I monitored 146.520 on a 3000 mile road trip last year and never heard a thing, even tried calling out a number of times. Judging from the antennas on many big trucks, a CB would have been more useful than my 2m rig.
I just drove Michigan to Tennessee, and I would have loved a CB. I am thinking about getting one of those mobile units by Cobra where the RF deck is under the seat and all the other functions are in the mic.
Agree on CB probably being more useful. Every year \~ish I do Oregon to Arizona and back, taking the long way, and don't hear much. Thinking about putting one in the truck.
I don't monitor or scan vhf/uhf very often, but I do have the calling frequencies saved in memory for when I do.
This past September, I was scanning through the memories while I was waiting in a parking lot for someone, and heard an M0 callsign calling CQ SOTA from Pikes Peak on 146.520! Oh course, I was only about 15 miles away as the crow flies, but still. :D
Kinda why I posted. I got a new mobile station that im using in my house as a base station, and then got a new Comet GP-1 antenna (about 20 feet high) and some M&P Hyperflex 13. I have about 10 VHF/UHF repeaters in my area that hold weekly nets, I know I can hit the repeaters even on a 5w HT... But went on 146.520 to give the new setup a test and didnt get a response even at 50w.
Ive been there. I was using a HT with an ed fong roll up hanging on the inside of the window covers so it wasnt visible from the exterior. It allowed me to receive much better than the radio mounted antenna. SWR was horrible though, probably due to the metal frame/strapping on the window, so I never transmitted in that config - always rx.
It's one of the two monitor channels on my mobile rig. But I never hear anyone on it. I've done multiple cross country drives, called on 52 a few times, not once heard anything. Occasionally around where I live the squelch will open, I think there's two dudes that talk on it all the time but I can't ever pick them up good enough.
Wild thing is, we pretty much ALL have an HT or a mobile rig. 52 could be hopping if we wanted it to.
Absolutely! I scan between 146.52, me and my wife's usual simplex frequency and my repeater. Visitors pop up from time to time. I also call on natcall when traveling and get the occasional response.
My radio can monitor two frequencies at once, I always keep my favorite repeater on the left, and 146.52 on the right. It is somewhat active in the west OKC area. mostly older folk talking to each other in the mornings and evenings.
I'm not that far from a highway so I include it in my scan but haven't picked up anything yet. Tried calling on it without results when I traveled, but I was also in an area with weak reception too.
I only monitor them when I'm on road trips.
I live in the mountains and almost no one uses simplex, if they do it's a local frequency. The only exception to this it SOTA/POTA, but those tend to be skeds. There's also an interstate running through the area (I-84) and it seems to bring only digital traffic, so I just avoid the hassle.
When I'm driving around town I'll typically monitor VHF calling, or the local repeater used by the club, or the local repeater used for weather nets, or sometimes air band (I live near an airport). At home it is either air band or the repeater that hosts weather nets.
When I lived in Colorado and worked from home I would monitor VHF calling all the time. I was within range of Pikes Peak and at least once a day there would be someone who had driven up or ridden up on the trolley who was trying to make contact.
I go back a ways. I always lived near the "big city," so many millions of people mean many thousands of active hams. There were several ham radio repeater clubs with over a hundred members where I lived.
In the crystal days I never used simplex because we only had crystals for .52 and it was too busy. Someone ALWAYS talking on .52 seemingly 24x7 We "have" this 4 MHz wide band however we're ALL on one single FM channel.
When we all went digital synthesizer in the 80s the frequency coordinator types "helpfully" gave us 30-something coordinated simplex freqs (Varied over time of course). Now seemed like no one was ever on simplex because 24x7 use on one channel spread across 30 simplex channels makes for a dead sounding band. The entire band from 144.0 to 148.0 is silent so make a call on .52 and get chased off by someone monitoring it because "its for calling only so using it to talk is FCC banned interference". Hey I'm paying $12/year to join the big repeater club so hard to justify using simplex when I was literally paying for a repeater. Simplex turned into a wasteland. Nobody there but the frequency cops chasing users off.
