Jon N1ILZ writes:
As part of the Fall 2024 SET “November Gale,” we conducted a special session of the Massachusetts Rhode Island Digital Net (MARIDN). MARIDN is an affiliate of the National Traffic System (NTS) of the ARRL, convened to pass formal written traffic across MA and RI and to and from wherever third-party traffic is allowed, using the digital message-passing capabilities of the fldigi NBEMS software suite.
The MARIDN special session ran 1000-1203L (1500-1703Z). A total of 14 stations checked in, with a total of six pieces of traffic passed, including both Radiograms and ICS-213 messages. The exercise demonstrated passing traffic within the net and exchanging traffic with the greater National Traffic System (NTS).
N1ILZ was primary NCS. Special thanks to Don AB1PH for assisting as NCS. Thanks to the following stations for checking in to the special edition of MARIDN:
N1ILZ/NCS, WZ0C, AB1PH/NCS, N1RDN, KW1U, N1JCM, N1CPE, K1HRV, W1RVY, K1ELB, KX1C, KT1OK, NV1Y, AF1R
The special edition of MARIDN started on 80m. After 15-20 minutes it was clear that propagation was not in our favor – stations within ~25 mi of each other could relay traffic, but passing traffic from, say, Walpole, MA to Cape Cod was a non-starter, even with relays. MARIDN moved to its alternate 40m frequency and operations were much better.
The MARIDN team noted several lessons-learned, e.g., around net band-change and NCS handoff. These will be documented in a future document and incorporated into MARIDN processes.
Thanks again to all who participated!
73 de
—Jon N1ILZ