How do i get into mars?

[Cobra_Commander]

I am interested into getting into army mars or mars in general and was wondering how do i go about joining mars do i have to have previous military experience?

[rfradioconsult]

Search for USAF MARS or ARMY MARS, there are a few requirements; including owning a HF-SSB capable radio that can tune (or be modified) for the regional MARS frequencies, which are usually assigned close to the 75 & 40 Meter bands.

[n5ims]

It may be too late to become an astronaut for the inital phase of Mars missions, but this link --> NETCOM | MARS | Join <- may help you with the requirements and process for joining Army MARS.

FYI, it was the first link in a Google search with the terms MARS Joining.

[rfradioconsult]

My first thought was a 30 Meter dish and about 10 KW should get you to MARS.

[gewecke]

I have some hooch that will get you there? ....Just sayin'!

[tekshogun]

Originally Posted by Cobra_Commander

I am interested into getting into army mars or mars in general and was wondering how do i go about joining mars do i have to have previous military experience?

You do not have to be in the military nor have operational military experience. MARS stands for Military Affiliate Radio System (not amateur radio service as some will call it). It is a civilian auxiliary service meant to help support/supplement the Department of Defense in communications when needed. It is always active like the regular amateur radio service. There may not be a whole lot of people on it BUT I do believe you can communicate on it much like you would in the amateur service.

The Army, Navy & Marines, and Air Force have their own service but they are under one umbrella as far as being administered by the DoD. Each have some requirements that seem to be unique to each military branch but it seems pretty easy to get into. Their frequencies seem to span across HF, VHF, and UHF.

Each page has information on how to join each service:
Air Force - Fact Sheets : AFCA - MARS : AFCA - MARS
Army - NETCOM | MARS
Navy/Marines - Navy Mars HP Frames

I think this has peaked my interest in it.

[canav844]

Originally Posted by tekshogun

I think this has peaked my interest in it.

Yeah, I'm still short on the equipment and rating but it seems like once I progress, this will be an excellent way to support my friends and family that are making the sacrifice for the rest of us by serving.

[DaveNF2G]

Originally Posted by tekshogun

There may not be a whole lot of people on it BUT I do believe you can communicate on it much like you would in the amateur service.

That belief is not correct. Use of MARS frequencies is very tightly regulated. Casual chatter is only allowed after formal traffic nets, at the option of the NCS. You can't just fire up your MARS rig and go looking for someone to talk to.

[jhooten]

MARS ain't what it used to be. There is very little direct support of the troops with phone patches and Marsgrams like in the past. The troops have phone cards and e-mail now so the MARS missions of old are gone. Now they are more of a domestic disaster support group.

I would suggest you search between 4010 anf 4040 khz to find some of their nets, listen for a while and then decide if that is what you want to be part of before you go in cold.

[tekshogun]

Originally Posted by DaveNF2G

That belief is not correct. Use of MARS frequencies is very tightly regulated. Casual chatter is only allowed after formal traffic nets, at the option of the NCS. You can't just fire up your MARS rig and go looking for someone to talk to.

Really? I can understand the structured nets. I just got finished reading the Army Regulation 25-6 regarding MARS and couldn't find anything about how operation outside of a net is handled. I would have assumed that if you want to call up AAA4NC then you can just call for them and have a conversation. Yes it should be kept short and simple, to the point, discussing things regarding the business of MARS (which could actually be quite a bit of stuff), etc. But if that is not the case then MARS seems far less interesting than what all the websites state. I'll have to speak to a MARS member to get the full breath of their radio system.

[KB9LIQ]

If you are just looking for people to talk to when you are bored stay away from MARS. That is not what they are about at all. Some nets do allow for chit chat after the formal portion of the net but it is kept very brief.

[rfradioconsult]

The MARS frequency assignments are goverened by NTIA and not the FCC; operation is for "official use only" per DoD policy, so if you're interested in idle chit chat than you will need to stick to the ham bands. MARS has certain membership, training and participation requirements that you have to meet to retain your membership. Currently the DoD is re-vamping the MARS duties to better reflect the role of MARS in support of the current mission of the various service branches.

[tekshogun]

I was just at the North Carolina MARS club page: North Carolina Army MARS
And yeah, it looks pretty insane. Ham radio is crazy enough for active participants.

I will say this though, it seems like fun, and when I get more advanced HF gear that can operate in non-ham frequencies, I'll join up. I already have an application, it may be fun to do. I am not really into ham radio for casual chit chats, those are a bit boring, but I enjoy the sometimes formal aspects of it (nets, club meetings, events, etc) and more so the technical aspect of it all.

[n4rpd]

My 7 years with Navy/Marine Corps MARS went from really fun and interesting to a pain in the A$$. Many of the people in leadership roles are retired and have lots of time to devote to the service, but they seem to forget that some of us younger folks still work for a living and we do what we can to support and participate when we can.

I don't appreciate getting jumped on for not participating in designated nets and passing traffic. It really became a pain, I would come home from a 10 hour day at work and then get a phone call about the net "why wasn't I on the net?" and "when can you start filling your obligation?"

I am not trying to discourage anybody from joining, just beware that it can change based on who is in charge of your region and their personality.

Take care,

[w0fg]

Navy MARS is being deactivated 30 September 2009.
Navy MARS kaput? - MARS Forum at eHam.net

[w8mkh]

take a left at venus

[KC9NCF]

Here's your answer:

You don't get into MARS because MARS is going away, permanently as of July 1st 2009. There is no longer a need for amateur radio support to the U.S. Military. I was a member of U.S. Navy Marine Corps Mars and am sorry to see the MARS programs going away.

Truth be told, ARES, RACES, SKYWARN, and the whole lot of disaster ops are also going away on part of amateur radio. My source for all of this info: an e-mail posted to radio reference not that long ago from the MARS Chief himself.

