Tag: #arrl

Apologies to all for the late posting.  I hope all had an enjoyable and successful Field Day.  We enjoyed visiting both the Plymouth and Boston Clubs.  What a beautiful day!

Here is the traffic report for June.  Thanks to all for your support of the nets.  Hope to see many of you at the traffic handlers’ picnic in Concord Sunday August 7, noon to 4 PM.

Greetings all.  I hope spring has treated you well and summer brings lots of ham radio contacts. You will see below the May traffic report for both East and West Mass compiled by our ASTM Greg KC1CIC. You will also see an addition to the list of those reporting.  Welcome Brian K1BML who lives in Worcester County and is a regular on the CM2MN.
I want to remind folks who participate in Field Day about the extra points your group can earn by sending NTS messages. I hope many of you will be participating as it is a great experience.  Information about Field Day, including locations, can be found at http://fd.ema.arrl.org.
Also don’t forget to set aside Sunday August 7 for the annual traffic handlers picnic in Concord MA.  More information will be forthcoming in the next report.  Thanks to all for your support of the nets.

I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely spring weather which finally came to New England.  Time to start thinking about Field Day, our annual traffic handlers’ picnic and the New England Division Convention at Boxboro.

Field Day this year is June 25 and 26.  Most are familiar with Field Day. Information can be found at http://fd.ema.arrl.org/.  One thing to remind folks about is that extra points can be obtained by sending a radiogram to your Section Manager and Section Emergency Coordinator, and also send 10 or more radiograms to friends and family, perhaps telling them about your participation in the Field Day exercise. Encourage your club stations to get these extra points.  (You may need to show them how to do it.)

The annual traffic handlers’ picnic will again be in Concord at my QTH.  Traditionally we have had this event the first Sunday in August, which this year will be August 7. Set aside this date and plan to join us. More details at a later date.

The now annual ARRL New England Division convention is planned for September 9 through 11.  We plan to have an NTS table again this year and additionally a room for a get together or presentation.  Mark the dates on your calendar and stay tuned.

Spring is finally showing up in New England and it’s time to get outdoors, get those yards going, the grass mowed, the plants planted, and oh yes, get those antennas checked.  It was a good month in March for traffic and we have been seeing new hams checking into the nets which is always good to see.  Just a reminder we have a variety of traffic nets and all are good training grounds for message handling and net operation.

EM2MN meets currently on the Quincy repeater 146.67 Mhz PL 146.2 at 8 PM except for Tuesday when it meets on the Sharon repeater 146.865 Mhz PL 103.5

HHTN meets Monday Wednesday and Friday on the Minuteman linked repeater network (check MMRA.org for frequencies) at 10 PM

CM2MN meets daily on the Paxton repeater 146.97 Mhz PL 114.8 at 9 PM

MARIPN meets Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday on 3978 Khz at 6 PM

MARI CW meets daily 3565 Khz at 7 PM

Last month I talked about copying a message on a net.  After delivering the message you might need to send a message back to the originator.  Anytime a message is undeliverable a service message is required.  If the message you delivered had a handling instruction HXC the originator requests a message back with date and time of delivery. If a handling instruction is HXE the originator requests a reply from the recipient.  Or you might just want to send a message to a family member, a friend or another ham. How do you go about it?

First, have your radiogram form in front of you and fill it out appropriately, including the boxes in the preamble, the full address and phone number if available, the text and signature.  If sending a service message, ARRL Numbered radiograms can be used, ie ARL FORTY SEVEN if a message was successfully delivered, or ARL SIXTY SEVEN if you were unable to make a delivery.  A list of ARRL numbered radiograms can be found on our website. When using one of these texts don’t forget to fill in the blanks.  For example:
ARL FORTY SEVEN 123 K1ABC MARCH 10 2300, or ARL SIXTY SEVEN 456 PHONE 555 321 4566 DISCONNECTED.
When using these ARRL numbered radiograms add ARL to the check in the preamble, ie ARL 8, and spell out the ARL numbers in the text, ie ARL FORTY SEVEN, not ARL 47.  10 digit phone numbers in the text are sent in three word groups, ie 555 321 4566 is three word groups in the check.

When you check into a net, list traffic, and are directed by NCS to send your traffic, remember to read the message at a speed the recipient can copy.  Imagine writing the words yourself as you read.  Read all parts in the order of your radiogram form, using proper prowords where appropriate.  Prowords introduce certain parts of your message and are used for clarity and to help assure accuracy in copying.

In the preamble the only proword we use is the word “NUMBER” at the very beginning.  It is not necessary to say “station of origin is”, “check is”, etc. as the station copying the message is already anticipating the order of the preamble. Following the preamble go immediately into the name, address and phone number, spelling uncommon proper names using proper phonetics as listed on our website. Prior to reading the text, say “BREAK” and pause a few seconds to give the receiving station an opportunity to ask for fills.  If no response, continue on to the text.  NO need to say “how copy”, “text follows” etc.  If the receiving station isn’t copying, he/she will ask for fills as needed.

When reading the texts, spell uncommon words or letter groups, introducing with “I SPELL”.  Introduce number groups with “FIGURES” to distinguish from numbers spelled out. ie “FIGURES 678”.  Introduce an alphanumeric group with “MIXED GROUP”, ie 0230Z”, or for callsigns, “AMATEUR CALL”, ie AMATEUR CALL KW1U”.  At the end of the text, say “BREAK” again, pausing a few seconds to listen for any fills.  If no response, continue to signature followed by “END NO MORE”, or “END MORE” if appropriate.  Again, NO need to say “how copy”.  Receiving station will ask for fills if needed, or say “ROGER”. 

