Legion radio station needs your help

To those of you who managed to check into the first TALARC HF net last week, thank you. To those who tried but could not get through, thank you for trying.

In many parts of the country, the noise level on 40 meters proved far too much to overcome. A nearby broadcast station did not help matters either. Craig, W3CRR, did a yeoman's job of trying to get everyone he could hear, but there was a slew of you in the West that he simply could not copy. Then again, he was using a dipole and not a hundred-foot tower.

The bottom line is that we need to examine another venue for a monthly HF net.

Accordingly, I am asking you to send us your recommendations for the best day, band and time to hold The American Legion Net. We will compile the information over the holidays and select the best recommendation that most of you believe will serve our club the best.

The good news is that we are also working a second IRLP net to complement the HF net. It looks now like we will be using the Crossroads Reflector (9200), but we will need to also lock in a day and time for the monthly venue. Please include your recommendations for that in your emails as well. Ideally, we would have two nets a month, one in each venue.

Perhaps a weekend would work best for an IRLP net when contests dominate HF or even a daytime net. Our goal is to provide two nets that, together, give most members convenient accessibility to a TALARC net.

Please send your recommendations directly to k9tal@legion.org. Put in the subject line, "Net Recommendations." We should have the results out to you by the end of the first week in January.

In the meantime, please visit the club Web page (www.legion.org/hamradio); your participation in the forum discussion threads will help stimulate ideas that our comrades may benefit from.

2012 promises to be an active year for our new club. Please plan on checking into TALARC's special event station for the Legion's 93rd birthday, March 15-17. We will be operating from K9TAL during the daytime hours and sending a special commemorative certificate to stations worked.

In the interim, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and best wishes to all for a joyous holiday and most prosperous, DX-filled new year.

73,
Marty Justis, W9WMJ
President