I have it on good authority that amateur radio will lose the licensing requirement and become another CB service within the next 5 years. Plans are well underway at the FCC due to the economy and the FCC's financial inability to staff region offices with field agents. Also, the FCC Enforcement Office is so overwhelmed that it will take many more enforcement heads AFTER Laura retires before they ever get any head way. The FCC does not have any desire to pursue the amateur service.

With the internet, cell phones, FRS Radios, GMRS, and a real need for the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to administer huge batches of frequencies for administration / communications at the local levels all over the nation, the plan currently is that the amateur bands will become channelized and we will be secondary users subject to the FCC rules governing the CB bands, and what other frequencies we are not allowed on will be given to Police, Fire, etc. I will not name my source until I have permission. That is all.

[elk2370bruce]

Originally Posted by rfradioconsult

My first thought was a 30 Meter dish and about 10 KW should get you to MARS.

But they never QSL! Almost as bad as trying to get the Worked All Silent Keys (WASK) certificate. Wil they have an IRLP or Echolink Node?

[DaveNF2G]

KC9NCF's information is totally wrong.

Starting with the death of MARS on July 1. Not gonna happen. Navy/Marine Corps MARS might sunset in September (not July), if the Navy gets permission to shut it down. The other services are being adjusted and there might be a merger a few years down the road, but nobody is shutting down MARS.

The other garbage about the ham radio service and DHS managing frequencies is a bad joke.

[tekshogun]

Originally Posted by KC9NCF

Here's your answer:

You don't get into MARS because MARS is going away, permanently as of July 1st 2009. There is no longer a need for amateur radio support to the U.S. Military. I was a member of U.S. Navy Marine Corps Mars and am sorry to see the MARS programs going away.

Truth be told, ARES, RACES, SKYWARN, and the whole lot of disaster ops are also going away on part of amateur radio. My source for all of this info: an e-mail posted to radio reference not that long ago from the MARS Chief himself.

I have it on good authority that amateur radio will lose the licensing requirement and become another CB service within the next 5 years. Plans are well underway at the FCC due to the economy and the FCC's financial inability to staff region offices with field agents. Also, the FCC Enforcement Office is so overwhelmed that it will take many more enforcement heads AFTER Laura retires before they ever get any head way. The FCC does not have any desire to pursue the amateur service.

With the internet, cell phones, FRS Radios, GMRS, and a real need for the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to administer huge batches of frequencies for administration / communications at the local levels all over the nation, the plan currently is that the amateur bands will become channelized and we will be secondary users subject to the FCC rules governing the CB bands, and what other frequencies we are not allowed on will be given to Police, Fire, etc. I will not name my source until I have permission. That is all.

I can not comment on your MARS information because I know very little about it but I have heard of the talk of sunsetting the system; however, to say ARES, RACES, and SKYWARN are going away is completely untrue. At least here in North Carolina, a place with relatively mild weather (compared to other parts of the country) and few disasters, ARES and SKYWARN are very strong. We love SKYWARN and while the ARES guys get mostly a lot of practice and work events such as bike races; all across the country, amateur radio has and continues to prove it self as a viable service and many states have begun enacting laws, NC being one of them (noting pro-tower/antenna legislation in the last several years), that make it easier for amateur operators to due what the service was formed to do, in case of emergency provide reliable communications. The media gives ham radio credit when they have to step in for these emergency situations and the FCC is aware of this. They have every care to pursue amateur radio.

Need I mention the mere cutting of some fiber cables in California earlier this year brought basic communications, comms people rely on everyday, to its knees. Emergency services coordinators, police, etc CALLED ARES emergency coordinators to mobilize and provide communications for 911 and to pass traffic for whom ever needed it, on a priority basis of course.

And how about Greensburg, KS:
"The Greensburg tornado killed 11 people, but many more could have died if not for the efforts of forecasters and storm spotters. Most spotters, like Sean, volunteer for the SKYWARN Network. They are amateur radio operators, lawenforcement officers, firefighters and dedicated citizens. The National Weather Service (NWS) trains these storm enthusiasts to recognize the signs of imminent severe weather."
Greensburg Tornado - NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41

Some news agencies have ham radio operators working for them (not paid to be hams but they just happen to be, such as the meteorologists) and set up radios in their offices to catch storm and other activity that is news worthy that could save lives. Ham radio may be hurting here or hurting there, but that is an issue of members living a long time and passing away and going silent. But there has been an influx of new members that CARE about our service and for the most part have maintained best practices. The fact that you have to study, take a test, pay a fee for that test and suffer the scrutiny of other operators if you misuse the service keeps most of those trash talkers off of our bands that would normally be on FRS, CB, GMRS, or MURS.

Lets note that GMRS as it is now is no replacement for amateur radio. You can't do very much with it. FRS was intentionally made to be very limited with its type-acceptance, MURS again, no replace and is even more useless than FRS except for the fact that it is VHF instead of UHF, and CB radio was born out of recognition that an unlicensed channelized low power service was needed in the HF bands but lets note, low power and CHANNELIZED. Cell phones, the Internet, and even billion dollar state wide emergency radio systems, with all their fancy features and bells and whistles, are no replacement for reliable, non-centralized, amateur radio. History tells us this and so will the future.

And you also forget that, on your comment about DHS needing HUGE batches of frequencies, that much of the radio spectrum has been opened up thanks to TV being moved off to small slices of frequencies not that it has gone digital. There is rebanding going on and emergency services will not be blasting into our frequencies. They've steadily been moving off of VHF and UHF (400MHz) into 700 and 800 MHz systems and they are using them quite well especially thanks to trunked radio systems.

However, if this is a joke, this wasn't the place for it