Pro 106 and HAM

[Wahoos4Life]

what is the best way to listen to HAM on pro 106

Ive tried just scanning through the pre-programed channels, but Ive yet to ever even here anything

am I missing something?

[N8IAA]

Originally Posted by Wahoos4Life

what is the best way to listen to HAM on pro 106 Ive tried just scanning through the pre-programed channels, but Ive yet to ever even here anything am I missing something?

Depends on the band, 50, 145, 220, 440, 900, 1200Mhz. 6m (50Mhz) is subject to who is talking and when. 145Mhz (2m) band is most active at morning rush hour and evening rush hour. Might be some simplex in the evening. 220 and the rest of the UHF bands are dependent on repeaters and usage. Used to be when I first got licensed, you could find busy repeaters and simplex active day and night. A lot has changed in the last 24 years. Check out what repeaters are in your immediate area and program in the frequencies. You may need to be diligent and patient.
Larry

[Wahoos4Life]

Originally Posted by N8IAA

Depends on the band, 50, 145, 220, 440, 900, 1200Mhz. 6m (50Mhz) is subject to who is talking and when. 145Mhz (2m) band is most active at morning rush hour and evening rush hour. Might be some simplex in the evening. 220 and the rest of the UHF bands are dependent on repeaters and usage. Used to be when I first got licensed, you could find busy repeaters and simplex active day and night. A lot has changed in the last 24 years. Check out what repeaters are in your immediate area and program in the frequencies. You may need to be diligent and patient.
Larry

SO what are the best times to monitor HAM?

[Wahoos4Life]

From this link

http://www.artscipub.com/repeaters/l...a&city=Palmyra

I just program wahts listed under the OUTPUT section?

[torontokris]

Is HAM in the pre-programmed channels?
Try the SEARCHES instead of the pro-programmed channels.. maybe that will help out

[KD8EYF]

hey i just got a 106, Love it...
for your radio turn the squelch WAY UP, hit the 'SRCH' button until it says amateur, scan those banks,

button / band
0 / 10 meter
1 / 6meter
2 / 2meter
3 / 1.25 m
4 / 70cm
5 / 33cm
6 / 23cm band

most of the ham you will hear is from 144-148 (2m) and 420-450 (or 430-450 depending where you live) (70cm band)
There is also stuff going on depending on what bands and modulation you can receive. your scanner can get am / fm 28 > there is also alot of ham chatter from 1.8 - 30 mhz but most is ssb or cw for that you might need a new radio / antenna

[Wahoos4Life]

Originally Posted by torontokris

Is HAM in the pre-programmed channels?
Try the SEARCHES instead of the pro-programmed channels.. maybe that will help out

yea i ben scanning the srch ham pre programed freqs, never seem to find anything, might just be my area

[Michael-SATX]

Scanning VS Searching modes ... DONT press "Scan" key, Press "SRCH" key until the top line in the display reads "Srch Ham" and then try ONLY having sub-groups 2 & 4 ON (2M & 70cm) and sub-groups
0,1,3,5,6 OFF .... ps ~ You will probably have to hit the F1 soft key (FrL/O) to lock-out noisy freqs and birdy freqs ... ie 144.000 Mhz etc ... I would think you would hear some traffic on 146.5200 Mhz which
is the 2-Meter Ham Calling Frequency. Also, you might want to lQQk up your areas Ham "Skywarn" WX
frequency for your county. As you snag Ham freqs in Service Search mode, write down a list of these freqs and THEN later go ahead and enter yourself a dedicated "ScanList" of just Ham frequencies with text tags!
Good Luck and GREat Scanning !

[GrayJeep]

You were on the right track with using the repeater listing via the internet but that listing was a bit short.

Look for more radio clubs in the state and maybe across state line. Sometimes there is a really good wide-area coverage repeater that serves an area and then there will be numerous other "private" ones with smaller coverage. Also look for the 2m band plan and program in ALL the simplex freqs - sometimes a couple of friends will move off the calling freq and onto some freq more obscure to have a chat. (happens a lot in my town)

Listening to listed freqs works a lot better than searching empty air.

Repeaters were non-stop chatter and there weren't enough freqs for all the repeaters folks wanted to put up 25 to 30 years ago. Now they are relatively quiet except for rush hour chat and the occasional evening net. I suppose cellphones caused that.

[AlabamaRS]

Originally Posted by Wahoos4Life

SO what are the best times to monitor HAM?

Depends on what area you are in???

[N8IAA]

Originally Posted by Wahoos4Life

SO what are the best times to monitor HAM?

