Q. I am taking an extended Caribbean
Sea cruise for which I intend to take a HF rig and antenna along with me. As I understand it, I will have
to append /WW to my call sign for the station identification announcement. That would make it W4***/WW.
Is this correct?
A. No, that is not an obligation as far the FCC rules are concerned. Section 97.119(a) says:
(a) Each amateur station, except a space station or telecommand
station, must transmit its assigned call sign on its transmitting channel at the end of each communication, and at least every
10 minutes during a communication, for the purpose of clearly making the source of the transmissions from the station known
to those receiving the transmissions. No station may transmit unidentified communications or signals, or transmit as the station
call sign, any call sign not authorized to the station.
According to your license grant shown on the FCC ULS, your station’s FCC-assigned
call sign is W4***. Your station, therefore, - at least while it is transmitting solely under the authority
of your FCC-issued license grant – is obligated only to transmit that unadorned FCC-assigned call sign when making the
station identification announcement.
Q. But I anticipate that an indicator appended to my station’s call sign might help in making
more QSOs. I want to alert my listeners on the band that I am aboard a Caribbean Sea cruise ship.
Otherwise, they may not realize that my station is at sea and overlook its transmissions. How should
I add one?
A. Just say something like: This is W4*** slant mark
aboard the cruise ship Colossal Mermaid of the Caribbean Sea or whatever.
Q. But I only intend to work CW. That wordy indicator has too many characters
to key. I need something a whole lot shorter. What should I use?
A. Section 97.119(c) says:
(c) One or more indicators may
be included with the call sign. Each indicator must be separated from the call sign by the slant mark (/) or by any suitable
word that denotes the slant mark. If an indicator is self-assigned, it must be included before, after, or both before and
after, the call sign. No self-assigned indicator may conflict with any other indicator specified by the FCC Rules or with any prefix assigned to another
country.
To make it meaningful, you need for the listeners to your station’s ID announcement transmissions to comprehend
what it is you are trying to tell them. That’s where the identifier appendage comes in.
It might give them a clue that your station is transmitting from somewhere other than your postal mailing address shown
on the ULS.
For a station transmitting from
a vehicle traveling in a place where our amateur service is regulated by the FCC, BE Informed No. 52 recommends appending to your station’s
FCC-assigned call sign WW for waterborne vehicles. That selection is within the
ITU-assigned nationality identifier series WA-WZ assigned to the United States.
Do not use the letters M or MM.
They are the I.T.U.-assigned nationality identifiers for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Their usage by a FCC-licensed station would conflict with prefixes assigned to other countries and be non-compliant
with Section 97.119(c).
Respect the amateur operators in those countries and our DXers who rely upon those nationality identifiers while stalking
the bands.
Q. But I don’t like WW for an identifier. What else can I use?
A. It’s your choice among everything except those that conflict with an indicator specified
by the FCC rules or with any prefix assigned to another country. Whichever
indicator you choose to append to your FCC-assigned call sign, you want your listeners to understand its meaning.
Q.
What are the indicators specified by the FCC rules that I can’t choose?
A. They are:
AE,
AG and KT are for recent upgrades. Read Section 97.119(f).
AAA-AEZ
and ALA-ALZ, AFA-AKZ, NAA-NZZ are for non-FCC
Government amateur stations. Read Section 2.302.
KH0, KH1, KH2, KH4, KH5, KH5K, KH6, KH7, KH9,
KL7; KP1, KP2, KP4, KP5, W0, W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W7, W8 and W9 are for reciprocal aliens. Read
the FCC webpage About Amateur Reciprocal
Operating Arrangements.
Q. Would W4***/WW cover both a salt water ocean and a fresh water lake?
A. Yes. If it is important
to you that your listeners know whether your station is onboard a vehicle afloat in salt or in fresh water, try /WWS
(salt) and /WWF (fresh).
Q.
What else should I know about cruise ship operating?
