Net Purpose of the Mercury Western Net
To prepare radio amateurs for communications in the event of an emergency and to provide those with a common interest an opportunity to meet.
Emergency Protocol
If an event (Earthquake, Flood, Fire, Tornado, etc.) occurs in the area serviced by our net, and your home and family are secure, net members should monitor our Mercury Western Net Frequency (7.208 MHz +/- 5 KHz) for a 30 minute period several times during the day for emergency traffic, announcing your availability and willingness to handle traffic into or out of the effected area.
Net Schedule
Saturday mornings at 8:30am Mountain Time on 7.208 MHz.
Net Rollcall for the Mercury Western Net begins at the top of the alphabet (A thru Z—callsign suffix) on the first, third & fifth weeks, and at end of the alphabet (Z thru A) on the second & fourth weeks.
Net Protocol
Our Mercury Western Net takes approximately 40 minutes to complete.
If you need to be excused from a future Net Rollcall please advise any of the NCSs and they will accept your request.
The NCS pauses the Net midway through the rollcall, and at the end of rollcall to checkin, via “relay”, any late member stations, or member stations unable to hear the NCS during the Net Rollcall.
Membership
All licensed amateurs with the appropriate station class are invited to check in to the Mercury Western Net. Check in three out of 4 consecutive weeks and you can be placed on the roster and can stay on the roster by checking in a least twice each month thereafter.
Organization Information for the Mercury Western Net
AK6E Ray Stevens lyndasquilting@hotmail.com (442) 218-5644 Net Control Station
KM7TJ Ken Krutsch km6tj@yahoo.com (801) 360-8517 Net Control Station
W7VZ Kent Angell w7vz.kent@gmail.com (801) 589-5134 Net Control Station
K7WLH Laine Hendrix lundchief@gmail.com (775) 296-0709 Net Control Station
K7VB Carl Rieck carl@canyonmedia.net (435) 467-2275 Net Manager
Emergency Communication History by Bob Rusick, K7RFR, former Mercury Western Net manager
In 1976 the Teton Dam (Idaho) incident occurred. The LDS Church found it very difficult to contact PH Leadership to determine the emergency needs of the Church members affected by the incident. As a result, Boyd K. Packer, an Apostle of the LDS Church and his son, Allan (WA7BKD) felt the need for emergency communication with PH Leaders during and following an emergency event. It was felt that the Amateur Radio Service could provide such a communication link. Thus, the MARA (Mercury Amateur Association) emergency communication network was formed. Initially it was a rather loose organization comprising Ham Stations from Utah and Idaho
About 1980 or 81 I was living in So, California, serving on the Newport Beach Stake High Council. One night, following our HC meetings, the Stake President asked me to meet with him in his office. The President advised me that he had received a letter from the brethren in SLC that I should be released from the HC asap because they had another calling they wanted to extend to me.
Not long thereafter, I received an invitation to attend a meeting at the Church offices behind the Los Angeles Temple. The meeting was conducted by a counselor to President Lorin C. Dunn. Brother Dunn was serving, at that time, as President of the N.W. Section of the Church. He had received instructions to provide an Emergency Communication Network for the LDS Church in Southern California. The meeting was for that purpose.
We gathered in a semi-circle in front of President’s Dunn’s counselor. All the brethren were Stake Presidents except me. They were all CEOs or heads of law firms. I was seated in the middle of these very successful men. Following our individual introductions, the counselor asked that I stand again. He said, “This brother is responsible for establishing an emergency communication network to 81 of your stakes, to be known as the ERRS (Emergency Response Radio System). He will be meeting with you at your Quarterly Welfare Committee meetings to introduce the stake presidents to the ERRS Network and discuss how they could connect their stakes to the Network.
