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Re: 60m band comments to the FCC
The deadline for 60 meter comments to the FCC has been extended until November 28th. Link to overview and comments:?
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From the Editor
We hope you enjoyed the premier issue of?The NTS Letter.? NTS 2.0 Update
ICS-213 Compatibility: Using Radiograms to Pass Served Agency Forms
From the NTS2.arrl.org website: In emergencies, practice exercises, and other scenarios, radio amateurs will likely pass messages for the various served agencies, such as FEMA, Red Cross, and others. It is important that we are able to relay these messages in a way that is compatible with the agencies' existing methods. While NTS stations are used to using the standard radiogram format, agencies will use their own forms, such as the ICS-213 form pictured here. As part of NTS 2.0, numerous NTS stations and EmComm operators have worked together to define methods and procedures for passing these various agency forms encapsulated within radiograms. This allows the NTS relay stations to handle radiograms as they are used to, while served agencies can continue to utilize their forms. The??for transmission through the National Traffic System as radiograms, and their final delivery to the served agency in the native form format. We realize that radiograms with encapsulated agency forms are much longer than traditional radiograms and take more time and effort when passed on CW or voice modes. We expect these forms to be passed primarily via digital modes for most emergencies, but there can indeed be circumstances when they need to be sent via voice or CW. This could be due to the scale and type of emergency, or because of delivering station capabilities. To be prepared for these circumstances, we hope voice and CW participants and their nets will take pains to become familiar with the forms and develop proficiency through the practice of handling the encoded forms on those modes. The NTS 2.0 Digital and EmComm working groups have developed encoding for:
It is anticipated that encoding for more forms will be established as we move forward. We will be updating this material as it is developed. Massachusetts Rhode Island Digital Net
A New England NTS net played an integral role in a recent ARES Simulated Emergency Test on Cape Cod. The??(MARIDN) meets weekly for the purpose of passing formal, written NTS messages within, into, and out of the Sections of Eastern and Western Massachusetts and Rhode Island. MARIDN is supplemental to the Massachusetts Rhode Island Phone Net (MARIPN) and Massachusetts Rhode Island CW Net (MARICW). MARIDN uses digital modes rather than phone or CW, particularly the fldigi?suite of software. One of the Many Tools in Our Toolbox The Cape & Islands ARES team has long embraced NTS as one of many tools in our toolbox for passing messages in emergencies. During exercises, the team routinely uses NTS procedures to pass formal traffic between field stations. For the recent?,"?held August 5, 2023, the Cape & Islands ARES team ran a tactical voice FM simplex net. Then participants passed formal, written NTS traffic via voice from field sites to exercise Net Control, then to exercise NCS liaison N1ILZ. Later in the exercise, N1ILZ was NCS for a session of MARIDN, during which NTS exercise traffic was passed to the greater NTS system for delivery. Conclusions: Tactical voice nets are essential for ARES emergency operations. But there will always be a need for a way to pass formal, written traffic. This is where NTS shines. NTS nets can employ voice, CW, and digital modes. MARIDN is exploring how to use the fldigi?suite / NBEMS to operate an NTS net on HF (80 meters). Advantages include faster message transmission and error correction. The Cape & Islands ARES group fully embraces NTS as one of many "tools in the toolbox," including the relatively new MARIDN. Liven Up Your Routine Traffic
