Yes, this is a click-baitish title. Just ish, because it's leading you in the right direction. Not that I expect that to mollify the restless mob here on the Zed. Hams have been complaining about lack of activity on repeaters for well over a decade. Way back in 2003 I created a cover for a magazine I was editing (the SERA Repeater Journal) that spoofed the ARRL's Now You're Talking license manual by changing the title to Now You're Missing. I also wrote an editorial about the phenomenon in that issue. (Download the PDF) 14 years later... and a ham poses the same question on Reddit: Where is everybody? (I'm paraphrasing. No, I'm totally re-writing, but that's the gist of it). So I trot out my standard advice: make some noise. I even recommend calling CQ, because that's almost guaranteed to get someone to respond, if only to tell you that you're not supposed to call CQ on repeaters. I don't know who made up that rule, but they're wrong. I think it happened back in the 60's and early 70's, when HF ops looked down their long pointed noses at us FM ops as something less than 'real hams.' So in retaliation we eschewed their cherished practice of calling CQ. That's my theory. 10-4? I would have left it there, but then someone replied on Reddit that they tried my advice, and it worked! That warranted a short show (if 24 minutes counts as short, and for HamRadioNow, it does). AUDIO AUDIENCE: This is a talking-head show, and the only one talking is mine. I show the magazine and the Reddit text on screen, but I read it all to you. So this is that rare show where I'm thinking directly about the audio-audience. And if I'm doing that, I must award this show a Radio Rating of A-. The 'minus' is because I'm still really proud of that Repeater Journal cover spoof. That was a couple of hours of Photoshop, if I recall, but you get to see it here on the Zed. Meanwhile, you can LISTEN/DOWNLOAD the audio. And if you do podcasts on your phone, you can add HamRadioNow to the list. BTW, I mis-speak the era that I was the RJ editor. I say 'early 70's', but it's really 'early 2000's'. KN4AQ is 10-10 and 10-7.
Hi Gary, your short summary here made me immediately think about a conversation a fellow ham and I had where we were discussing area repeater activity. Granted, I haven't watched the video yet but my short answer to people who are asking where is everyone going....I think a lot of people are switching to digital...whether its DMR, fusion, or other modes. I love analog as much as anyone...but I do find myself taking advantage more of digital as of lately. Curious to hear if you discuss that philosophy when I watch this segment.
I watched. It held my interest. I like HF. Repeaters are an occasional afterthought. There are far to many of them. And trust me on this, on the rare occasion that I find myself on a repeater, I am NOT going to call CQ. Thanks for the reminder. Sort of.
As you'll see when you watch the show, I don't make that point. My experience isn't universal, but every place I've been, there are only a handful of digital repeaters. And there's not much local activity on any of them. If they have a network connection, they may seem to have a lot of activity. But it's all coming in bits and pieces around the region, or around the world.
70+ frequencies in my 2m radio memory in the shack, including 5 simplex ones. Sometimes while chasing HF I will have the radio on scan, it may go 3 hours and only hear an occasional repeater ID. During commute time one of the local repeaters gets a lot of use, while a handful of folks yack, on the drive, especially in the morning. Sometimes I will join in with a few other old timers on another repeater from 8:30 to maybe 10am, to complain about everything. I don't have HF in the vehicle, so I often use the busy local repeater from there. Best 73 K2HAT
I was on repeaters starting in 1971. I stopped using repeaters in 2010. 'CQ' is a general call. Repeaters were not designed for that,as they are a single TX/RX channel pair. That makes them focused, whereas 'bands' are shots in the dark and hunt and pounce. That's why. Why don't you know and say that? End of story. Not news. Repeaters (2M FM )are a disaster these days--either filled with anonymous defamation and profanity, or dead usage-- and I avoid them. The new DMR ones maybe a different story whih I intend to explore.
I use local repeaters on my commute. I like to talk to my local acquaintances about stuff. Sometimes I'll switch over to the DSTAR repeater and see who's on the reflector and chat with new people who usually only want to talk about openSpots, dvaps, and hotspots
The repeaters in my area are like this.... in 15 minutes you will here...this is (callsign inserted here), listening...at least a dozen times and no one, I mean no one, will be talking to anyone during that 15 minutes. Maybe calling CQ might give a response. Something else might get a response. Tone generated CW.
