BTW- on 2m CALLING Frequencies - sure. How else are 2M SSB and CW ops gong to find each other? But on 146.52 there's no point to calling CQ. You're either audible, or you're not. And on a repeater...? Jst a waste fo time and elctrons.
Could it be you have the impression that "Calling CQ" on 146.52 is the same as on 14.265 – a 30-second or minute-long exercise to attract attention of someone tuning across the band? The good 'ol 3x3x3 of CQ and call sign in phonetics, repeated 3 times? How about "CQ CQ CQ. This is KN4AQ. Anybody around?" I note in the show, and now I'll do it custom for you here, that hams aren't police dispatchers, hovering over their speaker waiting for someone to break squelch. Their radio may be scanning through a few dozen channels. They may be listening to a podcast (probably mine), or music, or yelling at the kids. It can take a moment or three to get their attention. Or four. Or five. And "CQ CQ CQ" conveys a very direct message that "I'm looking for a conversation" that a mumbled "kn4aqlistening" does not. Finally, we have time and electrons to burn on VHF/FM. Plenty of them. No shortage. Again, not police dispatchers. Relax. Loosen the underwear. And finally finally... notice that this gross violation of FM protocol got you to engage your keyboard and post something. Same result on that 'dead' repeater. And so while you're waiting for someone to call CQ, go watch the show.
Hello from N4LNE Well I just had to jump in on this discussion! I call CQ on repeaters several time a week and almost always I get a response from someone that was just sitting back listening. A repeater is a radio that is put in place at great expense in the hope that it will be used. Calling CQ wakes up the crowd and very often leads to meeting new people. I have and will continue to call CQ on any band I am allowed on and that is all of them. I also tell new hams that that is OK to do it. Georgia Hams Rock! 73 N4LNE - Phil
Hah yeah I've called CQ 6 times today on the local 2m repeater and yet to get a response. All I wanted to do was try out my new 65 watt 2M mobile but no luck. I'm sort of confused as to how anyone could find 2m FM to be a hobby! It's like watching paint dry. Better get started on that FM go box : |
I also agree I know a ham that all he really knows is how to turn the radio on and off and he's an General class whats this world coming to ..........
If you think calling "CQ" is odd just wait till you hear somebody kerchunk the repeater and then ask, "QRZed? is this freak-in-zee in use ??"
What I see most of all is almost dead VHF/UHF repeaters nation wide and hardly anyone calling CQ on them. Everyone is listening on scan. Calling CQ means I want to talk to someone, saying listening or giving my call sign does not mean that at all. But some people think it's a waste of time or energy or it's just not done to call CQ on a repeater. We need to use them and not just make up rules about how to use them, that is one big part of the problem, everyone is wary of what they should and should not say on a repeater, that or the response they get from the ignorant.. Given the chance political correctness will kill everything. Just enjoy the machine, someone went to considerable effort putting it up. I am in the process of helping to get one put up right now and with all the paper work, insurance and permissions it's like pulling teeth. Is all this work just to give someone an opportunity to tell me how to use it? I don't think so. If you want to be correct then call CQ because that is the correct way to request a contact, anything else is just an opinion or current fashion. Why would anyone tell you not to do the very thing you should do? This is AD5KO calling CQ.
One thing I didn't hear you mention was the almost universal problem of IMPATIENCE. I agree totally with calling CQ on ANY ham frequency, but HOWEVER you call, STICK AROUND for a few minutes to make sure no one is actually going to ANSWER you. I cannot count the number of times I've responded to a call, after maybe 10 or 20 seconds of delay, and the caller has DISAPPEARED. As this audio blurb mentions, few hams are standing next to their radios waiting to instantly respond to any hapless caller. The few of us who ARE listening or scanning or whatever are normally doing something else, often across the house or in another room, or busy in the car and unable to instantly respond. If no one answers, please don't turn the radio OFF or push your own scan button or change frequencies at least for a few minutes. You may be surprised to find someone answering your call, often after a few minutes' delay. I too am guilty of such impatience, and promise to follow my own advice.
