A slight increase of use in 2 meters?

[N4JKD]

In your area, have you noticed a slight bit of more use on 2 meters? I have been hearing a lot of newer call signs coming onto the repeaters on 2 meters here. I know that with the dropping of code, the general and extra are a bit easier to get, so more people are getting on HF, but not all of us can afford HF equipment so we are on FM, but I have also noticed in the area that UHF repeaters are more commonly quiet, unless weather gets bad than those repeaters are used for a statewide linked repeater system. Another thing to is that with the whole government wanting to sell of part of 70cm thing is driving some people back to old reliable 2 meters. What do you think? Is 2 meters really starting to see a resurgance?

 

[W2NJS]

I don't believe that your statement about the "whole government wanting to sell part of 70cm" is valid, to start with. In my area, which is saturated with VHF and UHF repeaters, daily activity is about the same as it has been, except that we are seeing the addition of TRBO and P25 repeaters which so far seem to be the province of the more technically inclined hams. If you experience a provable increase in activity I believe it's the result of new licensees getting on the air, because the amateur ranks are growing for some of the reasons you listed, but the threat to 70cm is the work of one misguided Congressman and nothing more.

 

[N4JKD]

The "threat" to hams with 70cm is that we are secondary users, not primary, but like you said, I don't see this happening, as there are still a lot of linked repeater systems on 70cm all over the country. I enjoy both bands, but personally, I like 2m better because it is where I made my first contact, and have had more luck raising contacts there than 70cm

 

[N4JKD]

Don't get me wrong, I like 440 also, just not used as much here as 2m, but @ the same time, the more "professional" hams are on 440 here, whereas, some of the 2 meter repeaters here have gone the way of CB alsmost, minus the profanity.

 

[Daniel_Boone]

Well - all I can say is that the old time Ham's - and by that I will say that most of the hams in or local club has been hams since about 1982 - that they do not talk on the repeaters - because the people who owned the repeaters were bung holes and acted poorly.

They all said to me to listen - don't talk.

The reason why they said to listen - don't talk, is because if you listen long enough - you will decide who is the bung holes and who are the good hams.

Most old time hams will spend their radio time on the HF and not on the two meters.

As some of you have said, it isn't much better at times then the CB radio.

There is a lot of hams - especially the old ones that thinks that they know about ham radio - but they do not understand VHF reception or even how their radios works.

I hear some pretty stupid conversations - such as - I'm mobile and 20 miles away from the repeater and you are sitting at your base and 3 miles from the repeater - and when they cannot receive you - they automatically tell you that the problem is with your radio and antenna and not theirs.

The last time I checked, my house or antenna has not moved in the past 120 years and my radio and antenna is brand new.

Then you ask them - what kind of radio are you using and what kind of antenna and what is your location and they tell you they have some old piece of junk 20 year old 25 watt radio and some scabbed together antenna and they are going down a steep hill into a valley where even the sun don't shine until 11 AM and it sets at 1 PM.

I usually just tell them thanks for the report and I will talk to you another time and let it at that.

I believe that the government is looking to take away the 400 mhz bands due to the fact that public service in my area of the country is all migrating up into the 440's.

There is no benefit to using the VHF - due to the fact that it don't work good in bad weather - too much noise.

There is lot's of people getting their tickets right now - but most of them are not willing to spend much money or do much work once they get their ticket and I doubt if most of them will still be transmitting 3 years from now.

It's kind of like a novelty or a fad and most times the life of a fad is only about 18 months.

Just look at the Slinky, Rubrics cube, the jump rope, rock em sock em robots, Mr Potato Head, Stretch Armstrong, etc....

 

[wholmesjr]

N5phr

I am in East Texas and have seen more interest in our area. We did send out a letter to all hams in the area last month. That brought some hams that had been inactive back to the airwaves. I have seen more "ham" news worthy reporting lately on TV and in the newspapers. Certainly the dropping of the code opened the gate to some who were fearful of it.

However, several other things might be happening:

With a downturn in the economy perhaps people are turning to other types of stay at home hobbies.

We have all seen the violent weather lately, in light of tornado, hurricanes, floods, terrorist attacks, earthqiuakes, the realization may be sinking in with people, that public service communications may indeed be unreliable during disasters.

Homeland security has been forced by congress to incorporate the amateur radio community into their preparedness.

 

[N4JKD]

With this though, they are eventually wanting to go narrow band, or D-star, as states are getting federal funding to make their communications d-star or digital. I would say in the next 20 years, analog amateur radio will be a thing of the past. With D-star, you can talk locally or all over the world and not need to worry about propagation, although I do think that HF will always be around as a reliable back up

 

[reedeb]

With this though, they are eventually wanting to go narrow band, or D-star, as states are getting federal funding to make their communications d-star or digital. I would say in the next 20 years, analog amateur radio will be a thing of the past. With D-star, you can talk locally or all over the world and not need to worry about propagation, although I do think that HF will always be around as a reliable back up

The same thing was said about CW. BUT they dropped CW requirements and CW is still out there. You will see analog for a long time yet.

 

[N8IAA]

Twenty-six years this month I've been a licensed ham. Learned a lot about ham radio. Did runs, walks, and bikeathons. Soccer and hockey games to learn how to work as a unit in time of need or crisis. Became a spotter for the NWS. Net control at the wx service and at home. Countless Field Days. I've built antennas from scratch and taught new hams. One who invented a really unique antenna. I have to say the best years as a ham were the first five. After that, the politics and good ol' boy attitudes for the next few years turned me off to ham radio. Got back in for a few years again. Politics and the attitudes drove me away. Will I ever give up my license. No, I worked to hard to get it and enjoyed the good times. I know how to use a push-to-talk, program a ht on the run, and give a true skywarn report. Will I go back to any of the local clubs where I live now. Probably not. Someday I'll get a HF rig and talk around the world again. Do the people of this country and world need us. Yes. It comes to pass with each disaster. I'll survive, and so will the amateur service. With, or without the interference of the government.
JMTCW,
Larry