Some amateur radio nets come and go. Others become traditions.

And then there are nets that become part of the daily rhythm of amateur radio itself.

This month, the Netoholics Network is proud to recognize The Nine O’Clock Net, hosted on the Puget Sound Repeater Group (PSRG) system in Seattle, Washington—a net whose roots stretch back approximately half a century and which continues to demonstrate one of amateur radio’s simplest but most important purposes: bringing people together.

A Tradition Dating Back to the 1970s

The story begins with the Puget Sound Repeater Group, founded in 1972. PSRG was established to operate and maintain amateur radio repeater systems serving the Seattle and greater Puget Sound area.

In those early years, the system primarily covered North Seattle, roughly from downtown north through Shoreline and east toward Bothell. Over the decades, improvements including additional receiver sites and internet-linked technology dramatically expanded its reach.

Only a few years after PSRG's founding, around 1976, a tradition began that would prove remarkably durable:

The Nine O’Clock Net.

The concept was wonderfully simple. At 9:00 in the morning and 9:00 in the evening, amateur radio operators would gather on the repeater, check in, and talk.

No elaborate mission was necessary.

It was amateur radio operators doing what amateur radio operators have always done best—meeting people, talking radio, sharing what was happening in their lives, helping newcomers, exchanging knowledge, and enjoying one another's company.

Today, PSRG describes its daily social nets as having operated every day of the year for more than forty years, dating their beginning to approximately 1976.

That puts the Nine O’Clock Net on the doorstep of an extraordinary milestone:

roughly half a century on the air.

From Tradition to Official PSRG Net

There is an interesting chapter in the net's history that makes its longevity even more remarkable.

For much of its existence, the Nine O’Clock Net was closely associated with the Puget Sound Repeater Group and operated on its system, but it wasn't technically an official PSRG net.

It was, in many ways, a tradition belonging to the operators themselves.

That changed in 2017.

PSRG board records show discussion about establishing clearer operational guidelines, recruiting additional net-control operators, and establishing procedures for situations in which a scheduled host couldn't make the net.

Because PSRG had become so closely associated with the Nine O’Clock Net, the board considered formally bringing the long-running tradition under the organization's umbrella.

After decades on the air, the Nine O’Clock Net officially became a PSRG net.

What Kind of Net Is It?

The Nine O’Clock Net isn't an emergency net, traffic net, technical net, or formal training exercise.

It's a social net—or, in classic amateur-radio language, a ragchew net.

That's precisely what makes it special.

A net-control station manages check-ins and gives participating stations their opportunity to speak. Operators can talk about their day, something they're building, a new radio, an antenna project, travel, family, the weather, something interesting happening in amateur radio—or sometimes absolutely nothing important at all.

And that's the point.

The net creates a place where amateur radio operators know that, twice every day, somebody will be listening.

For a newly licensed ham nervously keying a microphone for the first time, that can be invaluable.

For an experienced operator who has been around for decades, it's an opportunity to reconnect with familiar callsigns.

For everyone in between, it's simply a community on the radio.

Those informal conversations also serve another purpose. Regular participation teaches operators how to listen, identify properly, wait their turn, communicate clearly, work with a net-control station, and become comfortable operating within a directed net.

Those skills can later translate directly into public-service and emergency communications.

The WW7PSR Repeater

The traditional home of the Nine O’Clock Net is the WW7PSR 2-meter repeater serving the Seattle metropolitan area.

The primary system operates on:

Over the years, PSRG has developed the system far beyond the coverage footprint of a simple single-site repeater.

Multiple receivers and modern networking technology have helped expand coverage throughout the region, while internet linking has opened another door entirely.

From Seattle to the World

The Nine O’Clock Net may have begun as a Seattle-area gathering, but modern amateur-radio linking technology means geography doesn't necessarily keep you away.

The PSRG system supports internet-linked access, including AllStar and EchoLink, allowing licensed amateur operators outside the repeater's normal RF footprint to participate.

That has transformed what began as a local Seattle tradition into something capable of attracting check-ins from far beyond Washington State.

Reports about PSRG's daily nets have described participants joining from around the United States and even internationally.

In 2022, GeekWire profiled PSRG and its daily nets and reported that individual gatherings could attract more than 50 participants, with voices sometimes arriving from places as distant as Europe, South America and Australia.

That's an impressive evolution for something that started decades before smartphones, social media, Discord servers, Zoom meetings—or even the modern internet.

Three Daily Gatherings

The popularity of the Nine O’Clock tradition eventually helped inspire another daily gathering.

Today PSRG hosts social nets at:

• 9:00 AM Pacific
• 12:00 PM Pacific
• 9:00 PM Pacific

The Noon Net is considerably younger, having been added on November 14, 2019, but it quickly developed a following of its own.

In September 2026, PSRG announced that the Noon Net was approaching its 2,500th net, with more than 75,000 entries recorded in its logs.

Together, the morning Nine O’Clock Net, Noon Net, and evening Nine O’Clock Net have turned the PSRG repeater system into one of amateur radio's busiest social gathering places.

Why The Nine O’Clock Net Matters

Technology has changed almost beyond recognition since approximately 1976.

Yet twice every day, amateur radio operators still gather around radios and wait for their callsigns to be called.

There is something wonderfully amateur-radio about that.

The technology surrounding the net has evolved—from local RF coverage to satellite receivers, networked repeater infrastructure, EchoLink and AllStar—but the fundamental reason people participate hasn't changed very much at all.

The Nine O’Clock Net also demonstrates something that can sometimes be forgotten in our hobby.

Amateur radio doesn't always need to accomplish something spectacular.

• We experiment.
• We build.
• We prepare for emergencies.
• We provide public-service communications.
• We chase DX.
• We work satellites.
• We develop digital modes.

But sometimes the purpose of amateur radio is simply to talk to another person.

For approximately fifty years, the Nine O’Clock Net has provided a place to do exactly that.

Want to Check In?

Licensed amateur radio operators are welcome to participate.

Net

The Nine O’Clock Net

Host

Puget Sound Repeater Group — WW7PSR

Schedule

Daily at 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM Pacific Time

Frequency

146.960 MHz

Offset

-600 kHz

CTCSS

103.5 Hz

AllStar

Node 2462

EchoLink

WW7PSR-R / Node 447770

Location

Seattle / Puget Sound, Washington

Format

Directed social / ragchew net

Whether you're within RF range of Seattle or joining through one of the linked systems, don't be afraid to throw your callsign into the mix.

After all, generations of amateur radio operators have been doing exactly that since the 1970s.