A pet peeve about current repeater operations: Nowadays it is all too common to hear new operators, literally quaking in their boots, key up the repeater and announce "KG5NEWBEE Monitoring". A few seconds later, another comes on with an almost identical announcement with a different call. Either didn't hear the first guy or didn't realize he could actually TALK to the first guy calling instead of announcing his own call with the ARRL-mandated "Announce your call and monitoring, ONLY!" Often you will hear several such call/announcements within less than a minute. PLEASE realize there is NO required OR forbidden "procedure" to use when talking on the radio except for blatant bad language, and even that is not much enforced. Try SPEAKING ENGLISH, such as "This is KG5ZZZ, looking for someone to talk to." OR "I didn't catch that last caller. Could you try again? This is Joe KG5ZZZ" Or just use whatever phraseology that pops into your punkin head. If somebody gripes or complains at you, IGNORE it. Don't let some doofus scare you away from having fun on the radio. That's why it's called "AMATEUR RADIO".
None have hit on the real reasons why Ham radio has gone like it has. The American public has all been dumbed down by the loss of common sense, the simple sciences that should have been learned in high school and applied to everyday life. Think its bad here? Take a look at the websites of owners trying to repair their own vehicles. It shows a complete ignorance of what they own how anything works, what the code description mean. Its pitiful. Bottom line its the publics decline in general knowledge for the world they live in. The examples set by the government and other public figures. Throw in the dam IPADS and IPONES they cannot seem to let alone and this is what you now have. Have these devices been good for everyone, I don't think so when they are used to try finding the answers to every issue in life instead of learning. the results usually are that nothing is actually learned because they can find it again. Take away the means and they become lost. Also running through life like this, they lose the ability if they ever had it to talk to anyone. Wonder why the repeaters are silent? There is no perceived common interest for very much to talk about. Look outside radio at the world you live in for the answers to why. Next time your in a restaurant and see whole families with noses stuck in their IPADS and don't hardly talk to each other ask your self if maybe its a sign of the times. Good luck.
You're right, our society is changing. Interesting you made a comment about fixing our own vehicles. When I was young, my dad taught me how to fix small engines, car/truck engines, etc. We never owned a car that was less than 15 years old (that's being conservative in my estimate). I could easily fix those cars. They were simple and had no computers. Fast forward to a 1973 Volvo I had....first fuel injected car my family owned. It was tougher to work on, but my dad, an EE, taught me that all of the engine sensors were basically variable resistors. When they started failing and replacements couldn't be found, I made a board with pots set to nominal values for each sensor, thereby bypassing the sensors and allowing the engine to run smoothly by tuning the pots based on engine temperature or general fuel/air mixture needs. I ran that board in to the dashboard and could tweak the fake sensors while driving. Fast forward a few more years, and my Honda is now a technical marvel. I can't begin to figure out anything beyond the basics. I'm afraid to play with the electrical system because everything is interconnected. Between the computerized transmission, the "drive by wire" engine management system, and all the other electronic marvels under the hood, I give up! At least my wife and I can still tear down a lawn mower engine and rebuild it! Heck for us, that's a date! Hihi. You are right that our "connected" society has dumbed people down. But what I think you may be missing is the sheer volume of things that people can learn today. There is so much more to science, engineering, and Math today than when I was in school. My wife and I are old school. We like tinkering and learning new things, but this doesn't mean I don't appreciate the technology to have answers at my fingertips. Where my uncle, now an sk, had index cards with cheat sheets for his old heathkit amp and radio settings and reference charts with various vacuum tube specs, etc, I would look that stuff up on my smart phone. Is it different, well, yes and no. What he did with paper and notebooks, my wife and I now do with our connected devices that are linked to our home file management server. As to why the repeaters are silent, look at how new hams are treated. Instead of elmering the new hams, they are often chastised for being a "no code wonder" or just a radio operator, not a real ham. Heck, when my XYL and I passed our tech, then a few months later, General, we were nervous getting on the air for the first time, but we didn't have an Elmer to mentor us. We did it all on our own. I learned about the settings for my Icom IC765 from people I qso'd with. When we got started, we hung a G5RV antenna from the peak of our roof to a tree, and were able to work Russia, Australia, etc. from Maryland. We were stoked, yet people we talked with said that the G5RV was a "rookie mistake" that we would eventually overcome. Others commented on how poor the audio quality of the factory mike that came with the radio sounded, and others said that I needed to learn morse or I wasn't a real ham. Talk about words of encouragement! When my XYL and I started on the repeaters, hardly anyone would talk wih us because we weren't "known" to them. Once we made friends at our local ARC and during public service events, then we started having chats with people.
I am fortunate because I talked to people in a club for a few years here, and just the other day became a member, after saying I would never join a club again. Great bunch of people, I went to a meeting at the weekend and it was fun, hot dogs, burgers, raffle..etc.
