{"id":151,"date":"2026-06-07T01:11:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T01:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/?p=151"},"modified":"2026-06-07T01:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T01:12:07","slug":"did-i-make-any-contacts-146-520-simplex-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/did-i-make-any-contacts-146-520-simplex-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Did I Make Any Contacts? 146.520 Simplex Test"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"ext-animate--on wp-block-paragraph\">Just wrapped up another fun day out in the field at Galveston Island State Park, and I figured it was the perfect time to jump on 146.520 simplex for the #52Challenge. If you haven&#8217;t seen the video yet, check it out here: <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/nS-Wrm7xvV4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Did I Make Any Contacts? 146.520 Simplex Test<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ext-animate--on wp-block-paragraph\">I had just finished shooting the portable APRS station video (which I&#8217;ll link in the full post when it&#8217;s up), packed that away, and realized the <strong>2M Farajay Antenna<\/strong> was still up and ready to go. Why not test some simplex and try to drum up some activity on the national calling frequency?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ext-animate--on wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Equipment Used in the Video:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list ext-animate--on\">\n<li class=\"ext-animate--on\"><strong>2M Farajay Antenna<\/strong> \u2014 Solid performer for portable ops. Grab one here: <a href=\"https:\/\/vfcomms.com?sca_ref=10776093.gDYYgj5RtZ8Ora\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/vfcomms.com?sca_ref=10776093.gDYYgj5RtZ8Ora<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"ext-animate--on\"><strong>ABR Coax<\/strong> \u2014 Fed the antenna with quality ABR Industries coax. Save 10% with code <strong>ABR10KC5HWB<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/abrind.com\/?sld=kc5hwb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/abrind.com\/?sld=kc5hwb<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"ext-animate--on\"><strong>POTA20 Mast<\/strong> from GigaParts \u2014 Extended to about 20 ft and tied off nicely to the pergola with reusable twist ties. Earn double points with code <strong>KC5HWB<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gigaparts.com\/explorer-pota20-portable-handheld-20-ft-telescopic-carbon-fiber-mast.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.gigaparts.com\/explorer-pota20-portable-handheld-20-ft-telescopic-carbon-fiber-mast.html<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"ext-animate--on\"><strong>TTP Products Manpack<\/strong> \u2014 My go-to portable setup. This hand-stitched beauty (50 of 50, serial numbered early run) is built like a tank and still going strong after years of use. Highly recommend checking out their gear: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetechprepper.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.thetechprepper.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"ext-animate--on\"><strong>Ed Fong Roll-up J-pole<\/strong> \u2014 Usually my daily carry for dual-band work, but today the Farajay handled the 2M simplex duties perfectly. Available in my shop: <a href=\"https:\/\/grapevineamateurradio.com\/collections\/ed-fong-antennas\/products\/ed-fong-j-pole-antennas-dual-band-220-and-roll-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/grapevineamateurradio.com\/collections\/ed-fong-antennas\/products\/ed-fong-j-pole-antennas-dual-band-220-and-roll-up<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"ext-animate--on\"><strong>Digirig Interface<\/strong> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/digirig.net\/p\/1\/\">https:\/\/digirig.net\/p\/1\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"ext-animate--on\"><strong>Reusable Twist Ties<\/strong> \u2014 These things are clutch for securing masts in the field: <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4e6O3DA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/amzn.to\/4e6O3DA<\/a> (affiliate link)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ext-animate--on wp-block-paragraph\">I was running my Yaesu manpack rig (with DigiRig for potential digital modes) and made a solid contact with AB5GU out in Santa Fe. It was great to chat and get some activity going. We need more folks monitoring and calling on 146.520 \u2014 whether you&#8217;re in the truck, at home, or out activating a park. Let&#8217;s keep that frequency alive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ext-animate--on wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;re into portable ops, POTA, or just want more simplex activity, this is the kind of casual field testing I love doing. I&#8217;ve been seeing more creators like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@K3JRZOnTheAir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jeff K3JRZ <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@MikeN2MAK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mike N2MAK<\/a> pushing the #52Challenge \u2014 I&#8217;ll have them on an upcoming Sunday night livestream soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ext-animate--on wp-block-paragraph\">What do you think \u2014 have you been hitting 146.520 more often? Drop a comment on the video or reply to the newsletter. Let&#8217;s build some momentum on simplex!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ext-animate--on wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>73 de KC5HWB (Ham Radio 2.0)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just wrapped up another fun day out in the field at Galveston Island State Park, and I figured it was the perfect time to jump on 146.520 simplex for the #52Challenge. If you haven&#8217;t seen the video yet, check it out here: Did I Make Any Contacts? 146.520 Simplex Test. I had just finished shooting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-52-challenge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153,"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livefromthehamshack.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}