where are all the 2 meter operators?

[rescuecomm]

Back in 1980 when I got licensed, there were about 6 two meter repeaters around my home. About three had users on an hourly basis. Now there's about ten and with dual band radios, you can add another eight 440 repeaters plus some DMR repeaters. So the VHF/UHF conversations are spread out from years past. Also, in spite of the number of amatuer operators, I feel that many people got licensed to communicate among a small group if cell service fails.

You don't hear those licenses checking in nets or talking on the repeaters.

 

[robertwbob]

im not a net liking person. its who wants to's choice which is ok with me. but years ago when i first was licensed it was BUSY then repeaters came out and most wee waiting a turn for a repeater. let license expire. reupped 5 years ago. it was very busy then about the time the virus came out it was slowly declining. .
ive noticed very few talk drivint to and from work here too. and as said above mid,central mo is dead also.
friend of mine installed a darn good repeater on local grain elevator 150 feet up. we were talking and he is sorta unhapy its not used any cept when he is home n im able to talk to him

 

[rf_patriot200]

im not a net liking person. its who wants to's choice which is ok with me. but years ago when i first was licensed it was BUSY then repeaters came out and most wee waiting a turn for a repeater. let license expire. reupped 5 years ago. it was very busy then about the time the virus came out it was slowly declining. .
ive noticed very few talk drivint to and from work here too. and as said above mid,central mo is dead also.
friend of mine installed a darn good repeater on local grain elevator 150 feet up. we were talking and he is sorta unhapy its not used any cept when he is home n im able to talk to him

It's definitely a regional thing, as Our coffee /commuter group on 146.730 is Alive and kicking Monday thru Saturday, without fail. 10-12 guys chatting from 5am- 8am and again on their way home. Quite the gamut of subjects too. Sort of reminds me of the coffee clutches at McDonalds, Pre-Covid. Maybe ham radio in some places, has replaced the good ole' Coffee Klutch? Sorry, just rambling this morning ...

 

[kk9h]

My local club (NS9RC), serving the northern Chicago area, has a number of repeaters for people to use. The 2M FM/Fusion, 440 FM analog and 440 D-Star are very active throughout the day. Often you can find them all busy at the same time. Admittedly, the 2M repeater spends more time in Fusion mode than in FM analog mode, but that’s why we set it up on that band. We also have a really nice 220 repeater, but as you might expect, its use is pretty sporatic.

 

[robertwbob]

i had my 2 meter radio on all day yesterday on memory scan. only repeaters identifying. then on simplex 2 guys i talk to when they are on which is rare were on. i joined in n we did have a great decent catch up on our health and latest happenings. 1 was down sick 2 months and other left radio off. they are both 120 miles due south of me. that was the ONLY radio activity till 7 pm when i shut it off.

 

[N4DES]

I scan numerous local VHF and UHF repeaters and unless it's an organized net, the majority sit quiet in southeast Florida. I hear more activity on 146.52 than anywhere else in VHF and on UHF, the closest GMRS repeater to me is the clear winner.

 

[nokones]

There are 28 70CM repeaters that provide wide area coverage to the Phoenix Valley Region and 4 are outside of the Phoenix Valley region and only one is used for a short period of time in the mornings for a few minutes to discuss the weather and what age would you prefer to be again. Occasionally, someone will ask what antenna is best for a portable to hit the repeater approx. 10 miles away Sometimes, they discuss what they prefer the most for dinner and this traffic is on one of the two P25 repeaters.

In the Tucson Area there are 7 70 cm repeaters that provide coverage throughout the area. I have never heard any traffic on these repeaters.

For the 2 M band, in Phoenix Coverage Area there are 30 repeaters with 1 outside of Phoenix. Out of all of these repeaters there is only one that gets some use mostly the weekday mornings and on Sunday around noon.

In the Tucson Area, there are 23 2 Meter repeaters within the Tucson Area with one outside of Tucson that provides coverage in Tucson. Occasionally, there is traffic on one of the repeaters.

I have decades of experience with spectrum management and channel loading, and I am sorry, I just can't see where is the justification to have these many repeaters on the air that sit idle all the time and even if there was an emergency event that these many repeaters would be needed.

And these numbers do not include the DMR, Fusion, and Starlink capable repeaters. I have no idea if these repeaters are busy with traffic or not because I don't have the ability to monitor them.

 

[rf_patriot200]

There are 28 70CM repeaters that provide wide area coverage to the Phoenix Valley Region and 4 are outside of the Phoenix Valley region and only one is used for a short period of time in the mornings for a few minutes to discuss the weather and what age would you prefer to be again. Occasionally, someone will ask what antenna is best for a portable to hit the repeater approx. 10 miles away Sometimes, they discuss what they prefer the most for dinner and this traffic is on one of the two P25 repeaters.

