MARA's UHF counterpart: 444.800

Most amateur operators in town are aware of, and have been on, MARA's VHF 146.850- (no PL) repeater. It has excellent coverage throughout the metro and into Wisconsin due to the multiple remote receive sites.

Far fewer are aware of, much less frequent, MARA's UHF machine on 444.800+ (114.8 PL).
This is unfortunate, because the .800 has fantastic coverage. It reaches from Lake Minnetonka to inside of Wisconsin, covers Anoka County and runs down to Lakeville, and I can talk on it with a "rubber duck" HT here in Plymouth at S9. So that coverage radius is probably conservative. It's a well-maintained repeater with a central location (Midway in St. Paul), running 75 watts 220 feet up in the air.

Even though I throw my sign out on the machine regularly, I can count on one hand the number of people I've had come back to me on the .800 over the past year. Lately, though, NY9D (Eric) has been found there fairly consistently. He's a friendly and decent guy who just got an article published in CQ magazine, and he's also returning to 1.25M after a long respite from the band.

I'm not really sure why UHF is such a tough sell in the metro. A lot of newer hams have dual-band equipment for the band, but tend to stick to VHF for whatever reason. UHF is ideal for condo and apartment-dwelling hams, with superior building penetration, much smaller antennae, and less chance of interference on both reception and transmission. It's also great for mobile use, where a 6-inch whip makes a quarter-wave, instead of using larger loaded whips for VHF. I've noticed several new hams struggling to reach the HandiHam VHF .450, even though they have UHF machines linked to the same network that are much closer to them.

I know that a lot of older hams are invested in two metres, and aren't about to put the money into a dual-band radio when their VHF mobile works just fine for them. But the reluctance of newer hams to embrace UHF is mysterious. The UHF .425 has been providing a friendly space for those wishing to explore UHF, and the coverage of that machine is even better than the MARA .800, while the W0EF .100 ("dot one") has attracted a regular (albeit older) crowd. Still, the notion seems to persist that there's "nobody on UHF", which is circular logic that helps to ensure that new people stay away.

Still, having at least one person that comes back to signs, as Eric does, is a positive step to drawing activity. Activity draws activity, and hearing a conversation on a repeater is likely to attract operators back to that repeater in the future. Hopefully, more local amateur radio operators will make use of the UHF band on their HTs and stop by the 444.800 in the future.

It's true that there are several "hobby" repeaters on UHF that have low coverage and no activity. That's a situation created by the lack of open frequency pairs on two metres. If you really want to put up a repeater in the metro, UHF (or 1.25M) is your only option. But there are other, excellent, machines available on the UHF band that don't deserve to be categorised as "hobby" repeaters. They are on great sites with high power and clean signals.

If you are looking for UHF antennae, you have a lot of options. For example, Browning makes an NMO 1/4-wave whip for about $8. I've been very pleased with the performance of this extremely simple antenna over the past couple weeks, with a trunk lid mount ($26) and an HT in my car. Using this whip with an NMO mag-mount ($30) makes for a very simple interior apartment antenna that can be slapped on a metal paint can, a metal shelf, or a refrigerator. For outdoor mounting, Centerfire Antennas offers a reliable $30 (plus $3 shipping) UHF ground-plane antenna. I can also be used indoors by clamping the antenna to a shelf support or lamp, and the clamp is included. This is even better than the NMO mag-mount option, because it provides its own ground plane. Centerfire also has a UHF Yagi ($45) that's slightly larger than a standard hard-cover book, though this requires lug connections for the coaxial cable.

Don't be afraid of UHF. Try the HandiHam 444.325 in Bloomington, the 444.650 in Minneapolis, or the 443.000 in Chaska instead of the VHF .450 the next time you get on the network. Or "ker-chunk" the 444.425 and be amazed at it's strong signal. Or take a moment to programme the 444.800 into your HT and stop by there to say "hello" to Eric.