Jan 13, 2026 – Introduction to Weekly Training

Good evening. My name is Les “Lima Echo Sierra” call sign W1UT “whiskey one uniform tango” and I am the VP of the Utah VHF society. As this is early in 2026 the Utah VHF society officers have decided to add a weekly training session at the beginning of each Tuesday evening net. Each training will be brief lasting 3-5 minutes in length so as not to extend the net any longer than necessary.

Why are we doing this? Well, we believe that this net needs to have more substance than simply checking in. There are also a lot of newly licensed amateur radio operators who would benefit from getting more information about the Intermountain Intertie System, how it works and how to use your radio equipment.

As many new ham operators know just getting a license does not necessarily help you to get on the air. Some help and assistance either from a mentor or other helpful hams is often necessary. For example if using a handheld radio which most hams start with – some tips on how to program their radio and then make a successful contact is crucial. I have known people who study to get their first license never actually make a contact as they do not know what to do. When I got my first license as a Novice long ago I had to figure out myself how make morse code contacts. Needless to say it was a challenge, but I was successful and made many contacts on HF. Today morse code is no longer necessary. Being taught how get on the air is rarely taught as part of a licensing class. Hopefully these training sessions will help new operators feel more comfortable using their radios and getting on the air.

Many of the topics will be similar to what is already documented on the VHF society website under the heading of “Tips for New Hams” on the home page. Tonight we are simply explaining why we are adding training to the weekly net. For example next week the training topic will be about “The purpose of and a brief history of the Intermountain Intertie system.” Subsequent training will cover such topics as what is a repeater and how links between repeaters work, using a handheld or mobile radio, improving the performance of a handheld, antennas, etc.

Following each training session the contents of each week’s training will be posted on the VHF Society website. I do not know exactly where this information will be placed, but a link from the home page will be provided. If you have questions regarding a training topic, you can send an email to W1UT found on the VHF society webpage, and I will try to answer your questions. Just remember that this is intended to be a high level overview of the weekly training topic that can fit into a 5 min max window.

Before I turn the net over to the net control station, allow me to encourage all those listening to get on and use the Intermountain Intertie system. We have noticed that activity levels have dropped similar to what is happening across the country. This is a system that you are welcome to use.

That is all for this week. I will turn the time back to the net control station.

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