Hamfets Talk ins on HF ?

I was wondering if any hamfests use HF for talk in something like 10M. either the 28.410 USB or 29.610 simplex ? of course all ops would have to be Current licensed to operate ( Tech +, for 28.410 and above to use 29.610 FM simplex.

a thought but would this violate any Gentlemens Agreement or FCC rule ?

 

At Dayton, the HFPack group used 18157.5 USB/CW for talk-in, and Ten Ten used 28345 USB talk-in, per their e-mail bulletins.

As for hamfests using VHF/UHF for talk-ins? I suspect that VHF and UHF work better for talk-in, as low vehicle antennas shoot their signals skyward on HF, due to ground reflections. From our 10M SSB experiments in Phoenix, AZ -- we were amused to hear stations in Washington state, Colorado, and even New South Wales, Australia with much stronger signals than we could hear across town. Two watts on two-meter FM simplex gave us all full-quieting local signals -- while even 150W 10M SSB to rooftop verticals barely made it across town, due to local static, high radiation angles, and RF obstacles as mountains, buildings and trees.

I just tried this the other afternoon. I ran ten watts FM on 29.600 MHz simplex with a modest modified CB whip. About five miles away, the hams at the Arizona Science Center station W7ASC could just barely make out my signal. In comparison, when I spoke with the science center using 2M or 70cm simplex FM, I can hit them with a full-quieting signal even with 300 milliwatts to a rubber duck!

Phoenix is a large city nestled in a valley between many mountains, and has many tall buildings, too. That could explain our difficulties in using HF for local communications.

Might be worth an experiment! Advertise an HF talk-in at the next local hamfest, and see who comes on frequency, and compare that to check-ins on VHF/UHF.

Good Luck! And, let us know of your results...

73
KB7AQD

Robert in Phoenix, AZ