so ive been running a casual 40m net on wednesday evenings, 7.245 MHz around 8pm local (eastern), been going for about 6 months now and we usually get maybe 8-12 check-ins depending on conditions. its a traffic-free net, just casual ragchew style with a loose topic each week, nothing formal.

lately though propagation has been kinda rough and we've had a few wednesdays where only 4 or 5 stations checked in which feels a little thin. im wondering if anyone here participates in nets regularly and has any suggestions for getting the word out more, or honestly just if you want to come check in some wednesday. we also try to do something a little special around holidays, last december we had a special event style format where people shared shack stories and it went over really well.

also curious if anyone knows of other casual nets running on similar frequencies mid-week, dont want to step on anything that's already established in that part of the band.

Wednesday at 8pm eastern I'm usually free, might try to swing by and check in sometime. I run a dipole so 40m should be fine from here in ohio. What kind of topics do you usually do? Just curious if its like a set theme or just whatever comes up.

Also the ARRL has a net directory that might help get listed, i think you can submit your net info and they post it. Not sure how much traffic that actually drives but worth a shot maybe. I found a few nets that way when i first got my ticket and was just trying to figure out how this all worked.

yeah the mid-band on 40 can be a mess depending on the season, ive noticed it too. for getting check-ins up, honestly the best thing that ever worked for our local net was just mentioning it on the repeater a couple times leading up to the evening. sounds obvious but a lot of people lurk on the 2m machine and just need a reminder that the HF net is happening.

the special event angle is a good draw too. we did something similar for field day prep one year where net control gave out a little certificate of participation, nothing fancy just a pdf, and people loved it. gave them a reason to check in beyond just saying their callsign and 59.