As active traffic handlers, many of us have relayed or delivered a "Welcome to amateur radio" radiogram to a newly licensed amateur. Some folks do not like accepting these types of messages, claiming that it is next to impossible to deliver radiograms when they contain incorrect phone numbers or no phone numbers at all. Perhaps it is time to inject some variety into our routine traffic! Some folks have started creating fun "quiz" sessions where answers are submitted via radiogram. Others confirm their POTA (Parks On The Air) contacts via radiogram. One innovative amateur even offers free certificates for special event contacts, providing the other party "QSLs" via radiogram. (Otherwise, a self- addressed, stamped envelope is required.) The possibilities are endless; the only limit is your imagination. I would like to suggest another idea for originating meaningful routine traffic: Many ARES groups and clubs conduct communications for walkathons, parades, and other public service activities. Why not thank the participants via radiogram? The ham coordinator of the public service event keeps an accurate roster of the volunteers, complete with phone numbers and email addresses. They will no doubt welcome the efforts of a local traffic handler sending a radiogram message on their behalf expressing a "job well done." It's a perfect match! The public service radiogram can be a nice acknowledgement and, at the same time, inject some variety into our daily traffic routine. - New England Division Vice Director?Phil Temples K9HI ME Traffic Handler Generates Radiograms from Local Library
From the e-mailbag: Al Sirois, N1MHC, of East Boothbay, Maine reports that he, with K1CYJ and KC1TKR, collected 28 NTS messages at the local library during an event called "Booktoberfest" and transmitted these over the Maine NTS System that day. Al says Heather, KC1TKR, a new licensee, came approximately 50 miles from Oakland, ME to take part in this activity. According to the website at?, Booktober festivities included "Boothbay Region Amateur Radio Station -?Join members of the N1MHC Ham radio team to learn about the fascinating world of amateur radio and send a message to a friend anywhere in the world!" Another good idea for traffic originations. GTE: An APRS-NTS Gateway
APRS, an?Automatic?Packet?Reporting?System, is used by many amateur radio operators as a digital communications information channel, conveying announcements, bulletins, messages, alerts, and weather information.?Eastern Massachusetts Assistant Section Traffic Manager, Michael Ford, WZ0C, has developed an APRS information service to allow APRS users to send a radiogram through his NTS Gateway (NTSGTE) to the Digital Traffic Network (DTN) where it is relayed as usual. This service would be useful if you wanted to send a radiogram and for whatever reason, such as perhaps you are traveling, are unable to check into a traditional NTS net. You can use this on any APRS client, such as the APRSdroid app or APRSIS32 on Windows. For information on how to send a radiogram via APRS, check the website at?, Training and Documentation, Special Topics, NTSGTE: an APRS-NTS Gateway, or send an email to?WZ0C@.... NTS Update from Atlantic Provinces of Canada
The Canadian provinces have long been a part of NTS. In the Eastern Area Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces were all part of what was called the 11th region, or ECN (Eastern Canada Net). ECN met nightly and sent a liaison station to the Eastern Area Net. Eventually, however, lack of participation caused that net to deactivate, and Eastern Canadian traffic was then routed via the 2nd region. Recently however, Glenn Killam, VE1IJ, who recently relocated from Ontario to Nova Scotia, has been collaborating with Joe Earles, VO1BQ, of Newfoundland to revive an Atlantic Provinces Net. Glenn's article, "Atlantic Area Amateurs Needed for Traffic Net," is being posted to?TCA Magazine?in Canada with hopes of recruiting new traffic handlers. Someday, ECN could operate again, but meanwhile Glenn uses the NTS to send radiograms welcoming new amateurs and congratulating hams on their upgrades throughout the US. Spotlight: Aaron Hulett, K8AMH
Many of you are familiar with the NTS Trivia radiograms from Little Elm, Texas, or have been a part of the ARRLNTS group on groups.io.
