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Old 18th Jun 2019, 10:53 am   #41
MrBungle
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

Good point. Also the whole point of repeaters is supposedly handling mobile / HT comms. It's extremely difficult to accidentally annoy another repeater on a 5W HT...
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 10:58 am   #42
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

Indeed!
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 11:42 am   #43
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

After a lifetime of interest in radio and being a licensed amateur since 1984 AND building a lot of my own equipment I find I am almost losing the will to live, due to the reasons put forward in this thread.
The more we have to fiddle with multiple tones, digits and do-dahs, the more likely we are to 'give it a miss'. The more we get deafened by a squawk of digital nonsense, the less likely we are to tune around. Why are we meant to rush to digital? Whenever I've heard it, it sounds odd and robotic and often quite unpleasant. What on Earth was wrong with analogue? It worked, it was easy to understand (and build if you had the interest) and it didn't suddenly burst into farmyard noises.
The 2m and 70 cm bands are now virtually dead around here, and my transceivers get switched on only once every Preston Guild.
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 12:24 pm   #44
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

I think there's a catch 22 here as well. There's a lot of people monitoring 2m here but no one is putting their foot first and transmitting. If I do it weekends and evenings there's a contact to be had. I am mostly on HF though.

One thing I am tempted to do is to get a 2m rig on the car because it's great fun listening to the talk ins at radio rallies "I'm by a field and it's got cows in it"

People need to get on air and talk. And yes forget the digital stuff - barrier to entry both on cost and complexity is too high.
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 1:22 pm   #45
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

Get that beam up now!The following courtesy again of Southgate ARC.

A historic contact was made on Sunday the 16th June 2019 when the Atlantic was spanned for the first time on 144 MHz.

D41CV on Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa managed to work FG8OJ in Guadeloupe on 144.174 MHz using the FT8 digital mode.
The distance was an incredible 3,867 kms.

To put that into context, the distance from the west coast of Ireland to Newfoundland is 3,000 kms.

Tropo prediction maps show a path right across the Atlantic and suggest that even more incredble contacts may be possible.

(Shame it was a digi mode)
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 1:36 pm   #46
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

2 metres is the only band I have used for some time. I'm at 500' asl and have a 15 mile clear view to the east but still don't hear many stations, Having said that I have had several QSOs this week and there are a few nets in the evening.

My take off to the north, where most of the rest of the country is, is obliterated by a forest, but I get quite a few contacts during the holiday season from the local resorts.

Even though I live in the country there is still a lot of noise on HF making 2 m FM a much more pleasurable experience.

I can't see the 2m band being given up easily.

Peter
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 3:02 pm   #47
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

I hope you are right Peter.
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 3:11 pm   #48
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

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Originally Posted by HamishBoxer View Post
Get that beam up now!The following courtesy again of Southgate ARC.

A historic contact was made on Sunday the 16th June 2019 when the Atlantic was spanned for the first time on 144 MHz.

D41CV on Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa managed to work FG8OJ in Guadeloupe on 144.174 MHz using the FT8 digital mode.
The distance was an incredible 3,867 kms.

To put that into context, the distance from the west coast of Ireland to Newfoundland is 3,000 kms.

Tropo prediction maps show a path right across the Atlantic and suggest that even more incredble contacts may be possible.

(Shame it was a digi mode)
It's a good soundbite but FT8 is basically taking the operator out of the picture there. With no skill or experience whatsoever I got to Australia from London on 2W out on half a dipole in the middle of a tree with it. Half a dipole because I didn't realise that the glue I had sealed the BNC tag ring with in the balun had insulated it from the feed. It was basically a quarter wave 7MHz long wire on the end of 15m of RG58. My tuner just tuned it anyway
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 3:19 pm   #49
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

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Originally Posted by Peter.N. View Post

I can't see the 2m band being given up easily.

Peter
I think that the QRM that they would experience, both accidental and deliberate, would show them the futility of attempting to take the allocation. They might be able to force repeaters and beacons off the air, but they have no chance of forcing the world wide population of 2m off the air.
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 7:11 pm   #50
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

FISTS are doing our bit. Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, 7-9pm local time. We are trying to activate 2m.

I use it.most nights (Hf is flat) amd call around 144.050.

