"TOM" wrote in message
...
I thought I might share a couple of observations I've made regarding the
Amateur Service; the situation in other locations may differ.

Based upon my adventures last year in Florida when we got pounded by three
hurricanes I was interested in finding out the utility of my Ham two meter
transceiver by taking advantage of Field Day (simulated emergency test) in
June. I raised a collinear with an advertised gain of 7 dB to thirty feet
and powered my transceiver with a deep cycle battery. Operating on the
'National Simplex Calling Frequency' 146.52 MHz with 75 watts output power
I
attempted to find out how many stations I could contact and the extent of
my
operating range during the test. From my numerous calls I was able to
contact NO ONE! Not one person responded to my Field Day calls throughout
the day and I heard NO ONE calling Field Day! Not one Ham could I find
operating Field Day on the two meter National Simplex Calling Frequency!
Yet
to my surprise, I was able to consistently 'key-up' repeaters from
Jacksonville to Palm Bay---approximately 2/3's the length of the state of
Florida. And to consider, this is an amateur service simulated emergency
test in Florida occurring only 10 months after the destruction of Charley,
Frances, and Jeanne. It made me wonder just how interested Hams are in
emergency communications. I did have a nice conversation with a fellow
100
miles away via his repeater.


Since Field Day partakes of many elements of a contest, you aren't supposed
to use the National Simplex Calling Frequency for Field Day activities. Our
group had a VHF station set up for Field Day and we contacted people from
New York to Florida to Texas, etc (we are in Michigan). We used SSB and CW
and both 6 meters and 2 meters. For extended distances, SSB and CW are
better choices than FM. If you had tried the SSB calling frequency, you
might have had better luck.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

"Korbin Dallas" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 01 Oct 2005 18:20:03 +0000, TOM wrote:

I thought I might share a couple of observations I've made regarding the
Amateur Service; the situation in other locations may differ.

Based upon my adventures last year in Florida when we got pounded by
three
hurricanes I was interested in finding out the utility of my Ham two
meter
transceiver by taking advantage of Field Day (simulated emergency test)
in
June. I raised a collinear with an advertised gain of 7 dB to thirty
feet
and powered my transceiver with a deep cycle battery. Operating on the
'National Simplex Calling Frequency' 146.52 MHz with 75 watts output
power I
attempted to find out how many stations I could contact and the extent of
my
operating range during the test. From my numerous calls I was able to
contact NO ONE! Not one person responded to my Field Day calls
throughout
the day and I heard NO ONE calling Field Day! Not one Ham could I find
operating Field Day on the two meter National Simplex Calling Frequency!

Well FM on 2, 6 or 10m is not used for Field Day, I don't know why but its
not,


FM is not good for long distance or weak signal work most of the time. SSB
and CW beat it hands down.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

Dan/W4NTI wrote:
Gee TOM....do you think you had problem on the "National Simplex Frequency"
of 146.52 because you are NOT SUPPOSED TO USE IT for contesting?

But... but! That must be the ARRL's fault too, Dan! If Tom wants to
call Field day CQ on his cell phone, he should be able to......

Sorry, just getting a little carried away..


- Mike KB3EIA -

Korbin Dallas wrote:
On Sat, 01 Oct 2005 18:20:03 +0000, TOM wrote:

I thought I might share a couple of observations I've made regarding the
Amateur Service; the situation in other locations may differ.

Based upon my adventures last year in Florida when we got pounded by three
hurricanes I was interested in finding out the utility of my Ham two meter
transceiver by taking advantage of Field Day (simulated emergency test) in
June. I raised a collinear with an advertised gain of 7 dB to thirty feet
and powered my transceiver with a deep cycle battery. Operating on the
'National Simplex Calling Frequency' 146.52 MHz with 75 watts output power I
attempted to find out how many stations I could contact and the extent of my
operating range during the test. From my numerous calls I was able to
contact NO ONE! Not one person responded to my Field Day calls throughout
the day and I heard NO ONE calling Field Day! Not one Ham could I find
operating Field Day on the two meter National Simplex Calling Frequency!

Well FM on 2, 6 or 10m is not used for Field Day, I don't know why but its
not,

not entirely accurate given the properties of it isn't very prodcutive
however at any great range

but using them and the number of FM units out there

they should be tried more than they are, if Field Day is realy any
kind of emergancy drill, indeed the club here I was the first person in
years to 6m SSB let alone any FM work

"Mike Coslo" wrote


How many hams do you think are going to be on two meters?

Knowing the propagation characteristics of two meters, do you extrapolate how
many hams are on two meters across the nation?

hint: there *are* some, but not very many.

I'll assume that's true in your area. In this area it's not true -- here
(Minnesota) 2M is far and away the most popular band in use on an everyday
basis.

73, de Hans, K0HB

"Caveat Lector" wrote

Read the ARRL Field Day Rules at URL:
http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2...s-fd-2005.html

SEZ "9.3. Remember that the national simplex FM calling frequency of 146.52
MHz should not be used for making Field Day contacts."

Holy Crap, CL!

Now see what you went and done! You'll spoiled his lovely rant with a FACT!
Shame, shame, shame!

