Hitting Repeaters During Travel?

[Bored_Technician]

Hi all, brand new ham here. I drive around my state a lot for my job. I usually run a CB radio for traffic/fun. Now that I am licensed I am wanting to expand my horizons into VHF/UHF while traveling for work.


Repeater book shows that there are repeaters (pretty much all 2m and 70cm) almost everywhere I go! I'm wondering if it's common practice to check into repeaters and say say hi with local hams while driving around? I have actually googled a little bit on this and I can't find anything addressing this specifically. So I thought I would ask real hams.

I know I should listen for a little bit and hear if anything is going on.

If it's silence do I just identify and say hi I'm driving through looking to say hi? Or what is the proper operating procedure here?

There are a ton of dual band radios and I could easily program every repeater I will be near into the memory. Seems like it would be fun to switch between repeaters as I go along. Or maybe they are all dead and it will be boring. I guess part of the fun is finding out lol.

Is finding a tri-band so 1.25m is available worth it? There are some repeaters in 1.25 around but I realize that would probably need it's own antenna. That must be why 2m/70cm is so popular since you can get away with one antenna.

Also since I'm starting a thread anyway.... I'm open to suggestions for a good mobile dual or tri band radio and magnet mount antenna. There will be no permanent mounting since I will be taking it in and out of my work van.

Thank you all for your help. And if anyone wonders why I don't post my call sign, it's because I'm such a new ham it hasn't been assigned yet

 

[mmckenna]

If it's silence do I just identify and say hi I'm driving through looking to say hi? Or what is the proper operating procedure here?

Often you'll hear hams toss out their call signs as "W1XYZ monitoring". That's a good way to say "hi, I'm here if anyone wants to talk".

Wether or not you get a reply is up to those that may be listening. Not uncommon for many repeaters to be very quiet. Some more active than others. Time of day also plays into it. Rush hour might get you better results.

I've done this in the past, and you can get some interesting discussions going, good advice about the local area, or in some cases, nothing at all.

There are a ton of dual band radios and I could easily program every repeater I will be near into the memory. Seems like it would be fun to switch between repeaters as I go along. Or maybe they are all dead and it will be boring. I guess part of the fun is finding out lol.

Yup. One way to find out.

Also, don't forget to program in the calling frequencies. A lot of times when I was traveling, I'd keep 146.52 on. Often wouldn't hear anything, sometimes I'd hear other hams on the road.
Other times, just scan the simplex portions of the band and see what you hear.

Is finding a tri-band so 1.25m is available worth it? There are some repeaters in 1.25 around but I realize that would probably need it's own antenna. That must be why 2m/70cm is so popular since you can get away with one antenna.

Those 3 users on 222MHz are going to flame me for this, but I've never felt the need to add 222MHz to my vehicle. Not many users, a lot of the repeaters are linked to other bands.
But your milage will vary.

A basic dual band antenna is easy to find. There's a lot of options. Choices get limited if you want 222 also.

Also since I'm starting a thread anyway.... I'm open to suggestions for a good mobile dual or tri band radio and magnet mount antenna. There will be no permanent mounting since I will be taking it in and out of my work van.

There's a lot of good options.
When I had a dual band in my truck, I'd usually just run a 1/4 wave VHF whip. It'll work well on 2 meters, and it'll act as a 3/4 wave on 70cm. Not a perfect UHF antenna as it tosses the signal a bit above the horizon, but it's super low profile and inexpensive.

If you want a dual band antenna, it's really hard to beat the Larsen NMO-2/70 or the NMO-2/70SH. Larsen is a brand that has been around for decades and they make professional antennas used heavily in the LMR industry. I have 30+ year old Larsen antennas.
EM Wave is another good company, They make professional stuff, but they have antennas that will work fine for 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands.

Don't cut corners on your antenna, it's the most important part of your setup. Also, don't fall for the outlandish claims of some of the ham radio antenna companies. They don't have a magic sauce that makes their antennas work better than others. I've never been happy with the ham radio/hobby oriented brands, and I absolutely avoid the Cheap Chinese antennas. It's worth getting the good stuff.

Stick with NMO mounts, that's a universally accepted antenna mounting design. That'll give you the most options in the long run.

Thank you all for your help. And if anyone wonders why I don't post my call sign, it's because I'm such a new ham it hasn't been assigned yet

Welcome to the hobby.

 

[nd5y]

I'm wondering if it's common practice to check into repeaters and say say hi with local hams while driving around?

Yes. It was more common in the past. The VHF/UHF repeaters in some areas can be dead most of the time.

I know I should listen for a little bit and hear if anything is going on.

