Exploring two-metre FM

In the past month, I've spent more time on two-metre FM than I have in the preceding six months. Normally, I'm on UHF and 1.25M, as my FT-897D was in repairs for a few months and I could only get on VHF with an HT. So I kind of got out of the habit of checking two-metre repeaters, or even swapping in a 2M antenna on my mount. When I put the Leixen VV-898 in my study with an indoor mag-mounted whip, I spent a little time finding out which repeaters I could reach, but not really engaging in conversations on VHF. But I finally programmed all of the local two-metre repeaters into my FT-897D and took the risk of putting up my more-conspicuous monoband VHF whip outside here at the condo, and it's a different world. 

It's pretty easy to reach the 146.790- (100.0 PL) machine in Faribault, I've found. Along with that, the 147.360+ (136.5 PL) in Hampton (near Northfield) is quite accessible, Becker's 147.345+ (85.4 PL) is nice and clear, and the 145.210- (114.8 PL) in Crown (between Zimmerman and Isanti) is almost like a local machine as far as coverage. The west is now open to me with the (previously mentioned) 145.230- (114.8 PL) Maple Lake HandiHam repeater (which is not linked to the network). 

Certainly, we have some excellent local VHF repeaters, and the activity is generally higher on them than what you find in the more far-flung reaches of 2M FM. And you can reach across Wisconsin on the UHF WINET repeater in Arden Hills. And, generally, UHF is where actual, meaningful conversations are common. But I can see where 2M gets its reputation for distance. 

This is what I found out tonight by investing less than an hour on two-metre FM: 

• The 145.290- (114.8) repeater in New Brighton is back on the air, after being down most of the week. The owner, N0FKM (Dan), has told me before that the repeater doesn't tolerate cold weather well. The City won't let him add a space heater to the shack, and there isn't enough activity to keep the machine warm by simply transmitting. So when it gets cold, maybe think about a QSO on the .290 to warm that machine a bit. 

• The Hudson 145.130- (110.9 PL) machine has developed a nasty hum in the audio, though it's reaching Plymouth better than it did last winter. 

• I had a brief chat with a guy at the National Weather Service station, K0MPX (John), on 146.520 FM simplex. I've heard the station on the 444.775+ (114.8 PL) machine in Robbinsdale before during bad weather, but I had no idea that they used VHF, much less simplex. S9 here in eastern Plymouth from Chanhassen, so they must have a decent rig and antenna for two metres. It might be an interesting way to check your simplex range, but be sure to have your local weather info at hand. 

• It seems crazy, but I "ker-chunked" the two-metre 146.865- (146.2 PL) in Giese (northwest of Sandstone) for an S3 signal. Gotta hand it to LSAC, even though their .325 UHF repeater has been down for about a year. 

• I could kind of reach the 145.250- (100.9 PL) machine in Baldwin (WI) at S6, but there was a huge amount of noise. I think that somebody came back to my sign, but I couldn't read them in all of the noise. It seems a lot easier to reach the east metro and beyond into Wisconsin on UHF, though I understand that the 146.850- does pretty well with a remote receive site in Roberts, WI. Still, it's trivially easy to reach the UHF 443.025+ machine in River Falls directly, and the 442.075+ (110.9 PL) repeater in Arden Hills can be readably reached with an indoor 4W HT from here in Plymouth -- and that links you into all of the UHF machines across Wisconsin. 

So that sums up an interesting evening exploring the more distant reaches of two-metre FM. I always prefer close-at-hand quality conversation to distant non-conversation, but I have to admit that there's potential there.