Reviving amateur radio was: Since It's Marketed as a Ham Radio..,

[sunwave]

Quansheng K6 is a neat little radio. I purchased one. Flashed Ezgumer v0.22 firmware onto it. Disabled transmit completely being non-licensed. I enjoy the radio for it's aircraft band coverage and other terrestrial signals. Ham radio in Oklahoma City on 2m/70cm is lacking in activity badly but I keep a few frequencies plugged into it. I thought maybe this radio will impress upon me to push to retest but nope. Been down that road before. Noone transmits ion 2m/70cm like they did back in the early 2000's. I used to ragchew on repeaters when I had a license a lot. Would be a waste of tech license with no one to gab with on a repeater.

So you hams want new people? Get a campaign going to get 2m/70cm active a lot more and really push hard. Noone wants to do digital and or voice in a dead ham band. Oklahoma City really needs hours per day activity. I have no idea why repeaters are still up in Oklahoma City because usage is really sparse. Maybe ham radio needs a fresh new start with younger minds beefing up activity because the older hams won't.

 

[buddrousa]

The I want it now generation wants to talk around the world with a walkie talkie and not have to get the Extra Class License.
This is fixed with Hot Spots and Internet and a $100 walkie talkie not $1000's in equipment.
Next is finding tower sites in OK as tower owners see Cell Companies paying $1000's a month for tower space and hams are not going to get the space free or cheap.

 

[K9KLC]

Quansheng K6 is a neat little radio. I purchased one. Flashed Ezgumer v0.22 firmware onto it. Disabled transmit completely being non-licensed. I enjoy the radio for it's aircraft band coverage and other terrestrial signals. Ham radio in Oklahoma City on 2m/70cm is lacking in activity badly but I keep a few frequencies plugged into it. I thought maybe this radio will impress upon me to push to retest but nope. Been down that road before. Noone transmits ion 2m/70cm like they did back in the early 2000's. I used to ragchew on repeaters when I had a license a lot. Would be a waste of tech license with no one to gab with on a repeater.

So you hams want new people? Get a campaign going to get 2m/70cm active a lot more and really push hard. Noone wants to do digital and or voice in a dead ham band. Oklahoma City really needs hours per day activity. I have no idea why repeaters are still up in Oklahoma City because usage is really sparse. Maybe ham radio needs a fresh new start with younger minds beefing up activity because the older hams won't.

I'm not even sure where to start here. Yes, ham radio isn't what it was in the 90's or early 2000's as far as repeaters go, nor will it ever be again. (at least I don't think so). There is a little repeater activity here near St. Louis, a few nets that get a fair amount of of check-ins, but other than that pretty quiet during the day.

Not to be rude, but you've bought a 30 buck HT, likely no bonafide outside antenna and you're saying the bands are dead. Well ya, ok...
I cannot speak to your area but the same thing would happen in my area too unless....you perhaps got a different radio, outside antenna with proper coax, and then spun that VFO around. There is a lot of simplex comms in my area, on 2 meters, 1.25 meters, 70CM and 33 CM on FM. Weekends there's multiple groups of folks on different frequencies and we welcome everyone into the fray. Just key up and talk.

On Thursday nights, there is a 2 meter SSB net, and people (that I've worked with a modest 2 meter loop at only 20 feet) check in and I can work people 75-150 miles away, and the bigger station guys get 200 + mile contacts.

Recently 2 new 33 cm repeaters have come on the air in our area and there's talk of linking them to some 1.25 meter repeaters, and you know what? These guys are all "OLDER". I'm 70 and the other fellow involved is 77.
I will agree I don't know why some repeaters are still on the air that sit idly day in and out, but should we choose to use them, they're still there. If all you're doing is listening and not keying up and calling out, (I saw the no license part) you may not get activity. If everyone else simply has radios sitting there scanning, ya, no one is talking.

Ham radio. has many facets and there's something in it that people usually find that they like and they stay with that. In the mid 90s I had a linked repeater system, all RF linked none of this internet stuff, and it was hard to get a word in edgewise at times. Lost the site cause I wasn't willing to pay 750 a month per site to keep my stuff on the air.

