Sean,
I just realized it's been 25 years...where has the time gone?
If you were first licensed as an amateur radio operator anywhere
in the world anytime in 1997 (as of 2022) or earlier, and are
currently licensed (the license term does NOT have to be continuous),
you can join the Quarter Century Wireless Association (located at
https://www.qcwa.org). There is the national organization, plus
local chapters...with regular or life memberships for the national organization.
They also have at least 3 QCWA Nets during the week...and I run nets
2 and 3 below. QCWA Membership is NOT required for these nets...which
are:
1) QCWA 20 meter HF SSB Net, 14.347 Mhz, 2000 UTC every Sunday. The
UTC Time never changes, but your local time may change, depending
on whether the US is on Standard Time or Daylight Savings Time. You
have to hold a General Class license or higher. Some weeks, propagation
may be fantastic...and others, it's down in the weeds.
2) QCWA Digital Net, on the QuadNet Array (
https://openquad.net) with
D-Star, DMR, or Fusion, every Sunday at 5pm Eastern, 4pm Central, 3pm
Mountain, 2pm Pacific Time. I'm mainly on D-Star Node XLX 307 D. At
least a Technician Class license or higher is required.
3) QCWA CQ100 Net, on 14.347 Mhz on CQ100 (VoIP Only, NO RF), every
Friday at 11am Eastern, 10am Central, 9am Mountain, 8am, Pacific).
All licensed amateur radio operators can checkin. First time users
get a free 30 day trial. It's $39 per year, and paid users get an
add-on called QSO-TV...a quasi-ATV setup to send JPG images. Usage
is free from 0000 to 2359 UTC on Sunday. Full details are located at
https://www.qsonet.com
For nets 2 and 3, I start early checkins about 45 minutes to an hour
before the net...so stations who want to be "a bean for the count",
can get logged as such, and go on their way.
There will be a gathering and a meeting at Hamcation in Orlando in
February, and at Hamvention in Xenia in May.
Also, since QCWA was founded in 1947, we sign off with "47" as well
as "73". The only difference in being a QCWA Member, is that we've
been licensed at least 25 years...otherwise, we're hams like everyone
else. And again, you don't have to be a QCWA Member to join our nets.
47 and 73,
Daryl Stout, WX4QZ
QCWA Life Member, and a Member of Chapter 85
Net Control, QCWA Digital Net, and QCWA CQ100 Net
... Every day is a fresh start; a new chance to screw it up.
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