Interesting you all bring up Auto patches.  I am the trustee of a repeater
(W0KE) in my area which still has an active Auto patch.  It is not used much
anymore but it is still  active.  Only club members actually have the code
to activate the patch feature.  We block the radio operator side of the
conversation.  You can hear the person called but not the party calling.  I
understand most of the other repeaters in town have an auto patch but they
as it has already been stated are no longer used.  So, this is the sign of
the times and how HAM radio is advancing.  Things that we used to take for
granted are now being slowly replaced.  Mobile phone is the way to go.  Just
wanted to put my two cents in to the fray. 



Raymond Bishop, NV9B
Philippians 4:6-7 


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-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Colin McDonald
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2012 16:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Third party rules.

I'm not sure I know anyone, except perhaps my 87 year old grandmother, and
my GF's 92 year old grandfather, that don't own a cell phone.
Why use auto patch when you can easily make a more or less private call to
who you want?
And, it's full duplex instead of half duplex like auto patch.
radio ops are used to keying up and talking and then listening to the other
persons transmission, but most people aren't, so having a meaningful
conversation over auto patch with a non-ham is almost impossible.
The only places radio telephone is still used that I know of is in remote
areas of north western, and northern canada where there is no cellular
coverage.  And with that, it's all commercial and operated by the regional
telco...we have one repeater here with auto patch, and it doesn't work most
of the time...it's more of a novelty than a reliable or useful feature.
Yes, I do pay for my cell phone air time, but I'm going to have that
regardless, so I might as well use the far more convenient and reliable cell
phone rather than a flaky or potentially unreliable autopatch.
And if my cell phone battery goes dead, well, I always keep enough change in
my wallet to use a pay phone if I have to for an emergency or something very
important.
I've also asked hams on the repeater to make a phone call for me when my
cell battery is dead, and I'm not near a pay phone, and I just happen to
have a handheld on me.
I pretty much always have a charged HT in my backpack when I'm travelling
around the city or out of town just in case.
I haven't heard phone patch on HF in probably 20 years either.

73
Colin, V A6BKX
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 9:39 PM
Subject: Re: Third party rules.


> There's only one repeater I know of in my area with auto patch anymore and
> each club member who chooses to, can pretty much only call home or 
> whatever
> emergency  number they designate. Other than the amateur radio news line
> every week, I don't think that auto patch has been used for anything else 
> in
> 7 or 8 years at the least, maybe more than 10.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Harvey Heagy" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 6:44 PM
> Subject: Re: Third party rules.
>
>
>> There was a time when we had to do that too.  There was at least one
>> person
>> who was bringing up the autopatch without identifying himself and placing
>> calls to either long distance or 976 numbers.  I had to bring down the
>> patch
>> a few times myself when he did that, or tried to.  The club eventually
>> blocked most of these numbers as well as long distance numbers, and when
>> someone would try to do that, they would get a response in code, "SRI,"
>> which I believe is an abbreviation for sorry.
>> Harvey
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "COLLEEN ROTH" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 4:43 PM
>> Subject: Re: Third party rules.
>>
>>
>>>i have to say that there can be as many flaky people on the low bands as
>>>on
>>>UHFSTVHF.
>>> Not all poor operators are on UHFSTVHF.
>>> Colleen Roth, N8TNV;