As @buddrousa said the generation wants it now, and why go thru all the trouble to do all the stuff required to have an actual "ham radio station" when they can accomplish the same thing with an HT, hotspot and internet. You yourself have invested virtually nothing into the hobby, and while that's fine of course, and I don't blame you, perhaps get involved see what you personally can do to help the hobby.

Unfortunately though, the times they are a changing for many people, and they just don't want to go to the effort to get licensed, put up a station, and get on the air with all this internet stuff happening. I dabbled in that a little over a month and decided the internet stuff was not for me. (hotspots) Occasionally I do get on one of the Illinois link rooms, but at that, I do it thru thru a repeater not a hotspot from my house.
I'm on the air a lot, with a 30 plus year old Kenwood TM741 so I can effectively monitor 3 bands at one time, a Motorola 33cm radio and an HF radio that I listen and work various bands on including 6 and 10 meters (which a technician class can use) and have a blast.

Good luck on whatever you decide. It's not what it used to be but you can make the best of what it is now.
73-Greg

 

[K7MH]

The big days of vhf/uhf FM activity is over done and gone. The 70s (especially) and the 80s were the sort of golden age for that. All before cell phones and the internet became the "thing". I don't expect it to ever return to that kind of level of activity again. 90% of what I hear in the evening here (Seattle area) is a few nets. Some are "social nets" that are pretty busy for a couple hours and not too much a controlled or directed net. That is what I hear from many nights of scanning about 50 frequencies for several hours till midnight or later.

Aside of that, when I was first licensed back in 1971, I had never met anyone that got licensed just to be able to get on 2 meters or higher.
Most everyone was primarily interested in getting on HF bands and fishing for DX and see how far out there they could make a signal go.
Most technician class licensees I knew were on 6 meters SSB chasing DX.

But times have changed. Some for good, some for bad. My advice is to get your general class license and get on the HF bands. Far more activity and fun! There is always something going on on one HF band or another.

 

[K9KLC]

Most technician class licensees I knew were on 6 meters SSB chasing DX.

I know a few that still are and now they get that piece of 10 meters.

I had never met anyone that got licensed just to be able to get on 2 meters or higher.

While that was never my purpose, at the moment my energies are definitely on 2 meters and higher. I know a couple extra class guys that are just tired of HF and now chasing things like 2 SSB, or higher frequencies. The great thing about ham radio is there is something for everyone out there!

73-Greg

 

[sunwave]

Not to be rude, but you've bought a 30 buck HT, likely no bonafide outside antenna and you're saying the bands are dead. Well ya, ok...

Did you read my signature? I have some pretty nice SDR's for VHF/UHF. I can hear it if it's there. SDRPlay's and an Airspy HF+.

The $30 HT was for the fun of it. Mainly for aircraft band monitoring but dang you hams might as well tell FCC to just remove any band above HF because VHF/UHF is local line of sight and not worldwide via skywave propagation. More spectrum for usage for other types of services. Lose it like it's hot like 27MHz.

People talk like VHF/UHF are dead and gone well think about it. If 'Market Makers' get their way, there may only be 50MHz and up ham radio. High Speed Trading on HF sure is mighty tasty to Wall Street. Might as well get used to VHF/UHF in case it does turn out that HF Traders on HF wins out big.

 

[kc2asb]

It's clear that the OP has given up on ham radio and very clear that many others have not. I read through some very thoughtful replies from hams that are still into the hobby and are trying to keep it going. Sure, nothing is what it was in the 90's/early 2000's and prior. I was licensed in '97 and very active. I had radios for 10m + 6m/2m/220/440. Chased DX on 10m & 6m SSB. I was even on 900mhz FM as our club had a repeater. I was a board member of the club for a while. Seemed like every local repeater was brimming with activity. Then we lost our meeting room and repeater space in the town firehouse, when funding was cut, as we were part of the OEM. That was the end of the club.

Members here are well aware of the doomsday scenarios you described above, and they have been discussed in great detail on this forum. IF the 'Market Makers' get their way? When do they not? (especially with current leadership) What will be will be in that case, and I will not lose sleep over something that few of us have much if any control over. I would not be happy to see HF taken away, of course.

73's and happy monitoring.

 

[K9KLC]

Did you read my signature? I have some pretty nice SDR's for VHF/UHF. I can hear it if it's there. SDRPlay's and an Airspy HF+.