If it's silence do I just identify and say hi I'm driving through looking to say hi? Or what is the proper operating procedure here?

What most people used to do (locals and visitors) on both repeaters and simplex calling channels is:

Monitor the frequency for at least 30 seconds or so to make sure you are not interrupting something.

Then kerchunk the repeater. If it hasn't been in use for over 10 minutes it will probably ID. That can vary depending on how the repeater is configured.

Key up for a few seconds and then say something like "This is [callsign] listening on [frequency]." It's a good idea to mention what frequency or repeater you are on in case people are scanning and not looking at the radio at the time you called.

Is finding a tri-band so 1.25m is available worth it? There are some repeaters in 1.25 around but I realize that would probably need it's own antenna. That must be why 2m/70cm is so popular since you can get away with one antenna.

It depends on how much or little 1.25m activity there is in your area.
Comet and Diamond made good 2m/1.25m/70cm triband antennas. I'm not sure if they still do.

 

[hill]

Going forward I have had much better luck on 146.52 simplex when out of the area, than on the repeaters. Sometimes you won't be in range of the station long while driving to have a very long QSO, but many hams set up great antennas so they increase the simplex range. Plus it's always great when a mobile station replies and is driving on the same road and direction they you both can chat away for a longer time.

I haven't had much luck on the 70 CM frequency of 446.000.

Over in my area many hams call out on 146.52 when high up crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Being 200' in the air with nothing around really helps the signal. They are quick calls with only being there fir a short time unless stuck in traffic.

In closing don't overlook the other 2 meter simplex frequencies that aren't the national calling ones. Many of the other like 147.570 and 147.525 are used in my local area by hams that really don't use repeaters very much.

I travel out my local for work every week and like to just monitor the traffic on the repeaters. Even at home I seam to monitor the repeaters more than talk sometimes.

 

[Bored_Technician]

Thanks for these very informative responses! I will definitely make sure to keep an eye on simplex frequencies while I'm on the road.

I have recently been monitoring the closest repeaters to me on my Uniden BC355n scanner and it seems 70cm is fairly popular around here. I will probably not be the only ham with a mobile set going during daily commute times .

 

[KK4JUG]

When I travel, I program my radio for the repeaters along the anticipated route. Using mostly RepeaterBook and a map, I select the cities with repeaters that are open and, hopefully, operable. RT Systems software streamlines the process of programming the radio.

While on the road, however, I consider myself lucky if I made contact with 3 people in a thousand miles. My programming includes 146.52 simplex and if I see a proper antenna on a vehicle, I try to make contact there. I've had better luck with that than with the repeaters.

I know it's a hit or miss prospect so I'm not really disappointed with the lack of contacts.

 

[mmckenna]

I will definitely make sure to keep an eye on simplex frequencies while I'm on the road.

Your amateur license does not provide authority to transmit on GMRS, and your radio will/should block it, but you can program in the FRS/GMRS frequencies for receive only. Fairly common to hear traffic on those as you travel around. Some of it can be pretty interesting.

 

[KK4JUG]

Your amateur license does not provide authority to transmit on GMRS, and your radio will/should block it, but you can program in the FRS/GMRS frequencies for receive only. Fairly common to hear traffic on those as you travel around. Some of it can be pretty interesting.

I have GMRS radios and I'm licensed but I usually travel by myself and I've found that too many active radios is distracting. For that reason, I stick with one type of radio (ham, GMRS, satellite, etc.) to keep from being overwhelmed. At my age, it's easy to be inundated.

 

[mmckenna]

I have GMRS radios and I'm licensed but I usually travel by myself and I've found that too many active radios is distracting. For that reason, I stick with one type of radio (ham, GMRS, satellite, etc.) to keep from being overwhelmed. At my age, it's easy to be inundated.

Yeah, true.
I was doing a lot of driving 2 months ago and when the ham stuff was quiet, I switched the radio over to scanning MURS, which only had traffic in small quantities in larger towns. I then tried GMRS/FRS had quite a bit of traffic with travelers, businesses, etc. In the southwest, as other parts of the country, there are some large GMRS networks that can be pretty active and make for some interesting listening.

At other times, I just turned the volume down and enjoyed local AM radio stations, and just watched the scenery glide past.

 

[AK9R]

At other times, I just turned the volume down and enjoyed local AM radio stations, and just watched the scenery glide past.

Watching scenery, listening to a baseball game on AM radio, listening to podcasts is what I find myself doing most of the time while driving long distances.

 

[mmckenna]

Watching scenery, listening to a baseball game on AM radio, listening to podcasts is what I find myself doing most of the time while driving long distances.

