so ive been checking into the local 2m net on tuesday nights for about three months now and honestly its become one of my favorite parts of the hobby. started doing it just to get comfortable with the radio and now i kind of look forward to it every week. the net control guys are super patient when i fumble my callsign at first i was so nervous i forgot to say my grid square

anyway i was wondering if anyone here does the HF nets too. ive been eyeing the 40m traffic nets but im not sure which ones are actually active and worth checking into. also seen some stuff about special event stations on the ARRL site but never actually worked one. are those just for the log or is there usually some kind of certificate or QSL you can get? my elmers kind of old school and doesnt really do much nets so im flying blind here a little

oh the 40m nets are great once you get used to the fading and the QRM which honestly never fully goes away but you learn to work around it. i'd look up the ARRL Net Directory online, they list pretty much everything by frequency and day. the NTS traffic nets run like clockwork and the net controls are usually happy to have new checkins, some of them have been doing it for 20 or 30 years.

for special event stations yeah most of them do send a certificate or QSL, sometimes both, you usually just need to send a SASE or request it via their website. worked a lighthouse one last summer and got a really nice printed certificate a few weeks later. they're a fun excuse to make contacts when you're not really in contest mode but still want something to chase. just check the ARRL and the special event station page, they list whats coming up usually a few weeks in advance.

same boat as you honestly, i started checking into nets a few months ago and the nervousness does go away. mostly. i still mess up my phonetics sometimes when its a busy frequency and everyone is waiting. but yeah the weekly schedule thing really helps build the habit of actually getting on the air instead of just tinkering with the radio in the shack which is what i was doing before lol