The past month left most of us either buried in snow or encased in ice. Judging from participation on the traffic nets, however, it appears antennas generally withstood the storms. Bob Sparkes, KC1KVY, manager of the Heavy Hitters Traffic Net (HHTN) submitted this report:
“We had another banner month on HHTN! The HHTN Team is doing a great job even with less than perfect conditions. We have had to use our alternate repeater several times in January and in the beginning of this month. Our NCS’s handle the net with professionalism and calm! They are Scott N1SGB, Jim KM1TWL, Shawn N1CVO, Neil N1HAN, and Jessie KC1SLQ! My thanks to them for their continued service.
We have had new stations begin to handle traffic. They are Corwyn KN1OBI and Paul KC1YMT. They are both doing a great job! We are also lucky to have several stations who can handle through traffic. They include Shawn N1CVO, Mike W1VEG, Jim KM1TWL, Matt W7AAF, Jessie KC1SLQ and Dave KC1TLF. And, of course, we have W1TCD and you (KW1U), too!”
Thanks to Bob and all the HHTN folks for a job well done. Thanks also to all the net managers in the section for your leadership. We hope you will share your net experiences with us. And to all the traffic handlers, thanks for your participation and support, making our section an outstanding example to others.
Unfortunately one of our very dedicated traffic handlers, Loren, N1IQI, suffered a bad fall, ending up in the hospital and followed by an extensive stay in rehab. Loren has been missed on the nets and we hope he will be back soon. I understand some members of the Whitman club will be helping Loren to move his station to a safer operating location. It’s great to see hams helping hams in this way. Our thanks to the members of the Whitman Amateur Radio Club
Calling Technician class licensees:
It is great to see you taking advantage of the training in record message handling provided on the VHF traffic nets. Did you know you could also take part on HF section nets? I was recently reminded that Technician class operators have CW privileges on 80 and 40 meters where the evening nets operate. With a little CW practice you could be a part of a slow speed CW net where you can get some practice and increase your code speed in the process, as well as help move traffic beyond the local area. Need help finding CW training or slow speed traffic nets? Let me know. It’s a lot of fun!
Another way for Technician class operators to get additional experience in message handling is to participate in the NTS Treasure Hunt. It has been a lot of fun, just ask Shawn, N1CVO or Dave, KC1TLF who have both participated. It’s like Trivia where a question is published every other month in the NTS Letter. You find the answer and send it in a radiogram to the “judge” identified with that question. If you are correct you will receive a confirmation radiogram with the next question and judge. This goes on for four or five rounds. Those who complete all rounds will receive a certificate and find their call sign in the next issue of the NTS Letter. Following each hunt a completing participant call sign is drawn at random to receive a specially designed coffee mug. This hunt not only generates traffic for the nets, but questions often help with tips on traffic handling and net operation. More info can be found at https://nts2.arrl.org/treasure-hunt/.
The January STM report follows.
73, Marcia, KW1U, Section Traffic Manager
Massachusetts - Rhode Island STM Report for January 2026