Intro to Traffic Handling
Welcome to the KV8Z Ham Radio Blog! This blog's focus will be traffic handling, one of my favorite activities. Since this is the first post, I thought I would go over some of the basics.
What is traffic handling?
Traffic handling is the passing of messages. In Amateur Radio, this is accomplished thru the use of traffic nets. Messages can be sent nearly anywhere with this method. There is no charge for this service. In fact, the radiogram forms we use state explicitly that no compensation can be accepted.
What is a radiogram?
Radiograms are messages formatted for passing through the traffic nets. They can be up to 25 words in length, and in addition to the message, it will contain the addressee, instructions on how the ham handles the message, and other information. Radiogram forms are available from several sources, or you can use plain paper to write them down.
Tell me more about the traffic net.
A traffic net is a gathering of hams on the air for the purpose of sending messages to each other. These nets have a net control operator (NCO), who directs the net. The NCO will take check-ins from operators in a certain order. This order may vary slightly by net, but generally the net takes emergency or priority traffic first. This is normally followed by calls for liaison stations, stations with non-priority traffic, and then general check-ins. After the call for general check-ins, the traffic is passed.
There are several types of nets. Local nets are usually held on a local repeater. They often meet nightly at a given time, though some may not be every night. Section nets are usually held on high frequency (HF) bands, as they are designed to cover a section, usually an entire state. These nets can be in different modes, such as SSB or CW. Other HF nets cover larger areas, such as call districts or areas (East, Central, or West.)
I will follow up with more information about traffic handling soon. Until then, 73 and good luck from KV8Z!
What is traffic handling?
Traffic handling is the passing of messages. In Amateur Radio, this is accomplished thru the use of traffic nets. Messages can be sent nearly anywhere with this method. There is no charge for this service. In fact, the radiogram forms we use state explicitly that no compensation can be accepted.
What is a radiogram?
Radiograms are messages formatted for passing through the traffic nets. They can be up to 25 words in length, and in addition to the message, it will contain the addressee, instructions on how the ham handles the message, and other information. Radiogram forms are available from several sources, or you can use plain paper to write them down.
Tell me more about the traffic net.
A traffic net is a gathering of hams on the air for the purpose of sending messages to each other. These nets have a net control operator (NCO), who directs the net. The NCO will take check-ins from operators in a certain order. This order may vary slightly by net, but generally the net takes emergency or priority traffic first. This is normally followed by calls for liaison stations, stations with non-priority traffic, and then general check-ins. After the call for general check-ins, the traffic is passed.
There are several types of nets. Local nets are usually held on a local repeater. They often meet nightly at a given time, though some may not be every night. Section nets are usually held on high frequency (HF) bands, as they are designed to cover a section, usually an entire state. These nets can be in different modes, such as SSB or CW. Other HF nets cover larger areas, such as call districts or areas (East, Central, or West.)
I will follow up with more information about traffic handling soon. Until then, 73 and good luck from KV8Z!
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