You’ve passed the exam. You’ve got the callsign. You’ve ordered a cheap handheld — maybe a Baofeng UV-5R, Retevis or Radtel, something in the £25–100 range. You’ve charged it up, figured out how to program the squelch, and now you’re sitting there listening to… silence.

This is normal. Don’t panic. Here’s what to actually do.

Start with 145.500 MHz

On 2 metres (144–146 MHz), the national ( UK ) FM calling frequency is 145.500 MHz. This is the frequency where operators listen for calls and where you should start. It’s not where conversations happen — it’s where contact is established, and then you move elsewhere. More on that in a moment.

Set your radio to 145.500 MHz, FM mode, with the squelch set just above the noise floor (a touch above where static disappears). Then listen for a few minutes before transmitting.

It can be quiet — that’s not a sign that nobody’s there

One of the first things new licensees notice is that 2m FM feels empty a lot of the time. The band is active, but not in the same continuous-broadcast way you might imagine. People tune in when they want to make a contact, not to fill dead air.

Timing matters:

  • After work, early evening (roughly 17:00–20:00 local) is when activity picks up. People commuting, driving home, settling in for the evening.
  • Saturday mornings and afternoons are reliably the busiest times of the week. More people at home, more people out portable.
  • Quiet midweek afternoons are a bad test of whether the band is worth using — they’re quiet for everyone.

If you listen for five minutes and hear nothing, that doesn’t mean nobody can hear you. Try calling anyway.

How to call CQ

A CQ call is a general call to any station — you’re announcing you’re there and inviting a reply. Keep it short and structured. A simple format:

“CQ CQ CQ, this is MM7IUY — Mike Mike Seven India Uniform Yankee — calling CQ and listening.”

A few things to note:

  • Give your callsign using the phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie…). Don’t improvise your own words — phonetics exist so your callsign survives a bad signal.
  • Call twice, maybe three times maximum. Lengthy CQ calls fill the frequency for no reason.
  • Wait 10–15 seconds after your last transmission before calling again. If you called and there was nobody listening at that moment, give them time to tune in before your next attempt.
  • Keep your audio level reasonable. Don’t shout — it clips the audio and makes you harder to understand. Normal speaking voice, radio held a few inches from your mouth.

What to say if someone replies

This is where a lot of new operators freeze up, so let’s make it concrete. Say someone comes back to you:

“MM7IUY, this is GM4ABC, good evening.”

Your reply:

“GM4ABC, good evening, you’re 5 and 9 here in [your town/area]. My name is [name], and I’m a newly licensed operator — this is actually my first contact. How do you copy?”

That’s it. You’ve made a contact. The other operator will usually take it from there. Most people are delighted to make a new licensee’s first contact and will be patient.

The signal report you give (5 and 9, or 5 9, or 59) uses the RST system:

  • First digit: Readability (1–5, how clearly you can copy them)
  • Second digit: Signal strength (1–9, how strong the signal is on your S-meter or by ear)

On a clear FM contact, 59 is standard. If it’s scratchy, drop the readability to 3 or 4. Don’t overthink it — approximate honesty is fine.

Move off the calling frequency

Once you’ve made contact, the convention is to move to a working frequency so the calling frequency stays clear for others. Say:

“Shall we move to 145.450? Over.”

Pick any clear frequency away from 145.500. Listen first to make sure it’s not already in use. Common choices in the 145.400–145.475 range are fine.

Once you’ve both confirmed and moved:

“GM4ABC, this is MM7IUY, how do you copy on 145.450?”

And carry on the conversation there.

A few other things worth knowing

Kerchunking. Pressing the transmit button without identifying yourself is bad practice and technically not allowed. Even a quick test transmission should include your callsign.

Repeaters. If you’re struggling to hear anything on 145.500 simplex, there may be a local repeater that covers your area. Repeaters receive on one frequency and re-transmit on another (an offset), giving much better range. Check the RSGB repeater directory for what’s local to you. Repeaters often have more activity than simplex. The next post will go into repeaters in more detail — access tones (CTCSS), how offsets work, and how to find what’s actually active near you.

Power. Most cheap handhelds run 4–8W on high power. That’s enough for local contacts and to access nearby repeaters. Don’t worry about needing more power at first — antenna height and line of sight matter far more than output power on VHF.

Stay within your licence conditions and the band plan

Before you transmit, it’s worth taking a minute to make sure you’re operating legally and within the agreed conventions for the band.

Licence conditions. Check the current Ofcom amateur radio licence if you’re unsure what applies to you — the conditions are incorporated by reference into your licence, so they’re your responsibility to know.

The band plan. The IARU Region 1 band plan defines how the 2m allocation is subdivided and what modes are expected where. The key things to know as a new FM operator:

  • 144.000–144.150 MHz — CW and weak signal work (EME, meteor scatter). Stay out of this section unless you know what you’re doing.
  • 144.150–144.400 MHz — SSB and CW. Not for FM.
  • 144.500 MHz — FM calling frequency (simplex). Use it to establish contact, then move.
  • 144.525–145.175 MHz — Repeater inputs (and some satellite). Leave these alone unless you’re working a repeater deliberately.
  • 145.200–145.5875 MHz — FM simplex and repeater outputs. Your working frequencies live here.
  • 145.800 MHz and above — satellite. Don’t transmit here.

In practice, for FM simplex operation, you’re working between 145.200 and 145.500 MHz. Call on 145.500, then QSY to a clear simplex channel elsewhere in that range. That’s it — you won’t accidentally wander into the wrong part of the band if you stick to those guidelines.

The full RSGB/IARU 2m band plan is worth bookmarking: rsgb.org/bandplans.

Don’t give up

The most common reason new operators don’t make contacts isn’t propagation or equipment — it’s giving up after one quiet session. The band has active times and quiet times. Try again on a Saturday afternoon. Try again after work on a weekday. Call CQ even when you think nobody’s listening.

Someone will come back eventually, and when they do, it’s one of those moments that makes all the studying feel worth it.

The RSGB has a good companion guide on making your first QSO if you want more detail on procedure.

73 de MM7IUY