imported post
Goldwinger,
Good news and not so good news.
First the not so good news. You MUST have a ham radio license to operate a ham radio... that's worldwide. If the FCC catches you operating without a license it could mean a fine of over $10,000.00 here in the US, and they'll confiscate your radio equipment (hams and the FCC do monitor the frequencies and they will catch you).DF, direction finding for hidden transmitters is a big sport in the ham radio ranks. Similar situation anywhere else in the world.
However,it's not as bad as it sounds. It is now easier than ever to get a ham radio license.
You no longer have to learn the morse code for the introductory level license. Here in the US it's called the Technician license. You do have to pass a 20-question multiple-choice test, but it's pretty easy if you spend about a week reading through the license manual. In the US they even publish the question pool for this test and it's available online as practice testson sites like
http://www.qrz.com. More good news is that if you live outside the US, most countries have abandoned the morse code requirement for all the upper-level ham license classes. In the US, to get get a license above theintroductory class (Technician), one must pass a 5 word-per-minute code test. (Actually I don't think it's such a bad thing.)
There will be a testing fee that covers testing expenses. Usually $12-$14. But the license in the US is good for 10 years and there is no further testing or any feesfor renewing your license.
This morse code-free Technician license will allow you to use the ham bands on the frequencies of 50MHz and up. This is VHF, UHF, and above. If all you wanted to do is have better communications on your bike that's all you would need. You'll have access to radio repeaters, much more output power, and clear, noise-free FM communications that could extend hundreds of miles if the repeaters in your area are set on mountaintops or tall buildings (which they usually are). Sometimes the repeaters are even linked together to give one state-wide coverage or coverage from one major city to another.
If you really get involved, with your Technician license you could even use the ham radio satellites that have been put into orbit since the 60's (not likely on a motorcycle though). It's even possible to have a chat with the astronauts on the international space station from your motorcycle.I've actuallychatted with the cosmonauts on the Mir space station when it was still up while driving my car.
Now the really good news. There is a plethora of radios out there that could be used on a Goldwing. I'm thinking of installing a dual-band radio on mine that covers the 440MHz UHF band and the 144MHz VHF band. Most of these radios have an output of around 50 watts and use FM, and are usually as small or smaller than a CB. This makes for very clear communications at pretty long range line of sight and extended communication if you use a repeater. Repeaters are everywhere. I'm willing to bet that 90 percent of mountain-top radio/TV sites also house at least one ham radio repeater.
A good website/organization to look up is the American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
http://arrl.org.
In Canada go to
http://www.rac.ca/.