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Old 15th Sep 2018, 2:30 pm   #168
crestavega
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Kirkwall, Orkney, UK.
Posts: 165
Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

IN South America, when I used to hack around the wilderness of Patagonia, regional 2m repeater channels were advertised (by frequency) on official road signs. It was used as a sensible and highly practicable CB radio service I believe. I never got very involved in it but from what I could make out of talking to the locals, there was some sort of licensing scheme but I don't think it was very technical or even particularly enforced.

the way it was used in Chile & Argentina gave me the broad idea of using it in the same way where I live in Northern Scotland: though mobile coverage is getting better and SMS fulfils pretty much all requirements of essential family / light business comms, I thought it would be a good use of an otherwise dying infrastructure.
The simple fact is that 2m is nothing like what it was in the pre-internet era. For various reasons, simplex and repeater activity is relatively negligible. This is a shame, and the result is that there is all this infrastructure which enthuisiasts keep going in the spirit of self-education, which is not being used. If only our ham bands were being policed/enforced!

I run a small marine electronics business/lifestyle, with a couple of enthusiastic employees and a young family who are also more or less involved in it. My idea was to install 2m in the vans and in the kitchen on the repeater channel, and let the kids/wife in on it as an alternative to mobile phone; expose them to grass roots radio comms at an early age, give the repeater a bit of use.

According to the letter of the law/license, this form of operation would be illegal, but would it be in the spirit of the license?
I think it's defensible.
As I said earlier - if only ofcom were interested, but I rather think that it would have to be an extremely energetic complainer to get ofcom out to stop such an infringement as I allude to above.
perhaps I shall give it a go in the spirit of "responsible anarchy".

Last edited by crestavega; 15th Sep 2018 at 2:38 pm.
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