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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 13th Sep 2018, 10:26 am   #161
Restoration73
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

When the Advanced exam is taken for the full licence (not Foundation or Intermediate) a booklet containing the licence conditions i.e. the actual Licence document, is supplied.

It is difficult for many people to commit knowledge of band plans etc to memory. Both Foundation and Intermediate stages require that specific practical tasks have been
successfully undertaken prior to those exams.
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Old 14th Sep 2018, 9:30 am   #162
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I'm glad they didn't do that when I took my RAE.

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Old 14th Sep 2018, 7:05 pm   #163
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

When you get your amateur licence from Ofcom as well as your personalised licence information (section 1 of the licence) you should also receive (and be pointed to) the terms and conditions (section 2), or download it from https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/asse...teur-terms.pdf - this contains the terms and conditions for all classes of licence including the schedules (band limits).
Up to a few years ago your personalised licence pdf contained these in a single document, but for some reason they have decided to split them. Which is a bit silly as section 1 states that section 2 is an integral part of the licence...

73 Dave G3YMC
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Old 15th Sep 2018, 1:03 am   #164
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Another bit of 2m activity today, I was sitting in the car in a car park near Edinburgh with my FT60 handheld on and heard a SOTA operator on one of the peaks above the Angus glens calling and went back to them. Only 5/1 both ways but I was just standing beside the car using the handeld with its standard flexy antenna. Amazing what a bit of height at one end does.
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Old 15th Sep 2018, 4:12 am   #165
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

It's worth listening to 145.800 when the ISS is overhead, even if you can't transmit.
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Old 15th Sep 2018, 6:26 am   #166
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scimitar View Post
That's very negative. You don't know until you try. It's all very well us all sitting back waiting for others to make the first move, but life isn't like that.
I do know. I live in a vhf radio shadow. Even on my.mast my beam is 200ft lower than the chalk valley walls eitherside. I can just get out, as demonstrated in a few contests, but nothing gets back in.

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Old 15th Sep 2018, 11:00 am   #167
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Height is usually the primary propagator on VHF. I worked a chap on a 4w handheld who was on Haytor Dartmoor a couple of days ago, I was getting an endstop report from him but he was giving me S1/2, the difference being the power and beam this end.

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Old 15th Sep 2018, 2:30 pm   #168
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

IN South America, when I used to hack around the wilderness of Patagonia, regional 2m repeater channels were advertised (by frequency) on official road signs. It was used as a sensible and highly practicable CB radio service I believe. I never got very involved in it but from what I could make out of talking to the locals, there was some sort of licensing scheme but I don't think it was very technical or even particularly enforced.

the way it was used in Chile & Argentina gave me the broad idea of using it in the same way where I live in Northern Scotland: though mobile coverage is getting better and SMS fulfils pretty much all requirements of essential family / light business comms, I thought it would be a good use of an otherwise dying infrastructure.
The simple fact is that 2m is nothing like what it was in the pre-internet era. For various reasons, simplex and repeater activity is relatively negligible. This is a shame, and the result is that there is all this infrastructure which enthuisiasts keep going in the spirit of self-education, which is not being used. If only our ham bands were being policed/enforced!

I run a small marine electronics business/lifestyle, with a couple of enthusiastic employees and a young family who are also more or less involved in it. My idea was to install 2m in the vans and in the kitchen on the repeater channel, and let the kids/wife in on it as an alternative to mobile phone; expose them to grass roots radio comms at an early age, give the repeater a bit of use.

According to the letter of the law/license, this form of operation would be illegal, but would it be in the spirit of the license?
I think it's defensible.
As I said earlier - if only ofcom were interested, but I rather think that it would have to be an extremely energetic complainer to get ofcom out to stop such an infringement as I allude to above.
perhaps I shall give it a go in the spirit of "responsible anarchy".

Last edited by crestavega; 15th Sep 2018 at 2:38 pm.
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Old 15th Sep 2018, 2:31 pm   #169
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I live in a bit of a valley, with thousands of acres of woodland one side and chalk downs (the Ridgeway) the other. 2M is pretty much dead here!

Though I wonder to what extent we may have a "loads of listeners, no transmitters" syndrome going on? Perhaps time to knock up a little circuit using a Pi or an Arduino to digitally record a CQ call and automatically transmit it at random intervals to see if it wakes anyone up?
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Old 15th Sep 2018, 3:04 pm   #170
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I tend to be in that camp. But then I am known as an anti-social git. If I heard someone that I knew I would probably raise my head over the parapet, but I haven't made a CQ call in very many years. I do monitor the calling and repeater channels on 2 and 70 though as well as a scan around HF every now and again.
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Old 15th Sep 2018, 7:24 pm   #171
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

We used to joke that those anti-social gits who were licenced but who didn't want to talk to one another could use packet radio where their equipment did the talking!
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Old 15th Sep 2018, 9:49 pm   #172
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Another anti-social person here. I think the joke might be a little on the mark. CW and FT8 on HF are an absolute pile up. Granted the CW TNC is in the grey matter. I'd actually prefer 2m to be a little more popular but there's no one on it apart from a net on Sunday which I'm usually attempting to persuade teenagers to get into bed during.