That’s it.  Sound complicated?  Not really.  Just remember we have all made mistakes, including your section traffic manager, and we’re all here to learn to do better.  We follow these guidelines since this has proven to lead to better accuracy and efficienty.

It’s hard to believe February is almost over already.  My apologies for being so late with this report.  It is always nice to see new folks checking into the nets.  I suspect there may be others out there listening to see what it is all about.  We can encourage those to check in and join us even if they are not yet ready to take traffic.  However for those who have been checking in but lack the courage to take a formal message for delivery, here are a few points to remember to ensure accuracy.

First of all, it is advisable when new to have a radiogram form in front of you and become familiar with it so you can fill in the blanks.  If you need forms they are available online at arrl.org, or I can send you a template you can print them or send some copies in the mail if you prefer.  Before letting the transmitting station know you are ready to copy you might want to remind him/her you are new so please go slowly.

Accuracy is important so here are some points to remember to assure accuracy.  If you miss words or groups of words, listen for the transmitting station to say “break”, which should be done immediately before and immediately after the text.  Use the following prowords to request the fills you need:

“Say again word after (blank)”, where blank is the word immediately before the one you missed.

“Say again word before (blank)”, where blank is the word immediately after the one you missed.

If you missed a group of words, “Say again between (blank) and (blank)” where the blanks are the words immediately before and immediately after the group you missed.

If you are not sure you copied a word or word group correctly, say “Confirm (blank)”, and transmitting station can confirm or correct as needed.

At the end of the message check to see if the word count in the text agrees with the check count in the preamble.  If it does not you might ask the transmitting station to read through the message again to see where you disagree.  Or you might have him/her go five word groups at a time.

If you are confident you have the message correctly, say “Roger”.

If you have questons, feel free to ask the transmitting station, the Net Control or the Net Manager

Having the message in hand you are ready to deliver it.  Note the article in the left column of this page, “Traffic Tips: Message Delivery”.

Being able to handle record trafic is an important skill, and our nets are a good place to learn and practice.  Next I will talk about originating and sending a message.  Meanwhile below is the traffic report for both East and West Mass for the month of January.  Thanks to all for your support.  73, Marcia KW1U

Winter finally made its way into New England and without all those outdoor chores set aside for now its a good time to stay indoors and play radio.  Anyone get new ham radio toys for Christmas?  Try them out and join us on one of the traffic nets, or try some digital message handling using Packet radio with several message boards serving Eastern Mass, including KW1U, N1XTB or K1CKK (Cape Cod).  See KW1U or KC1CIC for more information on how to get involved.  K1HEJ has compiled a traffic report for the VHF BBS at N1XTB-4 for the month of December.  This BBS handled 397 incoming and 397 outgoing messages.  More will follow on the digital scene in future months.

The Mass Rhode Island Phone Net has been picking up activity since its inception in the fall, thanks to the efforts of Manager Ralph N1LAH.  While this is a traffic net, there is also an informal component for socialization and discussion of subjects of interest to amateur radio.  Check it out at 6PM Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays on 3978 Khz plus or minus for QRM.  Remember to look around that frequency as the net is sometimes forced to move due to interference.

Heavy Hitters Traffic Net has also been picking up new check-ins, especially folks new to traffic handling who are looking for information.  While HHTN meets only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the Minuteman Repeater Network at 10 PM, manager Joe W1HAI has decided to have informal sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the purpose of helping new and prospective traffic handlers with information on nets, message handling and NTS.  He has encouraged more “seasoned” traffic handlers to check in as well to help answer questions.  The first of these sessions has met already as of this writing and was well attended.  A good discussion followed and many questions were answered.  All are welcome to check in.  Bring your questions.

Below is the traffic report for the combined sections of East and West Mass for both November and December.  My apologies for not getting the November report on the website last month.  Many of you did see that report sent out via email.  Thanks to all for your support of the nets.

Summer has wound down and leaves have mostly fallen.  I hope everyone has those antennas ready for winter.  With the change of seasons band conditions have also improved on HF.  The newly reactivated MARIPN is finding they are hearing more distant stations, which unfortunately has made it more difficult to find a nitch for the net.  Net manager Ralph N1LAH has suggested folks tune up and down at least 5 Khz either way from the published frequency to look for the net.  The afternoon region net on the other hand is finding folks around the region can now hear one another, so hopefully participation will pick up again.

The Boston repeater has been having problems again.  The folks at BARC are aware and plan to make repairs when they are able to do so.  Meanwhile, until further notice and thanks to the effort of ASTM Greg KC1CIC, we have permission to use the Quincy repeater, 146.67 Mhz, PL 146.2 every evening except Tuesday.  Tuesdays the net will run on the Sharon repeater, 146.865 Mhz PL 103.5.  After polling our regular checkins Greg found that most folks are able to get into the Quincy repeater.

To those Friday evening visitors to the EM2MN you have no doubt noticed the absence of Joe O’Brien K1LCQ.  Joe has been Friday NCS for many years and always very dependable.  Unfortunately Joe ran into some health complications and has been off the air.  We have been informed he is on the mend and hopes to be back soon.  We wish Joe the very best.

Follows the October report for both East and West Mass.  Thanks to all for your support.