146.52

[wa8yxm]

Get a rig with built in Voice module and program it to call CQ every 10-20 mintues
(I actually have such a rig, only don't have the voice module... But I can fake it with the computer control, that computer can do most anything with the KISS interface)

[W6DCS]

I am hoping this summer to find some activity, hopefully with more folks traveling during the peak vacation time traffic will start. I am not sure where we are going this summer, toss between a cross country trip and somewhere else, but either way I will be on and monitoring.

[Awlknottedup]

I have my callsign and 146.52 on the back of the trailer and tow vehicle and so far no one has tried to call me. On one run from Phoenix to Austin I heard someone on that frequency once and it was a couple of hams travelling together several miles ahead of me.

[KE5NWT]

I keep the 2 meter rig on scan in the house when I am home (scanning two local repeaters and 146.52). I heard a call last weekend on 146.52 and answered. It was a traveler on the nearby 2 lane highway passing through. I talked with him for several minutes until he got out of range. During the QSO I gave him the local repeater info so he could later program his radio to them for the next time he goes through the area. I always scan 2 meters when in the truck.

[Richard Stouffer]

Yeah!!

[Awlknottedup]

I have my call sign and 146.520 on the back on the trailer and tow vehicle. I recently traveled from San Diego County to the Bay Area with side trips to Stockton then back south. All along the way I monitored 146.520 and received no one call. I did call out a couple of times and got only one response in I-5 near Buttonwillow.

[w7wv]

I made a 4200 mile trip with the wife about 6 years ago.
I had the radio set to monitor .52 and rarely heard a conversation unless I get near a big city.
Contacts? I had one from calling CQ which I did frequently along the road.
I had much better luck using the search feature to search out repeaters and lock on them for QSOs on the way back home.

[N6USO]

When I travel, I always have a radio on 146.52 simplex. I do get responses every now and then. One time I saw a ham friend on a trip out of state I had not seen in a long time. I gave him a call on simplex and we were hooked up on the air and talked for a long time, since we were going the same way. It is always good to have that on, you may be able to help someone calling for help someday.

[Richard Stouffer]

I sure seems like most of us have the same dismal results with .52. However, it appears to play an active role around Dayton during Hamfest. Perhaps we could start the ball rolling to get everyone using it, not just when they get to Dayton, but as they drive to Dayton and back home again.

[Snell]

Coming back home to Jersey from Ohio last week on the Pennsy turnpike and I CQed on .520 around Pittsburg. I got a couple of replys. One fellow said it was fairly common for the local gang to monitor .520 as they chat there frequently. It was most pleasant to break the boredom of a long ride with a few minutes of conversation. I'll certainly try again next time I'm in that area.

Art

[Manual Garcia O'Kely]

I make a 2,000 mile round trip [1000 ea.way] usually a couple of times a year. I'm running 146.52 and 52.525. I've done this trip at least 6 times trying my darndest - I've programmed repeaters till the devil would not have it.

I've had 4 QSO's on the road in the last 6 trips. This with callsign plates on the vehicle and a bumper sticker announcing my frequency presets.

All I can figure is that there are not enough hams in the US to cover all the roads.

Me, I have simplex calling on my scanner at home at all times in the shack, on the mobile if I'm not local.

We hams need to reclaim simplex - I don't get why so many of us won't operate w/out repeaters. With 50 watts in a mobile with an average antenna you can easily cover 30 miles - you just should not be that far out of range.

Oh well.

[wa8yxm]

The problem is that with repeaters folks tend to "Cluster" on the local repeater. Nobody listens to .52 or .525

Of course on Six Meters... I spent over a month last winter in range of a six meter repeater

The only thing I ever heard was the repeater's ID, and I did put out some calls.

[Manual Garcia O'Kely]

You can be sure that I'll have one of my dual band frequencies set to 146.520 for our entire summer vacation. With my HT to act as a remote mic, it should be usable if anyone is around.

IF you do tune in, try calling once in a while, and don't just give a quick ident - give your call, your road number and direction of travel - let someone hear enough to get back to you.

If you hear someone call, why not talk? VHF you can only have a few minutes if you are not on a parallel track and if you ARE and get tired of the Q, then need to ask the wife something!

Alternate simplex frequencies - have some good ones in memory so you can move off if you go at it for an hour.

I'll be listening for you.

[k3mp]

When traveling I usually keep the 706 on simplex until I get into an area that I know the repeater freqs of friends that I QSO with on HF from home. I switch over and then back to simplex again once out of range. I keep a sign in my window and on the back of the
5th wheel.. 146.52 ... most of the times its useless....but once in a while I get lucky...I do call CQ going down the road and once in a blue moon get another ham on the road..be safe on your Alaska vacation and enjoy and write to all of us often of your camping and radio experiences...

[phredsee]

Even though it's been awhile since someone added to this topic, this past weekend returning home from an RV outing in Morro Bay, we encountered stopped traffic transitioning from the 101S onto the 126E and I mean stopped! Well, having installed by dual bander just the weekend before in the MH and not hearing a thing since installation, I cranked up the mike, id'd myself and asked what the problem was on .52. Repeated this (3) times with no return call. I hope that there simply was no one within earshot to answer, because that would explain it.

So, I keyed up the dreaded portable CB, channel 19, repeated the question and received (4) returned responses before I had time to hang up the mike and found out what the problem was. I agree, ham needs to be talked up again.

[One Country Boy]

I keep 146.52 in scan at home all the time. The frequency is seldom used in my area. I prefer operating simplex frequencies over repeaters. It appears I'm one of the few though.

73,
Jim

[bnmcgraw]

I also keep 146.52 in scan on my rig at home. I have heard only two conversations in the past three months. That won't keep me from having it on as we head for Kentucky later this month. While I'm portable at the Horse Park, I expect to at least stir up some noise. Ha Ha.

Repeaters are great but you still need that direct contact sometimes!

[Manual Garcia O'Kely]

Had a couple of simplex contacts on my two month trip - one near Nenana, two near Shasta on the way home [one was my first trucker!], and a couple of other randoms, but there's very little activity anymore. Once in a while I'd hear a guy calling another station, but only in the big cities.

Did not hear anything at all on 6 meters FM calling, nor on 10 meters FM [all the bands my FT-8900 will manage in the car].

[k3mp]

There are alot of hams in our area that use 52 instead of the local repeaters...I for one look for an OM I speak with on the way into work in the morning on simplex and its quite nice...I use 52 on the highways myself...I keep my HT on that now and I have 40M on the 706 during the day....

[K0HB]

For the last five years I have had our call letters and "146.52" posted in large letters on the back of our rig. I keep the VHF side of our dualbander ALWAYS on 146.52 and frequently announce ourselves on .52.

In something over 20,000 miles of travel like this, we have had precisely TWO Q's as a result.