73, de Hans, K0HB

Korbin posted:

"Well FM on 2, 6 or 10m is not used for Field Day, I don't know why but
its
not."

First, likely I missed in in the original post, but I don't recall him
mentioning the use of FM modulation. In every field day and emergency
preparedness I have ever participated in, a.m was the accepted
standard.

Second, the use of a 75-watt transmitter with a collinear raised
30-feet above the ground on field day? Evidently TOM doesn't grasp the
spirit of the event which combines with the fact that he isn't a very
experienced ham operator. Then too, the ham community has eroded
considerably since these exercises were devised. In fact, a competent
ham should have been nearly able to work multiple states with the rig
he has described.

Anybody left alive here that remembers the 2M Gooney Box, the rig that
was the standard for ham emergency communication for more years than I
personally care to remember? Its final was a 2E26; Its antenna was
typically a quarter-wave stub (a piece of stiff wire poked into the UHF
connector on the top of its box or an antenna consisting of a half-wave
piece of tv twin line. Its output was anywhere from 5-watts to 10-watts
run into that improvised antenna. When battery powered on field day,
the output of the rig was arguably between 3 and 5-watts.

Still on field day exercises conducted in preparation for an emergency,
even the low power rigs with a minimal antenna could garnish at least
50 contact on field day, but this was during the 1970s. Ham radio has
seriously declined since that time. This is why I ceased to renew my
K2JEZ General Class license around 1982.

Read into my above comments what ever you want.

Harry C.

ROFL Mike, great follow-up.

What he likely did was to transmit a series of CQs on an emergency
distress frequency.

Damn, this guy posts that he has a 75-watt transmitter and a high gain
antenna 30-ft above the ground and he is clueless as to why he made few
QSOs. As clueless as this dork must be, maybe it's time to toughen up
the licensing requirement to what they were around1959!!!!!

He should be operating on CB and not ham radio channels!

Harry C.

KØHB wrote:
"Mike Coslo" wrote


How many hams do you think are going to be on two meters?

Knowing the propagation characteristics of two meters, do you extrapolate how
many hams are on two meters across the nation?

hint: there *are* some, but not very many.


I'll assume that's true in your area. In this area it's not true -- here
(Minnesota) 2M is far and away the most popular band in use on an everyday
basis.

Gosh Hans, I'll bet I was talking about Field day, just like the other
guy was! 8^)

Maybe in Minnesota, everyone is on 2 meters during FD?

- Mike KB3EIA -

On 1 Oct 2005 19:05:09 -0700, wrote:

Korbin posted:

"Well FM on 2, 6 or 10m is not used for Field Day, I don't know why but
its
not."

First, likely I missed in in the original post, but I don't recall him
mentioning the use of FM modulation.

He talked about 146.52 simplex which might as well be mentioning FM.

In every field day and emergency preparedness I have ever participated
in, a.m was the accepted standard.

It's been decades since you've participated, then, because FM pretty
much took over the 2M band in the '70s. There's still a lot of weak
signal work--SSB and CW, but AM? It can hardly be found. And it hasn't
been the accepted standard since the '60s, maybe.

Second, the use of a 75-watt transmitter with a collinear raised
30-feet above the ground on field day?

What are you talking about? Neither of those parameters sound at all
out of line at FD. For VHF you definitely want the antenna as high as
possible. The only thing wrong with the 75 watts is the power required
to make it run. 25 watts would be more than enough.

Evidently TOM doesn't grasp the spirit of the event which combines
with the fact that he isn't a very experienced ham operator.

Apparently neither are you.

Then too, the ham community has eroded considerably since these
exercises were devised. In fact, a competent ham should have been
nearly able to work multiple states with the rig he has described.

I rest my case. With no enhancement, there are a lot of places where
you'd be hard pressed to work out of state with the setup you think is
too much. South Florida would certainly be one of them.

Anybody left alive here that remembers the 2M Gooney Box, the rig that
was the standard for ham emergency communication for more years than I
personally care to remember?

There were probably more Twoers than Gonsets in the '60s. Yes, I
remember.

Its final was a 2E26; Its antenna was
typically a quarter-wave stub (a piece of stiff wire poked into the UHF
connector on the top of its box or an antenna consisting of a half-wave
piece of tv twin line. Its output was anywhere from 5-watts to 10-watts
run into that improvised antenna. When battery powered on field day,
the output of the rig was arguably between 3 and 5-watts.

And you're saying you were able to work multiple states with that
without enhancement?

Still on field day exercises conducted in preparation for an emergency,
even the low power rigs with a minimal antenna could garnish at least
50 contact on field day, but this was during the 1970s. Ham radio has
seriously declined since that time. This is why I ceased to renew my
K2JEZ General Class license around 1982.

K2, huh? New York City? That explains why you were able to work
"multiple states." You have, what, six of them within 100 miles? Try
that in any state west of the Appalachins.

Read into my above comments what ever you want.

Whiny old timer, out of touch with reality, loss of memory of old time
ham radio, ****ed because of Incentive Licensing, lets other people
determine his enjoyment of a hobby, still hanging around the amateur
radio newsgroups despite being unlicensed for nearly a quarter
century.

Yeah, what a credible story.

--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

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