where are all the 2 meter operators?

[Spider255]

Sadly we are seeing the end of radio... 2 meters is dead here in London as well & 70cms and 4 meters. I'm a bit cheesed off about it to be honest because I loved the upper bands, it all seems to be voice over internet now, why get a license if all people are going to do is use internet and call it ham radio its silly.

There is still a tiny bit of life left in the upper bands but the future of the hobby is not looking good. I will enjoy whats left of it. HF will always be there for at least another 10-20 years so not all is lost.

 

[rf_patriot200]

Sadly we are seeing the end of radio... 2 meters is dead here in London as well & 70cms and 4 meters. I'm a bit cheesed off about it to be honest because I loved the upper bands, it all seems to be voice over internet now, why get a license if all people are going to do is use internet and call it ham radio its silly.

There is still a tiny bit of life left in the upper bands but the future of the hobby is not looking good. I will enjoy whats left of it. HF will always be there for at least another 10-20 years so not all is lost.

Life gets in the way, and our hobbies take a back seat. I throw my call out everyday, on all of my usual haunts and sometimes I get a reply and sometimes not. I've met some New hams this way,with Mic Fright and tried to coach them through it.

 

[Spider255]

The appeal is that you don't have to worry about putting up an external antenna or having a big radio. This is especially true in a car. I can sit on my bed with a 1 Watt handheld and use Allstar or DMR to get into any of the repeaters. If I didn't use the radio in my car for other things, I would absolutely get rid of it and just use my hotspot. I don't do a lot of VHF/UHF, but when I travel (which I do a decent amount of for work) I can use my hotspot and handheld right in the car. I'm certainly not going to carry a mag mount around with me for the rental car.

The other draw is that not every location has repeaters, and certainly not busy repeaters. Look at a lot of the replies in this thread. The repeaters are dead in a lot of places. Hotspots give you a chance to actually do ham radio and talk to other people, instead of just talking to a courtesy tone with nobody else on the other end.

Ham radio is a scientific experimental hobby not a PMR chat channel. Simplex is dead no mention of simplex anymore, its all repeaters with internet links. A lot of the fun has gone because ham radio is now becoming a more like PMR chat channel or Skype, Zello what is the point? We are so lucky to have all these bands, frequencies and modes but its all being abandoned for voice over internet.

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

The other failure in the chain of the prepper whacker types is these low budget handhelds require infrastructure that someone else provides, which may or may not be available, "when all else fails". What makes a ham is not the hoard of Chinese road apple radios and molle carriers, orange vests, etc- it's the SKILL SET of the operator to setup equipment, and infrastructure, when there is none, know what to use and when, and yes, as you said, have someone else to pass traffic to.

That's true, but in the most common scenarios, you really only need it to last for a week or so. I have a handful of (really) inexpensive radios programmed to FRS channels and a few not-terribly-expensive radios with repeaters programmed in. The people I hand them to don't need to know anything except "press here and talk". It's pretty unlikely a tornado would take out all the repeaters I can reach, but it's not particularly unlikely local comms would be down for a couple of days. I've experienced it before after a tornado. If the radios allow us to coordinate locally and communicate 20-30 miles away for a few days, we're golden. I have no illusions about running around in the woods with a squad taking out bad guys, but I was once in a village in the interior of Alaska where an earthquake put us incommunicado for 4 days. Had it not been for some people with radios, we would have been completely deaf. It's very anxiety-provoking to have no idea what is going on. Not all "preppers" are expecting a complete breakdown of society and rampant lawlessness. But you're right that there are "preppers" buying radios and then wondering how to make them work. I see them daily in various forums. Hence my comment that they may as well have bought scrap metal. However, some of them start learning how to use them and it's not unusual for someone who started as a prepper to become a radio enthusiast and licensed ham, so it does serve as a conduit to get people into the amateur radio hobby.

 

[rf_patriot200]

Ham radio is a scientific experimental hobby not a PMR chat channel. Simplex is dead no mention of simplex anymore, its all repeaters with internet links. A lot of the fun has gone because ham radio is now becoming a more like PMR chat channel or Skype, Zello what is the point anymore?

Sad. Scattered Simplex chats on several frequencies, and Most of our Analog repeaters. As well as our P25 and Fusion repeater. Many retired folks use it everyday.

 

[Spider255]

Life gets in the way, and our hobbies take a back seat. I throw my call out everyday, on all of my usual haunts and sometimes I get a reply and sometimes not. I've met some New hams this way,with Mic Fright and tried to coach them through it.

This is what I like to hear and I appreciate those Hams that encourage to use simplex and those who put calls out.

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

Ham radio is a scientific experimental hobby not a PMR chat channel. Simplex is dead no mention of simplex anymore, its all repeaters with internet links. A lot of the fun has gone because ham radio is now becoming a more like PMR chat channel or Skype, Zello what is the point? We are so lucky to have all these bands, frequencies and modes but its all being abandoned for voice over internet.

I have to admit, I don't see how a hotspot is significantly different from a VOIP app on my phone. I don't see myself getting into that, but as I progress, I'll undoubtedly want to become adept with HF long-distance communication.

 

[rf_patriot200]

This is what I like to hear and I appreciate those Hams that encourage to use simplex and those who put calls out.

I've even heard 2 PMR calls, here in the states, where it's considered part of our 70cm band.

