Come on nobody on 70CMS

A place to discuss all aspects of amateur radio operation.
User avatar
kr0ne
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 4536
Joined: 25 Sep 2011, 18:33

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by kr0ne »

Admiral wrote:Hopefully DMR will keep 70cm alive for a few more years, it seems very popular as you don't have to pay an extra £100 for a D-Star codec licence.
Actually, think DMR uses the exact same proprietary AMBE vocoder chip that everyone flips out about D*Star using...........
User avatar
mof000
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 4209
Joined: 20 Jan 2008, 13:28
Location: United States of the UK

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by mof000 »

Transwarp wrote:I'm selling up to fund my lightsaber build and Jedi training course.

May the force be with you all.
Been as Han Solo is dead i've decided to sell my light Saber. I'm gunna disappear and i ain't giving no droid a forwarding address....
May the 4th be with you all :crazy:
I'll pay whatever i think it's worth...:-)
MW6ZAN
Radio Addict
Radio Addict
Posts: 545
Joined: 31 Oct 2010, 12:51

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by MW6ZAN »

Thing is guys ref the digital mode if ofcom had required a world standard for digital amateur radio instead of the miss mash that is currently being used, dmr dstar fusion all different codex this has greatly reduce activity on the under used bands. I used to listen to gb3fi evenings on uhf few months ago the repeater was changed to digital now i am unable to contact a number of full callsigns we cannot make a contact using simplex the only other repeater possible is gb3wr but thats now a duel mode and evenings its taken up by digital coms. In my opinion digital and analogue should not mix independent repeaters should be used for the so called digital revolution, this is fragmenting the bands i wont buy into digital for two reasons first is down to the cost of upgrading and second what sysyem to buy into i do not want to purchase one system only to find in 2 to 3 years the other system is more used than the one i purchased. I dont like the audio from these digital black boxes it seem to be very restricted and tinny also drop out seems to be be a problem and signal loss. If you think this digital marvel is going bring new life to 70 cms think again it is not going to happen before hell freezes over. 73 -•-
User avatar
Crusader
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 2827
Joined: 27 Nov 2008, 23:43
Location: South Cumberland

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by Crusader »

Spot on mate,a load of crap just like DAB radio,sheeple buying them & radio stations on the AM band shutting down as was the case this last week...

http://davidlloyd-radio.blogspot.co.uk/ ... -wave.html

yet the sheeple masses buy this over priced crap because they are easily led with all the hype,what is happening within broadcast radio is no different to what is now happening in the Amateur radio world,makes you wonder what the motives are for the bands by governments allowing this garbage when it is not proper radio & not of the same sounding audio on rx or tx either,some people seriously need to reconsider why they got into this hobby as they are now fast becoming involved in something a whole lot different than true radio & will only lead to the demise of the hobby as the thread starter said anologue 70 cm's is near dead & that is the same as where i live within a 30-50 mile radius & at the rate it is going it will be done with within the nest 20 years,about time people took a stand & used true radio rather than sticking their head's in the sand as per normal,the G2's / G3's a lot of which were WW2 veteran's who mainly used homemade kit used from WW2 surplus kit & valve gear,these guy's were "true" radio amateurs unlike what we have today & they were the main pioneers of this hobby,they would be spinning in their graves if they could see what has become of the hobby,the RSCB & Prof-com are of no help either promoting this sh*te,just as they are at protecting the HF /LF bands from non compliant gear that BT use for BPL devices,shame on the lot of them.
User avatar
zippy
Super Member
Super Member
Posts: 209
Joined: 02 Nov 2015, 10:43
Call Sign: 26TM537
Location: Hatfield Herts

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by zippy »

I am not a licensed ham, I am seriously thinking of taking the foundation this year as a progression from cb and 446. threads like this confuse me a bit as I think im going into the promised land of amateur radio and then realise that the paths aren't lined with gold after all. I can listen to several 70cm repeaters near me (hatfield) and GB3VH is the strongest, but apart from its regular ident and a couple of diehards there just isn't much radio traffic at all. I like radio because I like talking and listening to folk, but if ham radio is going to be a whole lot of dead air then I may reconsider and stick with cb as i'll always get a chat locally as it's very active with good decent people.
Alinco DR135DX, Baofeng UV-5R, TYT MD380 (UHF), Realistic Pro-2035, JRC NRD-545 DSP, whitestick and ½ wave silver pole on the chimney and various lengths of wire draped around the garden.
User avatar
cjay
Top Poster
Top Poster
Posts: 1775
Joined: 06 Jun 2013, 21:21
Call Sign: cjay
Location: Manchester
Contact:

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by cjay »

zippy wrote:I am not a licensed ham, I am seriously thinking of taking the foundation this year as a progression from cb and 446. threads like this confuse me a bit as I think im going into the promised land of amateur radio and then realise that the paths aren't lined with gold after all. I can listen to several 70cm repeaters near me (hatfield) and GB3VH is the strongest, but apart from its regular ident and a couple of diehards there just isn't much radio traffic at all. I like radio because I like talking and listening to folk, but if ham radio is going to be a whole lot of dead air then I may reconsider and stick with cb as i'll always get a chat locally as it's very active with good decent people.
They're not going to ban you from using CB if you get a ham licence but I understand where you're coming from, I have some sever limits on what antenna I can put up and have been wondering if it's worth the effort to get a licence, I don't have the luxury of local radio users either.
MW6ZAN
Radio Addict
Radio Addict
Posts: 545
Joined: 31 Oct 2010, 12:51

