Why is nobody on the air?

[Skunkape]

1 hour ago, SteveShannon said:

This is untrue. Your disagreeing with my statements about GMRS’s primary purpose didn’t bother me at all. What bothered me was your need to take a swipe at all hams with derogatory nicknames. 
And what I said was barely an insult, but apparently it got under your skin. I’m just not going to waste my time attempting to appease people who lead with insults and then whine repeatedly because someone implies that their abrasive talk will result in being ignored. As you have seen there are some very welcoming hams who are interested in helping you. I was at first. I’m proud of them; I’m sorry for you. 

What I said was not intended as an insult, to anyone. You felt insulted because you chose to be. Your reply was intended as an insult. Your opinion of me is no business of mine. 

[OffRoaderX]

Lets keep this thread going.

 

[FlatTop]

On 9/15/2024 at 2:47 PM, Skunkape said:

I see that you think that the comment about my experience with HAMsters was directed at you personally. It wasn't. It was an account of my experiences. From the behavior of some of the HAMsters in this thread, I get the impression that my experiences are not unique. 

Didn't take it personally at all.  You don't need others to help you get licensed in this day and age.  If you want to get an amateur radio license, it's easy.  Just use hamstudy.org 

If you don't want a amateur radio license, that's entirely up to you.  

[LeoG]

Man.

 

If I was a mod here, this thread would be shut down by now. 

[Hoppyjr]

Didn't take it personally at all.  You don't need others to help you get licensed in this day and age.  If you want to get an amateur radio license, it's easy.  Just use hamstudy.org 
If you don't want a amateur radio license, that's entirely up to you.  

He wasn’t expressing interest in becoming a Ham, he was simply whining.

[LeeBo]

13 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

Lets keep this thread going.

 

I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete.

[WSEP749]

Tampa seems quiet as well. I’m new to this so maybe I'm doing something wrong. When running the scan on the 50w radio in my truck, I haven’t heard anyone talking. I probably need to switch out my 4” antenna for a tall one and connect to the repeater.

In FL we have good cell coverage and poor repeater coverage in rural areas without cell coverage. I plan to install a repeater at my farm to serve the local rural community once i get the basics down. These areas are prone to severe weather and a strong gmrs network would be good emergency communication.

I know there are a lot of offroaders that walk miles to get cell coverage when a 50w radio and other gmrs users would expedite getting assistance when stuck. It just doesn’t seem to be a thing yet. Maybe it is the license fee that rubs people the wrong way.

[Skunkape]

13 hours ago, Hoppyjr said:

He wasn’t expressing interest in becoming a Ham, he was simply whining.

I see you're still trolling. How is that ignore working out for you? 

[quarterwave]

Back to the original question, I am noticing some of the same. 

I made my private repeater public over 2 years ago, it didn't take long for some people to start using it, proving there were people around my area interested. This past Spring, there were probably 12 guys chatting on a regular basis, I would get in there now and then as well. 

Since about July, it's been oddly quiet. Now and then there's a kerchunker, now and then one guy calling (I answer if I happen to have time) but all the usual times they were talking, it's just quiet. 

I am probably going to sell my repeater, I don't need to maintain it or pay the electric if no one is going to use it. I am a HAM and can talk to people that way when I want to. 

 

[Skunkape]

15 minutes ago, quarterwave said:

Back to the original question, I am noticing some of the same. 

I made my private repeater public over 2 years ago, it didn't take long for some people to start using it, proving there were people around my area interested. This past Spring, there were probably 12 guys chatting on a regular basis, I would get in there now and then as well. 

Since about July, it's been oddly quiet. Now and then there's a kerchunker, now and then one guy calling (I answer if I happen to have time) but all the usual times they were talking, it's just quiet. 

I am probably going to sell my repeater, I don't need to maintain it or pay the electric if no one is going to use it. I am a HAM and can talk to people that way when I want to. 

 

As someone new to GMRS (a little over a year), other than a couple of guys I wheel with from time to time, I don't know anyone else in the hobby. I am truly grateful for the generosity of you folks who set up open repeaters. I may set my own up, eventually. I can see how it would be disappointing to gain the knowledge and expertise, then invest the time and expense only for nobody to use it. I think people have a very narrow view of what GMRS should or could be used for. I said earlier that for me, to become and stay technically proficient with the radios, I need to actually use them. Sure GMRS isn't HAM, but the radios do have a lot of functions and features. Manual programming takes some practice.  If there is no reason to use my radios, I get bored and set them aside until I need them for a specific purpose such as a particular outdoor group activity. Then it's time to pause while I make sure they are set up correctly for the group.  If they were being used regularly, proficiency wouldn't be an issue. The time to know how to use GMRS is before you actually need it. 