I love 2m, it's a great exciting band. Sadly Dead on FM and the new Salisbury repeater is dmr...so it won't be getting my presence though I do support thw achievement.
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 7:12 pm   #51
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

I suspect part of the lack of use problem is the ever increasing difficulty to install a rig and aerial in a modern car, let alone routing the power lead. There is usually no where to mount anything and folk are scared of transmissions upsetting the myriad computers in a modern car. The days of just screwing a bracket under the dash are long gone.
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 7:16 pm   #52
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin G7MRV View Post
I don't think the problem is so much the use of CTCSS in itself, but the use of different CTCSS tones for different repeaters. The repeaters are already frequency co-ordinated to provide separation, so the only issues come about during periods of enhanced propagation, and then we all used to love the fun that provided!


Now, unless you have a copy of the allocation table, or internet access, or are lucky enough to hear the repeater ID and catch the single morse letter at the end denoting the required tone (and of course either know for are able to look up which tone that letter is!) then working with any even slightly unfamiliar repeater is near impossible. So, you end up with all your radio memories filled with every combination of frequency and tone, and have to try them all out! Utterly pointless and frustrating.

Go back to 1750Hz toneburst and/or a single country side CTCSS tone!
Tell this to ofcom/rsgb
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 7:25 pm   #53
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

Lincoln and Waddington clubs both use 2M around here.
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Old 18th Jun 2019, 9:38 pm   #54
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

The 'cure' for the 'how to go back to an unknown CTCSS equipped repeater' problem is for CTCSS equipped radios to have a 'CTCSS Capture' mode, which would work like this:

-If the last transmission received on the currently selected frequency had a CTCSS tone embedded on it, the radio stores the value of the CTCSS tone.

-The next time the radio is keyed up it will automatically transmit the same CTCSS tone.

The 'Auto CTCSS tone memory' will be cleared if:
-A transmission is subsequently received on the same frequency with no CTCSS tone.
-The operating frequency is changed.
-If another transmission is received on the same frequency but with a different CTCSS tone, the new CTCSS tone will be auto-adopted.

All of the above has one crucial requirement, that the repeater or gateway should transmit its CTCSS tone as well as receive it. I'm not sure if that is the case.
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Old 19th Jun 2019, 6:54 am   #55
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBungle View Post
It's a good soundbite but FT8 is basically taking the operator out of the picture there. With no skill or experience whatsoever I got to Australia from London on 2W out on half a dipole in the middle of a tree with it. Half a dipole because I didn't realise that the glue I had sealed the BNC tag ring with in the balun had insulated it from the feed. It was basically a quarter wave 7MHz long wire on the end of 15m of RG58. My tuner just tuned it anyway
Presumably that was not on 2m...

FT8 is clearly enjoyed by many but the click on a waterfall mentality is not for me. Unfortunately it has killed operation on CW and SSB stone dead, nobody uses those modes outside contests. I have largely lost interest in the hobby, something I certainly wouldn't have said a couple of years ago, a sad end to our wonderful hobby.

Maybe we should get back on topic, or wait to see what happens at IARU in the next few days.

73 Dave G3YMC
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Old 19th Jun 2019, 8:07 am   #56
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

Correct Dave! We have I fear had a bit of drift.
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Old 19th Jun 2019, 9:11 am   #57
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

Indeed. Sorry for dragging it off topic there

I suspect common sense may prevail here with IARU. Lots of hissing and pfft'ing will no doubt occur.
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Old 19th Jun 2019, 10:13 am   #58
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

We are all as bad or guilty at times,I know I am!
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Old 19th Jun 2019, 10:51 am   #59
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew2 View Post
After a lifetime of interest in radio and being a licensed amateur since 1984 AND building a lot of my own equipment I find I am almost losing the will to live, due to the reasons put forward in this thread.
The more we have to fiddle with multiple tones, digits and do-dahs, the more likely we are to 'give it a miss'. The more we get deafened by a squawk of digital nonsense, the less likely we are to tune around. Why are we meant to rush to digital? Whenever I've heard it, it sounds odd and robotic and often quite unpleasant. What on Earth was wrong with analogue? It worked, it was easy to understand (and build if you had the interest) and it didn't suddenly burst into farmyard noises.
The 2m and 70 cm bands are now virtually dead around here, and my transceivers get switched on only once every Preston Guild.
I couldn't agree more. Wish there was a "like" button
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Old 19th Jun 2019, 3:43 pm   #60
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Default Re: Save our 2 Metre Band.

This is all very worrying, I had better get back on 2m; I can work almost anywhere from here on a piece of tuned wet string! (We used to have a Police repeater in our summerhouse, before they moved off to using mobile phone technology).

David.
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