[GCARC] SNJ Section Traffic Manager

[Dave Sheppard]

Fellow GCARC Members,
I am cross posting this from the section Groups.io page to try and get maximum coverage. Given the size, depth of interest, and legacy of the GCARC, I hope to use you as my "target audience" as we embark on trying to reinvigorate the NTS in the SNJ section. Please read on:

From: ARRLSouthernNewJerseySection at groups.io On Behalf Of Dave Sheppard W2PAX
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2025 12:40
To: ARRLSouthernNewJerseySection at groups.io
Subject: Re: [ARRLSouthernNewJerseySection] Section Traffic Manager

Many thanks to Ron for his confidence in appointing me as STM. I am humbled to be able to serve the section where I was born and raised, and where my amateur radio roots are. My grandfather, Gurdon Cooper (“Coop” to those who knew him best) was the original W2PAX. I have fond memories sitting in his shack in Gibbstown while he pounded out CW QSO’s, or riding along with him on amateur radio events. I have one particular memory of an absolutely scorching summer day along the Bike-A-Thon route at the Elm fire house.

As Ron notes, the National Traffic System is alive and well, and still relevant in the 21st century. A region or nationwide comms outage is a real possibility whether from power/comms grid failures, or a bad actor. We need to be prepared to handle messages for our neighbors, communities and our served agencies. That could come in the form of health and welfare radiogram traffic, or an ICS-213 packed into radiogram format.

One of the many ways we train for this is to exercise the NTS on a daily basis. Traffic nets and digital stations are running around the globe, around the clock. Routine “blue sky” messages could include birthday greetings, QSO thanks, congratulations on a license achievement, etc. While these messages may seem mundane, they are how we keep our skills and our nets ready to pass traffic during “gray sky” times without hesitation.

The SNJ section hasn’t had much of an NTS presence for quite a while. (To be clear: it hasn’t been zero, and to those who do their part regularly, we appreciate you!) With help from the entire section, I think we can change that. Here in SFL, all it took was getting some awareness and a little training, and we’ve had great luck in building interest. I expect the same can happen in SNJ.

Remember it won’t happen overnight. Ron and I will begin by having what will likely be more than one meeting/call to plan our approach. Then we’ll need to enlist the section as a whole to generate the participation needed.

For now, I am going to ask two things from the section:

First:
Please take some time to learn about the NTS in general. The ARRL has two websites:

https://www.arrl.org/nts
This is where you will find a basic description of the NTS. It also has several resources on the page, including a link to the entire NTS Procedures & Guidelines (if you need bedtime reading, hi hi). You will also find a link for opting into The NTS Letter. This is a monthly newsletter specifically for the NTS. I urge everyone to receive it.
NOTE: Do *not* use the net directory. This is not up to date. Updating the net directory was a significant goal prior to the ARRL cyber-attack, but has been pushed back while the League upgrades their IT infrastructure.

https://nts2.arrl.org/
This is the homepage for the NTS 2.0 working group. The NTS 2.0 group has been working for about two years now to reinvigorate and modernize the NTS. Their work has been exemplary. Please take some time to read over the materials here and learn what the group is doing to keep the NTS relevant. You can also view back issues of The NTS Letter here.

Second:
I would like everyone to send a radiogram to me. In the signature of your radiogram, please include a phone number or email address for return messages to be delivered to.

Sending a radiogram is the first step to getting involved with the NTS. It isn’t hard, and there are several ways you can do it:
• If you have access to a traffic net, this should be your primary method of passing traffic. If it’s your first time, don’t be afraid. Most traffic handlers are more than happy to elmer a new traffic handler.
• If you don’t have access to a traffic net, you can use the radiogram template in Winlink. Fill the template out, and choose “RRI-REGION4” as the liaison at the bottom of the template. (NOTE: My full contact information including phone number are on my QRZ.com page)
• If you can’t access a traffic net or use Winlink, you can use the radiogram web portal at https://nts2.arrl.org/radiogram/. Once entered, a traffic handler registered with the portal will pick up the message and inject into the NTS by a traffic net or a digital traffic station.

I will reply to ALL radiograms received – by radiogram! Depending how many radiograms I receive and their transit time, it may take a while to reply to them all, so be patient. Remember that during “blue sky” times, routine traffic can take a couple days to work their way through the cycle of nets in the NTS.

Finally, it needs to be noted that an out-of-section appointee is not the ideal situation. We need a candidate to fill the STM position from within the section who is willing to build out an NTS infrastructure (i.e. traffic handlers and local/section nets) and report to ARRLHQ. I hope that at least one of you will feel the same spark that I did when I got involved back in 2016 here in SFL, and eventually want to transition into a leadership role.

We will have more information coming your way, so stay tuned. Until then…keep the traffic moving!!

73
Dave
W2PAX
SNJ & SFL STM
Naples, FL