Whats happened to VHF/UHF mobile stations ? I only manage a contact once every few weeks on my way home from work. These are my thoughts let me/us know yours ! I used to when doing a different job ( HGV Driver) spend a hell of the lot of the day on VHF the thing that killed it for me at the time was CTCSS making access to the repeaters at the time near impossible when travelling around due to not knowing which repeater used which code I soon gave up and then later changed my Job anyway. Today I think it is giving everyone access to HF from the word off, I have little interest in HF ( apart from possibly NVIS as a possible method of finding someone to talk to but I have no HF equip) but I know the idea of communicating long distance appeals to a lot of people. Iām also guessing Digital has thinned us out even more I have no issue with digital but from the little I know of it the internet is used a lot rather than radio ( let me know if Iām wrong) on top of all of thing I think the mobile phone laws scare a lot of people off. What do you think ?
Modern vehicles often have so much more in the way that thereās no sane space for a rig. I had a VHF/UHF rig in my previous car, but I very seldom used the rig whilst driving, and I couldnāt see a way of fitting it into my present car and still having it usable. No rig, no activity. Donāt really miss it, TBH.
Well, the UK 1750Hz access tone is long gone, and a good thing I say.
Had I been in your shoes (i.e. a long-distance driver with a liking to QSO via repeaters) I would have spent an evening or two programming the output (tx) frequencies and CTCSS tones of the main 2m FM repeaters located on my regular routes into my 2m FM mobile tvr, maybe adding a load more later as my driving routes changed. Then, whilst driving, use memory scan mode to find the nearest repeaters as I drove into a new area.
Iāve programmed my Yaesu FT1D 2m FM HT for a dozen or so 2m & 70cm repeaters in my region. Each entry takes only a minute or two and most of that is entering the name of the repeater.
Of course, nowadays, you need to ensure you comply with the stricter UK laws on using a two-way radio whilst driving. Last time this was discussed on this reflector, opinions on interpreting the law differed as to whether or not one can hold a microphone or operate the controls. It seems āhands freeā use is definitely legal.
My car has switches on the steering wheel for changing radio stations and I can use voice-activation to select a particular radio station, turn the radio off, etc. But is the former āhands freeā? Yer got me! Whereās a lawyer when you need one?
Hi Brad,
Another factor alongside the need to install hands-free to keep āMr Plodā happy is the fear of triggering the airbags in modern cars and the absolute hell of interference caused in some cars by their electronics, engine management units etc. etc.
As for digital voice modes on 2m/70cm, Iāve heard of some hams building a hotspot into their car, connected to the Internet via their mobile phone, to access their favourite Talk groups/rooms/reflectors while āon the roadā.
With several makes of car using Internet equipped Android-based head-units, access to all three main digital voice modes is possible from the car via an āappā without even having an amateur radio installed.
I donāt think itās purely the draw of HF away from VHF because of licencing as I hear very few really mobile HF stations on the bands these days.
In my opinion (for what it is worth), itās the new cars that are to blame from the reduction in mobile operation.
Here in northern Germany, in the Hanover area, there are a dozen FM repeaters and same digital that I can use on my tours to the summits. Thatās why I have a VHF/UHF mobile in my car.
Ten years ago, the scanner always found an open repeater, but now it rarely does. As Bob Dylan saidā¦ āThe times there are a changinā
Unless it has been superceded!
My understanding is that you cannot hold a phone, but you can hold a ātwo way radioā (as defined in the regulation).
In my youth, I had a valve AM tx in my car, with a seperate home brew-ish receiver. This required ānettingā and adjusting the Pi tank.
Probably silly at the time, it would be quite mad on modern roads / traffic.
I can operate 2m mobile in my 2017 VW Passat with no obvious interference either way but I rarely do. I wouldnāt want to rag chew anyway, as I think driving is a full time activity. Maybe Iām just getting old. Or maybe just a bit more sensible
The handheld microphone has a 3.5mm jack, wired like the Elecraft KX2ās mic/PTT input. The microphone hangs on the sun visor, and the PTT is in the footwell as a foot switch.
