Hi everyone,

my apologies if this has already been discussed. I looked and didn't see anything. Given the current condition of our state, I figured it wouldn't be a terrible idea for us to get a thread going where we can share call signs and, if you want, your county. VHF and UHF could be a great option for communicating in the event things get a lot worse.

At some point, maybe we could even come up with a weekly 10-15 minute net where we can test our comms?

Thoughts?

We're likely too spread out for VHF/UHF to be an viable. HF is an option, but not a lot of HF arf operators in WI.

Central WI, Extra/VE, Legal limit (HF), DC to daylight (mostly).

I'm new to Ham radio, but I have my Technician license which kinda limits me to VHF/UHF and using repeaters to to communicate. One thing that i have just found is Echolink. Echolink is an APP that allows people to use their phones and computers to access repeaters all over the world. This would be an easy and cheap way for us to communicate and form a Net.

I've got a tech too for a few years now, but only used my Baofengs for bear baiting/hunting. The guy in next house down the road just got his extra, and his house looks like a porcupine with all the antennas. He builds antennas for a living in his converted-to-a-shop garage.

Great idea you have for 'normal' times. But if things go too far 'not normal', phones and computers might be gone. I thought the whole point of ham was to have comms without those modern conveniences. A radio, antenna, generator or 12v battery is all you need, and it's all on you to be able to communicate, not depending on the "grid".

There’s also the MNWIS room on Wires X.  
I’m still a tech, so no HF for me.  At last nights Douglas County net, all of the check-ins were from Duluth, none from Douglas Co.

Concur. Echolink and/or internet relayed modes are nice, but there's no guarantee they'll work if the internet goes wonky or the power goes out.

Wisconsin has a repeater network, the repeater here is WI9WIN. It is a uhf repeater, and supposedly connects to all the other repeaters. I need to get my antenna higher to hit it better.

WI Net does have a lot of repeaters, but they're not all (or always) linked. https://wi-repeaters.org/directories/DirByCity.html

Here's a repeater map I found online. I can't verify it's correctness, but still useful. https://bcham.org/wisconsin-repeater-map/

Its not ham, but Midwest GMRS also has a linked repeater network that covers a decent portion of the state, and multiple other states.

Id be up to try vhf, uhf, hf. No digital here yet.
Dodge county here and can access FM38 and usually WECOMM.

I used This as a study guide.
I’m dumb as a rock, but still aced the test.

I have a Beofeng but I don't have my tech ticket yet. I'd be interested in having an arf channel to listen to and later this year be able to talk on it

I read the book "Ham Radio for Dummies", I used This for about 2 weeks just prior to the test, then scored 100% too.

As someone with decades of CB radio experience from the 1960s-1980s,  I had a decent background in the electronics & theories. I was a CB nut, who happened to be a roofer, so installing base antennas on homes for pay was a perfect match (pun intended ). I had a decent little side business going, selling and installing CB antennas. It was the rules & regs I needed to know to get a Ham tech license. The only reason I didn't do it before was that damn morse code requirement. I never could get the hang of it.

I still have an operating CB base, with an Avanti Astro-Plane up on my roof. A Lafeyette Comstat 35 (vacuum tube base unit) converted from 23 to 40 (plus RC channels), Demco modulator, Astatic D104. Also have an Avanti Astro-Beam & rotator I used at my prior home, that I took down when I moved but never installed here. By the time I moved here, I was no longer "into" CB like I was before. But I still have about a dozen CB radios and numerous antennas. There's a working CB radio in my pickup, but I now have Baofengs in my Jeep & van.  

Wisconsin repeaters

Wisconsin Interstate network

Wecomm network

Arfcom SSB net is tonight if anyone wants to give it a shot. I usually try to make it, and remember an hour or so after it ended. But it's a good reminder for the digi net on Wednesday.

Testing session May 30, only 30 applicants and reservations required.

https://www.mracvec.org/?fbclid=IwAR3bnLHBeykwXvqrBXEMx4jWJiOsvywybdbpkOYt8AwqtaiLCJFnh_9bLXM