2 Meter VHF 144MHZ Long Distance Propagation

Link to site:
This site is an awesome resource to check out VHF propagation in your area. It DOES happen on VHF. Have you ever talked to someone on VHF simplex 300 miles away? 1000 miles away? No repeater, no hotspot... It is possible with decent antennas, or with a simple antenna. I usually post these updates on Facebook when they look like a good opening, just to help out some friends that follow incase they want to turn on the radio and give it a shot.
#hamradio #propagation #vhf2meter

[bassangler]

Im a General Licensed Ham but 2 meters is my favorite, weird I know..I would rather talk to the local people myself..And yes, this Website is awesome, I use it daily!!!

[Swoop]

Two meter can be remarkably fun, I was West bound on I-20 coming into Ranger, Tx one morning when I heard a couple of hams on 146.52. One of them mentioned Orange, Tx which is about 30 miles from Beaumont, Tx which is where I live.
I broke in to see where they were and the one guy said "I just stated my location." Needless to say I was shocked and proceeded to give him my location and the fact I was mobile, running a 5/8's wave mag mount from radio shack and to top it off I was running 10 watts!
Then other stations started chiming in from St.Louis, Kansas City, West Memphis and quiet a few others. It was a blast!
I run .52 almost 24/7 and can attest that in my travels I have found it's not as dead as some would have you believe.
Love your videos and also notice you're a musician, I carry a Taylor 414ce and a PRS Mira 24 in the truck, if I'm in the area maybe we could have a little jam session one day.
73' de John, KC5JSR.

[njve]

I live 20 miles south of Albany, N.Y and sitting in my driveway playing radio. A friend of mine told me on my Repeater that there was a band opening on 2 Meter Simplex. I dialed down to 146.52 FM and threw my call out using my Icom 50 watt radio in my truck. I got a call right back from a 4 call. Come to find out this 4 call was in Germantown, Tennessee. I was blown away with that contact. Not that I do 2 Meter DX but that is the furthest contact to date. I have work a Repeater in Montreal Canada while mobile near Albany coming home from work around midnight. And at my house at 225 above sea level and antenna up 20 feet with dual band radio at 50 watts I worked a station in Cape May N.J over S9 on 146.52 FM and a Repeater in Phillie the same day. Great memories they were for me.
Mike. N2JVE
Niverville, N.Y.

[NukaVaultReadiness]

Great video on the topic Eric!
I was just having a discussion about going "farther" on VHF to reach repeaters 50+ miles with a fellow Ham, but didn't think about propagation on simplex!
Still a relatively new greenhorn Ham myself, one year in, but learning stuff everyday!
73's!

[josiahhaifley]

I’m in the middle of the Piedmont of North Carolina and this morning I heard a repeater identify from Macon Georgia, 280 miles from me! The other day someone from Deltona, FL checked into a net in Dillion, SC. His signal was excellent. Several people from Georgia also checked in to the same net, including someone using a 5watt Beofeng handheld using a diamond mag mount antenna.

[johnbonvillian]

WOW! That is awesome! Thank you Eric and Thankyou Gigaparts for such prompt service

[JoeyRF]

Many years ago when I was a kid my dad made a contact on 2 meters to Arizona and we live close to Charlotte North Carolina. I never did understand why he was so excited about it back then now I’ve been into ham for a little bit I understand

[formeraide]

Years ago my wife had a early morning paper route in Putnam County, WV. She always listened to a scanner with the local County Fire and Sheriffs frequencies on to avoid Wrecks, Fires, etc. Many times she would call me at 4am to 5am and tell me she was hearing police or fire departments coming in from KY, TX, GA, or other places. I would turn my FM rig on and hear them, then go to 2 meters and make a few contacts sometimes before leaving for work.

[joeblow]

Nice. The California to Hawaii tropo ducts have happened many times over the years. There have been legendary openings on the East Coast too. Years ago there was a TV DXer in Massachusetts who picked up TV stations on the UHF band from Florida, an all water path. Then there are the frequent Texas to Florida ducting . Many coastal and inland tropo ducting have exceeded 1000 miles on FM broadcast and UHF TV back in the day when it was still analog.

[tomhoffer]

I use the mennolink 2m propagation map when I'm in the semi running up and down I-95 between Philadelphia and Virginia, I have made several contacts over 100 miles away while mobile with a 5w yaesu ft2d and a small diamond antenna up on the back of my big rig on APRS, good video.
Tom KC3FOI in Philadelphia

[mikeklemens]

This is a great vhf propagation resource. Easier than hill topping with a yagi and 100+ watts. Mike N6IMY

[vstardon]

Thanks for posting this. I had used this site for a long time, but the original website that I had bookmarked just went to the school's site last time I checked it; I thought the map had been taken down. I've used the map and pointed my 2 meter beam in the direction of the propagation on the map and gotten some great contacts. I've also used it when I hear something unusual on the scanner; it gives me an idea of where the signal may be coming from.

[leestallard]

I know it’s old but I just stumbled across this video. I live about 40 miles south of Savannah, Ga. and regularly talk to guys as far away as Palm Coast and Flagler Beach to the south and Manning and Sumpter, S.C. to the north. Talked to a guy a couple of weeks ago in Fort Bragg NC. On 65 watts and an Ed Fong antenna up at 16 ft. Being a new ham this is exciting for me. Thanks for all your great videos. They have really helped me along. See you on The Ponderosa. 7 3, KO4DNI

[crazynordlander]

If this is Mountain Lake Minnesota I have known this person the past twenty years. He showed me a map that he said was the schools. We were at a continuing ed class at Marshall MN so I did not have time to touch base with him. I will be doing this now to confirm if it is him. He is a fellow ham. It is is him he is NG0E who is the Technology Coordinator at Mountain Lake Public Schools in Minnesota. Looks like there is a donations link at the bottom of the map. It looked as if the money went to repairing antennas at the school and future money is to go to and I quote " If you appreciate this service and wish to donate, funds received will be used to add a remote tuner to the HF horizontal loop at the local public high school station."
Great cause!
Kevin KE0UXC

[Sky]

I used to run a packet station with multiple Nodes. Was cool watching the nodeslist fill up during a band opening. I might to from a list of 20 to almost 100.

[tomkeady]

Thanks Eric, I stumbled on this site a few months ago and have found it useful. As to supporting the site, on the bottom of the screen you will see tabs, click on the $ to donate.

[RookieLock]

Verry helpful to this newb, thanks Eric!

[JT-vvis]

Great video, as a new HAM I appreciate the time you take to make videos. Link bookmarked! My area is green for now.. I'll be checking from now on. Thanks, KD2TGG, 73

[davidsradioroom]

Florida is a hotbed for both sporadic e and tropo. I lived in Upstate New York in the 1960s One summer we had channel 2 from Miami that would wipe out the signal from channel 2 in New York City. I was an unofficial TV DX-er that year.
When I lived in Florida, the lower part of the FM band was loaded with 10 watt stations from everywhere.
I am going to check two meters more often!

[tallyjbud]

You rock man. Def. gonna try this. Will let you know