Okay, I drive a Toyota hybrid automatic, so my left foot is only for amateur radio. And for summit mountaineering
āThe Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 significantly broadened the scope of what is considered illegal use of a hand-held device while driving. It is now illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone or similar device for any interactive communication function while driving, with very limited exceptions. Two-way radios are generally permitted, provided they are not held while being usedā
I found that there are still plenty of 2m FM mobile stations around at least in my region. I searched my SOTA logs and found the number of /M stations per year:
2025 9 (so far), 2024 4, 2023 16, 2022 14, 2021 12, 2020 8, 2019 4, 2018 1, 2017 2
[NB: I moved from G/CE to G/LD (G/NP close by) in May-2019 which might explain the jump up in numbers]
It would be interesting to hear from other activators if they also regularly (but not always) get 2m/70cm mobile chasers.
I donāt seem to have operated oin the Welsh Borders much recently but I usually find I get a smattering of mobile 2m/70cm chasers (although i go easy on asking for 70cm as I would prefer them to concentrate on driving rather than changing band). Often the caller is travelling on a motoway when they delight in telling me which junction they are at - which doesnāt mean a thing to me unless I have a road atlas to hand!! A few HGV drivers now and then but some of my more regular contacts are (I believe) driving vans and either delivering or moving from customer to customer to offer a service (the chap who went round repairing supermaket tills was usually given a great welcome - also the one delivering medical supplies.) Some years ago when we we were activating GI summits I was amazed by how many 2m mobile contacts I made and they nearly all offered me 70cm with enthusiasm. In the Welsh valleys mobile contacts are more difficult as the valleys are quite deep but some keen chasers go and sit on local hills (eg Blorenge above Abergavenny) and wait for contacts.
On our recent Scotish trip I was up GM/CS-095 Creag Ruadh west of Newtomore near the Spey Dam and no-one answered my frequent calls. I accepted a HF contact from M0JLA so that I would have activated the hill and plodded back up to my windy top to call yet againā¦ when someone answered! It was a driver heading north on the A9 and near the Ralia cafe and thus about the nearest spot on the road. A quick QSY to 70cm and Graham 2M0IJU/M, who was travelling up from Glasgow, was being very warmly thanked (but I didnāt tell him that Iād been expecting a repeat of last yearās A9 Ord Ban activation when I called for over 60 mins on VHF without any responseā¦) On the whole I am finding 2m/70cm are a bit more difficult that they used to be but extensive advertising does help. My GM/NS log is now up but I havenāt finalised the overall statistics yet. I was not expecting to qualify each of the GM/NS little hills on 2m (with 8 or 9 on some hills) and also qualify 6 of them on 70cm (with a bit of help from Rod when we swapped summits or other SOTA activators wno turned up). A few of these contacts were mobile but these were mainly people who knew I was around and were listening out for me rather than drivers with the radio on in the hopes of hearing someone.
Please keep listening as you drive - especially in Wales and Scotland when every contact counts.
73 Viki
The first thing would have been new radios as the ones I used generally were ex-PMR with no CTCSS tone boards ( this was 20 years ago)
and as I worked general haulage I never knew where I was going to be going or ending up on any day,I used a home brew hands free set up so faffing with menu driven radios on the move would be dangerous and in the end I changed jobs anyway having become fed up with the massive hours plus I had made my money anyway. I now drive a regular route to and from work but as my hours are a it strange the few people who do use the repeaters are generally still working as I travel home or still in bed as I travel there.I have contemplated taking the radio out as I tend to leave my car in remote places whilst walking with my dogs and do worry a little about the car being broken into.
I must admit to having a lot of problems with oddly other peoples cars sending my Yaesu FT1500 into fits of noise to the point I took it out and installed a Maxon PMR radio which improved it no end but I had no idea about the air bag problem !
