I do. However, tropo conditions are very good in my location up/down the east coast since I am located on Long Island, NY. Occasionally sporadic-E propagation as well; however that's been quite rare on 2m in recent years. Many stations still operate 2m SSB weak signal. I can make contacts daily, using a Cushcraft 10el yagi and up to 1kw power, and even occasionally on my Cushcraft ARX-2b Ringo vertical.
I do but mostly just for yakking with locals and the occasional VHF contest action. We have a ton of 2m SSB operators in the greater Seattle area. More than I typically hear on 146.52 FM in fact. Dave W7UUU
Yes it can. However, on a day like today you may find conditions are not ideal for anything DX. Even locally its a bit tough when the air is unsettled. You should become familiar with the various propagation that works on 2m, and watch for conditions here in NY. A few things, reducing receive noise on your station is important, a good directional antenna helps along with horizontal polarization. And of course height is might when it comes to your antenna. Noise can be very high in NYC; I was up in the Bronx until recently however I had numerous weak signal contacts since my yagi was up on top of 24 story co-op which was on the second highest hill in NYC, so that helped. Bah ... satellites. That's cheating. Hihi!!
I'm new to VHF having just got an IC-970 and IC-821. My antenna is a marine VHF vertical tuned to the amateur freq. I guess I need to work on the antennas and start studying the propagation. Any help is welcome. Thanks
Back in Ohio, there were a couple guys that I could hear quite frequently a few Khz below 144.200, Think it was 144.197.. They were about 100 miles apart. one was near lake Erie. Been about 10 years, so I dunno if they are still OTA. If you have a beam, you could try pointing it in that general direction,.. Ymmv
Plenty of SSB activity every morning on 144.205. If you want to work weak signal work, must be horizontal- either loops or yagi/quad. A group here on Long Island also hang on 144.192-193, and they are usually vertical. They are in Suffolk. On 144.205, with most of the guys we can work a 400 mile radius- we all have large amps and at least 9 element yagi's on towers or up on the roof at least 30-40 feet. Coverage is from FN 14 down to FM 17 without enhancements... If you need info- email me or stop by on .205 from 7-9.45am or also during the week at night. David
