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CX2SA > NTS 06.12.23 02:01z 342 Lines 17024 Bytes #999 (0) @ ARRL
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Subj: The NTS E-Letter - 12/2023
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Sent: 231206/0133Z @:CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM #:34654 [Salto] FBB7.00e $:NTS122023
From: CX2SA@CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM
To : NTS@ARRL
================
The NTS E-Letter
================
National Traffic Systemİ
December 5, 2023
- Opt-In Page Confusion
- NTS 2.0: Update
- NTS-ARES Collaboration -- One Section's Recent Experience
- Training Can Be Fun!
- Arr, Matey! Ready for a Treasure Hunt?
- Traffic Trivia
- Winter Field Day is Coming
- Symbol Rate Change
- Spotlight -- Jerry Burns, Jr., K1GUP, and Maine Seagull Net
- NTS Resources
- Sign up to Receive The NTS Letter
- Support NTS: Join ARRL
Opt-In Page Confusion
---------------------
Several individuals have recently reported problems subscribing to The NTS
Letter on their ARRL profile page at
https://home.arrl.org/action/My-Account/Opt-In-Out. Specifically, the page
displays only those electronic publications and listservs to which the
member is currently subscribed. One must click on the "EDIT" button to see
the entire list of choices to opt into.
We're happy to report that the language on the profile page has been updated
and the instructions are clearer. It now reads, "Please click 'EDIT' to see
all email subscription options."
Remember -- to reach this page, click on "Hello <name>" at the very top of
the ARRL home page, followed by "Communication | Opt In/Out" in the
left-hand column on the resulting page.
NTS 2.0: Update
---------------
A new training video has been added to the nts2.arrl.org website under the
"Training and Documentation/Special Topics" tab. This video and PowerPoint
presentation give instructions on the use of the APRS-NTS Gateway mentioned
in last month's newsletter, and is the first of what will become a series of
training videos on this site. If any folks out there have experience in
creating, editing videos etc. and would like to work with us, we are
interested in hearing from you.
Coming Soon -- Web-based Message Origination "Portal" Platform for Public Use
The NTS 2.0 Access & Delivery Methods working group has made good progress
on a web-based message origination "portal" platform for public use. A
mockup was demonstrated recently to the A&DM group by one of its members. A
"soft launch" will consist of publicizing the portal to the amateur
community; and later, to the public. Dedicated traffic handler volunteers
will be recruited to maintain regular "schedules" to check the platform for
outbound traffic.
Note: Messages will never be sent without human intervention. Each message
will be inspected by a volunteer traffic handler to ensure that its content
is appropriate (e.g., "clean" language, no commercial content) before
accepting it for origination. In addition, anti-spamming rules have been
incorporated into the portal's design.
We'll have more information on this project in a later NTS Letter.
NTS-ARES Collaboration -- One Section's Recent Experience
---------------------------------------------------------
NTS and ARES are two organizations of ARRL with similar yet separate
missions. The relationship between these two organizations varies greatly
from Section to Section. Leadership in the Eastern Massachusetts Section
(EMA) has been working over the past year to develop synergies between NTS
and ARES to jointly increase the capabilities that they can offer to served
agencies. This team includes the EMA SM, SEC, ASEC, STM, ASTM and NTS-ARES
Liaison, and others, and meets every 4-6 weeks. One area of focus that the
team has identified is the ability of NTS to take some of the load off ARES
by handling Health and Welfare traffic in and out of a disaster area. The
group is also working on materials for Simulated Emergency Tests (SET) that
would provide increased interaction between NTS and ARES.
Eastern Massachusetts held its annual SET on November 11. During this event,
several ARES groups across the Section set up, and nets were held on HF and
VHF. Stations checked into ARES nets and provided reports on which ATIS
(Automatic Terminal Information Service) stations they could hear. NTS also
held a VHF net and an HF digital net. Stations participating in the SET were
also encouraged to use their own station capabilities to send an NTS
radiogram to the Section Traffic Manager via one of the NTS nets, and
another radiogram to the Section Manager identifying which activities the
station participated in during the event. In addition, the Section Manager
sent radiograms having a precedence of TEST PRIORITY to Section leadership
and requesting an immediate response describing their SET participation.
This past year, as part of the NTS 2.0 project, NTS developed a standardized
methodology for sending ICS-213s encapsulated in radiograms for verbatim
delivery in ICS-213 format at the remote end. During this SET, ICS-213s were
sent via NTS, exercising this methodology to three other Sections.