Morning and evening rush hours are the most active. Early evening for nets. Severe weather issues, snow, rain, floods check for SkyWarn frequencies in the directory. Southeast Repeater Assoc. is another good place to look for repeaters. Be patient, not all repeaters have activity all day long. There are some midday nets on local repeaters. With all the weather moving through the country today, it shouldn't be to hard to find something to hear.
EDIT: You might be able to hear Charlottesville's three repeaters: 146.760, 146.895, 146.925. One in Palmyra: 145.170.

Larry

[skyliner]

Originally Posted by Michael-SATX

As you snag Ham freqs in Service Search mode, write down a list of these freqs and THEN later go ahead and enter yourself a dedicated "ScanList" of just Ham frequencies with text tags!
Good Luck and GREat Scanning !

That's what I do -- have a scan list dedicated to frequently-used Ham frequencies in my area -- and there is pretty steady traffic. That's a lot simpler than doing the search mode, although search is a great way to find frequencies that are active. You just have to spend a little time doing that.

[pontiac-tim]

did you try thr search feature ?

[N8IAA]

220Mhz is a good band to monitor. Lots of hams consider it a "secret" because not to many have 220 rigs
900Mhz is an up and coming band. Most hams I know use /\/\oto Spectras.
Larry

[k5xs]

Someone else gave you the link to the artsci web site. Check it for repeaters in your area.

Also, you might want to look up local clubs in your area at the ARRL web site:

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/clubsearch.phtml

If there is a club in your area, getting in touch with them might be good (and you may find you want to pursue a ham license--It's more fun to listen when you can talk, too!).

And you may want to program in to one of your memories the national calling frequency for 2 meters (the most popular ham band the 106 can receive): 146.52 MHz.

Check out ham radio in general at www.arrl.org, you may like it!

(And most of us refer to it as "ham radio" rather than "HAM," but that's no big deal....)

Warm regards,
K5XS

[Wahoos4Life]

So I just got to listen in on my first conversation on the 106

I actually had to do it outside, and position the radio the antenna facing the south sky, for whatever reason.

listend in for about 30 minutes before the two signed off. Im going to have to get myself a discone antenna on the roof and that should increae my range abit

ps, I looked up the freq on this site and it is a skywarn dedicated station out of Richmond va

[petey_racer]

IMO do NOT use the search function for ham. The 440 band is huge and takes quite a while to search through. Search is fine for finding freqs you can't find in a listing or new repeaters not listed yet.
Find the repeater outputs in your area and enter them into a bank. This way you won't miss a thing.
Make sure you also put in all the simplex freqs as well, like 146.520, 535, 550; 446.000

Also, Artsci is a bit lacking for your area. Try this search.
http://rptr.amateur-radio.net/arn/rptr/
Put in your town and use 50 miles. Click the radio boxes for the bands you want to hear. I did it for your town and got a bunch of repeaters.

[N8IAA]

Originally Posted by Wahoos4Life

So I just got to listen in on my first conversation on the 106

I actually had to do it outside, and position the radio the antenna facing the south sky, for whatever reason.

listend in for about 30 minutes before the two signed off. Im going to have to get myself a discone antenna on the roof and that should increae my range abit

ps, I looked up the freq on this site and it is a skywarn dedicated station out of Richmond va

Are you using the antenna that came with the radio?? You need to get a decent portable antenna along with the discone. Didn't any of the freqs that I posted for your area get active with WX moving through?? Those four frequencies are certainly closer than Richmond.
Larry

[Wahoos4Life]

Originally Posted by N8IAA

Depends on the band, 50, 145, 220, 440, 900, 1200Mhz. 6m (50Mhz) is subject to who is talking and when. 145Mhz (2m) band is most active at morning rush hour and evening rush hour. Might be some simplex in the evening. 220 and the rest of the UHF bands are dependent on repeaters and usage. Used to be when I first got licensed, you could find busy repeaters and simplex active day and night. A lot has changed in the last 24 years. Check out what repeaters are in your immediate area and program in the frequencies. You may need to be diligent and patient.
Larry

What is simplex?

[Wahoos4Life]

Originally Posted by N8IAA

Are you using the antenna that came with the radio?? You need to get a decent portable antenna along with the discone. Didn't any of the freqs that I posted for your area get active with WX moving through?? Those four frequencies are certainly closer than Richmond.
Larry

Yea I am, what would you recomend as a good replacement for the stock pro 106 antenna?

PS, to answer your question, Logically you would think the answer would be yes. but Nope, Silent.