To begin I established 2m and 40m stations at each Bishop’s Storehouse (BSH) from San Diego to Ventura. These stations would receive emergency data from each stake they serve. That info would be transmitted to the Santa Ana Bishops’ Storehouse (BSH) which then transmit the information to the Colton, CA BSH. The Colton BSH was well equipped to communicate with the Welfare Services station at the top of the Joseph Smith Building in downtown SLC.
Once the Network was established, I tested it on the Saturday morning following General Conference in April and October. Before the test I sent letters to 81 stake presidents with following sample messages:
*Fulltime Missionaries safe and accounted for
*How many members are injured or deceased
*Are Ward Cultural Halls being used for homeless
* Need for Food, Water & Medical Supplies
Thus, ERRS in So. California replaced MARA and continued for 2+ years, until the Church’s Welfare Services Department decided that Satellite Telephones and Computers were more effective and reliable than amateur radio.
In 2007 we moved from Southern California to Utah. When I got my station operational again, I began checking into the local Mesa, AZ Bishops’ Storehouse net (the Az/Nv/Nm Mercury net) on 80m. I then formed the Mercury Western Net (MWN) as the Net Manager, selected NCS’s and sent out updated rollcalls each week. The rest is history.
Chapter 2-History of the MWN-Cris McBride, KR5IS, former MWN Manager
I first became involved with the Mercury Western Net in the year 2000, shortly after I passed the General
license exam which then required code at 5 wpm. The year I took the code test for the General
exam was the only year that I know of in which the exam questions were multiple choice. I just
happened to guess right for seven times so I passed the test. The three examiners who watched
me recording the 5-minute transmission had already decided that it was impossible for me to
pass the exam based on what I had copied on paper. However, I surprised them, and myself,
when getting 7 out of 10 questions correct.
Passing the Extra exam was easier. By the time I was taking the Extra exam, I had taken
thousands of exams during pharmacy school, medical school, state medical board exams,
pediatric residency, pediatric board certification, and others. Since knowing the exact wording
for the questions and the exact wording for the answers, I could make some flash cards with each
of the questions with the correct answer shown on the back of the flash card. It took me a few
weeks, but when taking the test, I did not need to read the questions. When looking at the four
choices for each answer, I knew which one was correct.
The first time that I attended the White Mountain monthly amateur radio meeting, they were
looking for someone to take over the club newsletter. No one wanted to do it so I volunteered. I
became the club president a couple of years later, then ARRL District Emergency Coordinator
(DEC) for a few years, managed the state-provided emergency communication van (Toad 4) for
3 years, was county RACES officer for 3 years, and was the county emergency communications
director for amateur radio from 2003 to 2007.
I was active on the Mercury Western Net starting in 2001 after getting my General then Extra tickets. I rarely
missed checking in for several years then due to moving from Pinetop to Mesa for two years than
back to Pinetop again, I did not check in very often but Bob Rusick K7RFR/K6BNN became my
choice for being a model net control person.
After the Rodeo-Chedeski fire and directing the amateur radio operations during the fire in 2002,
the ARRL asked me to write a chapter for a book that was being developed for use of local
operators in cities and towns during emergencies. After producing the chapter, I learned that the
ARRL paid $75/published page. I eventually receive $450 for this chapter. This was the only
thing I ever did in amateur radio that became profitable. Everything else was an expense.
I rarely missed checking in to the Mercury Western Net after 2010. In 2019, Bob asked me to be an alternate
net control station and to plan on handling the net on the fifth Saturdays. This worked well for
me and I also filled in on some dates that a sub was needed for one of the other four net control
stations. The other net control stations were excellent examples for me. In early 2024, Bob was
having some health issues so he asked me to take care of the roster and keeping track of those
who checked in.
About September 2025, Bob asked me to take over as Net Manager so I assumed that role,
remembering that Bob had been my best example of a net control operator since the early 2000’s.
By this date in 2025, I was having physical issues of my own but was able to remain as Net
Manager until I asked Carl Rieck, K7VB, to take over as Net Manager when I could no longer do it.