The traffic handler behind both activities is Aaron Hulett, K8AMH. As you might tell from his call sign, Aaron grew up in Michigan where he was fascinated with weather, wondering how he could help during major storm systems. This led him to become involved with SKYWARN, which led him to amateur Radio. He received his license in 2005 and has been a big contributor ever since. His professional background has included program manager, paralegal, and software engineer. He currently works as a project manager for a managed service provider. As a ham radio operator, Aaron has been active in both NTS and emergency communications. He currently serves as Section Traffic Manager for the North Texas Section and is a regular net control on the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) Metroplex Traffic Net, which is an affiliate of the ARRL National Traffic System. He has also been assisting with the NTS 2.0 initiative to help expand participation and lay the groundwork for how the NTS can assist in today's incident response environment. He became involved in traffic handling after hearing the DFW traffic net shortly after moving to the area in 2017, and quickly became interested after seeing the potential the traffic system offered. As a STM, he feels one of his primary responsibilities is to push the system to move out of its comfort zone and embrace growth and change. He has conducted a traffic system exercise simulating an infrastructure failure in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and coordinated with the Oklahoma and South Texas Sections to execute an exercise simulating widespread hurricane destruction affecting Houston. These have provided valuable insight into how the system can respond, and what areas to look at for refining operations and developing new best practices for traffic handlers, net control stations, and Section Traffic Managers overseeing operations. Outside of amateur radio, you might find Aaron at a local amusement park, where he enjoys riding roller coasters, especially those with airtime. If you find yourself at Cedar Point, you may catch him riding Magnum XL-200 repeatedly during opening and closing weekends. NTS Resources
The National Traffic System??(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. Sign up to receive?The NTS Letter
The NTS Letter?is published monthly and is free of charge to ARRL members. Subscribe:? 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??. No other organization works harder than ARRL to promote and protect amateur radio! ARRL members enjoy many benefits and services including digital magazines, e-newsletters, online learning (), and technical support. Membership also supports programs for radio clubs, on-air contests, Logbook of The World?, ARRL Field Day, and the all-volunteer ARRL Field Organization.
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A monster asset - WILMAR node and 444.800 repeater
I recently received an email from Ace KB0MNU describing the mounting location and antennae in conjunction with the packet node and UHF repeater. |
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The Great Car Run caper of 1994
The Great Car Run Packet Caper
Every August antique car enthusiasts hold a 90 mile run for cars made before 1920 that goes from New London, MN to New Brighton, MN.
For many years the Willmar Ham radio club provided communications support by placing mobile hams with 2 meter transceivers amoungst the participants.
They used the 146.91 repeater which is a wide area coverage machine and put up a net control tent at the Buffalo, MN halfway stop. Usually a crowd would gather around to hear the progress. The old guard in our club reveled in this opportunity to show off their repeater and made no secret of it.? One of the other factions in our club were the digital packet radio folks like myself who saw greater possibilities by merging radio and data. One of the obvious uses combined the new GPS service many of us had with digital radio to allow us to track a GPS transmitter paired together.
The much re known APRS was in it's infancy then - the biggest snag was a lack of decent maps to plot on the computer screen. The popular thing at the time was to attach a GPS to a laptop computer running the Delorme mapping program.
The present location would show as a green arrow on a very detailed map! In doing some experiments, I discovered it was possible to send the data from a GPS to the computer via packet radio, cutting the cord, so to speak.
We ran experiments on quiet simplex frequencies to fine tune the process and stay below the "old guard's" radar. In the summer of 1994 with the help of John K0CQW and Joe N0NCO, we put together the system.
John got us access to a tower near Lake Minne Belle where we installed a temporary packet repeater which filled in a coverage hole once we were out of the Spicer packet nodes range. Joe set up his own tent in Buffalo with a 1000W Honda generator,? packet station, antenna and the biggest monitor I'd seen attached to his laptop computer that was running the Delorme mapping program. I was the tracking car. It took a little convincing to allow me to join the pack, but once in, I just stayed a safe distance behind whoever was the leader.
I was mostly in the dark as to how it was working as my radio was tied up doing packet. When we stopped in Litchfield I was able to hear the good news that everything was working better than we'd hoped! At Buffalo, word got out that Joe had a graphic display of the run going and the crowd gathered round to watch.
When we got to the Buffalo fairgrounds, our stopping point, I peeled off and drove over to the tent. The folks watching the arrow thought the old car was outside, but, it was just me, grinning ear to ear in my Dodge Colt with the GPS antenna "boob" on the roof. For a day, at least, we'd stole their fire. ?
