Lusby has an offset  of  +005.000

On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 9:28 PM Franklin Charity via K3CAL <k3cal@mailman.qth.net> wrote:

Good afternoon,

I recently earned my Technician license last week and am new to the amateur radio hobby. I’ve been involved in radio-adjacent interests for years, but only recently took the step into ham radio.

At the moment, most of my experience and equipment has been on the GMRS side. I’m currently running a Nagoya UT-72G mag-mount antenna outside with a budget 25W Radioddity mobile radio in my basement, along with a couple of GMRS HTs that my family and I primarily use for travel and hiking.

On the amateur side, I have the cliche starter radio, a Baofeng UV-5R paired with a home-brewed 2m dipole (not fully tuned yet; I’m waiting on a NanoVNA to arrive). I live in St. Leonard and have been trying to make contacts through the 2m repeater, but so far I haven’t received any responses. I do hear the repeater feedback when I key up, so I may be getting in, but it’s also possible no one is monitoring at the times I’ve tried.

I’ve had similar challenges reaching the GMRS repeater, so I recently ordered a better roof-mounted antenna in hopes of improving my overall reach. I’m saving up for a higher-quality amateur radio, but in the meantime, I’m hoping to make some progress with the repeaters.

Does anyone know of any WebSDRs in the area that I could use to verify whether my signal is making it out when I’m not hearing responses? I have searched websdr and kiwisdr, but do not see any that are on the 2m band in the area. I’d love to confirm whether it’s an equipment/antenna issue or simply a matter of timing and activity.

Thanks in advance, and I’m looking forward to learning more and getting involved with the club.

Best regards,

Franklin 

KD3CQH | WSKR559

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