Repeaters in north Texas are numerous and quiet. Just as well, most of those redneck, no-code technician, bozos are not worth talking to anyway. Other than political BS or the ever growing number of kerchunkers, there is hardly any activity, with the exception of DMR. The only time I tune in is during RACES nets, and even those are often a joke. Average RACES member: "Well, ummmm......., I have three drops of rain per hour here and a gentle breeze blowing." Net Controller: "Again, we are only taking severe weather reports at this time!" Morons a plenty on the repeaters. I hoped that DMR would be better, but after a few days of hearing the same guys calling CG, and they do that on DMR, you get tired of hearing them. You have a gillion guys with cheap Chinese DMR HTs trying to talk on DMR but unable to consistently hold the repeater located 25 miles away. So why do I avoid FM repeaters? Simply put, I find that the rubber-ducky antennas on most of those guys HTs are more intelligent than the new class of hams operating them. If I want to talk to someone on VHF/UHF, it will likely be via simplex and digital so that we don't have to listen to all the idiots. Personally I think that anyone who is too stupid to program their HT should never have been given a license, and a large number of new hams in NTX cannot even program their HTs.
I've been out of the hobby for awhile. I came back a couple months ago and notices a disturbing trend within the hobby where others pass judgement on how others enjoy their hobby. Contestors vs. rag chewers Vhf vs. hf Code vs. no-code It's all rather silly and "judgy"
I agree with you, Richard. The repeaters in the NYC metro area are not super busy but we do have activity, and it's usually cordial and fun. The three repeaters with the YARC (Yonkers Amateur Radio Club) are pretty quiet usually. If there is a round table going on and some new operators are crashing the party due to inexperience, one of us will peel off and invite the newbies to the other band and give some one on one about repeater etiquette, and give them some practice. This is always well received and nurtures good behavior. A while back, things were getting out of hand with the kerchunking and swearing, etc. There was a lot of grousing at the club but a few of us decided that we could complain about it among ourselves, or we could try to do something about the problem. I don't spend lots of time on VHF/UHF but the time spent there seems to be getting better. Thursday nights are for Newbie Practice and Wednesday is technet night. Good times for all! Being nice and taking time to explain things, being a good sounding board, and encouraging good habits seems to help. http://www.yarc.org/nets.htm
Since you don't watch the shows, I don't expect you to know when I've addressed one of your 'End of News' issues. And I don't care.
Incorrect. False statement. Certainly I don't watch "all" the shows, nor do I comment on "all" the shows. You obviously have singled me out here--and it is a non sequitar, IMO. Whether you care is not cogent here. Your hostility is not relevant. You invite comments based on your admitted 'click-bait'. IF you only want comments based on everyone watching every second of every show, then please advise the audience. My comment is based upon first hand experience from the first general use of repeaters dating back 46 years. As such, early users asked exactly the same question about "calling CQ" and the answer, both by example and in practice, fell out from the users themselves. IOW, the convention was formed by the users, not dictated to them. Basically it comes down to duration: calling CQ takes from 20 seconds to a minutes whereas (for example) 'W1YW listening 64' does not time-occupy the repeater channel AND gets the point across. Its exactly the SAME reason we use 'Q' signals and CW abbreviations. Keep in mind that since FM is generally an 'all or nothing mode', you didnt need to repeat your call because of propagation and noise issues, encountered all the time on AM and CW, for example. And, as mentioned, a repeater channel focuses users on on frequency (pair) rather than a spread-out band.... Other examples (besides 'CQ') were tried and did not cut the mustard. To wit (as examples): " Hey anyone there? This is W 1 Yankee Whiskey" (too long), and "W1 Yankee Whiskey, W1YW, say somebody please?" These were used and didn't get the point across pithily and directly and quickly. But you wouldn't know this because you weren't on the repeaters in 1971. Now you know. (But you don't apparently care to know). In any case, have a pleasant weekend OM, and happy Easter! 73, Chip W1YW
I'm out of state and tuned into the local repeater. I use some thing like "whisky fox four whisky, listening". No response. Then I say "wf4w, am I hitting the machine" and I got a response... "yep, you're hitting it". Nothing more... No identifier. I think repeater communities just get isolated and if you're not part of the clique then you don't get a response.
