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Author Topic: 146.52  (Read 61733 times)

KC2QYM

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #30 on: May 26, 2016, 09:32:57 AM »

Why declare and publish a national calling/simplex frequency if some clowns are going to butcher the intent of its use?  In my opinion anyone who uses that frequency to link or relay signals elsewhere is on the edge of heresy.  Find some legitimate frequency pair to set up a repeater and coordinate it properly instead of high jacking a declared simplex frequency.
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NA4IT

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #31 on: May 30, 2016, 05:42:43 AM »

Probably 15 years ago, I was traveling from my home in TN to Topeka KS. I went I-24 to Marion IL. At the TN / KY line, I heard one station call another on 52. They moved to another unused simplex freq. I moved with them, and joined the conversation. I was running 50W into a 5/8 NMO mount antenna on the roof.

We chatted from Clarksville, TN, all the way to Marion IL. One of the stations was in Paducah, KY. He was running 150W with RX preamp into a pair of stacked 13 element beams.

That's how you operate simplex... start with a call on 52, move, and have enough UMPH to "git-er-done".

We have a local group here in McMinn County TN that is on 146.49 every night. I like the audio quality of simplex more than repeaters.
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N1CX

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #32 on: June 01, 2016, 07:27:56 PM »

I travel in the northeast for work VERY extensively. My territory covers S Md to S Maine. I keep a radio on 52 all the time in the truck. I've had some most excellent qso going down the road and finding someone either locally or driving to talk with. Last week I mountain-topped a kc3 in Airy Md. I go to many of the high peaks in northeast as part of the job  I call on .52 all the time with no answers..52 is mostly dead. And yes I have heard people linking stuff to .52 all over. I don't condone it though.

There are areas that have alot of .52 activity but they seem to be localized.

I'll keep calling  ;D
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N1CX

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #33 on: June 01, 2016, 07:32:13 PM »

Last year I met a retired nuclear scientist driving a motorhome on .52, we traveled together from Ct to Md. Very interesting fellow to talk to. Amazing who you can meet! I looked up his aprs the next day and watched him, it took him 3 weeks to drive across country back to California.

Just driving down the road I saw a callsign on his rv. Pulled up next to him and showed him my mike and fingered 52 lol.
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W3TTT

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #34 on: June 02, 2016, 01:08:41 PM »

I usually am on HF because I am getting no replies on 2 meters.  I just did a calculation, and if you divide 700,000 hams in the US by 3.8 million square miles, you get, on average, one ham every 100 square miles.  THat's a box, 10 miles by 10 miles.  Of course, your mileage may vary, as we say, and I find that here in the city, it is usually much less.  I have 60 hams in my zip code.  My point is that there may be no one in range of an HT direct.  I think that it is a pretty good chance that there will be no one to answer.  I don't "monitor" 146.52 and until my analysis of the chances, I would call a CQ but I haven't gotten an answer in 10 years.  But like i said, I am active on HF.  An average reply to my CQ is perhaps 500 miles away.  That means that within a 1000 mile radius (remember i said "average", and a response can come from within 1000 miles) my signal is audible by maybe half of the hams in the US.  There is a much better chance that SOMEONE will be listening and will answer. 

Here is an idea.  How about a 2 meter "contest" using exclusively 146.52 ???   Don't know what the rules would be, but if there is anything to do, and do it and keep score, then some shlamazels will make it into a contest.  I think. 
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N3HFS

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #35 on: June 02, 2016, 01:39:44 PM »

I usually am on HF because I am getting no replies on 2 meters.  I just did a calculation, and if you divide 700,000 hams in the US by 3.8 million square miles, you get, on average, one ham every 100 square miles.  THat's a box, 10 miles by 10 miles.  Of course, your mileage may vary, as we say, and I find that here in the city, it is usually much less. 