In the Tucson Area there are 7 70 cm repeaters that provide coverage throughout the area. I have never heard any traffic on these repeaters.

For the 2 M band, in Phoenix Coverage Area there are 30 repeaters with 1 outside of Phoenix. Out of all of these repeaters there is only one that gets some use mostly the weekday mornings and on Sunday around noon.

In the Tucson Area, there are 23 2 Meter repeaters within the Tucson Area with one outside of Tucson that provides coverage in Tucson. Occasionally, there is traffic on one of the repeaters.

I have decades of experience with spectrum management and channel loading, and I am sorry, I just can't see where is the justification to have these many repeaters on the air that sit idle all the time and even if there was an emergency event that these many repeaters would be needed.

And these numbers do not include the DMR, Fusion, and Starlink capable repeaters. I have no idea if these repeaters are busy with traffic or not because I don't have the ability to monitor them.

It's probably a Good thing the Justification of what's on the air and what isn't, is Not left up to You for the other hams in your area .

Moderator's note: Double quote of previous message removed.

 

[jeepsandradios]

My area is the same. Silence. I can barely get into 2 repeaters from my home location and neither ever has traffic. I can hear a third one but due to location cant get back to it other than a base radio. They have a few nets but oother times its silent. On 440 is a ghost town.

 

[MTS2000des]

In a town of 5 million people, there are about two dozen 2 meter, a handful of 220, several 440 and even a few 900MHz repeaters. Activity is clustered around a few active ones, and a couple always stay busy- but it wasn't like it was back in the 1990s to mid oughts. Commuters now stay distracted by their "electronic fentanyl" (quoting our new FCC chair), and many hams even active ones don't bother installing mobile radios in modern cars.

When they are home, they are with their families all gathered round the kitchen/dining room table in silence staring at screens taking in mindless content from AI so they can be prepared to be better citizens. Who has time for ham radio?

 

[Swat_SW]

yesterday i hauled a truck load wheat to the carthage,mo flour mill. long line so i get my hand held out.
over 10 good strong repeaters the hand held can hold on to. i gave my callsign asking cq. dead quiet . used t be operators on the repeaters lots. sad nobody uses them anymore.
i tried 70 cm and 2 meters n so quiet you could hear paint drying.
local clubs passed several new members with tech license. and not all work days.

Alot of the repeaters are going to DMR

 

[AK9R]

that was the ONLY radio activity till 7 pm when i shut it off.

As has been said before, location matters. Since VHF/UHF is usually used for short-range communications, you'll find the most activity where you find the most people. The northeast part of Jasper County MO is about 125 miles from Kansas City and 130 miles from Tulsa. You are just too far away from any concentration of hams. One way to solve this dilemma is to upgrade your license to General and get on HF.

Alot of the repeaters are going to DMR

That was true 10 years ago, but my opinion is that the rush to DMR has diminished. With DMR repeater operators imposing restrictions on talkgroups and hot spots becoming affordable and commonplace, people can use DMR without depending on their local repeater and the repeater operators have noticed. In my area, I've seen DMR repeater go off the air, converted to GMRS, or converted back to analog amateur radio.

 

[Swat_SW]

My area is the same. Silence. I can barely get into 2 repeaters from my home location and neither ever has traffic. I can hear a third one but due to location cant get back to it other than a base radio. They have a few nets but oother times its silent. On 440 is a ghost town.

As has been said before, location matters. Since VHF/UHF is usually used for short-range communications, you'll find the most activity where you find the most people. The northeast part of Jasper County MO is about 125 miles from Kansas City and 130 miles from Tulsa. You are just too far away from any concentration of hams. One way to solve this dilemma is to upgrade your license to General and get on HF.


That was true 10 years ago, but my opinion is that the rush to DMR has diminished. With DMR repeater operators imposing restrictions on talkgroups and hot spots becoming affordable and commonplace, people can use DMR without depending on their local repeater and the repeater operators have noticed. In my area, I've seen DMR repeater go off the air, converted to GMRS, or converted back to analog amateur radio.

I know around bonner Springs almost all repeaters are DMr or D star

 

[K6GBW]

As has been said before, location matters. Since VHF/UHF is usually used for short-range communications, you'll find the most activity where you find the most people. The northeast part of Jasper County MO is about 125 miles from Kansas City and 130 miles from Tulsa. You are just too far away from any concentration of hams. One way to solve this dilemma is to upgrade your license to General and get on HF.


