This post was originally made on Oct 20, 2011.
Edits were made on Nov. 13, 2013, June 29, 2015 and this morning — Nov. 16, 2017.
I realize that we get new visitors and net check-ins all the time and there’s no way anyone is going to go back thru 100’s of posts here to follow how things have unfolded over time.
Here’s the story about the Wed. 2 meter SSB nets:
The 144.240 Wed. night net started on July 9, 2008 with KC9BQA as net control and promoter. This net originally concentrated on areas to my west and north, and ran for a half hour prior to the 144.250 net. WB9LYH gradually assumed 144.240 net control duties by the fall of 2009. I was very happy that Mark agreed to do this because his ears and signal are superior. WB9LYH’s location is right in the middle of WI, grid square EN54cl. When Mark is unable to go, I pinch hit (I have now been off the air since 2014) and as of late 2012, N9OLT in EN64 was another backup net control.
EDIT, EDIT — June 29, 2015. These days, when there’s an alternate net control, it’s N9XKH Dennis on the WI/IL border, grid square EN52il. ALSO… the 144.240 net keeps the same start time 52 weeks a year. It now starts at 8pm central/9pm eastern, year-round. The antenna pattern is to look NE first, then E, SE, S, SW, W, NW and N over the next hour or so.
Also back in 2008, I called a net on Weds. on 144.250. The idea was to concentrate on different areas, using different freqs. This arrangement evolved over time, and as of January, 2013, this net is now called by K8TQK from south-central OH, EM89je, at 8:30pm eastern every *Monday* on 144.252. Yes, 144.252. K8TQK uses 144.252 to avoid a bad birdie. Bob started with us in October of 2010 and those were a fun couple of years. K8TQK has an excellent station and can reach out to the east coast, into southern VE-3 land, into the mid-Atlantic, the northern parts of Dixie, and west and northwest into IL/MO/WI/IA. K8TQK is truly one of the VHF/UHF giants, going back decades. Make sure to check into his net if at all possible.
At one time, we actually had 3 nets on Wed. night. It was a great way to cover 20-25 states.
The 144.230 Wed. night net started in late July of 2010. KA0KYZ in EN33qw (far SE MN) started this on his own (with my encouragement). Terry has a great signal from a nice QTH. His net started later, at 9pm central. Terry’s net went on hiatus in Sept. 2011, as his work and travel has gotten busier. If/when I hear from Terry, I’ll let everyone know via this website and emails. If someone else wants to pick up the 144.230 net, I’m all ears. We can discuss the possibilities. It would be great to have a western option that would provide coverage into the Dakotas, NE and KS.
EDIT, EDIT June 29, 2015 — While I suppose there could still be a western option someday, I’m no longer actively involved with running any of the nets. I went off the air for good in 2014 (more info about that decision is available at posts dated March 15, 2014 at kc9bqa.com). I will do light promotion, but any western net control would have to contact WB9LYH and arrange this with Mark.
Our net controls enjoy DX check-ins and pushing the propagation limits. Please help us spread the word to more and more VHF’ers. We always encourage our net check-ins and all 2m ops to do their own CQ’ing on and around 144.200, to improve the overall health of the band. Don’t fall into the habit of “just listening”. If 20 guys are all “just listening” to 144.200 *nobody* will hear a thing. Call CQ anytime, nights, weekends, whenever. A truly healthy band has lots of hams in different areas calling CQ, swinging the yagi around, looking in all directions.
Mondays and Wednesdays are very active nights on 2m SSB in the eastern half of the USA and Canada. In fact, there is SSB activity on bands like 50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz every night of the week, if you know when and where to look. I summarized this info in posts at www.kc9bqa.com dated Oct. 13, 15 and 17th, 2013. Visit those posts and learn about your options. Then help out activity levels by getting that info to your ham buddies.
EDIT — Nov. 16, 2017. By now, probably the single best way to discover what’s happening on the SSB/CW sides of VHF and UHF, is to follow the real-time ham chat rooms at www.on4kst.com. I would go there in the mornings and evenings. There’s no problem lurking, that’s what most do. Visit this post http://kc9bqa.com/?p=1072 for step-by-step instructions on how to register for this no-BS and free resource.