By way of an AAR to my chat comments:
In upper midwest I typically see issues on 40m from dawn till getting about 20° of sun, and likewise before full twilight. It's a common thing in my locale which is why a gent to my east takes the 1st hr of a Sat AM net and I pick it up when the ionosphere has settled down - no reflection on anyone's signals here, it is what it is. 75m for me is NVIS usage by design. (Not having calls on others I don't even have an idea who I'm listening for or where they are. I couldn't influence that anyway not running a rotatable but it would be nice in learning/diagnosing things.)
Heard voices, called twice in the blind on 7270, and once on 3970. No notes in the chat that I was heard. Saw mention of the QSO in progress on 7268; had listened to them for 10min prior to the net. Heard alot of tuning that was making their QSO difficult, which they commented on because they had a mobile station they were talking to, probably reason they left. (I hope that tuning was no one here.)
After bidding adios & heading to late supper noticed that propagation went in the toilet for awhile. An absence of band noise (QRN) but lousy prop usually tells me that I'm in the immediate after-effects of a solar event. I call it MSM (not main-stream media) for 'major signal mashing'. Quiet, inviting bands but signals that don't go anywhere. I'd rather have the QRN we had with a long band but some bands work different for different folks from different locales. Earth spins & we orbit a big lightbulb, kinda like it that way. Up here if the aurora starts dipping at/below the 60° latitude the low bands get very iffy. I could throw the full gallon at you & be lucky to get a 5x5 within NVIS range. When things are really nice, 75m can go quite a ways late at night, but on average conditions barefoot isn't gonna do it. Have a gent way the heck up by Lake Superior though I can talk with on nearly QRP power. Then again, he's got a 2-element quad up on a 200' tower & that on top of a hill. He has good "ears."
Wish I could've stuck around to see how 20m was doing; 17 is my favorite but I like 20m alot. Something to think about which might make it doable for those further away from the NCS or who don't have room for more antenna than that. The lower bands can be fickle but there's a reason .mil keeps 13 & 18mHz in their backpocket 'cause they usually have long windows where they work. If my schedule relaxes, if the weather stays halfway decent, I hope to get an end-fed up (perpendicular to my dipole) and compare the two for 20 & 17m, plotting dots on a map. Couple of capabilities directly E-W I'd like to fill in & 20/17 & 15 (day) is exactly the ticket for what I need to do.
Hope you keep drivin' with it, getting a net established is easier said than done so kudos for the effort. Something to be said for the .mil concept of a CEOI that gives fallback options. Doesn't make the band conditions any better but allows for some non-internet chat options at some later point maybe.
Good luck; I'll keep the thread tagged & see what develops. Getting more folks on the air is a good thing.
In the FWIW category I think you chose an
excellent day/eve of the week because you completely avoid the contesting/special events, with the exception of a 2-hr CW sprint that occurs once in awhile, but which doesn't affect voice opns.