Friday Night Net
We have decided to hold a net on Friday night to replace our meetings which have been cancelled due to the rise in coronavirus cases.
Please do not attend either the Scout Hut or Site 2 on Friday nights until further notice except by prior arrangement.
Instead there will be on-air meetings on 145.475MHz FM, with monitoring and a separate net on PMR446 Channel 8 for those who have only this band.
We are trying a more structured net for this particular one - the structured version is at the start of the session. The aim of this is to develop our operating ability so we can use other modes (eg SSB which doesn’t have the FM Squelch tail) or could interwork in larger groups. If it’s too formal for your liking then by all means call in later when the control station has released the frequency - see the end of this page.
Instructions for members
Please listen on 145.475MHz FM for the control station which will start up at 1830 local time and will call CQ every five minutes until 1900 local time when the sked starts.
If 145.475 is already in use the second frequency to try is 145.450 and then 145.425.
When you hear the control station please call it, giving your callsign. You will be given a signal report and a stack number. Stations will be called in order of their stack numbers (i.e. first come, first served) but you do not have to remember what yours is as the control station will do this.
When the sked starts stations will be called to report their technical status. This report should be short and limited to the bands on which your station is working now, your hours of availability, and your station type(s). Do not include non-working bands or projects and do not mention equipment by name. E.g.:
“This is Mike Seven Papa Alfa Hotel reporting live on 2m and 70cm with general coverage receive on HF, VHF and UHF. Available limited hours, fixed and mobile with 10W or portable with 5W.”
Please do not report ‘mobile’ unless you actually own the mobile and can drive it yourself.
After these reports the control station will read the Club news in brief, the main news being posted on the Club’s website.
Each station will then be called again for a personal report which can take any form. All personal reports should be reasonably brief.
At the end of this process the control station will release the frequency for free use and another station may take over as control.
Net reverts to free use
At this point the net has reverted to the way we usually run our local nets.