A. Be knowledgeable of Section 97.11, Stations aboard ships or aircraft. It says:
(a) The installation and operation of an amateur station on a
ship or aircraft must be approved by the master of the ship or pilot in command of the aircraft.
(b) The station must be separate from and independent of all other
radio apparatus installed on the ship or aircraft, except a common antenna may be shared with a voluntary ship radio installation.
The station's transmissions must not cause interference to any other apparatus installed on the ship or aircraft.
(c) The station must not constitute a hazard to the safety of
life or property. For a station aboard an aircraft, the apparatus shall not be operated while the aircraft is operating under
Instrument Flight Rules, as defined by the FAA, unless the station has been found to comply with all applicable FAA Rules.
You could very likely encounter some complex regulatory circumstances with which to contend. First and foremost, there
are the rules of the country in which the ship is registered. If you are uncertain whether or not the master
of the ship is aware of those rules when approving your installation and operation, check with the communications regulatory
agency of the ship’s country of registry. While you are aboard the ship, you may be obligated to
observe those rules. If you are unable to do that, do not cause or allow your station to transmit.
When the ship is within the territorial limits of our United States, you are, moreover, also obligated to comply with
our FCC’s Part 97. The operative rules in this situation are our Part 97, but not to exceed any limitations set forth by the master of the ship.
Sections 97.5(a)(1) and (2) say:
(a) The station apparatus must be under the physical control of a person named in an amateur
station license grant on the ULS consolidated license database or a person authorized for alien reciprocal operation by §97.107 of this part, before the station may transmit
on any amateur service frequency from any place that is:
(1) Within
50 km of the Earth's surface and at a place where the amateur service is regulated
by the FCC;
(2) Within 50 km of the Earth's surface and aboard any vessel or craft that is documented or registered in the United
States.
Do not presume that your cruise ship is registered
or documented in the United States just because it sails from a U.S. port.
Q. What if the rules of the ship’s country are different from the FCC’s rules?
A. The more restrictive of the two sets of rules
apply. The same pertains while on the high seas unless the regulations of the country of the
ship’s registry allow otherwise. The Caribbean is within ITU Region 2. Should
your cruise be in the Mediterranean, for example, you would be within ITU Region 1. A cruise to the far
Pacific could be in Region 3. Fortunately, Sections 97.301 and 303 take these regions into account in authorizing transmitting frequencies and specifying sharing requirements.
Then there is the circumstance where the ship is within the territorial
limits of a country with which our United States has reciprocal operating arrangements. The operative rules in this situation are those of that reciprocal country.
The regulations of that hosting country apply exclusively, including station identification requirements.
These countries – which include numerous Caribbean destinations - are listed on the FCC website.
Also, subject
to the regulations in force in the country visited, a U.S. citizen holding a General, Advanced, or Amateur Extra Class operator
license granted by the FCC is supposed to be authorized to utilize temporarily an amateur station in a European Conference
of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) country that has implemented certain recommendations with respect
to the United States. The person must have in his or her possession a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 09-2031
dated September 10, 2009; proof of U.S. citizenship; and evidence of the FCC license grant. These documents
must be shown to proper authorities upon request. Read Section 97.3(a)(12).
For a U.S. citizen to operate an amateur station in a country belonging to the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission
or Comisión Interamericana de Telecomunicaciones (CITEL), there is an International Amateur Radio Permit.
It is a document issued pursuant to the terms of the Inter-American Convention on an IARP by a country signatory to
that Convention, other than the United States. Read Section 97.3(a)(24).
Finally, there is the circumstance where the ship is within the territorial limits of a country with which our United
States does not have a reciprocal operating arrangement. Unless there is some other understanding between
the ship’s country of registry and your hosting country, you are on your own. The regulations of
that hosting country apply. You might also check with the master of the ship.
Bon
voyage!
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December 30, 2011
Supersedes all prior editions