One of the options for a drill or practice suggestion was for an HF net. There are really two ways to go with an HF net – a 10m net with a simple vertical or horizontal antenna, or a 40-80m net using a horizontal NVIS antenna. We will eventually try both, but let’s get started with a 10m net first.

Luckily there is already a weekly net we can use to test our HF 10m capability. River City ARCS has a net each Wednesday at 8:30 PM on 28.420 MHz upper sideband. Details can be found at:
http://www.n6na.org/nets/10-meters

28.420 MHz is available for every licensed amateur operator, and the antenna requirements are pretty simple. You will find folks checking in on the Net with a mixture of horizontal and vertical antennas. It is interesting to hear the signal strength differences between the two different polarizations.

Let’s be polite guests on the RCARCS 10m net each week for the month of August. If we find that we have enough sustained interest to continue with a 10m net of our own, then we can establish our own schedule for a such a net – such as once a month or so. Using the RCARCS established net gives us all four good chances to get our 10m station up-and-running this month. I have already thanked RCARCS in advance for letting us participate for the purposes of gauging interest.

Wednesday, August 5
Wednesday, August 12
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, August 26

8:30 PM

28.420 MHz upper sideband

When checking in listen to the check-in instructions (usually callsign, name, and location), but also add “Sacramento County ARES visitor” so we can all keep track.