The $30 HT was for the fun of it. Mainly for aircraft band monitoring but dang you hams might as well tell FCC to just remove any band above HF because VHF/UHF is local line of sight and not worldwide via skywave propagation. More spectrum for usage for other types of services. Lose it like it's hot like 27MHz.

People talk like VHF/UHF are dead and gone well think about it. If 'Market Makers' get their way, there may only be 50MHz and up ham radio. High Speed Trading on HF sure is mighty tasty to Wall Street. Might as well get used to VHF/UHF in case it does turn out that HF Traders on HF wins out big.

Yes I read your signature. Tell me, which of the receivers you have help ham radio. I use VHF and UHF way way more than HF. You are one of the people talking it, not me, not the hams in my area. I have never said VHF and UHF are dead and gone. Just keep monitoring on, that in and of itself is a fascinating hobby. I have scanners, Unication voice pagers and radios from 1.8 MHz to 1.2 GHz I talk on.

Sorry you can't fire up your receivers and hear what you want to hear on 2 meters. I'll only says this complaining on an Internet forum isn't the way to increase activity in your area. Get relicensed and start the change up want in your area.

Hold a rag chew session. Hams love to key that mic, give them a reason over the air to do it.

Good luck. Hope you find what you're looking for.

 

[K9KLC]

It's clear that the OP has given up on ham radio and very clear that many others have not. I read through some very thoughtful replies from hams that are still into the hobby and are trying to keep it going. Sure, nothing is what it was in the 90's/early 2000's and prior. I was licensed in '97 and very active. I had radios for 10m + 6m/2m/220/440. Chased DX on 10m & 6m SSB. I was even on 900mhz FM as our club had a repeater. I was a board member of the club for a while. Seemed like every local repeater was brimming with activity. Then we lost our meeting room and repeater space in the town firehouse, when funding was cut, as we were part of the OEM. That was the end of the club.

Members here are well aware of the doomsday scenarios you described above, and they have been discussed in great detail on this forum. IF the 'Market Makers' get their way? When do they not? (especially with current leadership) What will be will be in that case, and I will not lose sleep over something that few of us have much if any control over. I would not be happy to see HF taken away, of course.

73's and happy monitoring.

Ya I agree. Great post. I'll just keep doing my part to keep the bands alive.

Good deal on the 900 repeater. We've just put 2 new ones up here. Great band we're having a blast on it especially during some openings we've had reaching right at 70 miles simplex.

73- Greg.

 

[kc2asb]

Listen to HF on any given day and it's clear there is a great deal of activity on most of the bands, all things being equal with propagation. On big contest weekends, the activity is off the charts. Stations are packed together 2khz apart, at best. If HF is taken away, it's won't be because its under-utilized.

 

[kc2asb]

Ya I agree. Great post. I'll just keep doing my part to keep the bands alive.

Good deal on the 900 repeater. We've just put 2 new ones up here. Great band we're having a blast on it especially during some openings we've had reaching right at 70 miles simplex.

73- Greg.

Sounds great. Unfortunately, as I said, our club is gone along with the repeaters. The club might have survived if not for infighting among the board members, which I was one of. I think the board president took most of the equipment in the club room. We used Motorola Spectras on 900, programmed by a member that was a radio tech for his day job. This was all late 90's / early 2000's.

 

[K9KLC]

Sounds great. Unfortunately, as I said, our club is gone along with the repeaters. The club might have survived if not for infighting among the board members, which I was one of. I think the board president took most of the equipment in the club room. We used Motorola Spectras on 900, programmed by a member that was a radio tech for his day job. This was all late 90's / early 2000's.

I waited 25 years after getting licensed in 95, to finally join a club. I had my own repeaters on the air from 96-99 then lost the sites they were on unless I wanted to pay $750 a site to keep them there, and we had 4.....I was out at that time. Various clubs were after me to join, they wanted the repeaters, and I guess that's ok. In 2021 I fellow I had known for years and I got to talking and I attended their field day and saw what all was going on and had a blast. Not long after that I guess I coughed up dues money, and the rest is history.