Mike N0QBH |
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W0SW local packet history
Early Packet Radio in central MN
In 1991 when I got my Ham radio licence the other technical "rage" was Bulletin Board Services (BBS) which operated over phone lines with dial up modems allowing us to read and send messages (think early email) with our computer.
The downside of BBS activity was cost. It was usually long distance to any of the bigger, non local BBS's, so the meter was always running.
On the other hand, I'm sure the phone companies loved it.
After I had gotten my feet wet in amateur radio, mainly in the VHF and UHF FM operations, I discovered Hams also communicated with computer modems over radio channels at whopping speeds of 300 and 1200 baud!
Early on, a group of Hams from Tuscon, AZ designed and sold a modem kit called a Terminal Node Connector 2 (TNC2). It was an instant hit and several companies cloned the design, putting it in range of the typical ham for around $100. The TNC was connected to the computer with a serial cable and to the radio's microphone connection.?
This facet of ham radio took off, primarily because hams also tended to be early adopters of personal computers and love new gadgets.?
Our local college in Willmar had a wireless communication program that was very popular turning out two way radio technicians.
It's instructor, Roger Williams W0WUG(sk) had a packet station at the lab and it was using a 100' tall tower, one of two the school had for training. As a result of it's height and quality installation, it had a wide coverage and many area hams used it to get on packet radio.
About the same time Ham programmers were creating BBS and network software (mostly free) designed for radio use that also included message forwarding and routing routines. BBS programs were computer based while network modems were EPROM replacements for the TNC2 that eliminated the user interface and used intelligent algorithms to route the traffic.
In essence, a network for Packet Radio was evolving before our eyes.?
Hams with high locations, like myself, were able to connect to these packet radio networks at night that were starting to appear in Minneapolis and St Cloud. It made us want more...
One of the local hams, Dick Butler W0RIM(sk), had connections to the St. Cloud Ham club and made the introductions to Hank Koch NF0H(sk), Ed Steinblock K0VU(sk) and Jack Maus W0MBD(sk).?
Hank was already running a BBS, but found the connection to Minneapolis to be very unreliable. We all agreed a designated "backbone" that would move the traffic between us and the metro was needed. The result was a UHF (446 MHz) path extending from the west metro to a 1400' site east of Cold Spring. The Cold Spring site had a line of sight path to the Mpls "node" and a clear north-south path to St Cloud and my QTH on Ringo Lake near Spicer. Frankly, we were very fortunate geography was our friend.
We used cutting edge (at the time) 9600 baud radio modems grafted to network TNCs for greatly increased throughput.?
At the time, the radio transceivers had to be modified to work at 9600 baud, so I turned to Roger W0WUG(sk) and a student of his Joel N0NCO, from Ridgewater Wireless to teach me how.
I might also add another of Roger's former students, Dan Karg WB0GDB, was also active in packet radio and created the 9600 baud connection at the Minneapolis end. This, in turn, connected us to the rest of the packet radio BBS "world".
With a solid connection in place, we had two local access BBSs running on each end for a total of four. Two in St Cloud, one at Ringo Lake and one in Willmar.
About the same time I procured a rent free location at the 150' level on a 500' tower near Spicer. This was a wide area access node running 50W on VHF (145 MHz) and 1200 baud. With it, hams from a 30 mile radius could easily access the two local BBSs as well as other hams on this network. It was called MNSPI and served the packet community until the tower site was sold and we had to vacate around 2000.
One of the earlest users of the Internet were Ham radio packet operators using "wormholes" between universities (where the Internet resided in those days). These wormholes allowed us to virtually appear on a distant network - in our case usually Florida. From there we would connect to and chat with other hams in the Sunshine state like they were local.
