[FARC] June Is National Amateur Radio Simplex Month (Frederick, MD)

[Joseph M. Durnal]

During the month of June, look for me on 146.52 MHz.  I monitor 146.52
a lot anyway, but in the month of June, I'm going to deliberatly try
and avoid repeaters, just for the challenge.  Anyone care to join me?
I may even play around with 446.000.

On June 2 & 30 (1st & 5th Monday), Frederick County ARES will call a
simplex net on 146.58 MHz following the regular ARES net on the 147.06
repeater which starts at 7:30PM EDT (simplex net should start around 8
or so), we'll find out who can talk to who if the repeater is down.
This net is open to all, and we are looking forward to your check ins.

On Wednesday nights at 8:30pm look for the Eastern Panhandle (WVa)
Simplex net on 147.54 MHz - a little tough to reach from in town
Frederick, but with a little elevation and 50 watts, someone over
there will hear you.

An interesting twist on simplex - give a listen to 144.39 (the APRS
frequency) with PL 100 encode/decode - when you hear a strong packet
burst, that means someone is in range and listening on 144.39 with
PL100 - give a call like "This is NE3R calling any APRS Voice Alert
Station" and if they have the volume up, they should hear you.  Once
contact is made, you'll want to switch to another frequency.

Don't forget the June VHF contest (13th - 15th) - there isn't a lot of
FM activity - but I always find a few.  Since 146.52 is off limits to
the contest, give a listen on some other common 2 meter and 70 cm
simplex frequencies, and send some CQ's.

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National Simplex Month is sponsored by The Simplex Preservation
Society. To participate, all you have to do is practice direct
communications during the month of June. No repeaters, no IRLP, no
Echolink, no satellites, etc. Antenna to antenna communications only.

I know it will be a challenge for some not to jump in the car and
announce "WW5XYZ monitoring", but give it a try. Switch over to
146.520 Mhz simplex and give a shout. Arrange with your buddies to
meet there during June. The first thing many regular repeater users
will find out is that their stations aren't up to the task of
communicating reliably via simplex, and that some improvements will
need to be made. Better to make them now, before the repeater is taken
out by a storm.

If you like the idea of Amateur Radio Operators practicing direct
communications for a month, then spread the word.

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73 de Joseph Durnal NE3R