As I write this month’s report I am looking out at a winter wonderland covered in white, but with temperatures diving into the single digits I for one plan to stay in and play radio.
As this is the end of the year, I am including a summary of traffic activity for 2024.
2,082 net sessions were reported.
6,375 radiograms were handled.
The nets reported 15,127 check-ins
33,891 minutes or 564.85 hours were spent handling the traffic.
That’s a lot of man-hours and a lot of traffic.
Great job and thanks to all for your participation and support!
We have two section nets, one SSB and one CW, both operating on the 80 meter band available to anyone with a General class license or above and interested in traffic handling . Notice to all Technician class licensees – it’s a lot of fun and a good motivation to upgrade.
The Mass Rhode Island Phone Net (MARIPN) operates on 3978 kHz at 5:00 PM daily. Net manager Ralph, N1LAH reports 2024 was a good year and the net is looking forward to an even better 2025. This net reported 1847 messages handled in 2024 by a total of 2470 check-ins. Great job all.
The Mass Rhode Island CW net (MARI) meets daily on 3565 at 7:00 PM. As reported recently we lost some folks during the year but our group of regulars still managed to pass 1352 messages during 2024. We recently welcomed Tage, K1SEI to our net. Tage is in CT but CT has no section CW net, so we’re happy to have him join us.
Peter, KC1HHO, manager of EM2MN reports “all is going well with the EM2MTN. We continue to have a steady call up every night. We have been using APRS NTSGTE to its full potential, both Jessie KC1SLQ and I (KC1HHO) have been sending through traffic on it. A new station, Matt KC1VXV in Brighton has been taking training and he is coming along well.”
Stay tuned for info on a new project Peter has been working on involving the traffic handlers on EM2MN and CITN who will be generating traffic for their respective nets. Sounds to me like a really neat program. More to follow next month. Check with Peter for more info.
Bob, KC1KVY, manager of HHTN reports “N1HAN, Neil has stepped to the plate and is our new Thursday NCS. He has been a consistent check in and brings and takes traffic regularly. Thanks Neil! Several stations take traffic for delivery when needed. They include WZOC, AA1SE, N1HAN, KC1SJK, W1TCD, N1CVO to name a few. I am lucky to have a team like this!”
CM2MN manager John, KK1X has noted in his report a need for more check-ins, more traffic, and especially more net control stations so that the net can operate daily. This net covers Worcester County. If you are in range of the Paxton repeater, I encourage you to check in and perhaps lend a hand.
We have a digital net (MARIDN) operating on 3582.5 kHz on Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Eastern Time. We use FlDigi and FlMsg from the NBEMS suite of software, generally on Thor22. This net has been successfully involved in emergency exercises, has a regular group of local traffic handlers and often visitors from other areas. There is a concurrent Zoom session for those who would like help or just enjoy the cameraderie. Contact net manager Jon McCombie, N1ILZ (n1ilz@arrl.net) for more information.
The APRS-NTS Gateway saw an uptick of traffic in December. 112 messages were handled by 7 local traffic handlers plus more from out of our area, including one from Colombia in South America. Check out https://nts2.arrl.org/ntsgte-an-aprs-nts-gateway/ for more information or catch Michael, WZ0C on the nets.
If you have not yet signed up to receive the monthly NTS Letter, go to nts2.arrl.org/ntsletter where you can learn how to subscribe if you are an ARRL member. Anyone can read all back issues on the site. While you’re on the NTS2.arrl.org site, check out all the other information about new things going on in NTS.
NTS 2.0 Callout Meeting, February 4, 2025
Phil Temples, K9HI
The NTS 2.0 subcommittee and its working groups have completed a number of projects and initiatives. Examples include: the NTS Treasure Hunt, the Radiogram Portal, certificates, enhancing ARL numbered texts and handling instructions, and of course, creation of The NTS Letter. More projects are planned or in the works.
We are looking for individuals who would like to be a part of this exciting initiative! We’re holding a callout meeting on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT for anyone who is interested in learning more about the future of NTS and NTS 2.0.
The URL is bit.ly/406jokl
You are not required to download or install any additional software or apps. Just type the URL into your browser.
Questions? Contact Phil at phil@temples.com.
73, Marcia KW1U
STM EMA / WMA / RI