What's it all about. What's the liklihood of getting a chat or net?

Having fun
Low

2m is the best band amateurs dont use. Im currently expending much energy on getting my beam back up high. You need horizontal beam and a bit of luck. There is currently a resurgence of interest...how much and for how long time will tell

Pretty slim nowadays. When us scumbag Class 'B's were given access to HF, most deserted VHF in droves. Nowadays 2m suddenly gets busy with contest-style 5&9 reports at the first sniff of a lift, then shuts just as quickly.

It’s much more to do with experimentation, trying different things, looking for propagation anomalies etc. than chatting.
That’s not to say there’s no chatting, there are usually one two people around here having a chin wag.

After all, if you’re chatting away for hours you could miss all sorts.

Cheers

Tony

True you could miss all sorts, if not dilligently listening out and keeping an eye and ear on the pulse of propagation changes.

But also, surprisingly enough, attract all sorts, as our regular late night 2 meter SSB nets did occasionally many years ago!
Often being the only voices daft enough to be still up and "going on", we had a few decent distance "foreign" callers in at very odd times, who had "found us", simply because we were very regularly there, and happened to be "there" at just the right time an opening reared it's head in that direction!
Far more hit and miss however, I grant you!
We at one time started a late night net on 6 meters just "for a change", late one night up pops a foreign sounding voice expressing surprise at hearing anyone in the UK on at that late hour, a TF1 station in Iceland, the opening lasted quite a while, with "Ingi", joining in like he was a local at times!
Wonderful thing unexpected openings, and often being on regularly means you catch them, when watch the reports "opening prediction" followers, simply don't, so it can work both ways!

That’s why it’s so important to put out regular CQ calls, in various directions, and not just sit listening.
Modern systems, with full band displays, are a big help to gaining extra, interesting, contacts.

As I’ve often said before, waiting for something to appear on the cluster usually means waiting until after an event has happened.
I, for one, am not going to be wasting time posting on the cluster when there are exotic stations to be worked.
Being proactive is the approach to take.
Combine that with a well thought out system and you find there’s much more going on than many think.

Cheers

Tony

Thats very true.

I find the more I learn about the peculiarities of the band, the luckier I get

How true that is.
I’ve frequently found that, no matter what field, the harder I work at something the luckier I get.
All those firsts on 4M. How lucky is that.


Cheers

Tony

Both very true comments, the more you learn about any band, the more successful, "lucky" if you like, you tend to be!
And I agree entirely, you can listen yourself into sheer boredom at times!, try calling out regularly, or if in a regular sked type conversation asking occasionally if there is anyone listening in who would like to join in, it often brings in people you literally didn't know were even there!

I should put the missus in here, I often ask her a question and get no reply!

In Central Scotland fairly slim. Bar the first Tuesday evening of the month, the odd aurora, lift or contest it pretty quite.

Fair comment on general chats, or replies to general CQ's, it is a regional thing, I remember when living up the Lakes, 2 meters SSB was often like pulling teeth, if no lift or contest on!
However the soft white noise often heard for many hours, could be sort of soothing in it's own way!
Down in the Midlands, different story, with regulars on all the time in between the "good stuff" back when I graced it regularly, it is a case of sucking and seeing often!

This by the way was meant for another section, I have no idea how I managed to post it here!
I put it down to the current pain I am in nursing three broken ribs, having fallen off a roof at work!

Never mind VHF. The only way to get a signal out of Cumbria is straight up and over.

P.S. Hope the ribs get better.

Theres quite a bit of activity in your locator square,regulars heard/worked down here in Devon include MM0CEZ,GM4PPT,MM6POV,GM3PMB and GM6JNJ,plus others who are active but not regulars