That seems unlikely since the primary user is the MOD.
Iâm sure Ofcom work with the MoD regularly on future management of the UK radio spectrum. If you look at Ofcomâs spectrum table (FAT) the MoD have acres of it. I suspect much of it is underused or not used. Whenâs the last time you heard a primary user station on 70cm. If a commercial interest with deep pockets came along Iâm sure Ofcom and MoD would be in discussion.
I guess the question is would they consider the âday to day useâ (as you are thinking about it - weekday daytime, not linked to any contest or activity event) only - or would they consider overall activity on the band? If they are using statistical analysis to attempt to justify that a band is no longer required for amateur radio, then they would surely have to consider all use, not a specifically designed subset of use. Otherwise - us mathematicians and statisticians would easily - and gleefully - point out that the analysis is flawed, and therefore invalid.
There were hundreds of stations in the UK alone, on for 3.5 hours last night. There will be a number approaching 100 on tonight for two hours. Maybe the activity distribution is very âspikyâ, but we are a long, long way from any organisation being able to argue that the activity does not exist.
1 Like
I think the best examle is auroral reflection (Ar) where someone like me in Birmingham could contact a Scottish station on 2m but the actual reflection point would be somewhere around the middle of Norway. Fascinating!
Its my impression that tropospheric ducting is significantly more frequent and stronger on 70cm than it is on 2m but on the other hand you wonât be likely to hear any aurora or sporadic E!
It was last night for much of the UK - exclude IO87, it was a dead duck here until about 11pm
Who knows? Ofcom might have an âactivity algorithmâ, or theyâll ask ChatGPT or flip a coin. However you dice it, we all know that 2m is more popular than 70cm and 70cm is more popular than 23cm, etc.
Personally, Iâm not worried about it - there are far more serious things in the world getting worse to worry about. If I had to guess, the GHz bands are the most threatened. 70cm is well down the list.
1 Like
Iâm guessing that the purpose of Amateur Radio as seen by Ofcom, is not to provide an extended version of CB.
I offer as a shred of evidence their making 146 to 147MHz temporarily available by NOV for experimentation with unusual modes.
Iâd be very surprised if they take much or any notice of how much waffling is taking place on a daily basis.
Compelling commercial pressure would probably trump any other considerations.
1 Like
There was some ducting on 13cm tooâŚ
G to EA8.
2 Likes
Yes, that was good news. I havenât read (e.g. in Radcom) anything so far about experimentation with unusual modes, e.g. spread spectrum.
I donât have the technical skills myself but I would be very interested in a 70cm SS project e.g. one that would extend chirp-modulation to DV data rates using a bit more RF bandwidth than does LoRa APRS.
1 Like
Were you at sea during the making of that video, Andy? Or suffering another earthquake in the Central Belt? Nice to see the old Yaesu again.
Er⌠should have gone to Specsavers? 
The video was made by Rainer DF6NA as EA8DMF working G4GLT. At 2600km Iâd be delighted to have such a long distance QSO on 13cm. My record is a mere 950km (956 I think) between one of the local lumps (not SOTA) a few km from home and OZ1FF.
2 Likes
I admit Iâm not using superb equipment but can activate four 70cm repeaters and four 2 meter repeaters the nearest being 15 miles away , I have made contacts of 30 miles and further without issue in the past but now the only thing I hear regularly is HUBnet use ( not my thing) on either 2 or 70cm both about 15 miles away, I make multiple calls through repeaters on my 25 mile trip home and average 1 contact every two weeks or so. This is of course using different equip to my home set up. The lack of activity puts me off spending anymore as it may well be a pointless exercise. I know there is no cure for this as Amateur radio is just not what it was 20/30 or so years ago.
I understand this perfectly but just basing it on line of sight I have about a 15 mile view from this location Iâm hitting 2 repeaters and a HUBnet simplex repeater at about 40 miles as said before HUBnet is quite busy ( with the same people) but over the past week I have heard zero activity on simplex or the repeaters which I have on constant scan. It does sound like there is far more activity up North from what everyone is saying.
1 Like
Okay fine, but It didnât seem that way from the wording of your previous post. I can react only to what you write as I obviously donât know what you know. What Donald Rumsfeld famously referred to as the âknown unknownsâ (or should that be the âunknown knownsâ).
As an illustration of the complexity I have been trying to relate âŚ
For a 40-mile separation, both you and the repeater would need to be roughly 203m high with no intervening higher ground to be strictly line of sight [i.e. you can see the repeater albeit with a telescope], because of the the Earthâs curvature. That might be the case but itâs more likely that the radio contact benefited from atmospheric refraction / diffraction or refraction from neighbouring high ground in the way that I explained to you on the other topic.
2 Likes
It is real, Iâve heard it called the IO93 effect though it spills over to other squares! Its nice that it exists, but it puzzles meâŚ
1 Like
That does appear to be true. My only experience of radio down south is that there was masses of activity but that was 40 years ago. Now, up north, I can call on S20 and usually get a response, although itâs not guaranteed. On Sunday I was sat on G/NP-028 and used my FT-65 and RHD771 (40cm rubber duck) and worked 5 stations on 2m.
The best square.
2 Likes
Except itâs actually the IO83 effect. Brianâs out by a small square.
1 Like
In general I get more 2m FM chasers in G/NP and G/SP than I do locally in G/LD. I put that down to being closer to large towns and cities.
It doesnât seem to help elsewhere. I have Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihul, festooned with motorways and dual carriageways and you can listen all day on 145.500 and nothing, and just callsigns from the repeaters. Sad. All the activity I hear is the occasional SOTA activation, they get their chasers then it all goes dead again.
1 Like
I suspect thatâs because G/NP and G/SP have a lot of SOTA summits within easy (2m FM HT QRP) range of large towns and cities, and the Midlands has a lot fewer SOTA summits near by.