[Elecraft] ECN - new directions

Fri Aug 29 21:53:00 2003

Howdy Francis,
   Thank you for your note.  I have emailed the net control operator for the SSB net and haven't received a response yet.  I have not heard anything about 
this net for a couple of months and am not sure if it still exists.  I get questions about it and refer them to "Stephen King" <[email protected]> the 
person who started the Elecraft SSB net.

    Since this Sunday will be an experiment I will fail at some things and have a few successful results.  I am open for ideas and suggestions.  I will dig through 
the notes and see when the SSB net runs but I thought it was much earlier in the day than I have been running ECN.  They were also running on 17 meters 
which is open during a different part of the day.  Hopefully you will be able to accomplish your goals.  I would like to work all of the states but my desires are 
minimal.  As long as they get in my log book it's fine, I don't need a piece of paper telling me so.  If, later in life, I want to WAS I'll start over and QSL everyone.  
I am just having fun meeting folks and seeing how radio propagation works.  I am pretty new to CW so am having a ball running a net.  I did not think I would 
get as many check ins as I have.  But now that I am getting a response I thought, as have others who have commented to me privately, the net needs a 
purpose.  So we are going to see what comes of this week's net.  If I can give folks, like you, a place to get their counties/states/provinces/serial numbers I will 
be very happy.  I, like you, enjoy rag chewing very much.  When I am in a contact with someone via CW I tend to chat for 30 minutes to an hour at a time.  I 
really do like meeting all of the interesting folks out there.  They each have stories to tell.  Some of them have been in this hobby for 70 years and some have 
been in it for six months.  Quite interesting :)

   Item 5 is exactly where I want folks to make requests such as yours.  If I get many such requests I will advocating moving each pair or group off frequency 
to an agreed upon location +/- QRM.  I want people to meet and find like minded folks to do what they want with the net.  I am just a facilitator.  I think a 
directed net will allow these things to happen if the NCS is not too heavy handed :)  Don't worry, I am pretty laid back, you should meet me sometime :)

   The CW requirements are not severe.  I am capable of 15 wpm or so and try not to go much faster than that, mainly because I won't be able to copy folks.  
As far as the Q codes go: don't worry I just want to have them to fall back on if the propagation is poor or if I need to speed up the transfer of information.  I 
intend to have them near me so I can refer to them if I need to see what someone is saying.  I will introduce them slowly as the weeks go by.  I just put them in 
my note so folks could have them for their edification and for reference purposes.  Nothing about this net is written in stone.  If an idea works we keep it, if it 
does not, we discard it and move on.  Much like hypotheses in the research community.  

You are very welcome,
       Sincerely,
            Kevin.

8/29/2003 4:13:17 PM, "Francis Belliveau" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Kevin,
>
>This is to acknowledge your idea to move the CW net from Saturday to Sunday
>and reduce things to a single-band operation.  I have a few comments about
>some of your ideas.
>
>First I hope that you will choose a time that coordinates well with the SSB
>net.  I tried that one once in the early days and have been trying to open a
>hole in my schedule to operate both at some point.
>
>My main desire for checking into such a net is to complete WAS-QRP.
>Secondary is K2cc.  With that in mind it might be nice to figure out how
>somebody like me could request signal reports from all who can hear me.
>That would meet the 2-way contact requirement for WAS, etc.  I will only be
>missing the rag-chew component of my desires at that point.  Rag-chew does
>not make sense to me in net format.
>
>I suppose I could request responses when I get a chance per your item 5.  Do
>you think that would disturb the net too much?
>
>I'm going to have to refresh my CW skills and study the Q-signals you have
>listed below.
>
>Thanks for making this possible.
>
>Fran