Yeah, there's only so much ham/GMRS I can tolerate, then the volume gets turned down.

 

[GlobalNorth]

I listen to aviation band. Few hams want to chat with hams they do not know on 6m, 2m, 1.25m, 70cm or 33 cm; so when I am driving across the State, I listen to airplanes.

 

[kl7hny]

For 30 years I lived in a part of Alaska (the Kenai Peninsula) the size of Connecticut. Mountains (and spectacular scenery) abound, and generally form a pretty good barrier to VHF & UHF signals making it to Anchorage, the largest population center of the state.
For most of that time, there was one (count 'em: one) ham repeater on the entire Peninsula, an open 146.28/88 between Soldotna and Kenai. It had a roughly 50-mile service radius.
Touroids and other travelers driving towards the area could generally get into that repeater once they hit "the Sterling Flats" after negotiating the first 100 miles of the Seward & Sterling Highways. It was customary for one of us in the "Moosehorn Amateur Radio Club" to acknowledge the new call as it entered our area. As this was from long before the advent of cellular phones, it would let travelers know they weren't "alone" on their trip.
Some years later (90s?) a smaller club in Homer at the south end of the Peninsula put up their own 2m machine to cover most of Kachemak Bay. They incorporated a 6m repeater which served to link the 2m repeater to another 2m machine on Kodiak Island, about 110 air miles away.
For awhile, our two clubs experimented with 1.25m and 70cm links from Soldotna to Homer/Diamond Ridge, but getting "tower & power" for a non-commecial path was prohibitively expensive.

But to speak to the OP about announcing one's presence on the repeater once acquiring its footprint was commonplace, even encouraged. And there were typically a handful of hams who would engage with the "new presence" to provide an unofficial version of "flight following," to use an aeronautical term.
It was often a great way to make new friends.
73 for now de KL7HNY
diddly dahdidah
dit dit

 

[Bored_Technician]

But to speak to the OP about announcing one's presence on the repeater once acquiring its footprint was commonplace, even encouraged. And there were typically a handful of hams who would engage with the "new presence" to provide an unofficial version of "flight following," to use an aeronautical term.
It was often a great way to make new friends.

Very cool. Thanks for the interesting story. I wish I could have been a ham in pre-cellphone days. Commanding the power of distant communication must have been truly mind-blowing at that time.


I did finally get my radio and tried hitting a repeater of a town I was driving through. I ended up having a nice chat with two different hams that were monitoring. We all talked about 4th of July happenings. I will be doing more travelling this week so I will be programming in even more repeaters to monitor as I travel. I'm already up to 12 saved channels and I'm sure there will be a lot more.

I misplaced my programming cable so I'm doing it all on the radio. It's really no problem except that I can't name channels while programming through the menus.

So I have a document on my phone with the channels listed out . Eventually I will either find or buy a programming cable and go through and put proper names to all the frequencies so I don't have to check my phone.

Cheers!

 

[KC3ECJ]

It helps to know what repeaters are for example positioned on the highest mountains or most strategically placed.

I believe they moved the repeater site, but years ago in central PA on a trip going from the Scranton area to Michigan, I got a lot of distance out of the KB3BJO 2m repeater.
N3VTH 2m is another one nearby with rather good coverage.
When I was in the area where Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana meet, it's really flat.
I was getting some rather good simplex contacts on 2m with a 5 watt handheld and a Tram 1185 antenna.
I have no idea what their base antenna setups were like, but I was getting around 20 mile contacts.

Another thing to look for are linked repeaters which may have more activity.

Then the consideration is, what is the channel capacity of your radio?

If it's only around 100-200 channels you could be weighing your options.

I do like how there are DMR radios available now because typically they also have a great analog channel capacity too allowing for thousands of channels as well as zones(memory banks) for organization.

Maybe having a lot of 1.25m repeaters in the radio is the way to go. It's more niche, so there are less users, but the users might be more dedicated to actually using it.

 

[K6GBW]

It can be difficult trying to dial up repeaters while on the road. I usually do it on trips where the route is known. I drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas a few times a year and there are repeaters all along the route. I have those in my radio permanently. I'll call out of them and sometimes I get a reply. Often though they are crickets. I've noticed, especially on 440 machines, a tendancy for operators to only talk to people they know. Not as much fun as 25 years ago, but what are you gonna do?

On a recent long trip to Montana I listened to CB and GMRS. I was pretty mystified to hear virtually NOTHING on the CB except for what sounded like a guy preaching the gospel in Salt Lake, and the occassional work crews on GMRS. Radio is changing..but just do what you can.