[LeArc] 146.520 Simplex.

[learc@mailman.qth.net]

Recently the FCC sent out some Notices of Violation to several amateur who
were heard operating simplex on 146.520.  Then the FCC sent out a letter to
these amateurs saying to disregard the Notices of Violation.  They should
not have been sent in the first place.

This made me curious as to what was actually going on.  So I sent the
message below to the ARRL.  Below it is the response I received.  The
response basically echoed what I had sent in my message.

>From all of this I would say, continue on as you have been doing.

73 de Joe - AG9Y

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With the recently issued, and then withdrawn, FCC notices concerning the
use of 146.520 simplex, I am somewhat confused.

Being the Trustee, and thus, "Local Guru" for the local club, I was
recently asked if it was OK to use 146.520 for simplex communications.  My
answer was the following.

"Having recently drove from Macomb, Illinois to Reno, Nevada and back, with
a two meter radio on 146.520 all the way.  And having not heard a single
transmission during the entire trip.  I would have loved to have heard
someone talking on 146.520 just so I would have known there was someone to
call on the frequency if needed.  I did not see any problem with them using
146.520 for local chats, as long as they allowed a long enough pause
between transmissions to allow someone to break in if needed.  And they
kept the length of their transmissions relatively short.  In fact by their
use of 146.520 simplex, it would mean that someone was actually monitoring
the frequency.  Something I doubted anyone was doing currently.  I felt
that the idea of not using 146.520 dated from the days before repeaters
when you needed to know what frequency someone would be monitoring if away
from your local area.  That with all the repeater on the air today, this
use of 146.520 had become somewhat obsolete."

I also mentioned that when I was first licensed in 1977, one of the local
communities used 146.520 for all their communications as there was no
repeater in their area.

With the FCC notices, I am not sure my answer was a good one.  But also, by
the withdrawal of the notices, I am not sure it was a bad one either.  What
is the current league feelings considering the use of 146.520?  And does
the fact that we are in a very rural area with little two meter activity,
even on the local two meter repeater, have any effect?

--------------------------------------------------------------

Joseph,

Initially, when 146.52 MHz was suggested as the National Simplex Calling
Frequency, there were very few repeaters and, as you would expect, not any
in some areas.  This meant that simplex was the only place to operate.
146.52 was the suggested place to make contact and move to another
frequency.  Quite a lot has changed and simplex is not as important as it
used to be with the various other means used to communicate other than
simplex.  True, there are other means to communicate.  I think that your
experience is similar that that experienced in other areas.  73,

John, N1KB