Hi Andy,
Some stations that are parked also sign /M, so some of your data may be from these āstationaryā operations, rather than actual mobile stations.
73 Ed.
In any case, and for what itās worth, I know that almost all of them were in motion because:
a) they tell me their condition (e.g. āIām just approaching junction 36ā [I agree with Viki, thatās not that helpful as I have to look up the locator once home] ) or
b) thereās flutter (often strong) on their signal and/or their signal barely lasted 2-3 overs. [Itās why I give /M stations priority in a 2m FM pileup]
Only occasionally, does one say āIām sitting in the (parked) car waiting for ā¦.ā
Agreed. And we thought we had killed this zombie last time this was discussed. E.g. It would be absurd to stop using /M each time you were stationary in a traffic jam.
This is entirely my opinion too. I have no particular issues in respect of mounting a radio in my vehicle or arranging a hands free microphone, but the increasing dependence on electronics for the safe and correct running of a vehicle worries me.
When I had my last vehicle, a 2005 registered Audi A4, I had enough concerns over electronics when I installed a 25 watt 2m FM transceiver under the dashboard., but it all worked out okay. Now with a 2020 Q5 with more or less total āfly by wireā systems on board, I have decided that mobile operation is not for me. The increasing amount of traffic is aother factor that I have considered and (particularly in the area where I live) the actions of an increasing number of stupid selfish drivers combined with poorly maintained road surfaces. Absolute concentration is required at all times without the distraction of radio. I would say that it is a relief to drive in Scotland where road manners still exist and bad driving is rare. (GMs: YMMV, but come down here first. ).
With regards to 2m and 70cm fixed station operation, I have separate rigs and antennas monitoring the FM calling frequencies and I rarely hear anything where I live. Everyone seems to have gone digital. Itās a case of if you canāt beat them join them I suppose, but I prefer analogue modes and in particular SSB. Thankfully a call on 144.300 MHz will occasionally get a response, but the amount of 2m traffic is only a small percentage of what it used to beā¦ and I have over 50 years experience of the band - my log books bear witness! (Yes, weāve had a debate on this before.).
I believe that the restrictions our planning system has placed upon us putting up antennas hasnāt helped and very few of us have the arrays that we once used to have. Nimby neighbours have always been an issue, but perhaps moreso nowadays. I used to have a permanent 16 element at 10 metres above ground which overhung our neighbourās garden when I beamed south, I would say without complaint. I was very active on 2m running meteor scatter modes as well as tropo, but to do this now I am restricted by the EMF requirements to using a temporary mast and a 9 element located in the middle of the garden, Not what the house manager wants to see!
I donāt think that there is an answer to the lack of interest in VHF/UHF. Times move on and what was once popular is now of little interest. It is how life works. However, as activators I feel that we should be willing to buck the trend and use VHF/UHF from the hills whenever it is appropriate and it is pleasing to see that many activators are doing this. Long may it remain so.
Iāve had the FTM100D (pictured several posts above) monitoring S20 while driving up to GM this morning. At Tebay, and so far just two weak CQ calls heard. Iāve got all the repeaters and gateways programmed in so maybe I should have it memory scanning on the next part of the journey.
I concur that the development of technology has killed it. I do understand the ideas behind CTCSS, Tonesquelch etc, but things were much better when (almost) everything was open (pre 2010).
Digital voice had the potential to rejuvenate /M VHF/UHF operating, but three competing incompatible systems is a massive own goal!
The advances in technology in the /M gear are effectively about preventing communication - and that is why we are where we are today!
I see you (and Tim) have brought your rubbishy and wet Sassenach weather with you. Weāve been basking in balmy, sunny and dry weather for weeks and suddenly Iām feel like Noah looking for an Ark. It canāt just be a coincidence that the WX turns pish as soon as 3 G activators arrive
).
