This is a work in progress. Please send MPN Historical Data, NCS Bios/Email info, Pictures and Website Requests (what you would like to see here) to submissions@themainepotatonet.net
Thanks & 73 de WA5LEE
The Maine Potato Net is a Rag Chew Net founded by potato farmers in Aroostook County Maine in November of 1976. During that time of high long distance telephone charges, the Maine Potato Net served as a convenient and low cost alternative for potato farmers who were also Ham Radio operators to communicate among themselves over the large area of Aroostook County. The Maine Potato Net has grown over the years to encompass several Northeastern states and has had numerous Net Control operators.
The net operates at a nominal frequency of 3958 KHZ. QRM may force the NCS to QSY to an alternate frequency, usually within 10 KHZ of 3958. The net operates 7 days a week with a nominal start time of 22:00 UTC (18:00 EDT during DST, 17:00 EST during Standard Time). Due to Band Conditions the NCS may start the net up to 15 minutes early (e.g., winter) or late (e.g., summer).
A round-table net in “4 land” occupies 3958 KHZ until about 30 minutes prior to our net start time (22:00 UTC). Accordingly, pre-net activities for the Maine Potato Net should not start until 21:30 UTC.
Current NCS and Netlogger Assignments for the Maine Potato Net are as follows:
|
Day of Week |
NCS |
Logger |
|
Sunday |
W1SEA-Gary |
W1SEA-Gary |
|
Monday |
W1SEA-Gary |
W1SEA-Gary |
|
Tuesday |
N2FKW-Bob |
N2FKW-Bob |
|
Wednesday |
N2FKW-Bob |
N2FKW-Bob |
|
Thursday |
K0PB-Robert |
KC1JZR-Gary |
|
Friday |
KC1JZR-Gary |
KC1JZR-Gary |
|
Saturday |
KC1JZR-Gary |
KC1JZR-Gary |
The Maine Potato Net makes use of the Netlogger application to log and keep track of check-ins during the net. This application is available for download at http://www.netlogger.org . Versions are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. In addition, a “view only” version called “On Air Netscraper” is available for iOS and Android smart phones. Please see the following URL for access to a Dropbox folder containing several PowerPoint files which provide guidance on setting up and using Netlogger:
Several members of the Maine Potato Net have contributed to a cookbook containing many potato recipes and other favorite recipes. Thanks to Robert – K0PB for compiling this cookbook. The cookbook is available for download at: