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Vintage Amateur and Military Radio Amateur/military receivers and transmitters, morse, and any other related vintage comms equipment.

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Old 6th Sep 2018, 10:21 pm   #121
russell_w_b
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

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'On the evening of the same day I went up to the Hardy monument (my first ever time there) and w...'
Back in '90 I used to go up Eggardon Hill, not a million miles away, in the car with my Trio TR7800 into a 5λ/8 mag-mount and I could get quite a distance east and west. The long slope down from Toller down to the coast was good for 'getting out'.
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Old 7th Sep 2018, 9:38 am   #122
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I'm almost looking at Eggardon Hill, I'm about 10 miles or so west of it at 500' asl, I believe that's where the relatively new Dorchester repeater is, not only does it nearly melt my front end but it comes in on the channels either side of its transmit frequency.

A few weeks ago I worked a station at Hardy's Monument, he was end stop here and working all over the country, most of his contacts I couldn't hear except to the east where I do have a good take off.

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Old 8th Sep 2018, 8:16 am   #123
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Oh how I dream of such a qth.
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Old 9th Sep 2018, 10:01 am   #124
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I wasn't even licensed when we bought the house in 1970 but when I was I couldn't have picked a much better spot except I can't get out to the north, there's a forest in the way. I would have liked a QTH with a river or stream but unfortunately you don't get them up here.

You will have to stick to HF David, that works mostly anywhere.

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Old 9th Sep 2018, 1:01 pm   #125
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I am a few yards from the River Trent out here in the sticks.
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Old 9th Sep 2018, 3:34 pm   #126
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I was listenening yesterday and one of the repeaters I monitor popped up with a conversation that had my toes curling. All CB jargon and stupid terms like "queueso" drove me to turn it off in the end.
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Old 9th Sep 2018, 5:16 pm   #127
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Yes,at that point I would have shut down too.
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Old 9th Sep 2018, 8:28 pm   #128
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Any worse than the Amateur Radio jargon I alluded to in post #23?

No-one talks like that in real life, so why on air?

CB & Amateur radio both use needless jargon.

I once heard a couple of old buffers banging on interminably about 'falling standards' because someone had said '73s (plural) rather than '73' (singular). They quite missed the point that to use either term in voice communications is a bit of a nonsense. 73 is a CW abbreviation for 'Best Wishes' dating back to telegraph days. How hard can it be for anyone with a tongue in their head to say 'Thanks for the contact David - best wishes - hope to chat with you again some time'. (Rather than "thanks for the QSO, 73, hope to see you further down the log").

It's not an issue for me - I'm not on air and I never did use repeaters or engage with anyone who was operating mobile. To my mind, if we're doing anything in a car which - if we did it during our driving test would cause us to fail - we'd best not do it. Which probably sounds quite sanctimonious, so it's perhaps best that I'm not active on air.

I recall that when our elder son was maybe three years old, he'd heard me calling 'CQ' in the spare room which was my shack.

Curious about what was going on, he said to my wife 'Why does Daddy keep shouting "goosey goosey goosey?" Why indeed!
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Old 9th Sep 2018, 9:43 pm   #129
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I think people speak like that because it's the 'done thing' and to do anything otherwise could seem somewhat odd. Amateur radio is full of jargon and I think it's part and parcel of the hobby.

For talking sake, if I were to put a call out in 145.500, I would most likely say ' GM7KIM listening S20'

On HF it could be a benefit in certain circumstances to use Q codes or such to overcome language barriers or to come through the noise. Otherwise it's as David said un natural.
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Old 9th Sep 2018, 10:40 pm   #130
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I just use normal speak when on amateur radio. That's because I find it easier, like having a normal conversation, but also because I can't remember most of the jargon, even if I felt like using it, and also because at work I use radios a lot and the people at the other end are very critical of "proper" radio procedure, although they do have their own particular way of operating, which is intended to use airtime for the absolute minimum to pass the message, exactly the opposite to a good old chat on amateur radio!
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Old 10th Sep 2018, 2:49 pm   #131
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

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For talking sake, if I were to put a call out in 145.500, I would most likely say ' GM7KIM listening S20'
It's all very subjective, this 'how to talk' malarkey. The late G3ART who used to teach me Morse code always used to say of those who said 'G* *** listening on R1' 'So what? He's listening! Good for him!' Likewise with those 'calling on S20 and waiting for any possible calls'. Alan used to point out that possible calls were easy, but impossible calls were, well, impossible.

If I feel moved to make contact on 2 metres, it's 'goosey goosey goosey', then callsign, then band (just in case I happen to be breaking through on any other band)! No doubt there are those who will take issue with that. Well yah...

Back in CB days (yes, I had one of those, please don't judge...), I used the lingo when I started out. We'd all watched 'Convoy', read the comics, seen the Dukes of Hazzard, etc... We were young, it was fun and we all felt 'as one'.

Then one day - I remember it clearly - I'd had a natter on the CB and I said to myself 'what was all that about, then?' From then on it was plain language with no jargon whatsoever.

'What's your twenty?' Pah!
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Old 10th Sep 2018, 3:22 pm   #132
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Dont mention CB,myself and a brother in law at that time had legal FM rigs and spent more time on the telephone to arrange contacts than it was worth!

PS I admire anyone who has gone from CB to the relatively real thing.
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Old 10th Sep 2018, 6:59 pm   #133
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Well I am still an avid CB user, I even bought a state of the art President Jackson classic 2 a couple of years back which incorporated the new released AM LSB USB Sideband frequencies .but we certainly don't use any of the old jargon that was used back in the day except maybe a 10.36 or two.
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Old 10th Sep 2018, 8:11 pm   #134
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

The last time I used a CB (post- conversion of a legal Midland unit to ten metres back in the mid-eighties) was about '89 when some of the lads on attachment to Penrith devised a system we called 'Drink-Link' to see who was going out for a pint that evening. Someone* came up with a basic tone-squelch mod based on an NE567 if I remember correctly. As we were rather scattered it made sense to see who'd be out 'n' about without squandering a telephone call to various landladies, digs, etc... No mobile telephones back then! Not for the likes of us anyway.

My cousin's husband used to laugh when I lodged with them at Blackpool back in the '80s when I was at Bispham Tech. I'd go out in the car for a natter on two metres, but I'd telephone one of the other chaps first to see if he'd be about!


CB was a fun part of the great radio journey for me and I made some lifelong friends through it.

*He's posted on here, very occasionally.
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Old 10th Sep 2018, 8:15 pm   #135
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

One thing which hasn't yet been singled out for criticism (but presumably will be) is the amateur habit of speaking in extremely long 'overs', relative to any other two way radio users. I always just accepted that along with most other aspects of amateurdom such as the use of morse 'Q' codes in phone traffic. It was what it was.

The reality is that the language, terms and usage of amateur radio have been evolving: Plain language, shorter overs and the use of terms from other cultures (not just from CB) are much more commonplace.

Unfortunately this does not seem to please everyone: On the one hand we have people saying how ridiculous it is that amateurs still (or ever did) adhere to these archaic terms and ways of speaking and on the other hand, others deploring any instance in which anyone deviates from traditional amateur form or practice by so much as one syllable.

Everyone has their own tolerance threshold, and we are all free to walk away when we feel that threshold has been crossed.
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 7:30 am   #136
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I had my first qso on 2m simplex in a very long time yesterday. I chatted to a friend as I was.mobile.

First and probably last in ages. There's a thread on another forum about 10m mobile. We might actually get speak to each other on 10m
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 8:20 am   #137
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

We used to have a handful of Amateurs around here who never called CQ. Instead, they would pop up on the calling frequency and say something like 'G**** just checking' or 'G**** listening'. There was one who almost every evening asked for an 'audio check', never calling CQ. If I engaged him in conversation he would bring it to a close pretty quick, and I always suspected him of being a pirate.
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 11:28 am   #138
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

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then callsign, then band (just in case I happen to be breaking through on any other band)! No doubt there are those who will take issue with that.
I regard that as good practice because people may be listening on a set which has more than one receiver (typically 2m/70cm) or may be scanning on a set which covers two or more bands. If they aren't looking at the set when you call, they have no means of knowing which band you called on. I always state the band I'm calling on, whether 'Four', 'Two', or 'Seventy' in a CQ call.
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 11:36 am   #139
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Ditto as I do at this end.
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Old 11th Sep 2018, 11:42 am   #140
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CB gave amateur radio a terrific boost, many people who had it found radio communications interesting hence the large number of RAE courses run by adult education centres, a very large chunk of the G4 assignment went to those who took up ham radio as a result of using CB, sadly most of them seem to have dissapeared now.

It was CB that brought me into ham radio, although I had been in the trade all my working life it was the hands on experience of radio communication that moved me to get my license. I also had PMR for many years that also peaked my interest. Sad it's mostly died now but I still have some interesting QSO's on 2m and on HF mainly when we go on holiday, I take my IC706 with me.

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