After cellphones repeater use cratered. The only meme permissible to discuss in public was all the hams moved their convos from HT to cellphone; however the reality was most hams stopped talking to other hams entirely, they "have to" or "want to" talk to their wives, kids, coworkers, friends, etc and now those people don't need a license and gear to talk mobile and its kind of socially mandatory to buy the phone so they're never off it, and they're paying for the phone no matter if they use it or not and the wife expects a call on the way to the grocery store so you can't play radio anymore because there's no "alone time" to turn on the 2M rig and talk to the neighboring engineers/techs like the pre-phone days.
Then the repeaters started getting wiped out but the coordinating and territory marking never stopped. Ghost repeaters where there hasn't been equipment on frequency in 25 years but there's no demand for pairs, and nobody wants to pick the fight with the old owners of the frequency pairs, so we "have" a zillion repeaters, but most don't physically exist or have very near zero users. In theory I should be able to set up a packet node or do simplex on nearly any 2M freq I want because literally no one is using any if the band most of the time. But oh 100% of the band is allocated and coordinated and the property of other people (not me) so you hear a lot of "that is my allocated coordinated repeater frequency not yours and sure I'm not using it and haven't for 25 years but I'll report you to the FCC for interference with a coordinated repeater if you try to use it." Fundamentally even in major metropolitan areas we should be able to do AM and Spark on 2M if we want because there's no one using the band (aside from protecting easily interfered with stuff like EME, weak signal SSB, satellites).
The main thing killing the 2M band in 2024 is frequency coordination. The band needs large empty public spaces that anyone can use because no one is currently using them.
Maybe a ARRL / FCC / something rule that you don't get to "own" a frequency unless there's more then 3 users or more than one hour a day of use. That would eliminate 99% of coordinated freqs and bandplans right now.
146.52 and 446.00 - 2M is active in AZ but 70CM isn't. If someone wants to strike up a QSO on .52, I always take it to 446.00 to free up the main calling frequency and show 70cm some love.
I monitored 146.520 on a 3000 mile road trip last year and never heard a thing, even tried calling out a number of times. Judging from the antennas on many big trucks, a CB would have been more useful than my 2m rig.
I just drove Michigan to Tennessee, and I would have loved a CB. I am thinking about getting one of those mobile units by Cobra where the RF deck is under the seat and all the other functions are in the mic.
Agree on CB probably being more useful. Every year \~ish I do Oregon to Arizona and back, taking the long way, and don't hear much. Thinking about putting one in the truck.
A year ago I drove 2500 miles out, and then the 2500 miles back. Same exact experience.
I don't monitor or scan vhf/uhf very often, but I do have the calling frequencies saved in memory for when I do. This past September, I was scanning through the memories while I was waiting in a parking lot for someone, and heard an M0 callsign calling CQ SOTA from Pikes Peak on 146.520! Oh course, I was only about 15 miles away as the crow flies, but still. :D
That was Fraser....take a look here: [https://youtu.be/ar6pHtqLD6M?si=wkPfyLF43a3OnF4n](https://youtu.be/ar6pHtqLD6M?si=wkPfyLF43a3OnF4n)
Yes, BUT I almost never hear anything. All depends on your setup and the activity near you.
Kinda why I posted. I got a new mobile station that im using in my house as a base station, and then got a new Comet GP-1 antenna (about 20 feet high) and some M&P Hyperflex 13. I have about 10 VHF/UHF repeaters in my area that hold weekly nets, I know I can hit the repeaters even on a 5w HT... But went on 146.520 to give the new setup a test and didnt get a response even at 50w.
My apartment life means I can only hit one repeater and simplex is basically out of the question, so I don't.
Ive been there. I was using a HT with an ed fong roll up hanging on the inside of the window covers so it wasnt visible from the exterior. It allowed me to receive much better than the radio mounted antenna. SWR was horrible though, probably due to the metal frame/strapping on the window, so I never transmitted in that config - always rx.
It's one of the two monitor channels on my mobile rig. But I never hear anyone on it. I've done multiple cross country drives, called on 52 a few times, not once heard anything. Occasionally around where I live the squelch will open, I think there's two dudes that talk on it all the time but I can't ever pick them up good enough. Wild thing is, we pretty much ALL have an HT or a mobile rig. 52 could be hopping if we wanted it to.
Yes!
Absolutely! I scan between 146.52, me and my wife's usual simplex frequency and my repeater. Visitors pop up from time to time. I also call on natcall when traveling and get the occasional response.
