[SMCARA] Simplex

[Clarke, Tom AIR4.0P NATOPS]

Air Mobile is a lot of fun!  When I was regularly flying the C-130 and not using the ARC-190 HF for other purposes, I would fire it up on 18.135 and work lots of stations.  20 and 10 worked fine also.  It is amazing what a 25,000 foot high antenna (a 66 foot long end fed up to the top of the vertical stab) will do for your signal.  Signing aero mobile will add several "S" units also.  BTW the Aeronautical Mobile designator only applies when you are flying outside of domestic airspace, i.e., International Region 1, 2, or 3, otherwise it is just mobile, although AirMobile is OK and sounds cooler!  Same thing for Maritime Mobile.  You can't be Maritime Mobile in the Chesapeake Bay!

One night, I was flying a test flight that involved flying a track from the Outer Banks of NC to the tip of Long Island in NY collecting radar data.  Fairly boring, with the autopilot and GPS nav doing all the work, and we just were making sure no warning lights came on!  So, I brought our ARC-131 FM radio up on 52.525, the 6m FM simplex frequency.  I managed to work a couple of guys up on Long Island and held them almost all the way past Norfolk!  They spotted me on the internet and I wound up working about 6 different stations.  Did the same on 146.52 and worked lots of stations.  All this nonsense was around 2-3 AM! Fun times.

One rule you learn early on is to stay off the repeater frequencies.  When you ker-chunk on a repeater frequency, you bring up every machine within a couple of hundred miles!  Now that most repeaters use PL, you only bring up a few, but any repeater that comes up blocks the channel as they all capture your receiver.

73 Tom/W4OKW

-----Original Message-----
From: SMCARA [mailto:smcara-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Daniel Metcalf
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2015 9:59 AM
To: Christopher Olson
Cc: SMCARA Reflector
Subject: Re: [SMCARA] Simplex

I have made a similar contact on HF. I was driving and he was flying. Very cool contact! The is one to Bragg about!
On May 9, 2015 12:38 AM, "Christopher Olson via SMCARA" < smcara at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

> Worked N4TIA (Alex) located just south of Philadelphia, PA "at the 
> start of conversation" at 12:08 am Saturday per him (simplex) coming 
> from Newfoundland, Canada while flying to Florida at 40,000 ft using 
> his HT "Motorola 7000" on 146.520 flying a twin engine aircraft "lear 
> jet 35" and kept up with him well over Richmond, Va as he was working 
> many stations along his flight. He had to change out a few batteries 
> as well :)
>
> KC3ERI
> Christopher M. Olson
> Sent from my iPhone
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