Photo from K3LR’s “super station.” (via QRZ.com)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mikael, who writes:

The Big Gun Friendship Net, an amazing and friendly net!

It was late or earlier here in France, when I switched on my Tecsun PL-660 with its wire antenna plugged in.

As always, I was scanning the 40 meters band. I obtained my ham licence in 2019 but still do not have a rig to transmit on HF, so I am listening and learning.

Well…it was not exactly typical, because usually at this hour I am asleep. It was 02:00 UTC. I was not able to catch a lot traffic as Europe is asleep or just beginning to wake up…

And I hit the 7128 kHz frequency. Amazing! Lots of traffic and some very powerful stations. As I was listening, I figure out that it was not a chaotic traffic, but an organized one where every participants were referring to one or two call signs, which were giving a turn to speak and call CQ to make contact all over the world and try to help each other to make contact.

Oh! it is a net! And what a net ! The “Big Gun Friendship Net” where you can find amazing big station from all over the world and mainly from north America and Europe.

Now I am listening to these friendly voices at least one or three times per week. I spotted some recurring call-signs, and thanks to the qrz.com database I could check out their personals pages with the amazing photos of their antennas and installation. I can cite WP3R, Angel from Arecibo Porto Rico who gives us news about the state of the Arecibo Radio Telescope. K3VOX almost always the master of ceremony of the Net from Florida, who manage it so kindly and friendly, but there are many others Tim, K3LR, Mr. Pete YO7MPD from Romania always present and M0KPD/M with its impressive mobile installation who pops up sometimes.

Listening to this net, I could enjoy the contacts they are able to do, Kuwait, Nicaragua, Russia and many more.

Many thanks to all the participants of the Big Gun Friendship Net who make it possible!

If you are an SWL, I encourage you to tune in 7128 kHz between 02:00 UTC and 04:00 UTC; it is amazing!

Hoping one day I would be able to respond to the “CQ DX, CQ Delta X-Ray…” launched by the net.

73
Mikael, F4IGT

Thank you for sharing this, Mikael! What a great recommendation.

I don’t think I’ve ever noted this on the SWLing Post before, but I often use radio nets like the Big Gun Friendship Net to not only check propagation, but also how sensitive and selective a portable shortwave receiver is in SSB mode. It’s a great one stop shop! Simply tune to the frequency and listen to the stations check into the net. Their callsigns make it easy to ID the station location and, quite often, they’ll give detailed TX information such as their rig, power output, and antenna.

Thanks again for sharing!