Cheap Comms - Baofeng Radios

[.40isthenew.45]

Question: what happens if someone uses certain frequencies without getting licensed? Do authorities actually try to locate and prosecute such villains?

Amateur radio is mostly self policing.... There is a "sport" called "fox hunt" they will find you and they will.... probably do nothing unless you are being a jerk, but it is still far better to be licensed.

I would go for my General license, but I don't think I know morse code anymore - haven't used it since 1970.

No code required for tech or general license... but I do think you have to have a current tech to get the general...

[Grant H.]

Amateur radio is mostly self policing.... There is a "sport" called "fox hunt" they will find you and they will.... probably do nothing unless you are being a jerk, but it is still far better to be licensed.


No code required for tech or general license... but I do think you have to have a current tech to get the general...

You're going to have to REALLY piss some of them off to get them to hunt you down.

Fox hunts are great fun, and a great learning tool, but aren't targeted at unlicensed users. I built a "fox" for the BARC Jr club. Used a cheap 2M handheld and a home built timed audio player that played my call sign in code and then transmitted a string of morse code that read "This is a fox hunt, come find me, and win the prize"...

Great fun to hide and then watch the rest of the club go chase it down using their handhelds, directional antennas (or shielding their omni antenna with their body and turning to try and detect the direction it's being transmitted from).

I got told I couldn't hide the fox anymore when I used an extremely directional antenna (home made, very tight, and isolated in all other directions) and bounced the 2M signal off one of the flatirons... The leaders of the club were not happy when they had folks swearing up and down that the radio was up on the flatirons and they needed to drive up there.