Amateur Radio

[Teach]

Can anyone tell me if there is a Ham Radio club at lakeside? I'm a Canadian Ham wanting to set up station here in Mex and need info on getting a reciprocal license to operate legally here. Info?

[johanson]

There used to be a ham radio club, and I belonged to it, but that was maybe 20 years ago, I don't remember exactly. 

In the olden days, phoning long distance, even for calls as short as Ajijic to Joco, cost you money. And so there was a strong motivation for those of us lakeside communicate via ham radio rather than using Telmex and having to pay a fee for most any number that was outside your area code or more than about 50 Km away from your home. 

Once, Telmex stopped charging for long distance locally, and to the states, there was less interest in having a ham radio and many of the clubs died off. So to the best of my knowledge, there is no longer a local ham radio club.

[Richmond]

I have a current Extra Class Ham License. From what I have learned, if you have a U.S. license then you can set up a station here but it requires the necessary paperwork from what I assume to be the Mexican equivalent of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). You do not have to belong to an Amateur Radio Club. Do not take this as gospel but I believe there is an office in Zapopan. I am not sure it is worth the effort. Good luck. 

 

 

[Teach]

I've been a permanent resident here going on 8 years now, and with all the covid nonsense going on and having to stay home most of the time.......well Ham Radio would be fun again. I have managed to glean rumors to the fact that Mexico is not issuing permissions in an official manor granting visiting Hams to operate within Meixico. I'm being told that using my call and and extension for Mexico on the end is all that need be done to be legal. 

Also, where can a person buy gear down here to set up a station with?

 

[dichosalocura]

I know someone who is a Ham Radio operator down here.  He got his reciprocal license 10 years ago when they were giving them out.  Its expired now but still he hasn't had any problems with any authorities yet.  He ordered a beam antenna from a company in the States and they delivered it here and had a ham engineer in Guadalajara come and install it for him on his mirador.  Its working great and still no problems after 4 years, knock on wood though.  But it is quite obvious.  Once he hears that they are issueing reciprocal licenses again, of course he'll go to the Zapopan office and renew.

[Tarheel103]

I don’t think they are issuing reciprocal licenses at this time.  My understanding is that the only way to legally operate, is to use a Mexican ham’s station and his call sign.  If anyone has any updated information, please let me know.  I am an extra class ham licensee from the US and have been here 10 years.  I use Echo-link and CQ 100 on the Internet.  Both work well here.  Contact me if you would like help in setting up these modes on the computer.

[Teach]

So, where can a person buy ham gear down here? Is there a store in Guad for amateur radio ? 

[tkessler2]

I came to Mexico from the US in 1981;  took the exam here a few years later and was issued XE1KG.  Had it for about 20 years.  Then the MX government stopped issuing call signs and pretty much dropped out of regulating.   The FMRE is Mexico's equivalent to the ARRL and still has an active website.  https://fmre.mx/¿quiénes-somos%3F   I think MX citizens still have some kind of recognition for their licenses but foreigners, even residents are SOL.    There is also a club in Guadalajara, check out:   https://www.facebook.com/ClubDeRadioExperimentadoresDeOccidente/

But that doesn't mean you can't operate. A lot of people still do, just need to be very careful to follow good practices, stick to the conventional bands, etc.  The government still runs monitoring stations, mostly for broadcast compliance, but they probably look across the spectrum.