146.52 in Las Vegas

[kslager]

I was monitoring 146.52 in Las Vegas this last week, and it sounded like there was some sort of repeater or link radio setup on frequency. I was just curious if this is what I was hearing, and if so, what kind of system is setup on this frequency. Thanks.

 

[62Truck]

It could of been someone cross banding. Even though it is not illegal but is bad practice to do it on the national calling frequency

 

[nd5y]

It could have been a simplex VoIP node like EchoLink, IRLP, Allstar, etc. also not a good idea to do on the calling frequency.

 

[Hooligan]

Nope, it's a somewhat high profile, often busy repeater in the LV area with the link to 146.520 pretty much always up. A really horrible, stupid practice.

Next time I hear it, I'll get the callsign of the repeater, but for now, this source: NARRI suggests the culprit is W7HTL/R (Phil Grunden). W7HTL - Callsign Lookup by QRZ.COM

 

[kslager]

I could tell it was some sort of turd bird system... I just can't believe it flies locally. You would think others in the area would speak up, and try to explain the band plan, and what a national calling frequency is and it's intentions.

 

[BJ_NORTON]

I believe this is called a "remote base." Listen on 446.225 for the output I think the tone is 85.4.
There are quite a few guys that like to hang out on .52 as a regular simplex rag chew frequency. Kind of annoying sometimes, but would it be better if there was no one listening on .52 to answer general calls? It would be nice if they would make their initial contact, and then QSY, but oh well. I know several of the guys that chat on .52 like the remote base so they can carry around an ht and still chat with all their pals without being on a high power base station. I've never heard it personally, but I understand a few times this summer 52.525 was open, and someone cross banded their radio to UHF so that as the band opened people listening on .52 would hear it. Not sure I agree with that...

I sometimes find it handy. This afternoon I could hear somebody on .52 but they were barely breaking the squelch. I switched over to the 440 freq and I could hear the OM clear as a bell. Also, my home is in the far northwest part of the valley, and I often have a hard time making simplex calls into the southwest/mountains edge part of the valley. Nice to be able to get coordinated and move to a repeater.
Does anyone know where this is physically located? It seems to be able to hear every part of the valley

 

[LanceS2022]

Nope, it's a somewhat high profile, often busy repeater in the LV area with the link to 146.520 pretty much always up. A really horrible, stupid practice.

Next time I hear it, I'll get the callsign of the repeater, but for now, this source: NARRI suggests the culprit is W7HTL/R (Phil Grunden). W7HTL - Callsign Lookup by QRZ.COM

"A real horrible, stupid practice" Wow! Ham radio in an urban area is a secondary thought next to a cell phone on a safety stand point. Lets face it, when a lot of us hams become active many years ago, ham radio was a viable source of communication and a potential life saver in a rough situation. However now days, just about everyone carries a cell phone for the majority of their communication. So with that said, I don't see what the big deal is? I mean there is very little ham radio activity these days as it is. With the continuing bickering about the "remote base" being connected to 146.520, we run the risk of driving away another bunch of good hearted ham radio operators. Stop fighting innovation, the horse and buggy, rotary home phones, one hour photo mats are gone, a thing of the past. So lets get out there and chat it up on 146.520, 446.225 or anywhere else on the ham radio before everyone has lost interest.

 

[kslager]

I'm going to have to agree that it is a stupid practice, and yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Your innovation ideas have already been allocated in the band plan - 145.50Mhz through 145.80Mhz. A ham radio may be a secondary to a cell phone, but that is the justification for breaking away from band plans?

 

[kc7kfn]

"However now days, just about everyone carries a cell phone for the majority of their communication. So with that said,QUOTE]

Well those Cell Phones your putting so much trust in, have completely failed in NJ and New York, where cell towers were distroyed by the storms. So I am betting that Ham Radio is working just fine, on emergency power. When all else fails, we dont.

 

[W2MR]

I dont want to put fuel on the fire....but 146.52 is the National FM Simplex CALLING Channel. The idea is to call your station, make contact, then QSY somwhere else. Circa 1970 The Greenbrook Repeater in NJ ruined 146.94 prompting a move to 146.52 and some other channels set aside for simplex. But that's ancient history.

 

[LanceS2022]

I'm going to have to agree that it is a stupid practice, and yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Your innovation ideas have already been allocated in the band plan - 145.50Mhz through 145.80Mhz. A ham radio may be a secondary to a cell phone, but that is the justification for breaking away from band plans?

Technically no. The argument that the majority of this thread are making is correct. However, here in Las Vegas, there are quite a large group of hams that want to talk on 146.520. Whether they go through one of the four remotes, or talk simplex on 52.

 

[LanceS2022]

"However now days, just about everyone carries a cell phone for the majority of their communication. So with that said,QUOTE]

Well those Cell Phones your putting so much trust in, have completely failed in NJ and New York, where cell towers were distroyed by the storms. So I am betting that Ham Radio is working just fine, on emergency power. When all else fails, we dont.

In the event that we have a situation that knocks out our cell system here in Las Vegas, we can hope that one of our many remotes/repeaters will assist in our communication coverage here in the valley. If not, well then the issue is resolved, we can then utilize 146.520 or any other frequency to facilitate communication.

I knew it was bad idea to chime in on this thread, forgive me for not thinking it through

 

[Hooligan]

I have 'good ears' & would be happy to monitor 146.520 for anyone with an emergency that doesn't have local repeaters programmed-in. But that's hard to do when some jackass with a fairly high-profile setup runs a 24/7 remote base on 146.520 and I'm stuck hearing knuckleheads rag-chewing on it.

