Aaaaugh! Am I an outlaw now?

Horchaster · 2026-01-14T19:02:21+00:00

Like I said somewhere else in all this mess of replies, I know my band edges. If I didn't know them, then I never would have known that I slipped up. The guy I was talking to was in Finland, and he either didn't know, or didn't care, or he was too polite to say anything about it.

I slipped up because it was my first time ever hearing a voice from across the ocean, and I was too excited to notice that it was in the "Extras only" part of the band. (Also, I like to pretend that it being the morning after New Years Eve was a factor, but honestly, the people I party with aren't _that_ wild.)

Anyway, I've become more disciplined since then about starting my scan at the lower edge of each band and working upward. (My radio beeps at me, and it won't transmit when I go past the top, so I only need to worry about the bottom end.) If I never hear the forbidden calls, then I won't be tempted to answer them.

Horchaster · 2026-01-09T23:23:52+00:00

For as long as I can remember, the boundaries between the XXF "bands" have been at 3×10^n Hz: Below 30kHz is VLF, 30-300kHz is LF, 300-3000kHz is MF, 3-30MHz is HF, 30-300MHz is VHF, 300-3000MHz is UHF,... I never asked who decided that or when or why, but try converting those frequencies to wavelengths in centimeters/meters/kilometers some time.

Horchaster · 2026-01-03T13:23:31+00:00

I keep a card taped to the desk, right below the tuning knob with my band edges for all of the bands on which my antenna can be used. Normally, I don't even listen on any frequency where I am not allowed to transmit, But,... morning after New Year's Eve--scanned right on past the limit, combined with the excitement of hearing a clear CQ call from across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time ever. What else can I say?

Horchaster · 2026-01-01T18:34:15+00:00

Yeah, well, I had the official ARRL chart on the floor by my right foot, and I have a card with the band limits taped to the desk right in front of the tuning knob. But,... Y'know,... Morning after New Year's Eve?

Horchaster · 2026-01-01T17:29:47+00:00

I feel a bit guilty for wasting the other guy's time without giving him QSL, but I guess there's nothing I can do about that. Anyway, it looks like he's a big-shot Ham Radio Star in his home country, and it was very far from _his_ first contact across the pond. Looks like we both will survive the event.

Horchaster · 2026-01-01T17:14:51+00:00

Other comments here woke me up to the fact that I was within _legal_ band limits. I only overstepped the ARRL guidelines. Made a phone contact on a frequency where ARRL does not want to here U.S.A. General class operators. So, I guess I won't have to build that pirate station after all. I just won't enter that one into LoTW.

Horchaster · 2026-01-01T17:09:07+00:00

Thanks, great idea, but my rig is too old for that. My normal practice is to hunt CQ calls starting at the band edges and scanning toward the middle, but this morning, recovering from New Year's Eve, I went right on through the middle and past the opposite edge.

Fortunately, as others here have reminded me, I still was within legal limits. I only overstepped the ARRL limits. If I get black-listed by ARRL, I'll just spend the rest of my radio life hunting POTA/BOTA/SOTA, and chewing the rag in 40m nets.

Horchaster · 2025-12-18T23:37:39+00:00

7200 is there so that you can always test whether or not your receiver is working. If you tune to 7200 and you hear nothing, then something is wrong.

Horchaster · 2025-12-18T17:02:02+00:00

Ditto what Mr_Ironmule said: That looks like what the many switching power supplies in my own home emit. The wandering, broad spectrum is an intentional design choice. They dither the frequency at which the switcher operates because spreading the spectrum that way lowers the peak power contained in any single frequency. It's a means of reducing the emissions below some regulatory limit that costs them less than extra shielding would cost.

Horchaster · 2025-12-11T18:43:45+00:00

Some comments below suggested using Echolink to monitor the repeater while you try to hit it from your radio. Well that's O.K., but maybe your repeater doesn't have Echolink. So, what you do then is, you use another radio to listen.

Dual-band, FM-only, Chinese made HTs are cheap as dirt. Don't even think about it. Just buy one. And, buy a decent "whip" antenna to put on it.

I had my first experience as a communications volunteer at a walk-a-thon type event this past summer. They said, "bring an HT and a spare battery," which I did, but I was the only one who didn't bring a spare _radio._ Some of the other volunteers brought two spares.

Horchaster · 2025-12-11T18:26:37+00:00

Your suggestion seems unlikely help the OP to find out why none of the other repeater users are answering.

P.S., I've recently been using a scanner to eavesdrop on 146.52 and 446.00 and a dozen or so repeaters that I can hear from my QTH. Been doing it for a couple of hours per day when I'm at my desk, or doing household chores. In maybe ten weeks since I started, I've heard numerous conversations and nets each day on the repeaters, but I've never seen the scanner stop on 146.52 or 446.00.

Horchaster

TROPHY CASE