Our club encourages young people (yes even junior high kids) and we welcome them with open arms. It's truly a great bunch of guys. I'm proud to be a member of such a great group. These kids are already bugging their parents about antenna's and such, and it's been a great honor to work with them. When the topic of internet HF (ok the hotspots) comes up, they say why would they want to do that, they've done that on computers and phones and don't need a license. One 7th grader told me "I don't need a license to talk on the Internet I want to talk on the radio" and he's already with a very modest station bagged several foreign DX stations on 10 meters, and man you should hear him talk about it. It's great.

I can't help the OP of this thread. What I know is this, there are those that complain and those that "do". I noticed another thread by him, telling people to get on the air. Perhaps it's do as I say and not as I do. "I dunno"... Anyway I do wish him luck in whatever hobby he decides to pursue. Scanning and monitoring is fascinating, I've done it since I was about 7 years old listening late in the night off an old Stewart Werner receiver my parents had, and as I got older, getting the idea to add more wire and well you know how it goes from there.

At 16 went to work at a radio-TV shop and we used CB's for dispatch and thus it began. Finally in 95 said ok, let's do this and 3 of us that were friends got licensed together. 3 of my 4 kids are licensed, and while not as active as I am, my son went ahead and upgraded to general not long after he got his tech. They've all helped out from time to time at various events we are asked to support and I appreciate it.

Sorry about your club downfall, that happens I've seen it around here on occasion but, we honesty have several pretty good ones in our area,. They all treat members well, and all the clubs get along great albeit occasionally with some friendly competition in this, that or the other.


FWIW we usually use mostly Motorola XPR radios for 900 here, both mobile and HT they're plentiful and easy to come by. A few guys use Kenwood 981's for mobiles also, I honestly like the receive on those better but the 5580 is close and has more transmit power.
73 out that way, perhaps we'll hook up one day on the air.

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

There's a fairly active repeater in Norman 147.060000 +0.6 tone 141.3. It holds a net Mon-Sat at 0900, Tuesday at 2000, Thursday at 2000 and 2030, off the top of my head. There's also one in Shawnee that runs nets a few times a week 145.190000 -0.6 tone 131.8. The only one I remember is Thursday at 1930. I do occasionally hear traffic on one of the OKC repeaters, but only when I'm closer to the city than where I live, so I haven't paid much attention to which one it is. Depending upon where in OKC you are, you may or may not be able to pick up those repeaters, but it's worth a try.

 

[hill]

dang you hams might as well tell FCC to just remove any band above HF

Don't think the FCC will be doing that anytime soon

Depends on your area. My local area has activity on these bands and so do.the areas I travel to in other states have activity. Many hams use simplex and don't get on repeaters. Your HT isn't really great for doing VHF/UHF simplex

It what people make of it. You can complain of no one using the repeaters or you can start putting out you call, since many are likely monitoring. When you start to get activity back people will use it.

 

[PDXh0b0]

2m/70cm....less and less fishing conversations , honey holes to be heard. I would go to these "secret spots" fish and chat up the other fishermen. The ones that were chatting in 2m/70cm laughed at my snooping the airwaves. Sadly these guys were all 10-30 yrs older than my 50ish years, I haven't seen them out fishing....the uv-k6 may be a "I want it now, next day delivery- I bought a second" it is a great Lil dx'n radio. One stays in my fishing pack. Hf radio is always busy somewhere on the spectrum. I wish there was more local traffic to listen in on, but then that makes me a part of the issue not being licensed and participating (there's probably a licensed ham out there on 2m/70cm waiting for someone to key up too talk to..." it takes a village")

 

[k6cpo]

So you hams want new people? Get a campaign going to get 2m/70cm active a lot more and really push hard. Noone wants to do digital and or voice in a dead ham band. Oklahoma City really needs hours per day activity. I have no idea why repeaters are still up in Oklahoma City because usage is really sparse. Maybe ham radio needs a fresh new start with younger minds beefing up activity because the older hams won't.

I live in a city with literally hundreds of repeaters, all of which see some activity. Most of it takes place in the evening and on the weekends. Something a lot of new people in ham radio don't realize is that a lot of us have lives outside of amateur radio. Everyone says this is an aging hobby, and to some extent it is but a large percentage of hams have this four-letter word called "work." Some take their radios to their jobs, but most employers frown on radio use during working hours.

