Ge group

Bert will be your NCS tonight.

I’m doing my monthly civic duty.

Tu 

Johnny ACØBQ 

--

Check out the 4SQRP website at 4sqrp.com

I have a DSWII in the blue case that malfunctioned within a day of me completed its assembly.  I carefully packed it away and put it on the shelf until I got around to fixing it one day.  Well I build it in 2000 and still haven't gotten around tuit in 2021.

So it needs to find a home with someone who likes to tinker and fix little radios - and appreciates the hard work that DaveK1SWL put into designing these little radios and sharing them with the world.

If interested you can either DM me here or email (found on QRZ).

72,
Gary, af7t

Mike, good thinking! If you search Google or Duck Duck Go, you will see many hits along your topic.

ie, 

https://www.kb6nu.com/light-up-2-meters-night-an-fm-simplex-event/

I use simplex when on a trip. Every once in a while someone will answer on 146.52 MHz. They are usually traveling also.

73,

Walter Dufrain - K5EST - QRPcw
https://www.qrz.com/db/k5est

   

On Sun, Oct 3, 2021, 13:59 Mlike McEwen <michael.t.mcewen@...> wrote:

OK, I know this may sound crazy but I am suggesting we start a new contact category:  2MFCC (2 Meter FM Century Club).  More new amateurs have 2M FM HT’s than any other radio.  Heck, I started out that way 35 years ago and many of us did.  I know it is not digital, HF, or anything glamorous, but it is great fun…especially for those just getting into our avocation.

So, what I propose is contacts that will be done on 2M FM with the following “rules”:

1.  Only 2M FM will be used.

2.  Repeaters may be used to make a contact but only one contact per repeater.

3.  Mobile/mountain top/roving is encouraged.

4.  Power is limited to 10 W (I think that is the most powerful barefoot 2 M HT at present.  It will likely bring “newbies” into contact with potential Elmers.   It is just plain fun and not just ten second machine gun contest QSOs which are very intimidating to newbies …new amateurs will be encouraged to actually talk with each other.

Once when I was stationed at Ft. Carson, CO, I took my HT to the top of Pike’s Peak and made a contact in the Oklahoma Panhandle with 5 W and a 5/8 wave collapsible whip and home built “tiger tail” counterpoise.  What a hoot!  Chatting with my HT and roof mount antenna as I drive through various areas is always fun.  Maybe 2MFCC will spark more of this.

I‘m not against contesting or exotic DX, but they simply are not the domain of most new amateurs or many of us oldsters.

Contact verification of either type would be acceptable… LoTW, or better yet, actual QSL cards.  I always encourage new amateurs to get some simple QSL cards…cards are really fun to collect and provide a hands-on contact with those of us in our hobby.  Computer printer postcards are not that expensive and postage is within the reach of most of us.  I prefer the old-fashioned, direct exchange of cards rather than the OSL Bureau/SASE route, but that’s just me.  If someone does not want to put a stamp on a card to send to me, I can live with that….I’ll do my part and send cards.

Is this whole thing just a silly idea?  I think it might be a real energizer for our hobby.

Don’t get me wrong…I love HF and am QRP on 20/40 SSB and occasionally do my cruddy CW on QRP at night with slow CW (usually 40 M, sometimes 20 M).  But, if I get someone in on a 2 M FM DX QSO, they are typically amazed and energized…the simple 2 M FM starts the process.

72/73, Doc K5OSA  #801

--

Dr. Michael T. McEwen
Lt Col, US Army (Ret.)
Cell:  580 919-9205

OK, I know this may sound crazy but I am suggesting we start a new contact category:  2MFCC (2 Meter FM Century Club).  More new amateurs have 2M FM HT’s than any other radio.  Heck, I started out that way 35 years ago and many of us did.  I know it is not digital, HF, or anything glamorous, but it is great fun…especially for those just getting into our avocation.

So, what I propose is contacts that will be done on 2M FM with the following “rules”:

1.  Only 2M FM will be used.

2.  Repeaters may be used to make a contact but only one contact per repeater.

3.  Mobile/mountain top/roving is encouraged.

4.  Power is limited to 10 W (I think that is the most powerful barefoot 2 M HT at present.  It will likely bring “newbies” into contact with potential Elmers.   It is just plain fun and not just ten second machine gun contest QSOs which are very intimidating to newbies …new amateurs will be encouraged to actually talk with each other.

Once when I was stationed at Ft. Carson, CO, I took my HT to the top of Pike’s Peak and made a contact in the Oklahoma Panhandle with 5 W and a 5/8 wave collapsible whip and home built “tiger tail” counterpoise.  What a hoot!  Chatting with my HT and roof mount antenna as I drive through various areas is always fun.  Maybe 2MFCC will spark more of this.

I‘m not against contesting or exotic DX, but they simply are not the domain of most new amateurs or many of us oldsters.

Contact verification of either type would be acceptable… LoTW, or better yet, actual QSL cards.  I always encourage new amateurs to get some simple QSL cards…cards are really fun to collect and provide a hands-on contact with those of us in our hobby.  Computer printer postcards are not that expensive and postage is within the reach of most of us.  I prefer the old-fashioned, direct exchange of cards rather than the OSL Bureau/SASE route, but that’s just me.  If someone does not want to put a stamp on a card to send to me, I can live with that….I’ll do my part and send cards.

Is this whole thing just a silly idea?  I think it might be a real energizer for our hobby.

Don’t get me wrong…I love HF and am QRP on 20/40 SSB and occasionally do my cruddy CW on QRP at night with slow CW (usually 40 M, sometimes 20 M).  But, if I get someone in on a 2 M FM DX QSO, they are typically amazed and energized…the simple 2 M FM starts the process.

72/73, Doc K5OSA  #801

--

Dr. Michael T. McEwen
Lt Col, US Army (Ret.)
Cell:  580 919-9205