[FlatTop]

9 minutes ago, Skunkape said:

As someone new to GMRS (a little over a year), other than a couple of guys I wheel with from time to time, I don't know anyone else in the hobby.

The General Mobile Radio Service isn't a hobby.  It's a public service. 

[LeoG]

I've used mine to replace text and phone to the wife.  Now when I need to text her I have to search because she's been pushed down on the list.  I'd like to get more of my family involved but they just don't want to because "they have a phone"

[Skunkape]

9 minutes ago, JoCoBrian said:

The General Mobile Radio Service isn't a hobby.  It's a public service. 

I like that. A public service sounds far more valuable to our society than just a hobby. 

[SteveShannon]

11 minutes ago, JoCoBrian said:

The General Mobile Radio Service isn't a hobby.  It's a public service. 

General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). A mobile two-way voice communication service, with limited data applications, for facilitating activities of individual licensees and their family members, including, but not limited to, voluntary provision of assistance to the public during emergencies and natural disasters.

[WSEP819]

Just starting out with GMRS, myself. From what I have seen, and others have mentioned, I guess it depends on the area that you are in. 

I am in Western Kentucky, in a very rural town. Not a lot of traffic here, unless it is that rogue radio enthusiast or the bog children (groups that go mudding in their Jeeps/ATVs). Still, I set up my family with a few radios and a base station, which was the original purpose. Still pretty cool to hear others that just want to reach out and chat.

[GreggInFL]

7 hours ago, LeoG said:

I've used mine to replace text and phone to the wife.  Now when I need to text her I have to search because she's been pushed down on the list.  I'd like to get more of my family involved but they just don't want to because "they have a phone"

The first response people have to the idea of using a radio is, "Why bother, I have a cell phone?"  I noticed this with marine radios decades ago, long before GMRS became a thing.

New boaters would rely on their phones, solely, often running multiple applications such as maps, music, weather radar, marine specific nav (it's a thing), etc.   Then they discover that communicating with other boaters isn't so easy. Calling or texting means those other apps have to get parked. Calling the group requires setting up a conference call, and anyone who thinks it's simple to text in the bright sunlight while bounding over the waves has not tried it.  They soon learn that using the radio for comms is not only much easier, it leaves the cell phone for other things.  I won't mention all the drama associated with dropping one overboard.

Same for road trips.

[Davichko5650]

4 hours ago, WSEP819 said:

the bog children 

Sounds like a group from a Stephen King novel!

[WRQI583]

On 9/14/2024 at 9:24 PM, LeoG said:

So you use the $100 billion dollar system to tell people you want to use the couple thousand dollar system....

The simple answer? Yes. It sounds stupid and believe me, I hate it more than you know. I didn't get into radio just to use cell phones to figure out where I am going to talk. This is why I always loved CB radio or simplex/repeater on Ham. Everyone gathered there and everyone knew how to reach each other. Today, those means are not active like they used to be. You have the HF bands which have turned into a dumpster fire when trying to find a band to talk on (although it has been getting a bit better as of lately) and when it comes to talking to those out of my area on simplex, thanks to contesting and bands being up and down, there is no set place to meet regularly and besides, no one owns the frequencies. This is the reality that I have tried to show to other Hams when they all wanted me to get on HF. Until Hams stop using cell phones and are forced to rely on radio, cell phones will always rank higher. 

[WRQI583]

On 9/15/2024 at 6:59 PM, LeeBo said:

And oh how easy is it for that $100 billion dollar system to fail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh and believe me, I cant wait until it fails. Maybe then, more people would be on the radio relying on it as a main means of communication rather than a hobby or a contest. Unfortunately, reality is what reality is.

[WRQI583]

On 9/15/2024 at 8:08 AM, nokones said:

Apparently, that is how they do it in Maine. I don't think cell phones is a very expedient method of getting any notifications out to the people during certain situations if that time comes and definitely defeats the purpose when people store their radio equipment in boxes and place them in storage. It appears to me that community is not prepared to deal with any situation if it should arise or could care less if it does.