Point taken, but your math is considerably off.  Given your numbers, the "box" surrounding each ham is only a little more than a mile on each side, encompassing a bit over 2 square miles.
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ONAIR

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #36 on: June 03, 2016, 02:50:45 PM »

I usually am on HF because I am getting no replies on 2 meters.  I just did a calculation, and if you divide 700,000 hams in the US by 3.8 million square miles, you get, on average, one ham every 100 square miles.  THat's a box, 10 miles by 10 miles.  Of course, your mileage may vary, as we say, and I find that here in the city, it is usually much less.  I have 60 hams in my zip code.  My point is that there may be no one in range of an HT direct.  I think that it is a pretty good chance that there will be no one to answer.  I don't "monitor" 146.52 and until my analysis of the chances, I would call a CQ but I haven't gotten an answer in 10 years.  But like i said, I am active on HF.  An average reply to my CQ is perhaps 500 miles away.  That means that within a 1000 mile radius (remember i said "average", and a response can come from within 1000 miles) my signal is audible by maybe half of the hams in the US.  There is a much better chance that SOMEONE will be listening and will answer. 

Here is an idea.  How about a 2 meter "contest" using exclusively 146.52 ???   Don't know what the rules would be, but if there is anything to do, and do it and keep score, then some shlamazels will make it into a contest.  I think. 
   You can expand the range of your HT (or larger rig) significantly by just hooking it up to a small beam antenna!  I have been able to greatly increase my range for both repeaters and simplex, by using just a small Elk 2m/440 portable beam.
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N0XAX

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #37 on: July 15, 2016, 05:12:16 PM »

How about leaving ONE frequency on 2 for those of us who know about  antennas, feedline loss and can solder a connector or two?   We don't need a repeater to talk across town.

I'll second that! Now, where's my soldering iron? I need to fabricate some ham accessories!
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ONAIR

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #38 on: July 15, 2016, 07:22:42 PM »

How about leaving ONE frequency on 2 for those of us who know about  antennas, feedline loss and can solder a connector or two?   We don't need a repeater to talk across town.
   Good point!!  There is a lot more repeater talk (and not nearly enough simplex) on 2m/440!!!   :o
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K5LXP

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #39 on: July 17, 2016, 06:31:43 AM »

Here is an idea.  How about a 2 meter "contest" using exclusively 146.52 ??? 

MRAC Simplex Contest
http://www.w9rh.org/club-events/simplex-contest/

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
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K5LXP

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #40 on: July 17, 2016, 07:00:26 AM »


Many call 6.52 a "wasteland" and indeed on long trips I've taken I've heard nary a station over hours of monitoring and calling.  It turns out though that many more may be listening but just like a open band with no one talking, no one knows anyone else is there.

Something I've done for the past few years now is run a "6.52 beacon" when I'm on a long trip.  It amounts to an MP3 player connected to a baofeng HT with VOX enabled.  The MP3 player plays a 20 second CQ followed by a couple minutes of silence, and plays the same file in a loop.  The HT only transmits during the CQ so the net result is a 20 second CQ and a couple minutes of receive.  In practice this has scared up a far greater number of contacts than monitoring/random calls ever have.

The theory is this.  When you're mobile your simplex line of sight might be 5 miles.  If you're driving 70 miles an hour you'll cover this distance in under 5 minutes.  You could drive into and out of the range of other stations countless times and neither of you knew it, because no one is transmitting.   With the "CQ beacon" you're transmitting a call within every line of sight "window".  You also increase the odds of catching someone who just turned a radio on.  If I hear a call come back I turn off the HT and return the call using my mobile rig with more power and better antenna to maximize the range.

The duty cycle is such that on low power (all you need) the HT runs all day on a single battery and my MP3 player will play over 24 hours, so it becomes a simple toss in the car addition to deploy.  It has given me a "new" thing to do while operating mobile on long trips and is a lot of fun to make contacts this way. 

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM
 
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ONAIR

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #41 on: July 18, 2016, 09:55:32 AM »

I keep both 2m/440 and 11 meter radios in the mobile.  I make a lot more contacts when traveling on 27.185, than on 146.52.
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KD8TFG

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #42 on: July 23, 2016, 12:59:48 PM »

I just had a qso with a mobile guy in Toronto 146.520 and am about 70 miles from him in my mobile.
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ONAIR

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #43 on: July 23, 2016, 01:44:48 PM »

I just had a qso with a mobile guy in Toronto 146.520 and am about 70 miles from him in my mobile.
    Nice!!  What kind of antennas and power?
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KD8TFG

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RE: 146.52
« Reply #44 on: July 23, 2016, 07:37:28 PM »

I just had a qso with a mobile guy in Toronto 146.520 and am about 70 miles from him in my mobile.
    Nice!!  What kind of antennas and power?

Yaesu FTM-3200DR @ 65 Watts and a Comet 2.1db gain on 2 meters
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