where are all the 2 meter operators?

[K9KLC]

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

We (our club and others) have a linked (All RF linked no internet involved) system in our area covers a lot of the center of the state. Reminds me of when I had my linked 1.25 & 70cm system in the late 90's. Get involved with the right people and things can happen. I'm very well in HT range of the one repeater on my end and it gets a fair amount of use.

 

[KF0NYL]

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

There is a repeater in Kansas that uses the same frequencies and tones as our 2m repeater. And some of the guys in Mexico, Mo, Centrailia, Mo and Columbia, Mo area do occasionally hear that Kansas repeater. There is also a repeater in Iowa on the same frequencies and tones that some of the guys will occasionally hear. It all depends on the band conditions.

 

[Spider255]

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.

This is the problem today, people ditching V/UHF for easy comms via internet you may as well just chat on Skype...

I actually enjoy many aspects of V/UHF radio... to much to list everything but I love building antennas, building different antennas for different tasks and generally having fun with it. I enjoy doing range testing were possible and learning about the characteristics of different bands and the way they travel such as 4 meters, 2 meters, 70cms and comparing them and also doing various experiments with different antenna types on V/UHF finding out where the signals are going and where they are not going.

I enjoy homebrew and building things, converting ex business radios to use on the Ham bands, making microphones, speakers, base stations and many more things, having little setups around the house, & building power supplies etc using my imagination and creating things.

There is a lot more to radio than just having a device in your hand to talk to people. People would rather use an app on there phone which to me is very dull and boring.

There is also the fun of hill topping to see how far you can reach, small portable hand helds V/UHF antennas are small.

HF is nice but not everybody can successfully operate HF due to noise on the bands and the huge antennas required. I get S7 of noise where I am on HF that makes HF rather challenging when I can't hear anybody apart from high power stations.

 

[alcahuete]

This is the problem today, people ditching V/UHF for easy comms via internet you may as well just chat on Skype...

Actually, it's not a problem at all. Technology moves on. Same goes with amateur radio. The best part of amateur radio is that it is what you make of it. You do you. Everyone else will do what they want to do as well. But those who are stuck in the old ways are going to find it increasingly difficult to find people to talk to on ham radio, as you are finding.

 

[Spider255]

Actually, it's not a problem at all. Technology moves on. Same goes with amateur radio. The best part of amateur radio is that it is what you make of it. You do you. Everyone else will do what they want to do as well. But those who are stuck in the old ways are going to find it increasingly difficult to find people to talk to on ham radio, as you are finding.

Well if that is the case then I am very sad. You can call Skype ham radio, you can call your smart phone Ham radio... Ham radio wasn't just about technology, it was also about science and experimentation also an educational hobby.

I also enjoyed having several radios about for different bands, "characteristics" of bands.

Well for me apps and voice over internet why bother getting licensed if your not even going to bother with "radio" anybody can use an app or a smartphone. Its very sad. For me it kills everything.