I don't fly a lot but have flown about 10 times with Ham Radio gear and recently took a trip. I show what I took, how I packed it and share how it has gone with TSA and Ham Radio. This is just to help people know what to expect and it would be great for others to shares their experiences!
Having some experience with threat detection and security screening into restricted government facilities, that included the public and various levels of screened personnel, I can say that the X-ray detectors vary at different facilities. Some are the simple 2-D X-ray scanners, some have color enhancement to show metals and other materials, and the latest are computerized tomography scanners that show the object in 3-D and can manipulate the image to show what it might be. Some scanners are capable of nitrate detection and the newest models include bio-sniffers that can detect COVID-19 [SARS Delta and variants]. Smiths Detection makes most of the TSA scanners and is the West's most predominate scanner manufacturer. However, not every facility can have the latest equipment and some of the stuff out there is 20+ years old. Operators at TSA and other facilities have varying levels of experience and there is a considerable employee turnover at TSA. Example - a woman's purse contains many items, but few of the objects in them are ferrous or non-ferrous metals. Most are low density objects such as brushes, tissues, cosmetics, sunglasses, etc. Metal items might be nail files, nail clippers, metal fittings for the purse, small scissors, etc. If a screener were to run your gear bag, they are going to see electronic circuitry, tubing, very dense Li-Ion/Li-PO/NiMH/NiCad battery packs some of which are nearly opaque, that ground spike [that alone would force a manual inspection in any setting that I am aware of [short of stowed in an unaccessible cargo hold], cabling, etc. That bag would be nearly impossible for an experienced operator to ascertain what is in it and mandate a closer visual/hand inspection. I would expect a significant number of TSA people to have little knowledge of amateur radio, the gear, or how it all fits together/how much gear is needed for various operational modes. Some may, but don't count on it. Based on what I've seen, experienced, and managed, I would suggest any travelling as you did to present themselves to a screener and tell them you have ham radio gear - showing them your license to verify. Another easy thing for everyone is to pack items based on hobby/task: photo gear gets its' own bag, ham gear gets a separate container, etc. Many screeners know what camera gear looks like and if someone sends a Nikkor 200-400mm zoom lens through - it will be scanned and passed through easily. Dual use gear like a photo tripod to mount some ham sticks would go with photo gear and that wouldn't raise an eyebrow. If you take your ICOM 705, your Elecrafters rig, or a bunch of gear, I would take two or more copies of my license [Official, please. It can make more of an impact] and keep one on my person and place another copy with each bag or container of gear. It can also help to take a 3"x 5" card and write "transceiver" on it, then place it with the transceiver. "Coax cable" card on the coax, "Antenna Tuner" on the tuner, etc. They may remove items and screen them individually, but it helps everyone. We often had the media, contractors, employees, government officials come through and all the cameras and power packs/tripods/ENG/every other possible piece of gear had to be screened and they did this for helping us and for their inventory control so that nothing got lost or misplaced. Every team knew what to expect, all items were screened as quickly as possible, and there were no surprises. We ran dozens of employee issued Motorola APX-6000s and 8000s through daily and never had an issue. Flying within a nation is easy. Flying outside of a home country can be a problem, depending on a destination location.
People fly with electronics everyday. Laptops, cell phones, tablets, etc.. I have flown with ham gear many times, it's never been an issue. I don't know why people make such a big deal about it.
Nice informative video, well done! I've flown several times and brought some radio gear along but much less. I've brought an HT a few times or my KX-1 a few times.. once even internationally. I brought it on my carry-on luggage and not once have I ever been asked about it.
Good Review. I travel much, much lighter when flying. I operate qrp. Everything in one small protective case, not much larger than my KX2. My call sign is printed on the outside. Never had any issues going through security. Having said that, I am always ready to have my radio case opened for screening. I keep my operators license and a QSL card inside the case as well. I understand TSA has a job to do and I appreciate it very much. I will always try to make their job easy.
Just flew from Nashville to Fresno with a TMV71, Arrow antenna, LiFePo battery, charger, cables, and all. No problems with TSA whatsoever didn't even examine the bags.
Those equipment was always checked by the staff at the airport. I personally got problems in the past with a simple shortwavereceiver and a book with normal radio frequencys all around the world. The book only contained frequencys of commercial radio stations. When the staff of the border control dont understand the personal explanations, its away. That happend to me in Hongkong for about 20 years.
I remember many, many years ago buying some 3CX3000A7 tubes on the flea market at Dayton. Rather than checking the tubes in and letting the baggage handlers throw them 50ft against the concrete floor, I carried them in my hand luggage. When we went through Security I told the X Ray guys what was in my bag and of course they took the tubes out to look at them. There weren't many people going through at that time so we got into a bit of a conversation and I asked them if I could see the tubes on the X Ray. "Sure" was the answer, so I was able to check the grid structures inside the tubes on the screen - very useful! That was all before 9/11 so maybe things might be different now, but I bought some aftermarket Megasquirt engine management systems and programming units that look to the untrained eye like radio gear on a recent trip to Austin TX and there was no issue bring it in hand luggage. Taking my equipment to west Africa when I operated as C56TTY was no issue either. I think a lot depends on how you treat the security staff. A quick word of what the equipment is and a smile go a long way. Just treat people with respect. They have a job to do that benefits all of us and I for one an really glad that they do it.
I've flown internationally with an Elecraft KX1 and KX2 in a carry on back pack, with their Lithium batteries. Antenna wire, cables and accessories are neatly packed (with a copy of my license) in a Pelican case that goes in my checked luggage. Never had a problem.
I personally hate civil aviation. I hate to drive to an airport on taxi, then to stay in stupid queue to get boarding pass, then to go through air security, then to wait for boarding, after all that to fly an hour or some, and then again to try to catch my luggage (I mostly travel with hand luggage only so sometimes I can bypass this dumb step), and finally to try to arrive to the final destination on taxi (again). I'd better spend all that time and all that effort to drive the car by myself. Meanwhile I flew some few times with my HT and tried to make contacts or to send APRS beacons having being in the fly. That was fun, sure, but didn't cost the money and effort. Civil aviation is perfect thing for PPLs and CPLs.
I've taken my FT-60 with various antennas -- including the extra long Diamond SRH77CA -- through security at ORD many times without any problem. My personal "secret": everything's in the tray, ready to go, before I get to the x-ray machine. It's usually the metal buckle on my "garrison" type belt that gets off the machine. I forget to put my belt in the tray! The worst time I've ever had was at LAX about three years ago. My carry-on included a bag with about $150 in loose coins. Security had to open the bag and feel around in the coins for any concealed weapons. I consider myself lucky they didn't empty the bag to inspect the contents!
