UPDATED FEB 2: We had a great turnout for our second annual 2-meter Simplex Test Net on Jan 20, 2026! Participants had fun with operators from across Northern IL while learning more about their station’s reach and while taking time to sharpen their operating skills. See the detailed report that was issued to all participating stations.

OUR AGENDA

1. We checked-in on K9XD to be assigned a ‘station #’ and develop a log of participating stations.

2. We moved to 2-meter/VHF simplex where Net Control arranged successful contact with nearly all stations accross Northern Illinois either directly or through relays. Each station operator executed a 15-sec transmission (shared a fun fact about the them or their station) to allow all operators to log signal reports. Updates were giving on K9XD as we moved along.

3. We returned to K9XD to close the net and many operators kept an informal chat going for nearly an hour.

STATION REQUIREMENTS: To participate, stations needed to be 1) stationary (not mobile), 2) within range of the K9XD repeater, 3) committed to participate in the entire net which ran 90 minutes, and 4) commit to submitting a log to Net Control by email within 24 hours after the net.

We offered this one-page Simplex Test Net Participant Guide and the following custom log templates to make participating very easy…

BEST*: Excel Log Tempate -or- MS Word Log Template

ALTERNATIVE: Adobe Log Template

BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING: Participating stations will soon receive a detailed report (data & graphics) showing the results of their station’s performance compared to all other stations along with insights about station configurations and steps for pursuring a ‘radio path study’. These resources can inspire efforts to improve antenna performance/placement, address RF noise, improve propogation and signal horizon, and tackle station challenges and opportunities. It may also help operators be more capable should they need to participate in any emergency communications.

We also had a few stations passively participate. Though they didn’t check-in or transmit, they listened and created a log which they submitted to net control after the net. This allows their valuable data to be included in the reporting and for them to receive those reports too.

The organizers hope to run a similar net soon on 70cm (UHF) simplex.

*These links cause the file to land in your downloads folder. If prompted with a Protected View warning upon opening the file, select Enable Editing. This way, you can avoid any hand writing and use the log file electronically (best method).