Metro repeater boundaries to the North

This last week-end, I went on a camping trip to a State Forest Campground outside of Pine City, MN.
It was an annual tradition with my friends that has stretched for decades, but this was the first time that I tried to incorporate amateur radio into the experience.

As it turned out, there was absolutely no activity on the single two-metre repeater accessible from the campground. But at least half of the fun of the trip was in exploring how far our local repeaters reach, and not just exploring the activity on the rural repeaters that I would encounter. So I made a record at various points along the way of my ability to "ker-chunk" the metro-area machines. Remember, just because I could wring a squelch tail out these machines does not mean that I could be readable at that distance.

Just in case anyone wants to compare the expected range of their own rig with mine, I was using a Kenwood TH-F6 at 5W into a trunk-lip-mounted tri-band whip (the Comet SSB224NMO). I have no doubt that 50W VHF rigs with monoband antennae could reach further, and even 5W base stations with good antennae could reach further. I'm talking about using common 5W HTs as a mobile, and what kind of range can be expected with that arrangement.

The first of my familiar repeaters to slip out of "ker-chunk" status was the Plymouth 444.375 -- run by N0FWG (Jerry). It failed to respond to my transmission at the junction of 35W and 694. I rolled north up I-35. By Lake Drive (CR-97), the TCRC's UHF 444.300 was gone, along with the 1.25M Burnsville 224.540, and any element of the HandiHam repeater system. The Wyoming 146.895 was barely responding with a squelch tail to my callsign.

By North Branch, I had lost the vast majority of UHF machines. The MARA 444.800 sputtered fitfully with its squelch tail, and the TCFMC's 444.100 wasn't much better with an intermittent S2. These weren't "workable" signal strengths; it was just a response to the feeble CTCSS tone from my radio. The 444.425 was fading terribly from S4 to S1, and N0FKM's mighty 444.550 was no longer responding at all. The VHF 147.210 was likewise non-existent, as was the 147.030 that always seemed so strong. N0FKM's New Brighton VHF .290 failed to make a sound when I called. The Oakdale 146.850 was still audible, though an involved QSO was in progress and I couldn't test my ability to reach it.

The "emergency" VHF machines -- Plymouth .700 and Golden Valley .820 -- still came back at North Branch, though only the 146.700 made it past Forest Lake...barely. Their UHF counterparts (444.175 and 444.500) were essentially gone past Forest Lake.

By this time, I had improbably snagged N0TYE (Paul) on the Arden Hills 223.940 machine, and I chatted with him nearly to Forest Lake. Remarkably, this was the last QSO that I would have for the weekend, though I didn't know that at the time.

Of course, the Wyoming VHF .895 had a great signal. Nobody was on it, though. The Forest Lake 146.730 was my main companion after that, until I reached Rush City. Nobody was on any of these machines.

Forest Lake seems to be the FM boundary for metro-area repeaters. I pulled off there. The .850 was still tied up with some inane drive-time technical discussion, and I couldn't break in to get a signal check. But that signal broke up past Wyoming. There were no other metro-area repeaters left at that point, though the .850 did pop in and out up to Rush City -- though more "out" than "in".

I tried really hard to raise anyone on the Wyoming and Forest Lake machines all the way to Rush City. No way. Nobody came back to my sign.

By the time that I got to Rush City, I was a little worried that I'd have to go the entire week-end without any kind of FM ham radio. The Rush City 145.330 was strong all the way into Pine City, but nobody came back to my numerous attempts at establishing a QSO. It was the only machine that I could raise from Pine City. I figured that this would make it more populated, but it really didn't.

The Rush City repeater dropped out as I drove into the valley where the Snake River Campground is. And I began my camping weekend cut off from FM ham radio. My smart-phone didn't even have a sufficient data signal for me to use EchoLink.

I had expected very little activity in the rural areas, but I had also thought that people would be listening and come back to a new sign. It's not as if people are spread out over several repeaters. Considering that I was also arriving in Pine City at the tail end of "rush hour", I also had expected someone to be there. Obviously, there are fewer people living out there, but it all points to a different mentality involving ham radio in the rural areas. Maybe the activity takes place on scheduled "nets", or on HF.

It was a little disorienting to me to have all of my familiar and beloved repeaters out of range. The experience made me deeply appreciative of not only our wonderful infrastructure and the people that maintain it, but also those people that actually turn on the radios and come back to others' signs.