Mercury BC Net

[VA7DH]

Sept 25 2008

Just to let BC and Alberta LDS members know that there is a Mercury BC HF 80m net in the works. The concentration of LDS members is mostly in the SW of the province of BC as you'd expect but there are others scattered all over the province. We still have to pick a frequency, a time and day, and work out protocols. This is pretty new to some of us. I have never sat at the controls of a net but will be expected to take a turn at the radio. The idea will probably be to rotate control around the province so that several members get experience. Antennas for this will have to take on an NVIS layout. In that fashion we can use HF much like 2m radios but without the need for a repeater.

In addition to this I expect that there will be several 2m nets that will link to the HF net and give numbers at to how many contacts were made. It's an education for all of us. Down in the US where church membership is much denser than here in Canada there are lots of nets, some through repeaters and some peer to peer via simplex. Really looking forward to this.

We have several training opportunities coming up, one in Calgary Alberta, another in Victoria BC, and in the spring another in Langley or Abbotsford BC. Take a look at the WEB site under the heading "New News."  This getting exciting for some of us who have been looking for things to move forward for a long time.

VA7DH / DONN
ldsradio.ca