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Author Topic: Early days of repeater use  (Read 30945 times)

AC7CW

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Re: Early days of repeater use
« Reply #45 on: December 10, 2022, 07:06:39 AM »

I recall reporting crimes in progress and traffic accidents via phone patch, used to chat on my hour commute... One club was in court over who owned the repeater. A guy used to rant every evening about it. The court gave one party the physical equipment and the other party the callsign... the situation of assignment of frequencies was said to be very political when there were just too many repeaters
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Novice 1958, 20WPM Extra now... (and get off my lawn)

K6CPO

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Re: RE: Early days of repeater use
« Reply #46 on: December 10, 2022, 12:32:19 PM »

If you can find a copy of it (now out of print), The Practical Handbook of Amateur Radio FM & Repeaters, by Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF and Mike Morris, WA6ILQ is a great way to see how it all started.

Stephen
N5VTU

Used copies available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/practical-handbook-amateur-radio-repeaters/dp/0830699597/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
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WA3SKN

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Re: Early days of repeater use
« Reply #47 on: December 10, 2022, 03:00:11 PM »

2012 post.

-Mike.
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N2EY

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Re: Early days of repeater use
« Reply #48 on: December 27, 2022, 01:46:10 PM »

Now they are ghost repeaters... IDing and no one there.... also, many, if not most, of the old stalwarts have either passed away or moved to warmer climates.

Passed away, moved to warmer climates....or both.....

---

I have a hypothesis on the repeater boom of the 1970s-90s and the following bust:

It used to be that when a person was out driving they were quite isolated, particularly if driving alone. There was AM broadcast radio, which could be great or awful, depending on the market. There was 11 meters if one was into that. And...amateur radio.

Amateurs were doing mobile 2 way radio in the 1930s, mostly on 5 meters. As FCC regulations changed, mobile operating became more popular. But there was a catch: A good mobile setup was rather expensive and power hungry, and required a rather big and odd antenna. On VHF/UHF, your coverage was very terrain-limited.

Then came repeaters. A small QRP FM rig - 5 to 25 watts - and a simple whip antenna would hit repeaters many miles away. The audio was high quality and the rigs were easy to use - and over time they got less expensive.

Lonesome no more! Great stuff! Almost always there was someone to ride along with you.

Even better, features like autopatch and linking were often added. You could call 911 or home directly from your car or HT - you were never out of touch as long as you could hit a repeater.

Then we got better car audio systems - FM stereo receivers, Satellite radio with no commercials and all sorts of channels dedicated to specific kinds of music, Cassette and CD players that sound really good - all of them as standard equipment. Interfaces to iPods (remember them?) came along. Audiobooks and such. The days of just AM BC radio were gone.

And...cell phones. No more isolation - talk or text while motoring! Yes, one should NEVER do either, and folks are learning not to - I hope. But if you had a breakdown or accident, or saw one, you could get help easily and quickly.

Trouble is, with cell phones, people's expectations of "connectivity" changed. Employers EXPECT people to reply to calls, texts, emails, etc., even if away from home. All that "isolation while driving" stuff is OVER. Getting some uninterrupted time to oneself is not so easy today. What used to be a safe haven for some solitude is no more.

In my case, when I went driving alone, I'd usually bring the 2 meter rig so as to have a nice QSO to pass the time. If I wanted some time without interruption, I just didn't turn it on. Now, I bring some CDs and hope that I won't get a call or text!

End result: two of the main reasons for repeaters to be busy have simply disappeared.

73 de Jim, N2EY
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