Yes Jackalope and PK-EZ it was a successful second net
Just a brief AAR (After Action Report) for the forum who are following this thread/topic.
The Unchainedprepper's net had five participants. Three from UP and two not forum members. I had four others signed up who were not UP members however they did not show.
There was a rag-chewing going on 50Hz south of the scheduled 3.968 Mhz net (3.967.50Mhz) leading up to 2000 hrs eastern. One of the folks on that frequency was using 1,500 watts which caused bleed over into 3.968 Mhz. Jackalope and I discussed going up a Mhz or two before the net started; However, either the band broke up or they ended by 2000 hrs.
Speaking about the band, as Jackalope reported in his post, 75 meter is usually pretty stable at this time of night - Last night it wasn't. Jackalope was coming in at first 54/55 and reading 7 on the s-meter. Unfortunately as the hour progressed he became unreadable. I knew he was talking because my S-meter would bounce but only to 4 or 5.
PK-EZ at the beginning of the net was a solid 57/58 with a 9-10 on the S-Meter. As the night progressed he too started to fade but was 100% readable.
One of the folks who joined the net was a gentleman from Maryland. He was on the fringe but I was reading him at 56/57 and 7-8 on the S-Meter. He didn't know about Unchainedpreppers and just ran into our net while scanning the band. Hopefully he will sign up for Unchainedpreppers.
My 13 year old neighbor was the fifth participant. Wild hair (his handle) took the General exam two Wednesdays ago so he participated using his call sign. He doesn't have a HF (High Frequency)radio yet so we shared mine in the shack.
Although the propagation was poor I consider last nights net great! I picked up a few things that I added to the "to do"/"to buy" list (s). Of course there could always be more participation which means more great idea's and comments. I hope we do not hit the 30-40 participants mark though.
I did not get any messages (PM's) via UP so I suspect that nobody listened on their SW (Short Wave) receiver. What a great opportunity to check out your comm's even if you only have a receiver.
One thing: I or who ever the MC (Master of Ceremony) is on the next net is to ask for "check-ins" more often. Plus make it more obvious that this was a Unchainedpreppers net and all interested in prepping were welcome.
Thanks for all who participated and we will be having another net in ~ one month.
Freedom Through Self-Reliance