Do people still use the auto patch phone feature in amateur radio?
I remember when I first got my license and got into my first fender bender, the police officer allowed me to use his radio to call my mother. I had no idea what it was, or how it was done, but now that I'm reading up on it I realized that's what I was doing.
What circumstances would you use phone, aside from not having your cell phone, or having the cell towers jammed in emergencies/disasters? Those two are obvious.
I can't think of any compelling reason to use a phone patch if mobile phone service was working. I've heard a few guys use it recently -- I suppose they just like the nostalgia? Back when mobile phones were very expensive, you used to hear them used all the time.
So basically its not like there's old guys yakkin it up 3 minutes at a time then? On a regular basis, I should add....
Last edited by K9CCH; 07-14-2013 at 01:36 AM.
Yeah.. it's pretty rare.
Only one autopatch left in San Diego County, on the Sharp Hospital repeater. No one is really sure why it's still there.
All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
If mobile phone service is every impacted, and land lines stay up and running, I'm sure it'll get used... never hurts to have a back up solution, I suppose.Originally Posted by KJ6BSO
There are tons of VHF repeaters around here with autopatch abilities. I should try one sometime soon.
I betcha a lot of them just forgot to update their repeater directory listing. ;) But sure.. give it a try, it's neat. But full duplex mobile phones are MUCH better. :)
Yeah... but they don't have this cool 14" whip antenna on them.
Full duplex mobile phones ? Where do you get one of those ??
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