FT8 makes me think of the "machine" scene in Metropolis though. Not sure this will work but:

[img]https://i.**********/2EwsCcY.gif[/img]
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Old 16th Sep 2018, 12:49 am   #173
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Talk of some amateurs being natural misanthropists reminds me of the well observed line from Tony Hancock's 'The Radio Ham'- "I've got friends all over the world! None here, but all over the world!"
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Old 16th Sep 2018, 10:25 am   #174
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Yes I remember that. I do call CQ very occasionally but I don't recall anyone coming back, so I just leave the rig on and answer anyone who should happen to call if I am in here.

Crestavega

I once had someone rescue me from Orkney. I got stuck in the mud at Duncansby head, gave out a call and a station came back and called the AA for me.

Peter
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Old 16th Sep 2018, 12:53 pm   #175
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Originally Posted by crestavega View Post
According to the letter of the law/license, this form of operation would be illegal, but would it be in the spirit of the license?
Strictly speaking, and you should know this if you are involved in marine electronics / marine radio, operation of a transmitter without a valid license is a serious offence which can lead to prosecution and seizure of equipment.

Obtaining an amateur radio licence is now so comparatively simple that there is really no reason to push the boundaries as you suggest. Just get everyone in your little circle organised and get them through the foundation licence. The addition of some new legitimate amateurs on the scene in Orkney might give AR in that area a much needed boost.

If the repeater (the one on Orkney, I presume you propose) were to find itself being used primarily by obviously unlicenced operators, the repeater keeper would feel obliged to shut down the repeater. Whoever puts the funds into keeping that one running would be unlikely to want to do it for the benefit of pirates, as they would see them.

There is a different argument that AR should just become license-free. I don't support that, because amateur radio is sufficiently powerful to be able to wreak some damage in terms of unwanted interference and social problems if its use is uncontrolled and the identities and home addresses of the users not known.
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Old 16th Sep 2018, 2:27 pm   #176
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Quote:
Originally Posted by crestavega View Post
but I rather think that it would have to be an extremely energetic complainer to get ofcom out to stop such an infringement as I allude to above.
perhaps I shall give it a go in the spirit of "responsible anarchy".
You only have to look at the usual amateur radio websites and newsgroups, (which are decidedly less civilised than this one) and then ask yourself if there is any shortage of energetic complainers in the hobby?

If you did what you seem to be considering, there would be people coming out of the woodwork, drafting letters to the Times and Radcom, and organising coach trips to London to protest.

David
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Old 16th Sep 2018, 2:47 pm   #177
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Infringements?


Ofcom can't be bothered about the illegal use of 400W CB amplifiers!
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Old 16th Sep 2018, 4:55 pm   #178
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There's a difference here. Legitimate amateurs, to a certain extent, police the band themselves and will be only too happy to build a case against consistent unlicensed users of their frequencies and then hand it to Ofcom on a plate.

Also, as I mentioned, misuse of the repeater would require the repeater keeper to act, most likely by shutting it down if the misuse appeared likely to continue.

CB is a different case, it lost much of its rights to protection when it went licence free although of course Ofcom should still care about the use of 400W amplifiers on that system, but are only really likely to get involved in cases of persistent interference to another user, either a TV viewer or worse still some mission critical radio link.

This is another reason why I think AR should never go licence free, and in fact I would prefer it if we were still paying the £15 annual fee because at least then we could argue we were paying something towards the 'upkeep' of the system and therefore entitled to some sort of action against illegal use or interference.

As said, we don't even need to be having this conversation because it is so ridiculously easy - compared to what we had to do in the past - to gain an amateur licence, and anyone who does so will be more than welcome to use any amateur facility including the repeaters, legitimately.
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Old 17th Sep 2018, 5:46 pm   #179
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

I've expelled the spiders and cobwebs from my FT290 and extracted the 50-year old Jaybeam from the garden shed, so I am now listening on 145.500 in N.Oxon, and I may even put out a call . That said, the aerial is indoors at the moment (hope to get it outside soon) and the QTH has poor take off in most directions. Consequently, this may prove to be disappointing .

B
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Old 17th Sep 2018, 7:56 pm   #180
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Default Re: Users of 2 metre Amateur Band?

Flying a kite here...

Once upon a time 2m was AM with some FM. Crystals meant spot frequencies for TX but most had tunable RX. No-one much minded a cross mode or frequency QSO. They would mostly bust a gut to work you - whether that was AM<>SSB<>FM or whatever. Blokes running SSB on 2m were gen-kiddies.

Now there are the digital modes - the rigs and computers work one another so they are OK.

AM calling was assigned as 144.550MHz. I have portables, I have Mobiles, I have Base Stations. I hear exactly - no one...

So I gave up..? There used to be a good net in Hertfordshire on 145.2 MHz AM, then they called it S8 - game over.
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