K9STH
11-10-2001, 02:25 AM
Are you talking about FM or SSB? On SSB there does seem to be a "dearth" of activity except during contests. On FM that is another matter.
If you are in a strange city, and are hitting a repeater, you will often get a response if you identity as "mobile" or "portable" (depending on which your are). The FCC no longer requires such identification, but regulations do not prohibit this. By indicating such, if the stations monitoring don't know you, then they are more "apt" to come back to you as a visitor.
Also, besides identifying with you call sign, you might also ask a question like needing directions, a gasoline station, etc. Most often someone will come back to you.
However, in most areas that I travel through, I don't usually have any problems finding someone to talk to. If during the day on a weekday, sometimes there are very few people monitoring. But, during the "go to work" and "go home" hours and during the evening hours, on workdays I normally find someone. Weekends there are usually several stations monitoring.
You just need to sound interesting! Seriously, in the vast majority of areas with repeaters all you have to do is to sign your call sign. At the most, add the word "listening" (i.e. "WX5XXX listening"). This has always worked for me and I have been using FM since 1960 on the old 147.300 MHz simplex frequency in the Chicago area. Have been on repeaters since 1967 when the first one in the Dallas, Texas, area went on the air.
Glen, K9STH
Contact: gzook@home.net
If you are in a strange city, and are hitting a repeater, you will often get a response if you identity as "mobile" or "portable" (depending on which your are). The FCC no longer requires such identification, but regulations do not prohibit this. By indicating such, if the stations monitoring don't know you, then they are more "apt" to come back to you as a visitor.
Also, besides identifying with you call sign, you might also ask a question like needing directions, a gasoline station, etc. Most often someone will come back to you.
However, in most areas that I travel through, I don't usually have any problems finding someone to talk to. If during the day on a weekday, sometimes there are very few people monitoring. But, during the "go to work" and "go home" hours and during the evening hours, on workdays I normally find someone. Weekends there are usually several stations monitoring.
You just need to sound interesting! Seriously, in the vast majority of areas with repeaters all you have to do is to sign your call sign. At the most, add the word "listening" (i.e. "WX5XXX listening"). This has always worked for me and I have been using FM since 1960 on the old 147.300 MHz simplex frequency in the Chicago area. Have been on repeaters since 1967 when the first one in the Dallas, Texas, area went on the air.
Glen, K9STH
Contact: gzook@home.net