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I think nearly every ham has, at some point, compared calling CQ to fishing. After a recent experiment, I'm going to extend that analogy and make the claim that sometimes calling is like fishing without any bait on the hook. So where was I calling that felt like fishing with no bait?
National FM Simplex Calling Frequencies
Yup - that's where. Many of you probably aren't surprised by this. 146.52 and 446.000 both see varying levels of use around different areas of the country. I personally have made some contacts during my travels after making calls on 146.52, but it was always very hit-or-miss. I've never made a contact on 446. Because of this, I wanted to do a small experiment to see what kind of luck I would have if I did some dedicated fishing.
A recent work trip took me to Columbus Ohio. From my home, with stops for meals and bathroom breaks, this ends up being about an 8 hour drive.
Knowing that I had this drive to make, I quickly came up with a plan. Spend the entire drive monitoring both 146.52 and 446.000, AND calling every 10 minutes, to see how many answers I get. I debated whether or not I wanted to make my plans known ahead of time on social media. I ultimately decided that I wanted any responses I got to be "organic" and not because someone was specifically watching for me, so I just kept my lips sealed tight - until now!
Bright and early on April 4th I pulled out of my driveway. My first stop was close to my home where I filled up on gas, and turned on APRS (I was sharing my location and the frequencies I was monitoring every 5 minutes using the PocketPacket app). I also asked Siri to set an alarm to go off every 10 minutes, and shared a post to Instagram showing my (rather large) coffee mug. It was 3:30am after all.....
With these house-keeping items taken care of, I turned on the two radios that would be serving me for the day. To monitor 446.000 I used my older Kenwood TK-840 commercial rig, which runs about 20 watts into an antenna mounted on the trunk (NMO mount - with an actual hole drilled!). For 146.52 I used my Yeasu 857d, running 50 watts into the vertical that is mounted top dead center on my car (also an NMO mount, with an actual hole!)
I put out my first call on both frequencies (one right after the other) as soon as I turned the radios on. It went something like this:
This is N3VEM. November Three Victor Echo Mike listening on (insert frequency). N3VEM mobile and listening.
Any responses to my first call? Nope! It was 3:30 am after all - so I wasn't really expecting to drum up any business just yet. I started driving, and repeated my call every 10 minutes. After a couple hours of this, I still hadn't gotten any answers. Twice - once at around 4:30 am and again at around 6:40 am, I thought I heard "something" break squelch on 446 after my call, but that could have just as easily been random interference.
At 7:00 am I started to perk up a little bit. I was getting into the "morning drive" time of day, and figured that I might have a better chance of getting an answer to one of my calls, so I kept at it.
So, enough beating around the bush...how many answers do you think I got during my drive? If you're keeping track, with traffic, and a couple stops here and there, I actually took over 8 hours to make the drive. I also made some "extra" calls when I saw cars that looked "hammy" - at one point, I even ended up behind a car that had as many antenna's on it as mine does (4, unless you count the factory radio, then its 5.) All in all, I called over 100 times between the two frequencies. Total Answers.......
0
You read that correctly. I spent over 8 hours, calling every 10 minutes, on two different frequencies, for a total of over 100 calls, and didn't get a single answer. So what does that say about the state of ham radio? Here's where a lot of naysayers would proclaim the ultimate doom of ham radio. For me, here's what I think it says about the state of ham radio: Absolutely Nothing!
It's easy for us to get down on ourselves when we don't get answers to calls, but if we stop to consider it, there are so many factors that go into "getting an answer" that we should never make these wild speculations. If it was a scientific experiment we would just say there are too many variables. There could be lots of other reasons I didn't get an answer:
- At least half of my drive was at a time when most people are still asleep!
- Large portions of my drive were in very rural area's. It was more like fishing without bait - in puddles.
- There's always that whole propagation thing - it's hit or miss depending on the day, time, weather, etc.
So when it seems like "the bands area dead" - don't go all doom and gloom! Keeping calling, keep having fun, and learn from what you're doing, no matter what the outcome actually is!
As a final parting thought, yesterday I was traveling for work, and put out a single call, when I was passing a major city in the Northeast. I got an answer, and had a nice chat - it just goes to show that if you want to catch fish, at least go where the fish are!
In Other Business
When life gets busy, my tendency is to use my small amounts of free time to do stuff, instead of writing about the stuff. I have some time in the next couple weeks to write updates again, so I'll be updating you on my recent "doings" soon:
- I've collected about a dozen ideas for my "crowd-sourced project" that I'll have everyone vote on soon!
- I've made some progress on the shack project in my basement - if you follow me on Instagram you've seen a couple pictures!
- I've made progress on my "secret project" that everyone will get to see when it is complete!
- I've done 2 WWFF activations that I'll update everyone one - Buck Creek State Park and Morristown National Historical Park.
Bye for now!
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