NorCal HAM net - HF or VHF?

[Peter18012]

Some buddies of mine who are also Ham operators and I have been talking about starting a net on Ham radio specifically for sailors in the Northern California area - SF Bay, The Delta, Monterey, etc. The idea would be to have a weekly net in the evening that transient boats could check into to inquire about local facilities, sailing conditions, attractions, request land transport, etc. It would also give local sailors who are hams a forum for finding crew for upcoming races or cruises and for announcing upcoming events (races, swap meets, etc.), or just to talk sailing.There are lots of nets out there on the long-distance HF bands for boats at sea, but nothing on the ham bands for sailors in local Northern California, an area with thousands of sailors, and through which dozens of boats pass each year on their way to Mexico and beyond. It seems about one-third of all the sailors I talk to are also hams, so I think there might be a lot of interest, both from those passing through, and from locals who might want to have a regular rag-chew session about sailing.My question for the group (and any hams out there specifically) is would it be better to organize this on 80 meters HF, or one of the 2m VHF repeaters that give a wide coverage area?My initial thought (back when I was licensed as a technician) was a VHF net, but there are only a few repeaters that give coverage of the entire SF Bay and Delta areas, and no unlinked repeaters that also cover Monterey Bay. I also ran into problems trying to get the go-ahead from the few repeater sponsors, or technical or scheduling problems with using the repeaters. It is certainly do-able, but not simple. Then when I upgraded to general, and got on HF, I began thinking about an 80m net. Easy to set up (just find a frequency, get two hams to start talking at a regular time). No repeater issues, full coverage of the area and a little beyond, but still fairly localized. But then we exclude all technicians, and those that only have a 2m VHF rig available (on the boat, in their vehicle, or an HT), which limits those who can check in.Again, the idea of this is just a local NorCal Ham net – no offshore stuff. Any thoughts whether 80m or a 2m repeater would be better?

 

[NewportVic]

20 M would still be my choice ...

as many boats already use it. 75 is the hardest to get a decent antenna on for a small boat. And recent band conditions on 75 aren't really too great.VicWW4OK