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by MW6ZAN »

Thing is crusader the very people that experimented with amateur radio over the last 70 years are the very people that have developed the new electronic tech that is killing amateur radio, how many hams maintain their radios these days antenna building i expect is the only thing done. There again the black box kit would need a fully equipped workshop to even change a backlight, and the cost of components its cheaper to purchase a radio than build. Unfortunatly amateur radio has evolved over the last seventy years problem is the people using amateur radio have not and no amount of tinkering by ofcom will ever return it to its former glory days.
User avatar
FakeJake
Radio Addict
Radio Addict
Posts: 879
Joined: 21 May 2011, 22:08
Call Sign: 2E0SEY
Location: Saltney, Chester IO83me

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by FakeJake »

Well this is all very negative. My take is to be the activity on the bands. Get your license. Put calls out. Arrange a sked with locals on your favourite bands. Welcome others to join in. After all, how many are scanning around, hearing nothing and switching off because the "bands are dead"?
Jake 2E0SEY
Saltney, near Chester (Cheshire-Flintshire border)
Monitoring 2m simplex (when I can)
Dysgwr Cymraeg
MW6ZAN
Radio Addict
Radio Addict
Posts: 545
Joined: 31 Oct 2010, 12:51

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by MW6ZAN »

Always calling on 2 70 and 4 mtrs i do get the odd callback but thats very infrequently i dont even turn my mobile on any more because all it stops on a scan is dam digital on two repeaters as far as any body listening i think they have more important things to be doing than listening to static sorry there but its had its day and its chips.
User avatar
kr0ne
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 4536
Joined: 25 Sep 2011, 18:33

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by kr0ne »

So let me get this straight, some of you are actually of the opinion that Ofcom / "the government" should dictate which modes may and may not be used on the amateur bands?

{bnghd}

Innovation? Experimentation? You know, the whole point of amateur allocations?
GeeFull
Top Poster
Top Poster
Posts: 1207
Joined: 28 Mar 2014, 12:27

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by GeeFull »

I hear loads on 70 cms!
Door bells, various wireless this and that, car alarms, house alarms, weather stations, the odd repeater ident, you name it! :D
Sadly I no longer hear much in the way of actual casual conversation, unless its on the all hallowed contest days! ;)
I just don't buy into digital, be that D-Star or DMR, so the squiggles, rasps and burps they produce might as well be a new form of electronic trance music for all I care!
Whats digital at the end of the day, take out the clever arsed stuff you can "also do", and its plain language analogue, turned into a digital data stream, and then reconverted back to analogue audio at the other end!
Seems an overly complicated way of having a "chat" to me, when simple analogue equipment as sufficed perfectly well for many many decades!
But it gives the "radio is nothing without a computer driven software base behind it" brigade, something to get their teeth into writing ever more uneeded software to achieve!
What happened to simply wanting a chat on tried and tested methods of achieving exactly that?
MW6ZAN
Radio Addict
Radio Addict
Posts: 545
Joined: 31 Oct 2010, 12:51

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by MW6ZAN »

Geefull i could not have said that better myself yes im affraid the clock is counting down the demise of amateur radio and all i seem to do is :wave: goodbye 73 -•-
User avatar
Retrodog
Super Member
Super Member
Posts: 409
Joined: 19 Jan 2014, 17:15
Call Sign: 26SW07

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by Retrodog »

The band is excellent for tropospheric propagation and there is interest, sadly it seems to be in mainland Europe.
In the past I have done lots of experiments on the band, and had two way comms over some fantastic distances many of you would struggle to believe possible.

It's a prime chunk of UHF bandwidth and goes a long way with just a few watts. Antennas are easy to construct and enough gain to achieve moonbounce can be obtained even within the constraints of small gardens.

Takes the arse factor though, and most just haven't got it.
User avatar
kr0ne
Veteran
Veteran
Posts: 4536
Joined: 25 Sep 2011, 18:33

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by kr0ne »

MW6ZAN wrote:There again the black box kit would need a fully equipped workshop to even change a backlight
I think most hams will have a workshop of some description but the gear that you need to work on "black box" equipment is pretty much the same gear that you need to work on any radio equipment.

I suspect fear of the new and resistance to change is a far bigger obstacle than the availability of any special equipment. Sure, a microscopic IC with a brazillion pins might break but, for the most part, the faults you are likely to find in broken black boxes are the same faults you are likely to find in broken chrome boxes, or even broken walnut boxes for that matter.

SMT is not scary, it has its own challenges but remember the state of your first Veroboard soldering project? Man alive! Bridged tracks and back to front diodes all over the shop!
BK
Top Poster
Top Poster
Posts: 1246
Joined: 17 Jan 2007, 11:17

Re: Come on nobody on 70CMS

Post by BK »

kr0ne wrote:SMT is not scary, it has its own challenges
You're not wrong there, soldering SMT by hand sends me cross eyed!
Post Reply