Radio Nets
First off – “What is a net?” A net is a group of amateur radio operators who meet on the air at a pre-scheduled time, sometimes once a day, sometimes once a week on a mutually agreed upon frequency. They have someone who is delegated the task of being “net control.” Often that task gets rotated through a few able members of the group, each taking a particular day. If the net meets only once a week the net control person may just do that task until they get tired of it and then hand it off. It just depends on the requirements of the group.
Taking turns is a good way for each person to gain experience. For most of us doing net control takes some getting used to.
A History of LDS Communications (Borrowed from MARA Southeast Home Page:
http://sky.prohosting.com/n4vsp/History%20of%20LDS%20Communications-6Oct09-Narrated-M.ppt
“What does a net talk about?” If it’s a club net they may start by asking if there is any emergency traffic, then if there are any reports from the club president or directors, then they may ask for club check ins. Taking check-ins can be done by area.
If it’s a small group there may be a roll call and asking if a visitor wants to join the group at the end. They may be added to the roll next time it’s called. If someone misses the roll call consecutively for a couple of months they may be automatically dropped.
In the case of the small club with a roll call style check in there is usually a bit more time to chat and so each person may be asked how their week was, what projects they are working on. It helps make members of the group seem more like an extended family.
“Why Nets?” Nets help in several ways. Firstly, they help people learn communication skills by just learning to be comfortable behind a microphone. It also helps people to become organized in their thinking. If a disaster were to happen it would be best to be ready to communicate and not in an instant start up learning process. Members of nets share their skills by mentoring new members. They also often help each other to set up equipment. Nets are a great place for newbies to ask questions about equipment or protocols.
Chilliwack MARA BC
Wed. 8:30 PM on 146.550 simplex with a secondary fallback frequency of 146.450
Local (to Victoria) HF NETS
BC Public ServiceNet - http://www.bcpsn.com/
80 meter band, 3.729 MHz nightly around 5:30 PM – Pacific Standard Time and in the summer at around 6:30 Daylight Time.
Mercury NW Net http://www.mercurynorthwest.org/index.php
- 80 meter band, 3.965 MHz Monday 9 PM PST
VHF and UHF NETS
The Mercury net evolved from the MARA net, a group of emergency prep communicators who were mostly LDS and had some support from the church. When it seemed advisable that the church discontinue support (sort of a separation of church and state) the church members who were members of MARA elected to continue on independently because they fully understood that they were filling a need. The net control is generally done out of Washington or Oregon and members sign in from BC, Alberta, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Wild Card Net - For those in Southwest BC there is the Wild Card Net on 2m (VHF) Sundays at 9 PM year round. I pick it up off of a repeater on Sumas Mountain near Abbotsford on 146.610 MHz with -600 KHz offset and 110.9 HZ sub audible tone. The wild card net can be picked up on a variety of repeaters throughout the province through IRLP and other linkages. Unfortunately some of the links are down over the winter months because the snow and ice literally cover the antennas and solar panels . Meanwhile, the Wild Card Net does very well at the Sumas Mtn location illuminating most of the Fraser Valley and a good part of the Gulf Islands and South East of Vancouver Island. Say hello to Verna - VE7NM, she's a good example of someone who does the job well.
Those are just a small sample of nets that go on all across Canada and the world. Being a member of a net is good experience at communicating. If you have a chance to take a turn at running a net jump at it. That puts you in the driver's seat and you learn quickly.
Mercury Amateur Radio Association(BC) Nets - Greater Victoria
Sunday 7:00 PM -
Sidney/Saanich Peninsula simplex net - 146.415 MHz
Sunday 8:00 PM -
Greater Victoria area including Western Communities (Sooke, View Royal, Langford, Metchosin) simplex net - 146.595
Greater Victoria Chapter: on the West Coast Amateur Radio Association repeater network
NOTE: This net is not running for the next few months. Instead, localized nets are running on simplex in areas such as the Saanich Peninsula and the Western Communities. We may restart the repeater net in the fall if there is sufficient interest. In any case we will continue to do simplex nets just to get the practice so that we understand the bounds of line-of-site propagation and message handling using a person in the middle to repeat.
WARA Linked Repeaters
Chan Rcv Trans Offset Name CTCSS Comment
91 146.840 146.240 -600 kHz VICT 100.0 Hz WARA - MAIN
92 444.875 449.875 +5.00 MHz VE7USA 107.2 Hz WARA - NOINT WASH LINK
93 146.660 146.060 -600 kHz N7QDY 107.2 Hz WARA - N POINT WASH LINK
94 146.660 146.060 -600 kHz SIDNEY 123.0 Hz WARA - SIDNEY LINK
95 146.840 146.240 -600 kHz OAKBAY 107.2 Hz WARA - OAK BAY LINK
96 146.840 146.240 -600 kHz COLWOD 131.8 Hz WARA - COLWOOD LINK
97 146.840 146.240 -600 kHz SOOKE 123.0 Hz WARA - SOOKE LINK
98 146.660 146.060 -600 kHz SltSprng 100.0 Hz WARA - SALTSPRING ISL
Note that the channel numbers listed on the left of the colums is referenced to a radio load created for church members to help them to change to different frequencies without having to go through setting a frequency, it's offset if for a repeater, and CTCSS tones. The frequencies were all set up and able to be loaded into the radios using a laptop, a cable, and some software. The reasoning being that most members are not interested in being technically literate, they just want to be able to switch to a frequency, go on the air, and communicate. The new radios are capable of having between 500 and 1,000 frequencies programmed into them and so the build we have done is quite extensive. There is a PDF file link on the Radio Load page of the ldsradio.ca web site. If you were to click on that you would see the listing I'm speaking of and get an idea what we have done and why. If you are in Alberta or Eastern Canada you may find this idea attractive. It does have advantages. I used RT Systems software do develope the list and also used it to port it over to other models and brands of radios. Only Icom and Yaesu radios are covered by RT Systems (unfortunately)
http://www.rtsystemsinc.com/index.cfm
There are other nets that you can tap into. Many are on simplex (same frequency for transmit and receive and no repeater). The ones that stand out to me are the municipal nets close by me in Victoria, Saanich, Colwood, Langfor, Metchosin, Saanich Peninsula. They all come on at prescribed times and frequencies and do a practice drill on Wednesday evenings. I highly recomend that if you can spare a bit of time you join your local municipal emergency preparedness group and offer your services as a radio amateur. You are like solid gold to them. It's very difficult to give proper assistance during and after a disaster situation if you can't communicate. Usually the groups get cross trained in other skills such as first aid and so you come out of it with a greater knowledge. Being a volunteer has its rewards.
Packet
Local Victoria Area Airmail Net Frequency: Simplex 145.690
Please advise me if there are any failed links. Thanks!
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