[KYHAM] Being a Good Net Control Station

[A. W.]

Mr. Lykins has covered the "personal requirements" of
Net Control pretty well. I would like to comment
briefly on the "technical requirements" for a good
NCS...

 Be sure your station itself is adequate for the job
at hand. Net control is only as good as the physical
equipment used.

 Particularly on HF nets, "net control" should be able
to establish and maintain frequency + or - a few
cycles. Unless there are QRM or other problems-If the
net is on say 3909khz, call it on 3909.0 not 3909.2 or
3908.9. Your old Swan 350 or FT101 won't cut it here.

 Limit background noise- a microphone gain set fully
clockwise looks great on your HF watt-meter, but
(usually)sounds terrible. We have all heard stations
where you can hear Blowers, TV sets and perhaps other
radios or people in the background. Net participants
are listening for you, not "Days of our Lives" or your
local scanner traffic. Leave the "DX chaser" mic in
the closet, and use a mic with a smooth response
curve. Have a trusted station give you an honest
opinion about your speech processor, most rigs are
more pleasing to listen to without aggressive
processing.


 For HF or simplex VHF/UHF- have adequate RF power
available, and an antenna that makes good use of that
power. On HF, 500 watts is a good place to start. For
144 and above 50 watts or more is not a bad idea.
Participants are more interested when they can
concentrate on the net and not the noise.         


AW
      
--- K4lid at cedarvalleybbs.com wrote:

> What does it take to be a Good Ncs?  Periodically, I
> have been asked
> this question.  A couple of weeks ago, I sat down
> and wrote what I
> thought a good net control should be and what
> characters he/she should
> exhibit.  Not only have I called nets in the amateur
> radio service but,
> I call nets in Army Mars as well.  Here is what I
> wrote.  Anyone may
> respond as they feel like doing.
>     What does it take to be  an Effective Net
> Control Station
> By Tom Lykins
> 
> 
> Throughout the years, one thing I have enjoyed in
> amateur radio is
> being the Net Control of a net.
> 
> It may be a Section-level-net, Regional Net or, just
> a "good-ole-
> rag chew-net."
> 
> While there have been various guidelines set up for
> nets, one thing
> that many of them have failed to address.
> 
> In order to be a good and effective Net Control
> Station you must
> have what I call "good people skills."  In other
> words, you must
> like people.  You must learn to be an effective
> communicator and be
> able to interact with the members on your net
> "one-on-one," or you
> will never really master the art of being a good Net
> Control
> station.
> 
> The question then is--"how can I acquire these
> skills?"
> 
> First, you must listen to the group that you want to
> be an Ncs of.
> It may be a traffic net or just a "rag-chew-net. 
> Learn who the
> people are who participate in this group activity
> and something
> about each of them.
> 
> Become part of the group yourself.  You must learn
> to interact with
> them and identify with things they are interested in
> even if the
> subject matter has no interest to you personally.
> 
> Try, if you can, to educate yourself on  the topics
> they discuss
> even if you only have a very basic and rudimentary
> understanding of
> the subject matter  like fishing, auto racing,
> motorcycles, guns,
> knives, campers, recreational vehicles and the list
> goes on.
> 
> Try, if you can to become somewhat familiar enough
> with these
> topics to where, if you have no interest in them,
> you  can let the
> members of the group  discuss their interests. 
> There will still be
> plenty of time left for you to get on the air and
> talk about your
> interests.
> 
> As much as possible, try and become an "ombusman" on
> as many
> subjects as you can.  This is not to say that you
> must become an
> expert on each and every thing that is brought up
> but, at least
> know where to go and get the answer to a question
> that may come up
> or have a good idea where a person may go to get the
> answer to
> their question.
> 
> Offer help when asked.  Try and not force your
> thoughts or ideas on
> the group or one individual unless asked to do so.
> 
> Now, lets  talk about how to conduct the net.
> 
> First, get the callsigns right.  Don't guess or
> "flub up."  This is
> a total "turn-off" to the net participants. 
> Remember, as Net
> control station you are the "boss" to a point.  This
> is to say that
> while you are in charge of the net you don't do
> anything that would
> be counter-productive to the net.  By being the boss
> you control
> the net.  Don't let the net control you.  All to
> often Net Control
> stations have never learned this skill.
> 
> If you are going to be a successful Net control
> station you must
> learn this skill above and beyond any other.  If a
> station steps
> out of line just lightly admonish him and say that
> he or she will
> be identified in their proper time and place.
> 
> In this day and age we are so concerned with
> "political
> correctness" that we have, unknowingly, deminished
> our
> effectiveness as a Net Control Station.
> 
> We have become to concerned about "hurting some ones
> feelings" that
> we forget why we are here in the first-place.
> 
> If we use tact, we can effectively do what we
> started to accomplish
> in the first place.
> 
> If the net you call has a comment section, when
> addressing the
> stations for comments always call the station, know
> their name and
> try to come up with something that is unique only to
> that person.
> If you don't know their name and location, it is
> your
> responsibility to find out then do what ever it
> takes to commit
> that to memory.   Never just give partial callsigns
> as this sends
> a message to that net participant that you really
> know nothing
> about them.  This will generally turn them off and
> they are not
> likely to participate in your net again.
> The net participants want to be able to identify
> with "you."  You
> are their director for that few minutes you are
> calling the net.
> They are looking to you, unconsciously for guidance
> of-a-sort.
> If your net is a traffic net, it is imperative that
> you know and
> understand the National Traffic System and how it is
> supposed to
> work.  Never"guess."
> 
> Understand all functions of Nts and learn them well.
>  If you need
> to keep a desk-reference at your operating position
> then "do so."
> Study it do not try and leaf through it and guess as
> to what you
> should do.
> 
> All to often, people want to call the net but don't
> know just where
> and how to begin.  While their heart may be inthe
> the right place,
> it is not just something that happens. Never give
> anet "stolen
> minutes of your time."   It takes both study and
> practice.
> 
> Never hurry through a net.  Before agreeing to be  a
> Net Control
> station, study and look how long that it takes,for
> the person  whom
> you perceive as a good  net control station to call
> the net and
> pace yourself accordingly.
> 
> Net participants can tell if you are in a hurry to
> "just get it
> over with," and, here again it is a turn-off.
> 
> I am only writing this because I have been asked
> what it takes to
> be a good Net Control station.  You may agree or
> disagree.  That is
> up to you.  However, in closing, if you will try my
> method you will
> find that you will be much more successful in this
> endeavor.
> 
> Tom Lykins  K4lid/AAM4TKY.
> _______________________________________________
> Support Amateur Radio in Kentucky!
> http://www.kyham.net/
> 
=== message truncated ===



		
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