Then there's that other thing we call an "XYL." I would imagine a large percentage of male hams, of all ages, who have significant others that want nothing to do with amateur radio. The married ham couple is rare. There is the occasional spouse or girlfriend that will attend an occasional meeting, but they aren't licensed and have no intention of becoming so. Also, in order to keep their hobby and keep peace in the family, attention has to be paid to the other partner in the relationship, usually in the form of trips,date night, or an evening binge watching a favorite show.

All this takes away from the time a ham has available to get on the air.

 

[dlwtrunked]

...

Not to be rude, but you've bought a 30 buck HT, likely no bonafide outside antenna and you're saying the bands are dead. Well ya, ok...

73-Greg

Flashed with Egzumer (spelling corrected) v0.22m, he has features no other HT has like a simple spectrum analyzer that can tune to a frequency it sees and a built in frequency counter. New to listening, he probably does not know where to tune. Yes, a better antenna and one high would be nice but it is an HT. (I use a Yaesu FT3D, Yaesu FTM400, and ICOM IC-7300 for HF, but that HT flashed with Egzumer v0.22m also goes with me.) Being able to flash the firmware with custom firmware allows features you do not have in your radio but may sometime want and being able to do that is likely the future of ham radio (if it has one). As an assisting radio when its features are needed, it is cheap and useful. My philosophy is "do not criticize someone unless you walked in his shoes" and "do not criticize his radio unless you have owned one like it".

 

[K9KLC]

Flashed with Egzumer (spelling corrected) v0.22m, he has features no other HT has like a simple spectrum analyzer that can tune to a frequency it sees and a built in frequency counter. New to listening, he probably does not know where to tune. Yes, a better antenna and one high would be nice but it is an HT. (I use a Yaesu FT3D, Yaesu FTM400, and ICOM IC-7300 for HF, but that HT flashed with Egzumer v0.22m also goes with me.) Being able to flash the firmware with custom firmware allows features you do not have in your radio but may sometime want and being able to do that is likely the future of ham radio (if it has one). As an assisting radio when its features are needed, it is cheap and useful. My philosophy is "do not criticize someone unless you walked in his shoes" and "do not criticize his radio unless you have owned one like it".

His radio is irrelevant, his actions are. It was stated "he's given up on ham radio" and that's likely correct. People are part of a solution or part of the problem they complain about. Go back and read all the posts in this thread again, and tell me where he is trying to be part of the solution. Complaining about a lack of ham activity when his license expired and he didn't re-new it....ya, ok... maybe that's the problem.
As far as equipment, you run what you're comfortable with, and I'll run what I'm comfortable with. If you like that radio GREAT!! A quick search showed me, it's not for me.
Thanks and 73.

 

[MTS2000des]

Ham radio isn't for everyone. It is a technical hobby intended for fostering technical skills in RF, fostering international goodwill, and yes, providing communications to the community in the times when commercial stuff may not be available. "Gabbing on repeaters" is just one part of the hobby, and analog repeaters aren't the only thing out there, but the OP just wanted a CB radio replacement and was disappointed that their CCR can't give them entertainment so they moved on. No loss for the true hams, those who build those repeaters and networks that folks who just want to "gab" (on someone else' repeater they spent tons of money for) aren't up to the OPs expectations.

There is a whole other world of RF fun but it takes more skills and more equipment than a $30 radio to access. Oh well, moving right along.

 

[dlwtrunked]

His radio is irrelevant, his actions are. It was stated "he's given up on ham radio" and that's likely correct. People are part of a solution or part of the problem they complain about. Go back and read all the posts in this thread again, and tell me where he is trying to be part of the solution. Complaining about a lack of ham activity when his license expired and he didn't re-new it....ya, ok... maybe that's the problem.
As far as equipment, you run what you're comfortable with, and I'll run what I'm comfortable with. If you like that radio GREAT!! A quick search showed me, it's not for me.
Thanks and 73.

You attacked the radio in your first sentence and that is the only thing I replied to and might agree with some of your other point. But "you run with what you are comfortable with"and just doing an INTERNET search, what a dead end for really getting to know about radios and the hobby (it turn us into appliance operators just buying from a "catalog"--particularly when a radio with unusual features is so cheap that finding out the truth is inexpensive.