Greetings to all. I hope you had a great summer in spite of all the pandemic restrictions. Now that we are getting into fall perhaps there is time to consider some why’s and wherefores of handling message traffic on voice nets.
We have some very good training programs on the nets but I would also like to call attention to the Methods and Practices Guidelines (MPG) available on the arrl.org website (http://www.arrl.org/files/file/NTS_MPG2014.pdf) with link also on the ema.arrl.org website (https://ema.arrl.org/national-traffic-system/nts-resources/) under NTS Resources. This is not meant to be a training manual but rather a resource document covering various topics regarding message handling. It is not a set of rules but rather guidelines based on best practices, derived from many years of experience during a wide variety of propagation and band conditions particularly on HF. It is what has been found to help get messages through accurately and efficiently even in the worst of conditions. It was compiled by some of the most experienced traffic handlers. While those who handle messages on a VHF voice net may not experience such conditions it is good to practice in the event you may some day be called upon to pass traffic when there is atmospheric and man-made interference which often exist on the HF bands.
I call your attention especially to Chapter 2 on ‘Sending Messages on Voice’. This chapter is 58 pages long, but it is certainly not necessary to know it all before participating. As you participate however and get more practice you can apply more and more of these “tricks of the trade” and become an expert traffic handler, feeling a real sense of accomplishment when you successfully relay a message during particularly difficult band conditions.
I think the folks in our section are doing a fantastic job handling messages. I am proud of you all. We can however all (including your STM) work on learning more and improving our skills. Thanks to all you great folks for your support. Below is the August traffic report.
73, Marcia KW1U
| MASSACHUSETTS STM REPORTS 2020 | Aug-20 | ||||||
| NET | SESSIONS | QTC | QNI | QTR | NM | FREQ | Net Time |
| WMTN C1 | 24 | 1 | 277 | 175 | N1YCW | 146.91 | 1300 Daily |
| WMTN C2 | 25 | 6 | 270 | 239 | KD2JKV | 146.91 | 1700 Daily |
| MARI | 31 | 134 | 165 | 555 | KW1U | 3565 KHz | 1900 Daily |
| EM2MN | 31 | 121 | 351 | 884 | KC1HHO | 145.23 | 2000 Daily |
| CM2MN | 18 | 5 | 66 | 114 | KK1X | 146.97 | 2100 Daily |
| HHTN | 18 | 33 | 281 | 489 | W1HAI | MMRA Rptrs | 2200 Su,M,W,F |
| CITN | 17 | 7 | 100 | 200 | AC7RB | 147.375 | 1930 Tu,Th,F, Sa |
| MARIPN | 13 | 21 | 74 | 170 | N1LAH | 3978 KHz | 1700 Tu,Th,Sa |
| WARPSN | 5 | 10 | 84 | NA | N1IQI | 147.225 | 0830 Su |
| WMEN/HF | 4 | 0 | 83 | 80 | N1CPE | 3944 KHz | 0830 Su |
| WMEN/VHF | 4 | 0 | 62 | 53 | N1PUA | 146.91 | 0900 Su |
| 190 | 338 | 1813 | 2906 | ||||
| SAR | ORG | REC | SENT | DEL | TOTAL | BPL | BPL = 500+ points |
| N1IQI | 0 | 58 | 471 | 4 | 533 | X | |
| KW1U | 0 | 267 | 237 | 0 | 504 | X | |
| N1TF | 0 | 42 | 53 | 11 | 106 | ||
| W1RVY | 1 | 66 | 25 | 0 | 92 | ||
| KC1HHO | 0 | 45 | 17 | 4 | 66 | ||
| WA1LPM | 0 | 20 | 44 | 0 | 64 | ||
| KC1KVY | 0 | 23 | 34 | 4 | 61 | ||
| N1LAH | 0 | 22 | 22 | 1 | 45 | ||
| KE1ML | 0 | 12 | 24 | 2 | 38 | ||
| NV1N | 0 | 7 | 21 | 1 | 29 | ||
| KD2JKV | 0 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 28 | ||
| WA1VAB | 0 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 24 | ||
| W1TCD | 0 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 21 | ||
| KC1MSN | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 | ||
| W1JWM | 0 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 19 | ||
| W1PLK | 0 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 19 | ||
| AJ1DM | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| KC1NBI | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | ||
| AB1ZS | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | ||
| PSHR (Min 70 Points) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TOTAL |
| KW1U | 40 | 40 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 130 |
| N1TF | 40 | 40 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 115 |
| N1IQI | 40 | 40 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 110 |
| KD2JKV | 40 | 40 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 |
| W1RVY | 40 | 40 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 |
| N1LAH | 40 | 40 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| KE1ML | 40 | 36 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 96 |
| KC1HHO | 31 | 40 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 91 |
| KC1KVY | 40 | 40 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 |
| WA1LPM | 38 | 40 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 |
| NV1N | 34 | 29 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 |
| DRS | RCV | FWD | TOTAL | ||||
| KW1U | 799 | 714 | 1513 | ||||
| N1IQI | 58 | 471 | 529 | ||||
| W1RVY | 1 | 6 | 7 | ||||
| W1JWM | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||||