We Augment and Support Vital Communications During Emergencies and Disasters for our Served Agencies especially "When all else fails"
Practice Message Traffic
Occasionally, during our Monday Night Net, a practice exercise message will be transmitted. We encourage every member to practice copying down the message as transmitted. Listed below are the original messages as transmitted in order for you to check your work. If you would like to participate in transmitting a practice message, all you have to do it to let the Net Control Station know.
When we are assigned to Red Cross facilities
we shall use the ARRL NTS Radiogram message form.
Remember, any practice exercise
message should be preceeded and ended by the statement "Exercise
Message". Don't want anyone thinking these are
representing a real event.
Below are the ARRL NTS Radiogram messages as transmitted.
Each message consists of a blank message form on top of the
page and the message on the bottom. Copy the message during
the net and then check your work.
Messages without dates have
not yet been transmitted. A practice message is not sent every week.
Messaging Transmitting Tips
Working with
messages is the core of what we do. Here are a few tips to help you
sound like a pro:
1) Read Chapter 5 in the ARRL Operating Manual, Message
Handling. It is good guidance for message handling.
2) When reading a message for transmission: 1) Preface
any numbers in the body of the message with the word "Figure"; 2)
Preface any abbreviations with the word "Initials"; and use the word
"Stroke" for the "/" symbol; and use the word "Break" at the end of
the body of the message before the signature line.
3) Keep the pacing SLOW! Reading a message SLOWLY may
take a while, but it is much faster than having to repeat yourself
to the sender because you talked too fast. Some message
senders slow down the pace by recopying the message on a blank form
as they read it.
How To Video
Here is a YouTube video titled
Handling Traffic by Voice on the National Traffic System.
Skip the first part of the video and advance to 8:20 of this 14:44
minute video. There are some good tips here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
