KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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If there are so many hams and so many radios, why are the repeaters so
quiet?

Posted: 17 Dec 2015 11:32 AM PST
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


A couple of days ago, I blogged about all the Chinese VHF/UHF radios now
being sold here in the U.S. The post included links to 13 different
mobile/base radios being sold on Amazon. I had never heard of most of the
brands, including Leixen, Juentai, Tokmate, and QYT.

Comments on that post ranged from, You have to be crazy to buy these rigs
to The rig is solid! Despite the differing views on rig quality, they
allÂ*agreed that these radios are a nightmare to program.

Another trend, of course, is the rising number of new hams. The number of
licensed radio amateurs here in the U.S. has gone from fewer than 660,000
in 2007 to more than 730,000 this year. Most of these are new Techs, and
presumably, they went out and purchased some kind of radio.



Then, today, I got an e-mail from someone who tied these two trends
together:

I am disappointed that VHF and UHFÂ* activity is way way down here. Some
times I turn on my Kenwood HT whileÂ*reading the newspaper and there is
nothing on either 2 m or 70 cm repeaters.Â*Its not just in my area but
throughout the USA.Â*I think perhaps that a lot ofÂ*active VHF/UHF FM guys
have become SKs. I know that a lot of local hams from the 1980sÂ*are all
gone now. I wonder, though, why no one has replaced them?

This fellow has a point. If there are more radio amateurs out there, and
theyre buying more radios, why dont they get on the repeaters?
By the way, I often monitor the W8UM repeater here in Ann Arbor on 145.23
MHz. Its accessible via node W8UM-R on EchoLink. If you feel like
generating a little 2m activity here in Ann Arbor, MI, give me a buzz.

The post If there are so many hams and so many radios, why are the
repeaters so quiet? appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.

In article writes:

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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If there are so many hams and so many radios, why are the repeaters so
quiet?

One theory is that these hams are interested only in emergency communications
and are not actually getting on the air.

Another I might suggest is that these radios are a pain to program, and
it is not easy for folks to find active repeaters, so they don't get on.

In the 80's, folks were on repeaters a lot. Most are still around, but
the repeaters have all bit the big CTCSS limitations imposed by the freq.
coordinators. It may allow more repeaters, and cut some interference, but
you can no longer tune the dial across the band, hear a QSO, and join in.
I think this is a *BIG* factor.

Also, many got their radios to use autopatches, wanting the repeater
committee to install autopatches a lot. Now, cellphones are common and
a lot cheaper. Next to nobody uses autopatches anymore.

So, while I don't moan over the loss of autopatches, I think CTCSS
did a big part of killing VHF/UHF FM repeater activity.

Alan