I can pick-up that 146.520 remote base from over 100 miles away, despite several mountain ridgelines between it & I. That sort of use *clearly* is not at all what 146.520 is intended for. It'd be nice if hams --or the FCC-- treated it similar to VHF MArine channel 16. Funny to think that even US CB'ers had/have channel 9 set-aside (as worthless as it is today), yet hams don't.

You're right, Lance, you don't seem to have the proper faculties to participate in this thread. If you did, you & I would agree that a VHF remote base should be set-up on one of numerous 2meter simplex channels, not the national simplex calling channel, and you'd stop wasting time trying to inject the irrelevant argument about how important amateur repeaters & remote bases are.

 

[LanceS2022]

You're right, Lance, you don't seem to have the proper faculties to participate in this thread. If you did, you & I would agree that a VHF remote base should be set-up on one of numerous 2meter simplex channels, not the national simplex calling channel, and you'd stop wasting time trying to inject the irrelevant argument about how important amateur repeaters & remote bases are.

I find the above paragraph to be quite nasty and uncalled for. (It's my guess; it’s a good thing you wrote it before the election, lol) However, I do appreciate the proper grammar used.

So with that said, I polled some of the highly decorated ham radio operators that patronize 146.520 and voiced some of your concerns. I was pleasantly surprised that they share some of the same ideas (wrong as they may be) that I posted about above. So in essences, I don't see anything changing anytime soon here in Las Vegas on 146.520.

 

[NevadaHam]

146.520 and Vegas

Oh please!!! Whine ***** and moan dept is closed.
First off the people that hang out on 146.520Mhz are LISTENING more than anyone realizes. travelers and guests to the Las Vegas areas and surrounding areas do drop in. NO ONE has ever been turned away, no one has been stepped on.People that ask for help/road assistance/directions are always helped out. The so called "Rag Chewing" stops for the duration.We dont need "Channel Cops" to tell us that 146.520 is RESERVED for calling only! It is SUGGESTED that people use it as a "Calling" channel and it does get used for that.But to use it for that ONLY just isn't going to happen anytime soon.We have a good time on 146.52Mhz. Now this is NOT a bunch of lowlife rednecks, but rather a highly intelligent group that has a lot of combined talent and information to share.To be honest, we ALL like to chat with the visitors. The high-tech hijinks will continue, the use of High Power remote bases WILL CONTINUE. It's Legal, it WORKS and enables some of us to hear weak handhelds and distant mobiles.If you are one of the people that need to use 146.520Mhz as a CALLING CHANNEL, drop in and do so! But we have ZERO intentions of reserving it for your personal use....

 

[Z0_RICK]

I think the repeaters are a great idea. This puts more ears on the channel and dramatically extends coverage .

I assisted someone through the repeater one night that had a vehicle breakdown. I was the Only one that responded.

I have never heard anyone not give up the channel for priority traffic or even a Ragchew

THe more people that can listen and interoperate the better.

 

[kslager]

Anyone interested in doing a fox hunt on .52 or some repeater input sometime in Vegas? It's not illegal...

 

[n4njj]

I just moved to the Valley from Buffalo, NY. In all honesty, the only real active frequency up in Buffalo is 146.52 MHz. There's a group of guys in there every morning from about 6 AM -10 AM and then again from about 5:30 until midnight (1 or 2 on the weekends). If they weren't there, no one would be listening.

Same story. People would complain.

It amazes me how many hams don't understand that the ARRL isn't a law or policy writing body. It's an advocacy (lobby) group. It suggests that 146.520 MHz is used as a calling frequency, but it's not required by law.

The fact of the matter is, if there isn't chatter and people have no reason to go there, no one will... and to the few stations that always say, "I have good ears, I'll monitor 52 for emergencies once the rag chews go away," can you really be by your radio 24 hours a day, 365 days a year?

With that said, what exactly are these link frequencies? I have found two, but what about the others?

 

[LanceS2022]

The only one that I know of that is currently active is:

The Remote Base on Blue Diamond hill

RX
447.975 82.5
TX
442.975 85.4

 

[Hooligan]

I just moved to the Valley from Buffalo, NY. In all honesty, the only real active frequency up in Buffalo is 146.52 MHz. There's a group of guys in there every morning from about 6 AM -10 AM and then again from about 5:30 until midnight (1 or 2 on the weekends). If they weren't there, no one would be listening.

Same story. People would complain.

It amazes me how many hams don't understand that the ARRL isn't a law or policy writing body. It's an advocacy (lobby) group. It suggests that 146.520 MHz is used as a calling frequency, but it's not required by law.

The fact of the matter is, if there isn't chatter and people have no reason to go there, no one will... and to the few stations that always say, "I have good ears, I'll monitor 52 for emergencies once the rag chews go away," can you really be by your radio 24 hours a day, 365 days a year?

With that said, what exactly are these link frequencies? I have found two, but what about the others?

You're chock-full of worthless Straw-Man arguments. Smart hams know that the ARRL doesn't set laws. But smart, educated hams know that the FCC has made it clear that they respect the band plans that have been set.

No, I don't monitor 146.520 24/7, but I try to monitor it (including scanning) it frequently. Part of my "good ears" includes desert areas & rugged canyons (for example, Zion National Park) that don't have cellphone coverage & it's too bad I have to temporarily lock-out 146.520 because some idiots in the Las Vegas area want to express their right to rebroadcast their rag-chewing on it via a high-profile remote base.