HRN 315: Do NOT Call CQ on Repeaters

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SERA Repeater Journal - August 2003 (cover by kn4aq)

Yes, this headline is click-bait. Bring it on, QRZ.qrmers.

Hams have been complaining about lack of activity on repeaters for well over a decade. Way back in 2003 I created a cover of a magazine I was editing (the SERA Repeater Journal) that spoofed the ARRL's Now You're Talking license manual by changing the title to Now You're Missing.  I also wrote an editorial about the phenomenon in that issue. (Download a PDF of that editorial)

Now it's 14 years later and a ham poses the same question on Reddit: Where is everybody? (I'm paraphrasing. No, I'm totally re-writing, but that's the gist of it). 

So I trot out my standard advice: make some noise. I even recommend calling CQ, because that's almost guaranteed to get someone to respond, if only to tell you that you're not supposed to call CQ on repeaters.

I don't know who made up that rule, but they're wrong. I think it happened back in the 60's and early 70's, when HF ops looked down their long pointed noses at us FM ops as something less than 'real hams.' So in retaliation we eschewed their cherished practice of calling CQ. That's my theory. 10-4?

I would have left it there, but then someone replied on Reddit that they tried my advice, and it worked! That warranted a short show (if 24 minutes counts as short, and for HamRadioNow, it does).

This is a talking-head show, and the only head talking is mine. I show the magazine and the Reddit text on screen, but I read it all to you. So this is that rare show where I'm thinking directly about the audio-audience. And if I'm doing that, I must award this show a Radio Rating of A-. The 'minus' is because I'm still really proud of that Repeater Journal cover spoof. That was a couple of hours of Photoshop, if I recall. And because you've taken the trouble to look here on the web site, you can see it in all its glory.

And BTW, I mis-speak the era that I was the RJ editor. I say 'early 70's', but it's really 'early 2000's'. 

KN4AQ is 10-10 and 10-7.

HRN 314, EmComm Extra #11: Baker to Vegas; Bike MS

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Public Service Events can give hams excellent real world preparation for EmComm operations. Busy frequencies, real radio traffic, and some actual emergency communications when event participants encounter trouble.

David W0DHG and his daughter Gwen N6GMG assisted with the Baker to Vegas race, a 120 mile running event across the California and Nevada desert. Over 1000 hams and a complex communications system covered a very remote area with little permanent communications infrastructure. David brings video produced by David Ahrendts KK6DA from their small slice of the event.

Gary KN4AQ operated in another big event, the BikeMS bike tour centered on New Bern, North Carolina. Over 2000 cyclists rode up to 100 miles on Saturday and again on Sunday in the rural countryside near the coast. The operation was simpler, with about 35 hams using a single, wide-area repeater (and some simplex), but the basic communication was similar to the B2V event. Gary also produced a video segment for this show.

This program had some technical challenges as Gary's Wirecast "Studio in a Box" system crashed several times. Gary thought he lost a treasure: David's son Ian W0IHG performing a bit of Fiddler on the Roof with only a little coaxing, but then Gary remembered that it was captured on Facebook Live!

There is a fair amount of talking-head discussion, but the documentary-style video makes up about 30 minutes of the total show, bumping the Radio Rating down to a C. Sorry, but sometimes we just gotta be a TV show.

Both video clips are available separately. Maybe you can make time for those in front of a screen:

And if you want to learn more about the B2V comm system, there are several videos of presentations to clubs and participants:

HRN 313, EmComm Extra 10: Virginia's Winter Fury

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Our guest is Glen Sage W4GHS, a very engaged EmComm operator in Virginia, and EmComm columnist for the SERA Repeater Journal.

Glen wrote about digital modes for EmComm in the February issue, and also participated in a state SET called Winter Fury. We talk to him about both.

Audio listeners: we've got some pictures from Glen's web site, but mostly we're just chatting, so Yay, a Radio Rating of A.