The month of March 2021 was very impressive in the training of all net controls of the net and we were able to pass 10 pieces of Radiogram traffic this past month. I am of course not giving myself any credit, but to the helpful hands of Joe NE3R, (4) and then we passed some training messages to each net control and traffic liason.(6) PRACTICE MAKES BETTER COPY AND PERFECT COPY.
Bob Rice, KG4RRN EPTN Net Manager
Hello Hams and Welcome new hams!
This is the Official EPTN website. There is a lot going on in the ham world with advances in technology and our ability to communicate using a vast array of frequencies and modes.
This net is dedicated to traffic handling. What is traffic handling you say?
It is like having an old western union telegram delivered by ham radio.
One station originates the Radiogram and sends it off to a liason station which copies it down then gets on another net (usually on high frequency ) and resends it,then the operator on the hf net resends it back to a local vhf or uhf net in the home area of the person getting the message and then they contact them either one of four ways.
If the recipient is a ham radio operator they can try to call them over the air to copy the message.
If the person is not a ham but maybe a ham who is not on air several different methods may be used to deliver the radiogram.
The local recieving station can send a card in the mail to the recipient.
They can also call the recipient if a phone number is provided in the message address area.
Or if an email address is provided they can email the person.
The station delivering the radiogram cannot charge money for its delivery as its a free service provided by volunteer traffic handlers.
Just look up on google for the radiogram form called> RADIOGRAM
4 Parts to the Radio gram !
There are four parts to each message.
The first part is called the Preamble
Its where the message specific content goes such as the message number the handling instructions the callsign of the station of origin and the number of wordgroups as well as the date the message was sent.
The second part is called the Addressee . It is who is getting the radiogram.
Thats where the intended name address city state zipcode and phone number or email address of the recipient is placed.
The Third part contains the Message Body (or just the message part) which usually contains 25 or less wordgroups.
The Forth part contains a signature and callsign of the person who sent it.
Not all messages are sent by hams !
There are also message shortcuts which are referenced as ARL numbers.there is a whole list of those words on the web as well.
These radiograms can now be sent by voice or by data. There are networks of traffic nets which meet daily all around the country and some other countries where there is a third party agreement to handle these radiograms.
Please look up NTS on the arrl.org website for more information.
I will begin to breakdown these parts of wording a radiogram over the air soon.Tune in at 6:45pm on 147.255+pl 123 receive to learn how.
I have taught class on the formation and wording of the radiogram over the air to many hams.
Please join us for this fun activity and send your own radiogram to a friend or family member or even another ham radio operator.
Net Manager Bob Rice, KG4RRN Traffic Manager Frank Conard, N4SLR
Greeting fellow Amateurs, and Welcome to our Net
We meet 7 nights a week at 6:45PM, to pass formal written traffic as a public service into and out of the local area of Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson counties, in West Virginia.
Please contact me at kg4rrn@arrl.net if you would like to volunteer to be a Net Control.
The EPTN supports several other nets and liaison with the West Virginia Phone Net. (HF) and the ARES nets on VHF and UHF.
Please join us to learn how to be a net control, or try your hand at making or delivering message traffic. It is a great way to learn how it has been done, for over 50 years, and it is still relevant today 73⤵
Bob, KG4RRN, EPTN Net Manager.
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