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

...if you can hold it open maybe we could plan a date and see if we could talk to each other on it.

I'll do that. It would be fun to talk to someone 100 miles away with a simple radio.

 

[Spider255]

Ironically CB Radio is pretty active, during the evenings you often get 20 or more people on channel 35 - 27.941 MHz more people on other channels and I'd rather use 2 meters for local chat because its clearer, smaller antennas more gain and no noise on the band to contend with, but 2 meters has been abandoned...

 

[rf_patriot200]

Ironically CB Radio is pretty active, during the evenings you often get 20 or more people on channel 35 - 27.941 MHz more people on other channels and I'd rather use 2 meters for local chat because its clearer, smaller antennas more gain and no noise on the band to contend with, but 2 meters has been abandoned...

Sad. Are there just not that many hams in the area, is that why ?

 

[Spider255]

Sad. Are there just not that many hams in the area, is that why ?

There are plenty here in London, I got many in my log book more than 30 Hams in London that used 2 meters simplex just a couple of years ago. Aslo quite a few hams are now coming on to CB radio because there is nobody on 2 meters.

 

[alcahuete]

Ham radio is a scientific experimental hobby not a PMR chat channel. Simplex is dead no mention of simplex anymore, its all repeaters with internet links. A lot of the fun has gone because ham radio is now becoming a more like PMR chat channel or Skype, Zello what is the point? We are so lucky to have all these bands, frequencies and modes but its all being abandoned for voice over internet.

What kinds of scientific experiments are you conducting on simplex? I'd love to know.

Again...not everybody can or is willing to put up a big antenna anymore or run a big radio. I live out in the country and have plenty of room for towers and antennas. Most others don't. Then you also have HOAs. Not going to do a lot of simplex from a handheld in your house or apartment.

I rarely get on anything above HF anyway, so I could really care less. There are plenty of people on HF and I talk around the world on a daily basis. For those of you who want to conduct scientific experiments on VHF and UHF, I don't know what to tell you. You can either join everybody else and get on HF or use hotspots, or you can sit around and listen to static on simplex all day. Sounds really fun!

 

[K9KLC]

I rarely get on anything above HF anyway, so I could really care less. There are plenty of people on HF and I talk around the world on a daily basis. For those of you who want to conduct scientific experiments on VHF and UHF, I don't know what to tell you. You can either join everybody else and get on HF or use hotspots, or you can sit around and listen to static on simplex all day. Sounds really fun!

Or you can do HF, VHF, UHF and pick up a mic and get answers on all of those. "Everybody else" is not on HF, at least not in my area. My comment stands, there's something in ham radio for everyone. Do what you enjoy, and let others do what they enjoy. I'll guarantee though in my area, we don't sit around on 2 meters, 1.25 meters, 70 cm and 33 cm and listen to static. I like HF also, so I just enjoy it all.

 

[alcahuete]

Or you can do HF, VHF, UHF and pick up a mic and get answers on all of those. "Everybody else" is not on HF, at least not in my area. My comment stands, there's something in ham radio for everyone. Do what you enjoy, and let others do what they enjoy. I'll guarantee though in my area, we don't sit around on 2 meters, 1.25 meters, 70 cm and 33 cm and listen to static. I like HF also, so I just enjoy it all.

I wasn't replying to you. I was replying to Spider, who said simplex is dead, and repeaters are just internet links. Since that is apparently the case where he lives, it's time to try something else. But he doesn't like hotspots because it's just VOIP. So I don't know what to tell him, aside from trying HF.

 

[alcahuete]

"Everybody else" is not on HF, at least not in my area.

And if you're doing HF right, it doesn't make a bit of difference what people in your area are doing. The entire world becomes your area.

 

[K9KLC]

And if you're doing HF right, it doesn't make a bit of difference what people in your area are doing. The entire world becomes your area.

My comment had nothing to do with anything but your only hearing static comment in a previous post. I do HF when the mood suits me. I do VHF/UHF when the mood suits me and rarely do I "only hear static".

I'm done now. Enjoy your hotspots. 73

 

[G7RUX]

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.

I keep calling you but you don’t respond…

 

[robertwbob]

I keep calling you but you don’t respond…

i been in my big truck. the hand held wont reach that far. have to set a time and date to do it. hope sunday i got the time.will try to pm you saturday evening.

 

[robertwbob]

And the coverage is even better since we replaced the old repeater, Allstar node/ controller and 4 can duplex. We went with a Motorola Quantar, Arcom RC-210 controller and a 6 can duplexer. The Quantar is the 125 watt version and we have it set for around 55-60 watts out after the duplexer.

We have had guys get into our 2m repeater from Ironton, Mo, Lake of the Ozarks, and Calhoon County Ill. Some guys can get into the repeater from around Kirksville and Chillicothe Mo.

There is a repeater in Waterloo, Ill that is on the same frequency as our 2m repeater. I can sometime pick the Waterloo repeater up from my house. That can cause problems at times. They are supposedly not using PL tones yet we can still hear people on that repeater. Our's is a lot more powerful and has a bigger cover area so I'm sure the guys in the St Louis area that use the Waterloo repeater love us.

Over in my area there is a set of repeaters that connect a long way. start at pittsburg,ks then into mo. all up to rolla,mo. couple or 3 rite placed repeaters and be at your door step