New to ham and this summer we will be taking a Route 66 tour starting in Northern Wisconsin and ending up by the Grand Canyon with our RV. I plan on monitoring and shouting out on .52 along the trip. Also setting up a quick portable station at the campsites using the same rig.....Yaesu FTM400XRD. I also would like to get into some Yaesu digital C4FM since I can't hit any of the Fusion repeaters where we live.
I'm in Kentucky, Winchester/Richmond/Irvine area. I monitor 520 most anytime I'm in the car or shack. M-F I'm monitoring between 7 and 8 AM and 4:30-5 PM EST during my commute.
9 dBd? Not for 2 meters ... that would the length of two DB224 antennas (each one is comprised of 4 folded bays) stacked.
ok, ok, another antenna project. a hole in the center coming up... ill dedicate a 5 watt ht inn jeep soon, dual band 50 watts at home...now
I listened last weekend all the way up to Canada from the Minneapolis metro area and nothing, zip, zero.
Did you program a PL tone? If you did, that would explain your dismal results. 146.52 is the National Calling frequency - but if you programmed a PL tone, you've locked yourself out. I use 146.52 mobile all the time - NEVER have a problem finding folks to talk with. But if I programmed a PL tone, it's all over... I almost never have trouble finding a contact on 146.520 anywhere I go Dave W7UUU
I have it programmed for simplex. I did not call out. I know I can get better results that way. I was just listening to see if others were talking on that frequency.
I put my call and 146.520 in large letters on the rear of my trailer last August. Yesterday, I passed a pickup and travel trailer in south Dakota and noticed it had a screwdriver on it. W6TSP called me and we had a nice rag chew for an hour or so. I drive between Seattle and Chicago twice a month and this is the first time I've had a qso because of my lettering.
When I was at a local club field day when I first got licensed, I worked Texas from Pittsburgh on SSB. Couldn't figure out why everyone was so excited so I just held the mic over my head and got out of there! I've heard repeaters in Indiana from my home in SW PA with just a vertical. I hear a few conversations a week on .52. DX on 2M happens, you just have to be there when it does! Dave AA3EE
I heard traffic on a repeater in Marin county California from my home near Spokane Washington one day. It took me a while to figure out where it was located. I was using a homebrew vertical dipole and wasn't able to hit the repeater after finding the tone on repeater book, but I tried.