The volume of traffic passed during the SET introduced some challenges which
were identified, leading to several lessons learned, many of which are
reflected in current NTS operations. The first was the importance of placing
operators in specific individual roles during an event. A net should have a
primary net control as well as a backup net control. This allows the primary
Net Control Station to tend to other issues as they arise and to have the
ability and time to survey the rest of the activities during the SET. Nets
should have at least one liaison station, whose responsibility is to take
traffic from that net to other nets. Nets should introduce failures into
their practice to develop procedures for recovering from those failures and
becoming more resilient. This is especially true for technology challenges
with the newer digital modes and applications, which are much "younger" than
CW and voice nets. -- Eastern Massachusetts Assistant Section Traffic
Manager Michael Ford, WZ0C
Training Can Be Fun!
--------------------
Does your net have a person who occasionally checks in, but is hesitant to
take that first message or originate their first radiogram? Perhaps they're
still a little unsure how to do it or are afraid to mess up in front of
everyone.
Consider emulating what one local traffic net does. The Net Control Station
initially asks for stations with traffic to check in, but also for stations
who wish to receive a training message. The message is sent from one of the
more experienced traffic handlers -- usually the net control. It consists of
a simple request like, "Please respond with the date of birth and birthplace
of Hiram Percy Maxim," or something similar.
It's a great way to help build a newcomer's confidence without throwing them
into "the deep end" with an actual message.
Arr, Matey! Ready for a Treasure Hunt?
--------------------------------------
Who says handling formal traffic always must be serious business? Our
esteemed Chief Executive Officer David Minster, NA2AA, who was once an
active traffic handler, recently suggested a fun exercise for the NTS
community: "Let's hold a treasure hunt!"
Contestants will respond to clues contained in the initial instructions from
an NTS Letter to which they will respond via radiogram to a "judge." The
judge will, in turn, respond via radiogram with the next clue to the puzzle.
You will have to be patient (like any good treasure hunter) and follow this
path for at least three or four cycles. If at any point your answer is
incorrect, you'll be asked to try again. If you are clever, good at
following directions, and not afraid to send and receive a few radiograms,
then you'll have a good chance at success. We're still working out the
details, but a crack team of NTS 2.0 participants recently conducted a small
trial run and the results were encouraging.
While we can't promise that the winner will receive a chest full of pieces
of eight* or a multi-kilobuck, state-of-the-art HF transceiver, there will
be some "trinkets" awarded at the end of the competition.
Plus, all participants will receive honorable mention in The NTS Letter.
An illustration of a treasure chest on a beach.Stay tuned for an upcoming
announcement and rules in a future issue.
* Pieces of eight are historical Spanish dollar coins minted in the Americas
from the late 15th century through the 19th century. Made of silver, they
were in nearly worldwide circulation by the late 19th century and were legal
currency in the United States until 1857.
Traffic Trivia
--------------
Trivia buffs, join a growing group of traffic handlers who play trivia by
finding the trivia question of the week on the ntstrivia.com website and
sending a radiogram with the answer to website owner -- and North Texas
Section Traffic Manager -- Aaron Hulett, K8AMH. Follow instructions on the
site. It's fun and generates traffic for NTS.
Winter Field Day is Coming
--------------------------
Here's an idea to generate more radiograms to liven up your traffic nets!
Winter Field Day (WFD) is coming January 27-28, 2024. While WFD is not an
ARRL event, it's a fun winter activity that's growing in popularity every
year. Many ARRL affiliated clubs participate in the event. ARRL's summer
Field Day event grants bonus points when a station originates, relays,
receives, or delivers messages during the Field Day period; however, there's
no mention in the Winter Field Day rules about bonus points for handling
radiogram traffic.
But why should that stop you from generating messages for the training and
fun of it? Encourage your WFD club effort to send formal radiogram traffic
to your local Emergency Coordinator, Section Emergency Coordinator, Section
Traffic Manager and/or Section Manager, including some details of your
winter operation:
Club or group name
Your location
Number of transmitters (WFD category)
Number of operators, and/or their call signs
The Winter Field Day rules can be found at
https://winterfieldday.org/rules.php
Symbol Rate Change
------------------
You no doubt heard that the FCC recently voted to remove the symbol or baud
rate restriction on HF bands and replace it with a 2.8 KHz bandwidth
limitation for digital communications. Up until now US amateurs have been
limited to a somewhat slow 300 baud rate on HF frequencies. With this
change, any baud rate will be permitted within the 2.8 KHz bandwidth. The
FCC acknowledged "the amateur radio community can play a vital role in
emergency response communications but is often unnecessarily hindered by the
baud rate limitations in the rules." FCC also stated, "we agree with ARRL
that a 2.8 kilohertz bandwidth limitation will allow for additional
emissions currently prohibited under the baud rate limitations while
providing sufficient protections in the shared RTTY/data sub bands."
