camp4x4
Adventurer
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Bay Area Offroad / Overland Amateur Radio Net
- Thread starter camp4x4
- Start date
MTN4RNR
Adventurer
This is great, count me in. My lady is going to give me crap for sitting in the truck at night, in the driveway just for the sake of talking on the radio :ylsmoke:
I would suggest that the first X minutes of the net be some one or a couple of assigned people to go over the basics of how the net conversations are going to go as far as keying in, requesting permission to comment, announcing yourself with your call sign when keying in, etc. I frequent a few repeaters around the Bay, and have noticed a sizable difference between repeater edict and trail edict. For those who have never been on a repeater, it is a whole different "rule book" than chatting on the trail. So something either here, or at the beginning of each net session would be a good idea to familiarize everyone and newcomers to the "system".
I would suggest that the first X minutes of the net be some one or a couple of assigned people to go over the basics of how the net conversations are going to go as far as keying in, requesting permission to comment, announcing yourself with your call sign when keying in, etc. I frequent a few repeaters around the Bay, and have noticed a sizable difference between repeater edict and trail edict. For those who have never been on a repeater, it is a whole different "rule book" than chatting on the trail. So something either here, or at the beginning of each net session would be a good idea to familiarize everyone and newcomers to the "system".
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camp4x4
Adventurer
LOL, mine too! Ah well...
Yes, definitely! I'll be following a pretty standard net opening script that outlines protocol. It will be a directed net, not an open forum, so we'll be doing check-ins, all traffic will need to go through net control, etc... I'll go through this at the beginning of every net and possibly a re-cap in the middle just in case people come late. I'll add some version of that info to the top post as well. Thx!
camp4x4
Adventurer
That's awesome! My count is only at 1 so far, but I may start taking credit for anyone that joins the net as a new ham. :wings:
camp4x4
Adventurer
Absolutely! First thing is to find a testing location. There's a bi-weekly test, every other Saturday, at the Saratoga Fire Department proctored by the Silicon Valley Volunteer Examiner Group. This is the most often test that I'm aware of. Their next test is on Jan 7th. Simply show up with $15 cash or check, your ID and SSN (card itself not required).
As far as prep/learning, I'm a strong believer in the cram method. This is how I got my license, that's how my friend got his. My favorite method is to simply read the questions and the correct answers over and over again. What I did is use https://hamexam.org/ - they have flash cards if you want to go that route, practice exams, as well as the entire question pool.
Here's what I had my friend do: Go to the website above, go to the Technician Question Pool section. Un-Check the "Show question numbers" box. Then print out the whole thing (gonna be a lot of pages). Then go back and check the "Only show correct answers" box. Use what shows up to highlight the correct answer on the printed pages. This will help with retention. Spend a couple hours going through and reading and re-reading the question then ONLY the highlighted correct answer. Do this a couple times the day before and you should be able to pass the Technician level test with no problem.
Do you have a ham radio yet? If you do, you can certainly listen in.
Hope that helps! Good luck!
freedomrider
Ordinary average guy
I was inspired to get my tech license about 2.5 years ago from following one of your trip planning threads (wasn't in Bay Area at the time). Haven't really used it though so I'll try to tune in on my cheapo handheld.
rochmpr
Observer
Did you get a radio with Cross Band Repeat? If so, you could sit in the house and get annoyed looks instead!
MTN4RNR
Adventurer
camp4x4
Adventurer
:wings:
Charlie56
Adventurer
I will try to participate, but I am in the Northbay (Santa Rosa) and its a bit of a hop to Sunol Ridge. The coverage map on the repeater group's website kind of confirms it. I did see that the the repeater system does have IRLP capability on its 2m rig. Do you know if the IRLP will be active on the during your net? If so, that could be a way for others out of the area to participate.
If the W6SRR repeater doesn't work out for you, let me know and I could set up something on our Club's (K6SON) repeater. We (our Club) are always looking for ways to increase repeater traffic. An offload net would be perfect.
If I don't make it into your net, I wish you luck with your great idea.
73
KZ6T
If the W6SRR repeater doesn't work out for you, let me know and I could set up something on our Club's (K6SON) repeater. We (our Club) are always looking for ways to increase repeater traffic. An offload net would be perfect.
If I don't make it into your net, I wish you luck with your great idea.
73
KZ6T
