[MRCA] Moose $ Squirrel is 7 Years Old

[Al Klase]

Tim and the group,

Thanks for the kind words.  I'll make a few comments about the Moose and 
Squirrel, Cold-War, Clandestine, and Long-Range Reconnaissance Net.

*First, the Name,*

I think most of us are in the age group that grew up on Rocky and 
Bullwinkle.

  * The radios I was hearing in the MRCA:
      o Early Cold-War SSB:  RF-301, PRC-47, etc.
      o The portable sets that might go to Lower Slabovia in the
        diplomatic pouch to establish comm's such as Transworld TW-100
        Flyaway
      o And, of course pack sets like:  PRC-74, PRC-104, and a host of
        others.

*Motivation

*We had a bunch of like-minded people who only saw each other a couple 
time a year at the MRCA meets.
A lot of us were retired so a weekday net was feasible.
12-Noon net time supports lunch-hour checkins.

*Choice of frequency:*

  * We had discovered that 60 meters provided good, daytime, regional
    (NVIS) coverage, AND nobody uses it.

That meant USB-SSB only.

  * The carrier for Channel 3 is 5357.0 KHz, so it's good for sets like
    PRC-47 that only tune in 1KHz increments.
  * Coverage is limited to about a 250-mile radius at that hour, but
    that covers the bulk of MRCA Territory.
  * NVIS means everybody can hear everybody else on most days.
  * Low-dipole and 20-watts will do the job.

*Format:*

  * Inspired by the 7255 and 7258 ECARS/MID-CARS nets, I chose to run a
    "Directed Net"
  * NCS calls up the net at exactly 12-Noon taking checkins.
  * NCS calls each station, in turn.
  * At the end of the list, NCS calls for further checkins.
  * The second round is new checkins, original list, the new checkins again.

*Culture:*

  * We all avoid "old buzzarding."  A couple of comments or questions,
    plus occasional signal reports.
  * A station can call "CONTACT" to have a direct conversation with
    another station when appropriate.  This is not done often.
  * This thing has certainly been good for "Unit Cohesion."  It's a
    tight group that one can count on.

Net meets Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  Average number of 
checkins is about 10.  I don't think we've miss a day in seven years.

You guys in other regions may wish to emulate our efforts.

Speaking of Old Buzzarding.......

VY 73,
Al


**
On 11/11/2017 12:30 PM, Tim wrote:
> Congrats guys!!  What a fun theme and it sounds like you are workin' 
> it...  ;o)
> Showing us on the Left Coast how it should be done!
>
> Happy Veterans Day to all,
> 73, Tim
> N6CC
>
> On Sat, Nov 11, 2017 at 7:47 AM, Al Klase <ark at ar88.net 
> <mailto:ark at ar88.net>> wrote:
>
>     *Time flies when you're having fun!*
>
>
>     The initial activation of the net was 14 October 2010, and one of
>     the early landmarks
>     was the Veteran's Day
>     <http://www.mrca.ar88.net/Old%20Pages/Net/11-11-2010.html>
>     operation on 11 November 2010.  So we count Veteran's Day
>     as the net's official birthday.
>
>     -- 
>     Al Klase – N3FRQ
>     Jersey City, NJ
>     http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/
>
>
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-- 
Al Klase – N3FRQ
Jersey City, NJ
http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/

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