Radio Authorizations

[charlieg]

I've just learned about, took and passed the test for, and have mailed in my certified application and $15 check for my USHGA radio authorization. If I didn't already have my ham radio license, which I do, I would now be authorized to use the 5 designated USHGA radio frequencies for all of my paragliding activities. Better yet, I will now be able to authorize the tempory use of such frequency(s) by my retriever (spouse, son, daughter, friend) even if they don't have a license, for use in performing their retrieval activities, as long as they stick to the 5 approved frequencies.
The test was easy -- just 20 questions I had to answer after reading 2 pages of rules and regulations -- a MUCH simpler process than I had to go through when I got my ham license.
Is there a reason why our club doesn't encourage this process and use the 5 set aside frequencies? It seems to me to be a no brainer. As I understand it, any USHGA instructor or observer can adminsister the test. (My Torrey Pines instructor administered mine.)
Charlie

[CraginS]

Charlie,
It gets a little bureaucratically messy, but the short answer is that you can get a 2 meter ham radio for about half the cost of a legal business band radio. The USHGA frequencies are business band freq'a. They are just outside the ham 2m band.
Quite a few ham radios can be tweaked (modified) to use the USHGA business band frequencies. However, NONE of those radios is legal under FCC regulations for transmission on those freq'a. It is OK to receive on them, but not to transmit.
The technical reason for this distinction has to do with the variation in precision of ham 2 meter vis business band radios. The business band is much more cluttered, so those radios have to have much tighter tolerances on the frequencies set.

To be fully FCC legal, you have to have both the right license AND the right radio.

While the ham technician test is a bit more effort than the USHGA business band frequency approval, overall the cost savings is worth it.

craig

p.s. DO NOT buy a business band radio from Torrey Pines until you have price shopped them online. Business band radios generally cost more than ham, but not nearly as much as aviation rigs.

[charlieg]

Thanks Craig. I've clearly got a lot to learn on this topic. However I just received documentation for a fly-in I'm participating in in Colorado this weekend and it states that I must have a radio capable of operating on the USHGA frequencies. Is this typical? Seems like there must be a lot of other clubs that have dealt with this issue. Anyone else have similar experience?
Charlie

[CraginS]

Charlie,
I have not traveled to very many other flying sites, but I have heard that more sites out west like the USHGA freq's due to band crowding on 2m HAM in some areas.
I'll repeat that it is fully legal to receive the USHPA freq's on any business band OR ham radio. Transmission on a non-type-accepted radio is where the FCC regs kick in.

A lot of USHPA pilots do use modified 2m ham radios on the business band. In fact, one PG-oriented supplier advertises them in the magazine.

There's rules amd there's common practice.

Good luck!

cragin

[Danny Brotto]

Careful... a modded 2M radio may render it illegal for transmit in any band including it's original 2M band!

Danny Brotto