Most users "surfed" the local BBS stations reading personal messages, public bulletins and often, posting their own replies. This was almost always 2 meter FM 1k2 baud in order to keep the hardware requirements simple. If you were already operating voice mode, all you needed was a TNC (modem).
Then the Internet happened and this all died off. ?
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WILMAR Node etc
Just a note with a new subject line - the WILMAR packet radio node is on line and open to ALL licensed Ham users.
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Re: WILMAR packet node offline this weekend
Sorry for the delay, Ben.
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Re: 60m band comments to the FCC
I'd like to urge everyone to submit a comment to the FCC on the negative effect of the proposed changes to the 60m band.?
I submitted comments on the behalf of myself and the W0SW club. Comments do nott have to be overly complicated, a simple example could be "Please reconsider the changes to the 60m band. A reduction in power limits the effectiveness of emergency communications during disasters and the ability to relay information over a larger effective area". It's important that the FCC receives a large response from the amateur radio community regarding this issue even if you don't use the 60m band or have HF privileges. |
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Re: WILMAR packet node offline this weekend
Thank you for the 2m packet presentation at the meeting last night. If I get a chance to get everything set up next weekend I'll give it a try and see if I can make a contact with you through the WILMAR node.?
Is there an online resource anywhere that I can find a "cheat sheet" with commands used for getting started? |
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Re: WILMAR packet node offline this weekend
WILMAR is back on line at the LEC site and is sporting it's new callsign W0SW (Willmar Ham club's call).
The CQ IDer is no longer active which will likely be appreciated by the other nodes it would occasionally interfere with. I also enabled the node's mailbox W0SW-1. This can be a place to leave messages for other users and works like a public email.? I limited the memory allocated to about 20k, so there won't be any huge tomes there, just messages. Thanks again to Tony WD0HXV for getting me in and sort of introducing me to the "new" WIllmar EAR. 73 Mike? N0QBH |
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WILMAR packet node offline this weekend
Tony WD0HXV & I removed the WILMAR (note the spelling) node TNC from it's normal location under the LEC big tower Friday.
This was done to change the node callsign from Ace Bonnema's KB0MNU to the Willmar EAR club callsign W0SW and to check over the health of the unit. I also turned off the CW ider as it is bad for the network and not required in the US. Tony and I tentatively plan to reinstall it Sunday. I'm hoping to cobble together a packet station for the meeting Tuesday and demo it to the troops. 73 Mike N0QBH |
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Kenwood TS-570 For Sale
Kevin-W0RND has a Kenwood TS-570 for sale. $400
Contact Kevin for info at either kc0cgm04@... or cell #320_492_1939 Thanks. #ForSale |
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Re: Digital system for hospital
Dan Gelle KC0CAP would be the best source of information that I know in regards to your question.
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Re: [NLRS] FM carrier with roger beep on 144.200 at 85 degrees azimuth
Hello Mary W?AAT and fellow Amateurs, I normally don’t get on here all that often, but been on the NLRS email reflector for some years now. I’ve been into Fox hunting for many years. I thought I might be able to try to help here if I can.? If other hams are hearing stuff send me an email directly to me at KB0DCO@... or REPLY here at NLRS. The more data I can get from other hams, I will try to compile the data on this map using CalTopo. It is a live link till I delete the map. ( screenshot below.) To try track down man made noises. Either being made by industrial machines or a person who is interfering with ham radio communications.? On this map, I’ve made a custom colors elevations on the map. It’s something I’m using to study the terrain a bit better. Anyone can turn items on and off in the columns on either side of the map. At this time, I believe I’m the only one that can add/edit this map. (Let me know if you are able to.) So after seeing your message, I thought this was interesting to me because I’ve also heard something stop my radio scanning on 144.200 from my location from time to time. But not enough to have a significant signal reading here in Stewart using a 5/8 wave mag mount antenna inside my apartment. For those