The Maine Potato Net is a Rag Chew Net founded by potato farmers in Aroostook County Maine during the 1970s. During that period 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 during the late afternoon and early evening. QRM may force the NCS to QSY up or down by up to 10 KHZ.
The nominal operating hours of the net and the Net Control Stations are summarized below. The NCS and NetLogger roles shown for Friday*, Saturday*, and Sunday* are defaults; members of the Friday*/Saturday*/Sunday* “Team” may rotate rolls and/or days from time to time.
Until further notice the Maine Potato Net will start at:
May 1st through August 31st: 22:30 UTC (18:30 EDT)
September 1st through April 30th: 22:00 UTC (18:00 EDT, 17:00 EST)
Day of Week NCS Logger
Monday KB2WVO KB2WVO
Tuesday N2FKW N2FKW
Wednesday N2FKW N2FKW
Thursday K0PB N2QFT
Friday* KC1JZR KC1JZR
Saturday* N2QFT N2QFT
Sunday* W1SPS KC1JZR
During the darkest hours of Winter in December and January please note that the Net Control Station may be compelled by propagation conditions to start the net early, perhaps as early as 16:30 EST (21:30 UTC). In addtion, QRM may compel the NCS to move the frequency of the net from our nominal 3958 KHZ operating point. So, please be alert, monitor the NetLogger AIM window (if you have NetLogger), and remember how to use that “VFO Thingy” on your radio!
Most of our Net Control Stations make use of the NetLogger application software to log and keep track of checkins during the net. This application software is available for download at http://www.netlogger.org/. Versions are avalable for Windows, Mac, and Linux. In addition, 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:
