Tag: RRI

EmComm, Agency Engagement, Documentation & Procedures / NTS Letter

Area Staff Chairs Reinstated

- by Jay

The following appeared in the September NTS Letter:

For decades, three area staffs — Eastern, Central and Pacific (now renamed Western) — oversaw the operation of the NTS above Section level. Each staff was comprised of region and area net managers and Transcontinental Corps directors for each of the two operating cycles (afternoon SSB and evening CW) as well as an area digital coordinator and several members-at-large. Each of the three staffs elected a chair from among their members to serve a term of two years. Each staff determined the operation of their respective areas, but in matters concerning the entire network, the three chairs would work together to resolve issues. In 2016, the election of staff chairs was discontinued and overall leadership of the upper-level network disintegrated.

At the ARRL Board of Directors meeting in July 2025, a motion was unanimously passed to re-establish the staffs and election of area chairs, thereby restoring leadership to the network. This is very welcome news. The motion is reproduced below. More details will be made available in future issues of this newsletter.

35. The Emergency Communications and Field Services Committee moved that:

WHEREAS, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has a fundamental interest in fostering and maintaining a robust National Traffic System (NTS). The NTS serves as a vital, organized network of amateur radio operators capable of efficiently relaying messages throughout the United States and Canada. This capability is particularly crucial in times of emergency, where reliable communication is paramount. The NTS is designed to work in close collaboration with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), ensuring a coordinated and effective response to disasters and other urgent situations; and

 

WHEREAS, Radio Relay International (RRI), while operating independently, shares a common goal with the NTS in modernizing and enhancing the National Traffic System and to promote and develop effective programs that ensure basic, survivable connectivity in times of emergency. This collaborative partnership strengthens the overall effectiveness and resilience of amateur radio emergency communications capabilities, and

 

WHEREAS, a close collaboration between the NTS and RRI is significantly strengthening amateur radio’s ability to provide essential communication services during emergencies and other critical situations, and

WHEREAS, the top-level leadership structure of the NTS, specifically the Area Staff Chairs for the Eastern, Central, and Pacific Areas, was disbanded approximately a decade ago. This decision has arguably weakened the NTS’s overall effectiveness and coordination, and

 

WHEREAS, the Area Staff Chairs played a critical role within the NTS, charged with the following key responsibilities:

 

1. Oversight and Guidance: Overseeing the performance and operations of NTS officials within their respective areas, ensuring adherence to established protocols and promoting efficient message handling.

 

2. Advisory Role: Providing expert advice and guidance to Transcontinental Corps (TCC) Directors, Area Net Managers, and Region Net Managers, facilitating informed decision-making and strategic planning.

 

3. Traffic Management: Establishing guidelines and best practices for managing high volumes of traffic within the NTS. This included optimizing message routing, prioritizing emergency communications, and maintaining the overall health and efficiency of the system.

 

4. Emergency Preparedness: Maintaining a heightened awareness of potential disasters and other emergencies, proactively preparing the NTS to respond effectively, and ensuring seamless integration with ARES operations when needed.

 

THEREFORE, be it resolved by the Board of Directors of the ARRL that Minute 33 from the July 2016 Board meeting is hereby rescinded, and that the Area Staff Chairs for the NTS Eastern, Central, and Pacific (Western) Areas are to be reinstated. These Chairs shall be elected by their respective Area Staff Members, guaranteeing a democratic and representative selection process, with each term lasting two years. Additionally, each Area Staff Chair shall have the authority to appoint active and knowledgeable NTS members within their respective Area to form a Staff to provide advice and assistance, as needed, in fulfilling the duties of the Area Staff Chair position.

 

The motion was unanimously APPROVED.

 

NTS Letter

Transcon Digital Tests and Cascadia Rising

- by Jay

As appeared in the June NTS Letter:

By, James Wades, WB8SIW
Emergency Management Director, Radio Relay International

Don Rolph, AB1PH, and his NTS Digital team have been experimenting with various digital methods to identify best practices for reliable transcontinental messaging within a time constraint of 30 minutes or less. There is precedent for these activities in the Cascadia Rising disaster exercise simulating a major earthquake and tsunami affecting the Pacific Northwest, which took place in 2016.

During Cascadia Rising, FEMA asked NTS and RRI volunteers to test connectivity between a simulated disaster area in the Pacific Northwest and the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) in Washington, DC. The goal was to test the ability of these networks to provide timely and accurate emergency messaging under a wide range of propagation conditions using various radio-only modes and methods.

Before amateur radio resources could be tested, it was necessary to develop a cohesive plan for an efficient response to a regional or national disaster. While some broad guidelines had been promulgated in ARRL publications over the years, an actual disaster operations plan had never been developed. Therefore, a prototype “National Response Plan” was designed as a desideratum against which performance could be measured. This plan defined two operational frameworks for NTS assets, one being the familiar “routine” configuration of daily layered nets, and the other of which was a specialized “emergency” configuration designed to streamline the messaging process, while building in the network and administrative tools required to support critical served agency and NIMS functions.

Beginning in 2015, an engineering-grade exercise framework and evaluation process was designed, ensuring an objective and analytical analysis of network performance. Message traffic consisting of five-letter cipher group circuit test messages would be originated from Alaska, Idaho, Northern California, Oregon, and Washington state. This method could then be utilized to measure accuracy across tens of thousands of data points. Elapsed time from when a message was tendered for origination to when a message appeared in the data stream at the NRCC was also evaluated. A statistical process was then used to categorize problematic messages according to non-fatal and fatal errors. The exercise was also conducted in three phases to simulate variable high frequency propagation conditions (e.g. morning, afternoon, and night).

The objective evaluation results were quite positive, with some valuable insights gained:

  • Despite making voice circuits available, RF propagation conditions were such that HF SSB proved insufficient for the task. In all cases, participants chose not to use this method.
  • CW circuits performed very well, achieving an accuracy score of 99.998 percent against over 13,000 data points.
  • The Digital Traffic Network achieved an equivalent accuracy score of 99.997 percent against slightly over 10,000 data points.
  • The Alaska ARES intrastate digital network achieved an accuracy score of 100 percent. These messages were then transferred to a point-to-point CW circuit between Alaska and the Pacific Northwest for transcon relay to the NRCC.
  • A superior message propagation time was achieved by the CW nets, with an average time elapsed of 11 minutes, providing better message propagation times than digital methods.

The prototype plan developed for Cascadia Rising has since evolved into the current Radio Relay International National Response Plan (NRP), which is now available in both English and Spanish. This plan has since been subjected to a variety of both internal and external exercises conducted with various agencies. In every case, the NRP has worked very well with minor adjustments being made after each exercise to always seek improvement. Ultimately, some useful conclusions from Cascadia Rising include:

  • There is absolutely no substitute for traffic handling experience. Many of the key operators staffing the nets had years of traffic handling experience. Some also had extensive maritime or military experience. This lesson was repeated during Hurricane Maria a few years ago when the difference between experienced traffic handlers and spontaneous volunteers was extremely evident on nets.
  • EmComm volunteers should not engage in “mode parochialism.” Some saw CW as obsolete, but despite having multiple methods available, CW came to the rescue, offering not just equivalent accuracy to digital methods, but better message propagation times between the simulated disaster area and the NRCC.
  • When conducting an emergency exercise, the evaluation process must measure more than the ability to establish connectivity. It must measure the ability of the network and personnel to accurately and efficiently convey information, track messages, manage replies, interface with message routers, and maintain an organized file of messages originated or relayed, all while retaining a concise radio log.

If there is one “big” lesson from Cascadia Rising and subsequent disaster operations, it is the importance of being part of an organized system. The “prepper mentality” that one will turn on his radio and save the day may work in an isolated emergency, but when it comes to organized disaster response, it is merely a fantasy.

The ongoing efforts of Don Rolph and his NTS Digital team add another layer of capabilities that can enhance the diversity and reliability of a survivable network. There remains a place for skilled radio operators capable of improvising solutions and providing the professional grade of service to their community that makes a difference in time of emergency. The skills learned on NTS nets and the basic methods of managing record message traffic are the foundation of effective communications. This is why traffic nets are once again attracting those who seek a quality, professionally run organization.