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146.865 minus, 100 Hz Van Buren, MO 145.310 minus, 100 Hz Eminence |
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NATIONAL TRAFFIC SYSTEMThe National Traffic System is made up of Area and Region Amateur radio nets and some Digital networks. If you have a message for West Plains or Birch Tree, its almost intuitive what you would do with it. But what would you do if you had a message for Bangor, Maine? First let's decide what is a message. A message consists of: Preamble - the technical stuff about the message, who originated it, how important it is, etc. Address - where is the message going? Text - The purpose of this whole exercise. Signature - Who is responsible for the text of the message. All messages contain these items in one form or another. But what we are concerned about is the message for Bangor, Maine. The country is divided into three areas: EasterN Area Network - MI, OH, WV, VA NC, SC, GA, FL, PR, VI, PA, NY, VT, ME, APO/FPO AE & AA, ECN (our Canadian friends) PQ, NB, NS, PE, NF, ON, LABRADOR Central Area Network - TX, LA, AR, OK, MO, KS, NE, IA, SD, MN, SD, ND, CCN (our Canadian friends) SK, MB, Part of the NW Territories Pacific Area Network - NM, AZ, CO, WY, MT, UT, ID, CA, NV, OR, WA, AK, HI, APO/FPO AP, PCN (our Canadian friends) BC, AB, YUKON, Part of the NW Territories Each of these Areas is further divided into regions, such as 10th region, 9th region and 5th region which is CAN/CCN. Within each region there are states. 10th region is made up of MO, KS, IA, NE, SD, MN, ND and our Canadian friends - SK, MB, Part of the NW Territories. Within this elaborate division of geography, the NTS has four cycles that are avaiable. Cycles 1 and 3 are normally saved for large, wide area emergencies. Cycles 2 and 4 are the routine, day to day, message cycles. Cycles run sorta like this: 1 starts at 7AM - outbound traffic, 10AM - inbound traffic 2 starts at 11AM - outbound traffic, 2PM - inbound traffic 3 starts at 3PM -outbound traffic, 6PM - inbound traffic 4 starts at 7PM - outbound traffic, 10PM - inbound traffic Each of these areas, regions and states have their own frequencies and times to run a net! How is anyone supposed to keep track of it all? Well you don't have to. All you need to know, at least at first, is where you would introduce your Bangor, Maine traffic. The Current River Amateur Radio net, Friday nights at 7:30PM on 146.865/-600 100hz, might be a place to start. But it only meets one day a week, after three days your traffic needs to be serviced back to originator, if it's not relayed or delivered. So what to do if you get the message on a Sunday night? You need to find a Ham who can get into the Missouri Traffic net: Missouri SSB TFC Net Region 10 CW TFC Net Missouri CW TFC Net There is one more set of 10th Rgn net frequencies: 7.277Mhz at 01:45PM, normally inbound TFC and 7.277Mhz at 03:45PM, normally outbound. Listen for K0MDV on this one. If you wish to help with the NTS effort, familiarize yourself with the correct format for a message and terms like Transcontinental Corps, Wide Area coverage nets, Third-party Traffic Agreements, ARRL Numbered Radiograms, National Traffic System Routing Guide and Q signals you will be ready to send messages anywhere in the USA, even Bangor, Maine. When checking into the regional nets to represent Missouri you should have the permission of the Net Manager of the net you're representing. As it is a directed net on a regional level, they limit or try to limit it to just a few to provide more time for traffic handling. Example....for the 10th region CW net, they normally ask on the Missouri CW Net who will go to the 1st or 2nd session of the regional net. Say K9ZTV is NCS, on the Missouri CW TFC Net, and will ask for a rep and W0SJS or K0RWL will volunteer. There is no limit on requirement for Missouri Nets, just the Regionals. If you are new at handling TFC and checking in for the first time on the regional nets they will ask you for your name and location or state that you are representing. If you are new to handling traffic whether phone or CW, let the NCS or other station know. Just say "I'm new at this and not sure of the procedures." The HAMs on the Net will work with you to get the traffic done. They will slow down whether voice or CW and make sure that your experience will encourage you to do it again and again. You can be designated an Official Relay Station (ORS), an integrel part of NTS, by the Section Manager of Missouri Dale Bagley, K0KY. Send him an E-mail at K0KY@arrl.org and ask if you can become an ORS. Here are the basic requirements: 1. Full ARRL membership 2. Code and/or voice transmission capability 3. Your transmissions must be of the highest quality 4. Follow standard ARRL operating practices 5. Regular participation in traffic activities 6. Handle all record communications speedily and report monthly of traffic handled This report of traffic should go to Larry Wilson,K0RWL. Dale Bagley, K0KY appointed K0RWL to manage the Nation Traffic system, within Missouri. You can reach K0RWL at K0RWL@yahoo.com for further information about what is counted and what is not. Lee Branum KL7IJG/0
NTS Message Manager software is available here. It is a database to store incoming and outgoing messages for the National Traffic System as well as sections for lookup of NTS related information. |
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