This page is intended to assist amateurs who are contemplating becomming Alternate Net Controls.
The process is not demanding or difficult.
As an alternate net control you could be called on to fill in for a regular NC when business or personal travel calls them away from their regular session. Normally you would have some days or even weeks of notice. In any case, when called, your own schedule would prevail and you would be free to decline.
The Magnolia Section Net has avalilable, computer programs to keep track of, and identify by callsign, name and location, amateurs who check in on a given session.
But if you are not comfortable with a computer, there is a paper roster, (database) which works almost as well. The evening net,MSPN, much larger than ours, uses mostly a paper roster.
The major practical difference is that a paper roster, divided up by suffix (alpha-foxtrot etc.) will not help when the front end of the session is called; i.e. mobile, qrp, etc. So, unless you happen to be familar with the call, you would respond with the call but would be unable to add the name or location. On the other hand, the paper roster eliminates typos, (when you type in a call incorrectly and the computer responds with "call not found").
The only other responsibility you incur is to keep track of the sessions you call; number of sessions, number of checkins, and formal traffic so that you can report the total for the month at the end of the month to the net manager. The format of this report is properly in traffic form given elsewhere but our net is not large enough to require this so that often our net controls give their months report in essential form with just the information noted above.
As far as the mechanics is concerned, I recommend Stuarts' program(s), either MSPN2 or MSPNLR. Stu says that the MSPN2 runs with a screen resolution of 800x600 but I have found that a resolution of 1024x768 is required to keep things from falling off the right side of the screen. If your monitor does not run at that resolution you should use MSPNLR.
Downloading one of these from our web links will get you a .zip file. Normally Windows has an unzip of some sort. If not and you cannot get it from some source, I can work something out , probably send you a copy of a suitable unzip program.
After unzipping you will have a setup.exe file as well as other supporting files. Click setup and follow the yellow brick road. Normally it will install to C:\prog files\ MSPN(LR) and provide an icon on the desktop.
Using the program is simple but Stuarts' instruction sheet may be helpful, it is found within the program under HELP at top of screen. One thing he did not mention may be helpful, if you are not pleased with the font size it is selectable, also at top of screen.
I do not think Stuart updates his database, so that the downloaded program will not be very current. To fix this you can go to the web and download MSN04.dat which is more current. The link on the web gives information as to replacing the needed file with the updated one.
Anything else I forgot to mention just ask, I can probably help and if not Stuart can.
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