passed the exam....now what??
- Thread starter trx680
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146.520 MHz simplex. National simplex calling frequency according to many band plans.
Movieman990
Member
Yep, the 156 reference.....
....was a typo as I thought. The 146.520 was, as W9BU said, is what I understood for calling, but as several have also said ..... on long cross country trips not a single note was sung while monitoring that frequency. Crickets on that frequency...nope, not even crickets.
Oh well, gotta try...I know I will on my longer trips.
....was a typo as I thought. The 146.520 was, as W9BU said, is what I understood for calling, but as several have also said ..... on long cross country trips not a single note was sung while monitoring that frequency. Crickets on that frequency...nope, not even crickets.
Oh well, gotta try...I know I will on my longer trips.
I haven't made many long trips with amateur radio. One trip that I distinctly remember was in 1994 when I moved from Arizona to Indiana. Somewhere in western OK, I heard a call on 146.520 MHz. I answered and we had a nice chat for about a hundred miles as we were both travelling eastbound on I-40.
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- Jun 13, 2018
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"52" the playground of the gods
.
.
I love "52"- if there was one frequency in one band I'd Star- its 52.
.
I have it on all the time when driving - and while I often don't hear anything for long periods, when I do, I often make some surprising contacts.
.
I don't like the constant noise from repeaters, stuff I have no interest in. The nice thing about simplex is when the squelch breaks, it usually leads to an interesting chat. And sometimes its absolute, pure magic. For instance--
.
I was driving across central Arizona, on my way back to my (work) home near Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was shortly before sunset- one of those perfect southwestern evenings- warm, still, quiet-- perfect for star gazing later, perfect for an inversion now....
.
So, I just idly gave a
.
"CQ from (XYZ) Arizona, this is K(XXXX) mobile" - not expecting a thing - when almost immediately back came a familiar voice-
.
"Is that you Lauri ??!"
.
It was my dear friend driving outside of Santa Fe, on one of the mesas in our towne... How many hundreds of miles away?? ! ...she was as crystal clear as if she were just a mile ahead of me.
We must have talked for at least fifteen- maybe twenty minutes- and just as the sun crested the low lying mountains in a spectacular, final display- the band went out- and she was gone in a breath.
.
.
This was but one of many similar neat "52's"...... talking to aircraft hundreds of miles away, talking across the Pacific to Hawaii from the California coastal hills, talking mountain to mountain in the Rockies and the Sierras..... and many, many other inversion** contacts like that one with my friend.
.
.
.
Lauri
.
.
_______________________________________________
.
** even a couple very rare E-skips ....
.
.
I love "52"- if there was one frequency in one band I'd Star- its 52.
.
I have it on all the time when driving - and while I often don't hear anything for long periods, when I do, I often make some surprising contacts.
.
I don't like the constant noise from repeaters, stuff I have no interest in. The nice thing about simplex is when the squelch breaks, it usually leads to an interesting chat. And sometimes its absolute, pure magic. For instance--
.
I was driving across central Arizona, on my way back to my (work) home near Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was shortly before sunset- one of those perfect southwestern evenings- warm, still, quiet-- perfect for star gazing later, perfect for an inversion now....
.
So, I just idly gave a
.
"CQ from (XYZ) Arizona, this is K(XXXX) mobile" - not expecting a thing - when almost immediately back came a familiar voice-
.
"Is that you Lauri ??!"
.
It was my dear friend driving outside of Santa Fe, on one of the mesas in our towne... How many hundreds of miles away?? ! ...she was as crystal clear as if she were just a mile ahead of me.
We must have talked for at least fifteen- maybe twenty minutes- and just as the sun crested the low lying mountains in a spectacular, final display- the band went out- and she was gone in a breath.
.
.
This was but one of many similar neat "52's"...... talking to aircraft hundreds of miles away, talking across the Pacific to Hawaii from the California coastal hills, talking mountain to mountain in the Rockies and the Sierras..... and many, many other inversion** contacts like that one with my friend.
.
.
.
Lauri
.
.
_______________________________________________
.
** even a couple very rare E-skips ....
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I have a Yaesu FT8900 in the car. When I travel, I usually scan the two UHF & VHF frequencies on one side of the radio. On the other side, I put in pre-programmed frequencies, depending on where I'm going. I make frequent trips to Dallas, Wichita, Bay City MI, Okefenokee Swamp and Mexico Beach in Florida, among others. The Yaesu has several memories (I can't recall their fancy name) but I can pick the one that covers the repeaters on the route I'm traveling.
Anyway, getting back to simplex, I rarely hear traffic on either of those frequencies.
Anyway, getting back to simplex, I rarely hear traffic on either of those frequencies.
KE0GXN
Member
Find your local club and go to a meeting. Decide if its for you and go from there....you'll get varying opinions on here about clubs. Regardless, try a meeting and decide for yourself. Best ham radio decision I made was joining my local club.
YMMV, but you won't know till you try.
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