New-tech

[g8shot1]

I ventured into amateur radio on a whim and passed the technician exam in August. I continue to read/study more and more but I thought I'd better get some practical experience. I bought a Kenwood thf6a handheld less than a week ago. I've listened to some conversations on 2M but never tried to talk, yet. I've also listened to an Orange County NY radio club meeting.

Today I programmed in a repeater in Highland, NY - N2OXV + 100. I know I've done something right because now and then I hear "oxv" or "100" in a mechanized voice from the repeater. However, I haven't heard anyone talking there and never received a response to " kd2jhh monitoring, that's kilo delta two juliet hotel hotel monitoring."

Is there any easy way to make sure I'm transmitting through the tower other than finding someone to listen at a specific time?

Thanks,
Jim
kd2jhh

 

[reconrider8]

Is that repeater vhf or uhf? Off set for vhf is 600 khz not 100 and uhf is 5 mhz if I'm not mistaken. I'm studying for mine also
After doing a little research it seems to be 147.045 +600 (147.645) offset with a tone of 100hz on the input side

 

[g8shot1]

Yes

It is FM, VHF, standard positive offset (+) and PL tone of 100. When I hit the ptt I see the tx frequency change to 147.645

 

[WA0CBW]

It may be that you are to weak to get into the repeater reliably. All anyone may be hearing is noise when you give out your call. Try calling someone and see if you get a response. It is possible that there wasn't anyone listening to the repeater when you called. At the end of an ongoing conversation try calling one of the participants.
BB

 

[robertmac]

On some of our local repeaters, I hear a number of times the repeater opens, but the transmitting station is too weak to hear. With the proliferation of the cheap HTs, far too many people are expecting to get into a repeater with just 5-8 watts. The person may think they are heard as the repeater will respond, but those listening cannot make out much of what was said. Location Location Location is all important to HTs. If you are not getting a response from anyone, try getting as close to the repeater as possible, that is, with in a mile. FInd out when if or when there is a net on the repeater and again, try getting as close to it as possible to ensure the HT is programmed correctly. There may be someone after the net that will help determine how far away from the repeater you can be to still make it in without having loss of signal.

 

[g8shot1]

Still tryin

Thanks for the replies. I will drive over to one of the repeaters later today. The one I hear noise/chat from is 10.5 miles from me and probably a few hundred feet higher than I am.

Another repeater I want to try to hit is 9.5 miles away, a few hundred feet higher than I am, and I can see the tower on a clear day. It is supposed to have autopatch......

Still learnin.

 

[g8shot1]

I did

Drove over to the tower I've heard something from. Hit the ptt and announced. As soon as I let go of the ptt I heard the repeater respond with its call sign and the word "repeater". I did it a second time and got a clear beep/ping after I released the ptt. But no responses.

 

[kf5bti]

While hams are a friendly group of people I tend to find if they don't know you they often will not respond to a call. Also many repeaters have little traffic. I suggest you start by finding some 2M nets in the area and try checking into them. Most clubs will hold a net on a weekly basis at a minimum.

 

[g8shot1]

HA

I think I've got it now......

I found a RadioShack Pro97 Scanner. Works fine, still has the data in it that I downloaded from RR. I'll drive back to the repeater soon and take the scanner to make sure I can hear myself and know how it sounds.

Thanks!

 

[kf5bti]

There is a good chance that while transmitting close to a receiver you will overload it and a) heard the HT directly even thought its not on the exact same frequency b) hear the key up but no audio. I often see this when people are standing near each other and one of them tries to use a radio, someone standing within a few feet doesn't heard anything

Do you have someone that can sit 100' or so away and listen to the scanner?

 

[g8shot1]

Yes

She who must be obeyed can mount a nearby bar stool and listen for my squawking from a mile or so away.....

Clearly I have to get an antennae above my house and more power.

Thanks!

 

[popnokick]

Jim- I'm willing to sked a QSO with you... Assuming we can both hit the same repeater or linked repeater system. I'm NW of you in PA's Pocono Mts region. Can you hear / hit the 146.625 KQ2H linked repeater in Bethel NY or any other part of the KQ2H system? Or any other 2M linked system such as N3KZ or W3WAN? You'll find all of them in RepeaterBook.com or other online listings.

 

[g8shot1]

It Worked

It worked! I set the scanner to listen only to the Highland, NY repeater and handed it SWMBO, I then went upstairs and faced the repeater from a window. SWMBO heard me loud and clear.

I was just being ignored!!

popnokick: I just found that I can hit N2OXV from my house on a clear day. My next try will be with N2ETY in Cragsmoor, NY. Bethel would be too far for my tiny 5W HT. I'll get there eventually, thanks for the offer.

 

[KC5AKB]

Have you got any of those shy hams to reply to you yet?
kc5akb am I making the machine ? Is what I would try . Wait and
Then kc5akb ( say my call real slow ) listing . Wait and see if I get a reply.
just a idea.

 

[jim202]

Here is a list of repeaters within 25 miles of Highland, NY. Can't say that they all will be on the air or active. Just remember that the 146.xxx repeaters use an offset of -0.6 and the 147 repeaters use an offset of + 0.6.. The tone needed to trip the repeaters is the second number. The third number is the distance from Highland, NY. and the direction.

