Hi There! Yes, it’s been a while. No real excuse — just busy with other stuff and being ‘lazy’ about getting to my writing. Sorry about that, if you’ve been patiently waiting.
Last time, we talked about how repeaters work and the etiquette about how they are shared. Today, I thought we could talk about ‘Nets’ — what they are, how they work, and what the protocols are while you are participating in one.
Nets — short for ‘Network’, as in the 80’s concept of ‘networking’ to make social contacts, etc. — are a great way to connect with others within the amateur radio community. During the initial stages of the COVID pandemic, they were an essential lifeline for many of us. In the early months of 2020, especially for me as a newcomer to the Oceanside area, joining in on the local ham nets was a great way to meet the local gang and make new friends. A number of the local nets were operating as Safety and Wellness Checks for hams to let others know they were OK, or if they needed assistance with shopping, doctor appts, etc.
Nets are meetings on the air which are generally scheduled for a particular time, day and radio frequency. On HF (shortwave), this is usually a specific, published frequency. There are many of these on the 80m band in the early evening for local, provincial and Western Canadian hams. I’m also aware of a number of these that operate on 40m for hams in North America to contact each other (especially if they are looking to work a ham from a specific state or grid for an award) and 20m for hams in California and Hawaii to exchange greetings. On VHF, nets usually make use of specific repeater or linked set of repeaters (such as the Island Trunk System and the IRLP net). The MIRA website has a list of local nets you can join under ‘MIRA Radio Nets’ on the options menu at the top.
So, let’s talk about what to expect and what others will expect of you when you join a net.
Rule #1 — Listen, Listen, Listen: Yup, I’m bringing that up again. 🙂 As part of a community, it’s important to understand how the community operates. The best way to do that is to maybe take a first session to just listen to how the net operates and what kind of information participants are sharing with each other. It will also give you a sense of the cadence and flow of the net — who checks in, what order checkins are taken, what they talk about, how long a ‘normal’ checkin is, etc.
Types of Nets — There are lots of nets available for many different purposes, but the main ones I’ll mention here are a) Regularly Scheduled formal and informal nets; and b) Emergency Situation Nets. The former are the ones we are most familiar with (especially here in the Oceanside area) where we get together on the air to share how things are going and talk about whatever comes up that day. The latter are ones that are established ‘on the fly’ to handle (usually) local emergency situations, such as the one which was established by the Oceanside Emergency Communications Team (OECT) during the flooding last November. Even though they may be established quickly and on an ad hoc basis, Emergency Nets need to be the most structured and formal because they may be dealing with life and death situations. Agencies regularly practice these nets to ensure that everyone knows what to do and who is doing what when an emergency occurs. Availability and ability to provide radio communications in times of emergencies is a hallmark of the Amateur Radio Community and I would strongly urge you to get involved in any way you can. (We’ll talk more about Emergency Preparedness and assisting in a disaster/emergency in a later blog.)
Net Control — For every net, there will be one station who acts as ‘Net Controller’. The Net Controller is responsible for starting up the net and managing the flow of information through the net. In most cases, Net Control will have a ‘script’ they follow regarding the various stages of the net. It is important that you follow the direction of Net Control and respect the job they are doing. In larger nets, such as the CVARS morning net, there are a lot of hams checking in and it’s important in keeping things moving that people take direction from the Net Control. Of course in an emergency situation net, the Control station is critical to maintaining and directing information flow and resources, so it is important that you take their lead. Offer to help, but don’t take over. In some cases, Net Control may be handed off to another participant — either to get checkins from other geographic areas or for specific parts of the net.
Net Stages — typically, the net will go through the following stages:
- Startup and Preamble — this is typically the most ‘scripted’ part of the net, where the Net Control announces the start of the net, its purpose, the type of net (open, directed, etc.). This is also where he/she will ask for any priority traffic or announcements for the net.
- Checkins (special) — this where the Control may ask for first time participants, new hams, or those checking in using ‘non-airwave’ communications such as Echolink to check in. The idea here is to give those that need a bit of extra time to collect their thoughts, or for internet technology to link them in to have some extra space and Net Control will typically wait a little longer for responses here.
- In/Out Quick Checkins — Here is the spot to check in if you don’t want to stay for the duration of the net or need to quickly check in and head off to other appointments. Net Control may also handle this via something called ‘Early Checkins’ that are taken before the formal start of the net (typically, this is in the 15 minutes before official net start time.)
- Regular Checkins — Now Net Control will ask for regular checkins. For larger nets like the CVARS morning net and the Rainbow Net on the Mainland, there will be a structure for taking checkins — either by geographic area or call sign suffix (e.g. ‘…callers north of Nanaimo…’ or ‘… call signs starting with A through D…’). For smaller nets (like the MIRA Breakfast Bunch) it will just be an open call for anyone. Please take the time to listen to the instructions of the Net Control and wait for the appropriate time for you to check in. My suggestion would be to wait for a pause with a count of 1, 2 after the Net Control finishes, then call in.
- Net Business — depending upon the net, it may just be for checkins or there may be additional discussion/business for the net to handle. For example, most of the MIRA nets have some sort of discussion roundtable to talk about whatever is the topic of the day, etc.
- Close — When all checkins have been taken and the business of the net is completed, the Net Control will usually have some sort of ‘postamble’ to formally close out the net.
Checking In — Net Control will announce if they are taking checkins individually or in groups of 5, etc. and where they are taking checkins from. The normal protocol is to respond with just your call sign, or in the case of wide-area nets, your callsign, name and location. (e.g. “Victor Echo 7 Alpha Tango Juliet, Don in French Creek”). Remember to ALWAYS use phonetics when giving your call sign — it really makes things easier for the Net Controller. Then, Net Control will acknowledge your checkin and give you a chance to add more information on your status, etc. Typically, it’s a BRIEF description of the weather, how things are going and/or what your plans are for the day. Notice the emphasis on BRIEF — we’re talking typically about 15 to 20 seconds or less. Yes, you may hear others on the net going on longer about saying hi to acquaintances, sending good wishes etc. but again, listen first to what the majority of participants are providing and keep things as short as appropriate. Remember, this is the CHECKIN portion of the net — not provision of your life story and/or ‘news of the neighbourhood’.
Breaking Into a Net — If for some reason you need to break into the flow of the net when it’s not your turn, wait for the Net Control to stop talking and then respond with ‘Contact’. (Don’t use ‘Break’ — that’s old CB-er talk :-)) Depending upon traffic flow, you may need to do this a couple of times. When the Net Control acknowledges the ‘Contact’ and says to go ahead, proceed with your message. Please, Please, be respectful and use this ONLY if there is something urgent for the net. Don’t use it to jump the queue or if you missed your spot.
Privacy — Remember that the airwaves we use are ‘public’, so be aware of what information you are sharing and what information you may be asking others to share. It might not be the best idea to share your personal phone number or address on the air or ask others to do the same. You never know who is listening and what they may use the information for. Also, be very careful about discussing personal history or favorite teachers, pets, etc. on the air. Many of those details are now ‘security questions’ for access to your accounts. You may be giving hackers all they need to pretend they are you….
So… ready to jump in? We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
Till next time…. 73!
Don VE7ATJ
PS. if there’s any topics you’d like me to cover, drop me a line drtolson(at)outlook.com