthwhile gadget to you, I suggest you need not be
offput by the ham license requirement.
These days, a ham test does NOT include morse, and the technical level
is not beyond what you might review online in a week or two prior to a
local test.

Brian W- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

No problem Brian. You're correct, it isn't difficult to get. I got my
Novice license in '58 and have held an Advanced ticket for 40 years.

Charlie


Hey Charlie,
I received a private note intimating that a ham license obtained or used
for this purpose might run counter to some FCC rule or other.

I don't see it. Do you?

The rule that amateur radio operators might run into is the prohibition
against commercial use. Professional glider pilots can't use amateur
radio as part of their job, any more than commercial airline pilots can.
That might apply if to amateur pilots if there's prize money involved. A
gliderport, even a non-profit club, might not be able to set up a radio
repeater for use by its customers, because it could potentially result
in income or compensation.

I'm not an expert on this - I just know what I read in QST - and I
suspect that if you asked three different real experts you'd get three
different answers about what's OK and what's not. But if the on-air use
of the amateur radio results in income, it's arguably a violation.

It doesn't sound to me like the use described earlier falls into this
category, but if there's money (or non-monetary compensation) involved,
you should be careful.