I dont know if that is how all Hams do it in Maine but that is unfortunately how I have to do it. When I am available to be on the radio, most Hams are not on the radio. Hams in Maine seem to go to bed real early from what I have observed. When I first got into Ham, Hams could be heard burning the repeaters up late into the night. Now, the repeaters are dead after 7 or 8 pm.

[WRQI583]

On 9/16/2024 at 4:10 PM, CentralFloridaGMRS said:

I find more seem to talk in smaller towns. Maine is active. 

What town is that? Maine may have activity, but it is not active like I am used to. I have 11 repeaters with simplex scanning in my radio and it has been since I sat down here at 630 this evening and not a peep has come out of that radio. There are many evenings that are like this. Go farther north and it is worse.

[LeoG]

25 minutes ago, WRQI583 said:

The simple answer? Yes. It sounds stupid and believe me, I hate it more than you know. I didn't get into radio just to use cell phones to figure out where I am going to talk. This is why I always loved CB radio or simplex/repeater on Ham. Everyone gathered there and everyone knew how to reach each other. Today, those means are not active like they used to be. You have the HF bands which have turned into a dumpster fire when trying to find a band to talk on (although it has been getting a bit better as of lately) and when it comes to talking to those out of my area on simplex, thanks to contesting and bands being up and down, there is no set place to meet regularly and besides, no one owns the frequencies. This is the reality that I have tried to show to other Hams when they all wanted me to get on HF. Until Hams stop using cell phones and are forced to rely on radio, cell phones will always rank higher. 

We just keep the radios on 24/7.  In the shop it's hard to hear sometimes though.  I gotta get an external speaker to blast out the sounds of my beckoning wife

[WRQI583]

On 9/14/2024 at 11:34 PM, 808Beachbum said:

As with many aspects of life, you will be most satisfied by acquiring the proper tools, and proper knowledge, for the task at hand. Amateur Radio is actually for real hobbyists, providing a variety of modes, bands, equipment, power, antennas, and much more. GMRS is for self organized groups. There is very little ability with GMRS to modify or experiment due to it's very, very, narrow specs.

Like I said, in some areas of the country, it is busy, and other areas, it is not.

I certainly am not desperate when it comes to wanting to talk to someone on the radio. I would like to have what I used to have with CB and Ham back in the day before cell phones where there were groups that were always known to be on a certain frequency or channel and you sat there and communicated and it was local. That was your means of communications, not cell phones. I think a lot of other people would like that and that is why many are drawn to linked repeater systems and internet linked Ham where everyone seems to be. Personally I dont get into it. I prefer plain radio. I prefer local and simplex or maybe a repeater if need be. I actually don't like the internet linked digital voice modes because it is linked on the internet.

Where I live, Hams locally are on the radio at weird times and most of them are off the radio by 7 or 8 pm. Due to my schedule, I am not able to be on the radio at the same time that other Hams are and that applies to joining clubs. I have time most evenings but Ham is usually dead at those times in my area.

I come from a time with Ham radio where local Hams were burning up the repeater  late into the night just chatting. These days, there isn't much of that going on. Simplex is a no go with me and repeaters are not used often. I know everyone says that I need to sit there and keep putting out my call and say "listening" and keep persistent but I don't have the time. There are plenty of people who sit on the radio all day who can drum up business and they don't. No worries though. I just go in the other room and watch TV.

Radio is a fun thing you do for about 10-15 minutes a day. Sadly that is what it has turned into and what it will be until the day modern comms fail. I know this is a wrong thinking but it is the reality of our world. I do not believe it or like it but it is what I have to accept.

[WRQI583]

29 minutes ago, LeoG said:

We just keep the radios on 24/7.  In the shop it's hard to hear sometimes though.  I gotta get an external speaker to blast out the sounds of my beckoning wife

I keep mine going as long as I am in the shack, which is usually in the early morning and evening, There is some activity in the morning but come evening, it is dead. I swear, some evenings I could sit there screaming "emergency" and no one would answer. That is just the nature of the area I live though. I think people go to bed early. 

[LeoG]

There's almost always someone on the air around here.  They usually stay quiet until needed.  I was trying to get a hold of my wife on a repeater I don't use much.  Tried a few times and then went to another repeater channel and got her that way.  But on the original channel someone broke in and told me he heard me fine.  The base has a great connection to that repeater so it was weird my wife couldn't hear me.  Got home to find out the PL had been changed somehow.  So obviously she wouldn't be able to hear me.