Stake Simplex Net Training

[K4BSC]

Our Stake here in Charlotte, NC had a fun simplex net training exercise a few Saturdays ago in January. Recently, we have licensed about 15 new LDS Ham's. We met in the high council room and someone was chosen to be net control (who had never run a net before). We were assigned to a group with a tactical call sign and given maps of the church property with numbered locations, and maps of the area a couple of miles from the stake center, also with numbered locations marked. So we all moved to the hall except the net control operator. I was in group A and using proper net protocols, our group was assigned to go to location 1 (the flagpole at the front of the building). When we got there, there was some caution tape and a tag. The tag told me to ask net control to send other groups to assigned points on the Stake Center property. So the simplex net “scavenger hunt” was started. Soon we we driving in our cars to nearby shopping centers or parks, trying to locate the caution tape and tags. At one point, one group was told to change the frequency to a different one than what others were using (teaching them to program their Yaesu FT-60R which all were mostly using). In the end we all ended up at park where there was Hot chocolate and donuts. We talked about what we could do better and what our challenges were. It was a great learning experience and test of our simplex net skills.

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