As daylight hours increase moods brighten and as sunspots increase propagation gets better and better. Life is good.
Life in NTS world is also good. While traffic has been somewhat down, net participation has been going well. Heavy Hitters Traffic Net is again offering training in message handling and any licensed ham is welcome to request this training. Check with HHTN manager Joe W1HAI for more info. Training is also available on the EM2MN as well. Contact Peter KC1HHO net manager for more details. Anyone on Cape Cod or the islands can contact Tim W1TCD manager of Cape and Islands Traffic Net to arrange for training there. There is no better time than the present before the call of the outdoors summons our precious time.
Speaking of training, Peter KC1HHO gave a presentation to the Whitman Club recently which was well received. Peter reports many questions were asked. Both Peter and your STM are available for club presentations, so be sure to spread the word to your clubs.
VOTA, Volunteers on the Air, is ongoing throughout 2023. Just as some are using radiograms to confirm contacts during POTA activations, the same could be done with VOTA contacts. Radiogram originations are a vital part of keeping the NTS active and amateurs trained and practiced. NTS needs traffic with which to practice and maintain our skills so wouldn’t it be great to see more originations?
You have probably heard about the revitalization of NTS project, referred to as NTS 2.0. The implementation teams have been working weekly via Zoom to create change that improves and expands the role of NTS. There is now a web page on the ARRL website devoted to this project and has recently gone “live”. As various plans become finalized look for information on this page. There is also a page to comment and send your ideas. The URL is NTS2.arrl.org. Current projects include standardized handling of ICS 213 forms, an improved net directory and a better means to track messages entered into the system.
For a traffic tip of the month, I was recently asked if a welcome to amateur radio radiogram was received for delivery but the phone number was not good, should the message be serviced with an ARL Sixty Seven, or mailed to the recipient. Good question. Had an HXG handling instruction been included, a delivering station had the option of servicing the message back as undeliverable or delivering the message via the USPS or other appropriate means. Where there is no HXG the implication is that a delivering station make every effort possible to deliver a message. It is my opinion however that this might be relaxed with bulk traffic where the recipients are farmed from a database such as the FCC database, where the sender is unknown to the recipient and such a message might be construed as “spam”. In such a case, if a provided phone number is no good I believe it should be ok to service the message back to the sender. That being said, however, and considering our need to support our hobby and aid new hams in getting active on the air, it would be advantageous to go that extra mile to deliver that radiogram, having an opportunity to explain the radiogram and offer valuable information such as local clubs, nets and other such activities to help that new ham get involved in the hobby, and possibly more specifically in message handling and traffic nets.
That’s all for now. The report follows. Thanks for your participation and support of our traffic nets.
73, Marcia KW1U STM EMA / WMA