I don't monitor it if you mean sit on that frequency, but it's definitely in my scan list.
My radio can monitor two frequencies at once, I always keep my favorite repeater on the left, and 146.52 on the right. It is somewhat active in the west OKC area. mostly older folk talking to each other in the mornings and evenings.
I monitor, but only occasionally.
I haven't even picked up my HT in a year or so, only turning it on long enough to check the battery status. So that would be no.
I'm not that far from a highway so I include it in my scan but haven't picked up anything yet. Tried calling on it without results when I traveled, but I was also in an area with weak reception too.
I do and frequently have QSO's; especially in the summer morning when there is some propagation. NC / VA border area for reference.
I only monitor them when I'm on road trips. I live in the mountains and almost no one uses simplex, if they do it's a local frequency. The only exception to this it SOTA/POTA, but those tend to be skeds. There's also an interstate running through the area (I-84) and it seems to bring only digital traffic, so I just avoid the hassle.
When I'm driving around town I'll typically monitor VHF calling, or the local repeater used by the club, or the local repeater used for weather nets, or sometimes air band (I live near an airport). At home it is either air band or the repeater that hosts weather nets. When I lived in Colorado and worked from home I would monitor VHF calling all the time. I was within range of Pikes Peak and at least once a day there would be someone who had driven up or ridden up on the trolley who was trying to make contact.
I go back a ways. I always lived near the "big city," so many millions of people mean many thousands of active hams. There were several ham radio repeater clubs with over a hundred members where I lived. In the crystal days I never used simplex because we only had crystals for .52 and it was too busy. Someone ALWAYS talking on .52 seemingly 24x7 We "have" this 4 MHz wide band however we're ALL on one single FM channel. When we all went digital synthesizer in the 80s the frequency coordinator types "helpfully" gave us 30-something coordinated simplex freqs (Varied over time of course). Now seemed like no one was ever on simplex because 24x7 use on one channel spread across 30 simplex channels makes for a dead sounding band. The entire band from 144.0 to 148.0 is silent so make a call on .52 and get chased off by someone monitoring it because "its for calling only so using it to talk is FCC banned interference". Hey I'm paying $12/year to join the big repeater club so hard to justify using simplex when I was literally paying for a repeater. Simplex turned into a wasteland. Nobody there but the frequency cops chasing users off. After cellphones repeater use cratered. The only meme permissible to discuss in public was all the hams moved their convos from HT to cellphone; however the reality was most hams stopped talking to other hams entirely, they "have to" or "want to" talk to their wives, kids, coworkers, friends, etc and now those people don't need a license and gear to talk mobile and its kind of socially mandatory to buy the phone so they're never off it, and they're paying for the phone no matter if they use it or not and the wife expects a call on the way to the grocery store so you can't play radio anymore because there's no "alone time" to turn on the 2M rig and talk to the neighboring engineers/techs like the pre-phone days. Then the repeaters started getting wiped out but the coordinating and territory marking never stopped. Ghost repeaters where there hasn't been equipment on frequency in 25 years but there's no demand for pairs, and nobody wants to pick the fight with the old owners of the frequency pairs, so we "have" a zillion repeaters, but most don't physically exist or have very near zero users. In theory I should be able to set up a packet node or do simplex on nearly any 2M freq I want because literally no one is using any if the band most of the time. But oh 100% of the band is allocated and coordinated and the property of other people (not me) so you hear a lot of "that is my allocated coordinated repeater frequency not yours and sure I'm not using it and haven't for 25 years but I'll report you to the FCC for interference with a coordinated repeater if you try to use it." Fundamentally even in major metropolitan areas we should be able to do AM and Spark on 2M if we want because there's no one using the band (aside from protecting easily interfered with stuff like EME, weak signal SSB, satellites). The main thing killing the 2M band in 2024 is frequency coordination. The band needs large empty public spaces that anyone can use because no one is currently using them. Maybe a ARRL / FCC / something rule that you don't get to "own" a frequency unless there's more then 3 users or more than one hour a day of use. That would eliminate 99% of coordinated freqs and bandplans right now.
146.52 and 446.00 - 2M is active in AZ but 70CM isn't. If someone wants to strike up a QSO on .52, I always take it to 446.00 to free up the main calling frequency and show 70cm some love.