Have fun with your radio and see which repeaters you can find.

Jim


Highland, NY 147.045 100.0 N2OXV 0.0 N2OXV Ulster NYREP
Marlboro, NY 147.015 100.0 N1HWI 7.9 N1HWI VIRCC
New Salem, NY 145.190 103.5 K2CT 12.6N K2CT 103.5 Albany NYREP
New Salem, NY 147.375 100.0 KA2QYE 12.6N KA2QYE 100.0 Albany NYREP
Mt. Beacon, NY 146.970 100.0 KC2DAA 14.6S KC2DAA 100.0 Dutchess NYREP
Millbrook, NY 146.895 100.0 N2EYH 14.8E N2EYH Dutchess NYREP
Kingston, NY 147.255 77.0 WA2MJM 14.8N WA2MJM Ulster NYREP
Wheatfield, NY 146.730 KD2GBR 15.1W KD2GBR Dual Mode D-Star and Analog WNYSORC
Newburgh, NY 146.430 71.9 N2HEP 15.2S N2HEP Orange Orange NYREP
New Windsor, NY 147.075 88.5 W2TRR 17.2S W2TRR Orange Orange NYREP
Krumville, NY 146.745 123.0 KC2BYY 18.5NW KC2BYY 123.0 Ulster NYREP
Philipstown, NY 146.670 156.7 N2NYW 20.8S Peekskill/Cortland Amateur Radio Association K1IW
Washingtonville, NY 145.250 100.0 WB2BQW 22.3S WB2BQW Orange 3390 14070 Orange 3390 14070 NYREP
Cragsmoor, NY 147.075 114.8 N2ETY 22.3W N2ETY Ulster NYREP
Carmel, NY 145.130 136.5 K2PUT 24.8SE K2PUT 136.5 Putnam NYREP

 

[jim202]

Here is some more repeaters close by. They may or may not be active. I might point out that the tones needed to trip off the repeaters are notorious for being wrong in many of the databases available on the internet.

Jim

147.0750 +0.6 MHz 114.8 Cragsmoor Ulster N2ETY OPEN Unknown status
147.3900 +0.6 MHz 156.7 Cragsmoor Ulster WA2ZPX CLOSED Unknown status
147.0450 +0.6 MHz 100.0 Highland, Illinois Mountain Ulster N2OXV OPEN ON-AIR
146.8050 -0.6 MHz 103.5 Kingston Ulster WA2MJM OPEN ON-AIR
147.2550 +0.6 MHz 77.0 Kingston Ulster WA2MJM OPEN ON-AIR
146.7450 -0.6 MHz 123.0 Krumville Ulster KC2BYY OPEN ON-AIR
147.5350 -2 MHz 100.0 Napanoch Ulster KC2FBI OPEN

 

[AB4BF]

Hi g8shot1, welcome to the "club". As i was reading your post, I was nodding my head thinking that's me. I ordered a BaoFeng UV82, an extra battery, and a longer antenna as recommended when I got my tech license, plugged in the nearest repeater which is in Edgefield, could hit it with my call sign and got a return from the repeater and then - crickets. I ordered the proper programming cable and put in all the repeaters in a 30 mile radius of my home and went down the list trying to hit and open repeaters. The way I did it was "this is KM4MMN for a radio check". Boy, did I get responses. You've got to remember that the repeater will repeat what you send it, if it has enough signal to break its squelch. Garbage In-Garbage Out, or good signal in great signal out.

Now, my brother in law, KM4MMO, gave me an extra *Ed Fong(R)* put together 2m/70cm antenna and I hooked it up in my computer room/office and and I hooked it up with an RG58 cable assembly that I had from mobile CB days. The antenna is nestled about 3 feet above the floor in the corner resting on a printer, vertical up the corner. I talk to Saluda, the Trenton repeater, Leesville, and the SC Heart system with the nearest being Beech Island, all on 2 meter.

I also ordered a 2 meter antenna for my truck, a Wilson(R) 2 meter 5/8 wave mobile with magnet mount. We set it up using a friend's antenna analyzer and found the adapters I had purchased was adding standing wave to the output. The adapter from SMA to PL259. I like the short all metal gold plated adapters and even with these one has to be careful when setting up a radio. They seem to be made by different manufacturers. We found the best ones from a company in New Jersey and got 5 from them for 20 bucks free shipping. These make the analyzers needle bump a little but you gotta look close to see it. I use these on all my HT connections, now.

All in all, Amateur Radio has one great group of Elmers and XYLs. All you have to do is call...

 

[k6cpo]

While hams are a friendly group of people I tend to find if they don't know you they often will not respond to a call. Also many repeaters have little traffic. I suggest you start by finding some 2M nets in the area and try checking into them. Most clubs will hold a net on a weekly basis at a minimum.

This may very well be the case. I usually have my radio scanning, both at home and in the car and I hear people do this a lot. I don't normally come back to them because if I did, I'd be talking on the radio ALL the time and not get anything else done.

The suggestion about finding some club nets is a good one. I'd even go so far as to consider becoming a member of a club. When I was first licensed, I looked around for a club and eventually joined one. My second year I was Vice-President and I'm now halfway through my second term as President. Funny how things like that happen...