That was true 10 years ago, but my opinion is that the rush to DMR has diminished. With DMR repeater operators imposing restrictions on talkgroups and hot spots becoming affordable and commonplace, people can use DMR without depending on their local repeater and the repeater operators have noticed. In my area, I've seen DMR repeater go off the air, converted to GMRS, or converted back to analog amateur radio.

I’ve noticed that too. In fact, here in LA we used to have dozen of open 2 meter repeaters, but many are now just gone, off the air entirely. On 440 we have way more repeaters that are closed or private. We have repeater owners that have access to mountain tops via their jobs and they tend to put up several repeaters, link them into a regional network, and then make them private. If you listen to them they are quiet. So it makes me wonder…what’s the point? Then the few that are open are fragmented, with some going digital or just disappearing. The one thing that has changed, at least here in Los Angeles, is that Simplex is actually busier than it used to be. 146.520 has a “cast of characters” that tends to sit on there with base radios and chat all day. That nice in one way because the frequency is at least being used, but it also means it doesn’t really get used as a call channel anymore. Its either long winded QSO’s or, on the weekends, some guy with a Baofeng doing Summits on the Air. Fortunately, my group has access to a couple of linked P25 machines so there’s still some people to talk to regularly.

 

[ladn]

The one thing that has changed, at least here in Los Angeles, is that Simplex is actually busier than it used to be. 146.520 has a “cast of characters” that tends to sit on there with base radios and chat all day. That nice in one way because the frequency is at least being used, but it also means it doesn’t really get used as a call channel anymore.

Exactly!
I used to have "52" active on one side of my dual band mobile. There'd be the occasional calls and short QSO's and POTA and SOTA operators which were fun to listen to and sometime engage.

Then two guys from Orange County (one in "Little Saigon" and the other "near Knotts Berry Farm") with high powered radios took over the frequency for "radio checks" and long winded QSO's, reminiscent of CB in the 1970's. I changed my drive time listening to other frequencies with better operators and less BS banter.

I still monitor "52" when I'm away from the LA metro area in the backcountry. The N6OV (mostly 2m) system in Owens Valley has a good user base and is everything I expect from a rural system. Unfortunately, many of the principals are getting along in years and aren't able to fully maintain the infrastructure.

Overall, there does seem to be a decline in 2m/UHF activity, except for the weekly nets. The PAPA System (private/UHF) is fairly active throughout the day, the WIN System seems to have mostly crawled back into it's hole. I rarely hear any traffic on elite, very private, UHF systems like GRONK, even though they have a disproportionately large channel allocation.

 

[KF6DGN]

Yes the same here in NW Florida for the FM repeaters. Even worse for the area DMR repeaters. The one that is actually connected to the Internet doesn't allow APRS and limits the time you can use it. Even though there is like zero traffic. The other DMR repeaters are not connected to the Internet. So DMR repeaters being used as stand alone DMR only repeaters, again with zero traffic. (Use TG 9 or 3 with the correct color codes) When I asked why, they said just use a hotspot and the Internet bill cost too much. So I leave my scanner on the repeaters and 146.52 and I talk to the digital ham World with my OpenSpot 4. 7 3 all from the Redneck Riviera.

 

[rf_patriot200]

Alot of the repeaters are going to DMR

Or C4FM or P25.

 

[k6cpo]

I live smack in the middle of San Diego and the repeaters are pretty quiet during the work day. All I usually hear on my radios are the other services I monitor: Marine VHF, several airports, rail traffic, and wildland firefighting frequencies. Of those, the CalFire frequencies have been most active. In the evenings and on the weekends, activity on repeaters picks up substantially.

 

[alcahuete]

They've all gone to DMR. That's the future of ham radio, I hate to say. You can get a hotspot, a $10 'feng and talk to whomever you want. You don't need to worry about range to a repeater, big antennas, etc., and repeater owners don't have to worry about expensive equipment, climbing mountaintops and towers, which are becoming ungodly expensive, because they're occupying space that the cell companies are wiling to pay big bucks for.

I don't do a lot of VHF or UHF, but I have a hotspot at home and one in my car. That's about all I use.

 

[mjdewey]

The county i lived in ren years ago was very active and the surrounding countries. I moved to the county i grew up in was not active other than net nights. Then very dead. Eight years ago moved north one county much larger, three VHF repeaters, one UHF repeater, two years ago I won on new UHF repeater wanted to put it on the air and the club wasn't interested. Still boxed up brand new never used. Had it programmed for a used UHF repeater pair that I wanted to get coordinated. Thinking seriously about getting a GMRS license reprogramming it retuning the dupluxers and using there instead of on the ham bands.