So recently I decided to pull out the old TNC and see what was going on locally in 2m packet. I also picked up a FT-60R dual band HT since my old Icom 24AT (and older icom 2A) need at least new batteries.
After googling around for awhile I couldn't find much about local packet activity, at least nothing from 2012 or even 2011. I tried a few old frequencies like 145.67, 145.01, and 145.05. Sadly, there was almost no activity at all. I don't think it's just a part of living way out in the sticks of North Branch.... It really looks like 2m packet is dead here. There is an emergency network on 145.67 and I was able to bounce around nodes but never saw anyone talking (that was an old keyboard to keyboard chat frequency). On .05 I saw absolutely nothing after a couple days of monitoring and on .01 I saw a few network nodes but nothing else. Sad to say I put away the TNC after about 2 weeks of watching.
For local repeaters it's been pretty mixed... There is no where near the level of activity there was 10-20 years ago when I was last active on VHF. That said, the rise of internet connected repeaters has lead to some interesting changes. After searching the internet for awhile, I was able to find an updated list of repeaters thanks to the Minnesota Repeater Council's website. After getting about 30 frequencies in the memory of the HT I hooked it up to my dual band Ringo on the roof and tuned around. It was sadly dead also... In the past drive time would have almost all the local repeaters filled with people so it was sad to hear hours with no activity. Occasionally I would here a couple locals on the North Branch 440 machine, then one day I realized it was hooked to the internet. For a weekend I listened to folks in Alaska work on their APRS setups, occasionally with a random Texas or Florida station saying "Hi". When I had moved on from the repeater scene 10 or so years ago Echolink was still somewhat new so it was interesting to not only have these stations on the local repeater but also the fact that they all knew each other. One gentleman in Texas was in the hospital and they all knew him and were wishing him well. It sounded like having that connection to people he knew really was helping him deal with the issues causing his need to stay there. While it takes away some of the mystery of working HF and being at the mercy of the ionosphere, it's fun to see that they have made friendships around the country and talk regularly with a large close knit group like that. So while a lot has changed, and it is no where near the activity level of the past, there is still a lot of good conversations to be found on the local repeaters...it just might take a little longer to find it.
One more plus side to the new handheld... As a long long time flight-sim junkie, its always fun to stick a few local airports approach frequencies, along with Minneapolis Center into the radio. Also, as a photographer who has gone trainspotting a couple times, I put the railroad frequencies in also. Having 1000 memories is a huge improvement over the 16 in my old Kenwood! Anyway, enough for now, thanks for reading. ....73 de N0QBX
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