looking to help and make reports… By having a beam antenna and reporting the degrees from your location, plus a signal strength level. If you are a mobile station driving down the road with a vertical antenna… Just give your cross streets with a signal report. Then at a later time, someone can go investigate from those locations that you were in. A Report Example: Station Reporting: (KB?DCO Thomas) What was Heard: (FM Carrier) Receiving Frequency: (144.200) Signal Strength: S9 +10 Db Cross Streets and City or County Location: (Hwy 212 & 41, Carver Co.) In What Direction in Degrees: 260 If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me and we can discuss things in more detail. KB?DCO Thomas Gagnon Sent from my IPAD 4th Gen. Air Touch On Sun, Oct 15, 2023 at 1:34?PM Mary Brown <maryalanab@...> wrote: I am hearing an FM carrier with a roger beep on 144.200 pointed at 85 |
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60m band comments to the FCC
Link to article above. ARRL Urges Comments to FCC on 60-Meter Band10/10/2023
? is asking that all radio amateurs urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to continue the existing use of the 60-meter band. A public comment period is open until October 30, 2023. ARRL encourages expressions of support to the FCC for the current 100 W ERP power limit (instead of reducing the power limit to 15 W EIRP) and continuing secondary access to the current channels.? ARRL has assembled a web page with instructions on how to submit your comments, as well as background information on the issue:?.? To submit a filing of your comments for the FCC’s consideration in the rulemaking process, go to the FCC web page for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking’s (NPRM) Docket Number 23-120 at?. If you wish to directly enter your comments, select the button labeled??or if you are uploading a document that contains your comments, select?. When submitting your comments, be sure the correct proceeding’s docket number, 23-120, is included on the form.?Your name and comments will be entered into the official public record of the proceedings and will be viewable by anyone who visits the docket web page. While radio amateurs are encouraged to include any comments they would like in their submissions, they’re especially encouraged to draw upon their personal experiences using the 60-meter band for public service purposes and for its location between the amateur 80- and 40-meter bands, which is critical to ensuring signal propagation to certain geographic areas during variations in time and the solar cycle. For example, ensuring radio amateurs have a continuum of communication capabilities across the 7 MHz, 5 MHz, and 3.5 MHz bands is valuable for emergency communications, especially between the US and Caribbean nations during hurricane season. ? ? Some of the main points to comment on for this NPRM are:
ARRL Public Relations and Outreach Manager Sierra Harrop, W5DX, underscored the importance of commenting, urging members to speak up. “ARRL members make up the strongest voice in matters of amateur radio spectrum defense,” said Harrop. “Your membership and participation in the rulemaking process both ensure ARRL continues to make the difference when our band privileges are threatened. Please join us in effort to protect our 60-meter band privileges |
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TARPN - An interesting approach to packet radio in the 21st century
What I find interesting - TARPN seems to have figured out how to implement forward error correction (FEC) to AX.25 packets.
Packet's greatest downfall has always been lack of robustness - one error and the packet is trash. This could change. Another thing is they have figured out how to use mobile radios that claim to support 9600 baud packet (but never did very well) by reducing the speed in half to 4800 baud. I plan to build and test their NinoTNC with a couple of Yaesu FT-2600 2m radios that fall into the above mentioned category. 73 Mike? N0QBH |
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Quarterly Meeting
Hello members,
The clubs quarterly meeting is coming up on Tuesday, October 24th at 6:30pm. The meeting will be held at the Kandiyohi County Rescue Squad building. The address is 213 Lakeland Dr NE Willmar, Mn 56201 |
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W0AYE Ben Wussow
We heard from many of you and thank you for your kind words of support. We hope you will spread the word to others. Feel free to share this newsletter with those who may or may not be ARRL members but who have shown an interest in message handling. (Of course, you could encourage non-members to join.) Also remember to send news or suggestions from your Sections. We want to hear from you.
N0QBH Mike Berg
Willmar Area Emergency Amateur Radio Club