What does this mean for NTS and ARES? For one thing, speed. Speed is of
course of utmost importance in transmission of disaster and other emergency
traffic, whether it is agency traffic that must get to destination within 30
minutes or a very large number of welfare messages. A PACTOR 4 modem moves
messages at approximately twice the speed of PACTOR 3, which is currently in
use by all DTN hub stations today. While PACTOR 4 modems are somewhat
expensive, it is expected that software modems will soon become available to
closely match the higher speeds, giving access to more digitally equipped
stations. It is also anticipated that with the faster speeds more stations
will be able to share a frequency where one can send traffic and exit a
frequency very quickly. Remembering that DTN (formerly NTSD) has evolved
from its earlier days of AMTOR and PACTOR 1 to PACTOR 3 and now VARA, we can
look forward to its further evolution as newer technology is developed. This
change from symbol rate to bandwidth restrictions will allow flexibility for
the development of new modes.
In addition to no longer requiring prompt action (which the Amateur Radio
Service has always received) on the part of officials when approving recent
requests by ARRL and others for temporary waiver of the baud rate limitation
during and immediately after natural disasters and other emergencies, delays
associated with the entire waiver preparation, application, and
dissemination process will now be completely eliminated. Digital operators
can be already equipped and trained in the use of newer modes when disaster
strikes, and time can mean safety of life and property, as well as peace of
mind to those whose loved ones are in a disaster area. We can be grateful to
ARRL for its persistence and to the FCC for making possible what we think is
positive change.
It is important to note that this change is not currently in effect. The FCC
states it will take effect 30 days after the new ruling is published in the
Federal Register.
Spotlight -- Jerry Burns, Jr., K1GUP, and Maine Seagull Net
-----------------------------------------------------------
Maine NTS Milestones
By Maine Section Manager Phil Duggan, N1EP
The Maine Seagull Net is a 75-meter traffic net that meets 6 days a week,
and it has two milestones to celebrate. How many hams have served as net
manager for the same net for 50 continuous years?
Maine Seagull Net Manager Jerry Burns, Jr., K1GUP
Jerry Burns, Jr., K1GUP, of Carmel, Maine, is one of only two hams believed
by your editor to have achieved that amazing accomplishment. He has been net
manager of the Seagull Net for more than half a century, and has served as
Net Control Station even longer! He was first licensed at age 11 in 1958 and
started checking into the Seagull Net around 1960.
The second milestone for this NTS-affiliated net is that in just a few weeks
it will enter its 85th year! Founded in 1939 by Win Ramsdell, W1FBJ (a
former Maine Section Communications Manager), and as a phone (AM) traffic
net, the net has served as a major conduit for radiograms coming into, out
of, and throughout the state of Maine for all these decades. Now, of course,
the net is conducted in single sideband for all but 2 days a year. Several
years ago Burns decided, for nostalgic reasons, to run the net in AM on the
Thursday before the time changes. The old-timers and newer hams alike seem
to really love taking a trip back in time to the pre-SSB days of heterodyning!
Burns discussed the history of the Maine Seagull Net during a Maine Ham
Radio Society interview on YouTube a couple of years ago. Check it out at
https://youtu.be/nx7_-w10puo?si=33rKGsDqc5TniwyZ
NTS Resources
-------------
The National Traffic Systemİ (NTS) is a network of amateur radio operators
who move information during disasters and other emergencies. General
messages offering well wishes also move through the NTS to help test the
system and to help amateur radio operators build traffic handling skills.
While the NTS is primarily set up to serve the United States and Canada, it
is possible to move traffic internationally through the NTS through various
local, regional, area, and international network connections.
NTS 2.0
NTS Manual
NTS Methods and Practices Guidelines Table of Contents
Handling Instructions
Numbered Texts
Form Encoding Rules for Form
Sign up to Receive The NTS Letter
---------------------------------
The NTS Letter is published monthly and is free of charge to ARRL members.
Subscribe: arrl.org/opt-in-out
Editor: Marcia Forde, KW1U, Section Traffic Manager -- Eastern
Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts, and Rhode Island
ARRL Director of Emergency Management: Josh Johnston, KE5MHV
ARRL Emergency Management Planner: Jeremy Dunkley, KC1SIV
Support NTS: Join ARRL
----------------------
NTS is a program of ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radioİ. No
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