KB0NHT
11-25-2001, 05:24 PM
When I first got involved, my buddy who got me interested in ham radio had a small group of people that he talked to on simplex in KC. Well knowing atleast one person I jumped in. At the time, most of the repeters within earshot of my antenna were busy. All with new nocode techs. Some into the wee hours of the morning. So I stayed on simplex. My head was still ringing with "least amount of power needed to sustain communications" and "use repeters only to extend range if needed" from the test. But now, the KC repeters aren't very busy. To me it seems that the no-code tech boom (which I was a part of) had a huge growth in that area. Now almost 6 years later, most of the repeters lay dorment. The few nocode's that have moved on to HF have left vhf behind. Many of the nocodes just gave up due to lack of interest. SSB wasn't real big. There were a few people. Packet was huge for a while. It was almost impossible to find a freq. to connect on within the band plans. Now, packet has given way to the internet. The DX cluster in Levenworth, KS is now silent. There are a few BBS's and nodes to hop around on. And the only hope for a UHF contact remain on ATV. The goin to work/goin home times are about all there is for 2M communications. I hear many people state that they have only HF gear in the shack at home. And shortly after that, they QSY on their IC-706 that they have in their car to 20M to look for DX. I don't know if this is THE problem, if its part of the problem, or what. I guess it does mean that people are progressing into the realm of HF. But they are leaving behind all of the VHF/UHF bands. With people upgrading and moving forward in the hobby, new hams aren't filling in the gaps that some leave behind. There isn't an interest in ham radio to the younger generation. Should we axe some of our bands? HELL NO!!!! FILL THEM UP!!!!
(here I go ranting again) Everyone instead of buying ANOTHER HF rig, buy an ATV rig. They are cheaper ($500 last I looked.) Get an HT to take to work. Buy a dual bander, or a tribander to put in the shack. Get that old kpc-2 out, put some power to it and hook it up. This is a call to arms for all hams! If you have another mode, use it! See if you can work that dx contact in france via satelite. Who has room for a big mesh dish? Put an amp on that 2m ssb rig and "shoot the moon." Point your beam at the idiot who is playing their car stereo loud at 2:30am, turn on the KW, and see how much power their subs can really handle! (ok, well lets try not to do that toooooo much hi hi) Everyday I turn on every radio I have. If I had more, I would turn more on. Lets get on the bands that are there and see who else is listening. Find a nephew or a grand kid, or your own kids. Show them you new shiny ATV rig that you just went out and bought. How many people have one of those new Icom quad bad ht's? Put it on 1.2ghz and use it.
OK thats enough for me. I hope my message was as distorted as possible. And countless spelling errors are there im sure.
73
KBØNHT
Contact: kb0nht@sugardog.com
(here I go ranting again) Everyone instead of buying ANOTHER HF rig, buy an ATV rig. They are cheaper ($500 last I looked.) Get an HT to take to work. Buy a dual bander, or a tribander to put in the shack. Get that old kpc-2 out, put some power to it and hook it up. This is a call to arms for all hams! If you have another mode, use it! See if you can work that dx contact in france via satelite. Who has room for a big mesh dish? Put an amp on that 2m ssb rig and "shoot the moon." Point your beam at the idiot who is playing their car stereo loud at 2:30am, turn on the KW, and see how much power their subs can really handle! (ok, well lets try not to do that toooooo much hi hi) Everyday I turn on every radio I have. If I had more, I would turn more on. Lets get on the bands that are there and see who else is listening. Find a nephew or a grand kid, or your own kids. Show them you new shiny ATV rig that you just went out and bought. How many people have one of those new Icom quad bad ht's? Put it on 1.2ghz and use it.
OK thats enough for me. I hope my message was as distorted as possible. And countless spelling errors are there im sure.
73
KBØNHT
Contact: kb0nht@sugardog.com
