Does anyone in the northeast use 146.460 MHz?

[Huezee]

I have it stored as a frequency on my mobile rig but I never hear a soul on it when driving around upstate NY/ADKs. Occasionally I will hear someone on the standard 2m calling frequency but they are usually SOTA.

 

[M Rose]

We use 146.46 on group trips out here in the PNW.

 

[Dusther210]

There’s a KQ2H repeater on that freq I monitor almost 24/7. That network pretty covers NY state, NJ and down to Philly. It might be worth checking out RepeaterBook, I don’t really bother with the simplex frequency though
KD2UNH

 

[Redbear]

I will monitor it from time to time but never hear anyone on it. I even have my APRS stating that I’m monitoring. nothing.

All group rides that I have been on have used GMRS or FRS. Ham has been disappointing. :-(

 

[NJRadioGuy]

As was mentioned elsewhere, there's a wide-coverage repeater on .46 in northern NJ, and as a result, I took it out of my scan rotation. Normally 46 is the low-side input to 147.06 (which is one of a few pairs that can have their inputs 600 kc up or down from the outputs; the others are 147.00, 147.03, 147.06, and 147.09. Plus the interstitials which are usually--but not always-- plus 600.

I normally monitor .52 on the road, but honestly even that is a ghostland. I heard maybe two QSOs going down to VA and back from NE NJ last week. I put out my call dozens of times but only had one contact.

 

[NJRadioGuy]

I will monitor it from time to time but never hear anyone on it. I even have my APRS stating that I’m monitoring. nothing.

All group rides that I have been on have used GMRS or FRS. Ham has been disappointing. :-(

I think it's more of a thing out west, where repeaters have coverage footprints that are hundreds of miles wide and lots of active hams that monitor them regularly. Plus the fact there are so few places to drive on dirt roads that nobody even bothers. When I'm on a trail ride with others, I'm often the only ham in the group and I'll use GMRS for comms. I'm WRJB851 up there. I don't know if there's a recognized calling channel on GMRS--and if not, there ought to be.

 

[Redbear]

I will monitor it from time to time but never hear anyone on it. I even have my APRS stating that I’m monitoring. nothing.

All group rides that I have been on have used GMRS or FRS. Ham has been disappointing. :-(

I think it's more of a thing out west, where repeaters have coverage footprints that are hundreds of miles wide and lots of active hams that monitor them regularly. Plus the fact there are so few places to drive on dirt roads that nobody even bothers. When I'm on a trail ride with others, I'm often the only ham in the group and I'll use GMRS for comms. I'm WRJB851 up there. I don't know if there's a recognized calling channel on GMRS--and if not, there ought to be.

You are probably right. Not much overlanding in NJ. At least I live in the pine lands. But every group ride I’ve been on has used FRS except for one that used GMRS. So no one is using ham. I got my ham radio for overlanding and have never gotten to use it a tear and a half later.

I have participated in a couple traffic nets but that’s it. Otherwise, I just monitor...,

 

[NJRadioGuy]

Try DMR if you're bored. There's a talkgroup there called Venture Overland, started by a fellow in VT. For me, HF is where it's at. I'm Extra Class, and have been a ham since 1979. 2m/440 mobile is a very, very small fraction of my operations <grin>.

 

[M Rose]

Try DMR if you're bored. There's a talkgroup there called Venture Overland, started by a fellow in VT. For me, HF is where it's at. I'm Extra Class, and have been a ham since 1979. 2m/440 mobile is a very, very small fraction of my operations <grin>.

There is a lot to do on VHF/UHF... but you’re right, nothing like a 4,000 mile DX.

 

[NJRadioGuy]

There is a lot to do on VHF/UHF... but you’re right, nothing like a 4,000 mile DX.

Very much depends on where you are. In the NYC tri-state area there are repeaters on every pair...and virtually nobody using any of them. HF is almost non-existent up here too. Field Days are short-staffed, most contest stations are compromised (land for massive antenna farms around here would require tens of millions of dollars), and frankly people are working so hard at two, and often three jobs to afford to live here and pay the confiscatory taxes in the region that playing radio is a distant memory. Granted we generally don't have the CC&R restrictions that exist in the south and southwest, but activity is still sparse at the best of times. And ham radio (and overlanding for that matter) is an upper-middle-class hobby for the most part, and that doesn't describe a large percentage of the region, other than the immediate suburbs.

When I got my first DMR radio a few weeks ago I put in various statewide talkgroups and spent a lot of time listening. In the south and southwest activity is pretty constant. The NJ and NY Metro talkgroups often go days without a single QSO. Frankly it's very disheartening.

 

[Dusther210]

I generally monitor the KQ2H (repeater on 146.46 is N2ACF), W2MPX and W2UHF. There is almost always someone on one of these. I can monitor up to 4 channels at a time and I will rotate in KB2RQE, W2AKR or NJ2PC. Radio is on 24/7 and I work next to it 8 hours a day. I have to turn it down to get work done but often around lunch time, after work or later in the evening I’ll put a few calls out. If anyone wants to reach out I’m KD2UNH

I now have a post it note with all the people I’ve chatted with that are regulars on these repeaters. Found out this morning one of the them is my neighbor and another guy was from my old neighborhood.

A lot of these repeaters are in EchoLink also.

Someone was on W2MPX this morning from Bayville, NJ (I was pretty impressed with that range).

I got a ham license as a backup to my phone, not as a hobby, but I spend as much time as I can to practice and get better with it. @NJRadioGuy knows I still got some work to do. But I think if the goal is to make contacts it’s not hard. Limiting to just 146.46 will be much more challenging, although I’m sure very rewarding. On my drive to VA from NE NJ I heard nobody on 146.46. I may or may not have drove my wife nuts with it lol.

 

[NJRadioGuy]

On my drive to VA from NE NJ I heard nobody on 146.46. I may or may not have drove my wife nuts with it lol.

If you'd gone over to .52 you might have worked a few. I had a good QSO with a fellow in Chambersburg. He even sent me a QSL card in the mail (to which I replied this morning). Young fellow, IIRC he said he was 14 YO, but you'd never know it.

 

[Dusther210]

On my drive to VA from NE NJ I heard nobody on 146.46. I may or may not have drove my wife nuts with it lol.

If you'd gone over to .52 you might have worked a few. I had a good QSO with a fellow in Chambersburg. He even sent me a QSL card in the mail (to which I replied this morning). Young fellow, IIRC he said he was 14 YO, but you'd never know it.

That is the coolest thing I’ve heard all day

 

[Rjpoges]

.520 simplex would be better bet. Call cq on that and you will prob get a return