so ive been licensed for about 8 months now (general) and i keep hearing people talk about checking into nets but i honestly havent done it yet. i got on the air a few times during field day and that was awesome but regular nets seem like a good way to actually practice and maybe meet some people on the air.

my setup is pretty modest, just a ic-7300 into a vertical in the backyard, so i can do hf fine but i dont have great antenna situation for anything too low. whats a good net to start with? im in the midwest if that matters. i see there are digital nets too but im not sure im ready for that yet, i just want to do regular voice for now.

also is there like a master schedule somewhere or do you just have to know? i found some stuff on arrl.net but it felt a bit overwhelming and i wasnt sure what was active vs dead listings

The ARRL's net directory can be a bit of a mess yeah, some of those listings havent been updated in years. Honestly the best way I found was just to ask around at your local club or check with your regional section — most sections run their own weekly HF nets and those tend to be pretty active and welcoming to new folks checking in for the first time.

For nationwide stuff, the 40 meter Slow Net is a good one if you ever want to try CW eventually, but since you want voice, the 75/80 meter rag chew nets are pretty casual and you can just tail-end in without a lot of pressure. Weekday mornings there are usually a bunch of traffic nets too but those move pretty fast and can feel a little robotic if you're just looking to chat. With a 7300 and a vertical you should get out just fine on 40 for regional and 80 for closer in, especially evenings.

oh man i was in the exact same spot like a year ago. what finally got me started was just picking one net and committing to checking in every week even if i just gave my callsign and signal report and said nothing else. after a few weeks the net control started recognizing my call and it felt way less intimidating.

the 10-10 nets on 28.380 or so are fun if 10 meters is open, and theres usually some activity on 14.300 area when conditions are decent. but honestly just google your state plus "amateur radio net schedule" and you'll probably find a local or regional one that meets on 40 or 80 and thats probably the easiest starting point. special event stations are a different thing but once you get comfortable on nets those are fun to hunt down too