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Today, with inexpensive communication capability available to anyone, routine message handling has dwindled and is largely used for training purposes. During emergencies (such as natural disasters) – especially when normal communications channels are disabled or compromised – traffic nets (utilizing
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Traffic nets operate primarily to relay formal written messages. For decades, amateur radio operators in the United States and Canada have traditionally passed both routine and emergency messages on behalf of others as part of the public-service mission allowed within the USA and
Canadian government
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long distances. Ironically, the same ability for long distance propagation leads to a situation where stations that are too close in proximity cannot hear each other. In this case two or more NCSs spaced geographically from one another can effectively collaborate to maintain contact with all possible
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An informal net may also have a net control station, but lack some or all of the formalities and protocols other than those used in non-net on-the-air operation; Or, it could begin at the designated time and frequency in an ad hoc fashion by whoever arrives first. Club nets, such as ones for
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to facilitate efficiency in message-handling, and are often more tightly controlled (by time, language, and protocol) than a regular radio net. During a tactical net, the participating stations are free to refer to other stations by their tactical designations, such as
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which was organized in the early 20th century (1914–15) was mainly for the purpose of relaying third party messages. In many parts of the world outside North
America, it is illegal for amateur radio operators to pass messages on behalf of third parties.
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Nets operate more or less formally depending on their purpose and organization. Groups of nets may organize and operate in collaboration for a common purpose, such as to pass along emergency messages in time of disaster. One such system of nets is the
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to relieve the caller of the burden of remembering or stumbling over legal call signs, which can impede net progress. Tactical call signs do not replace legal call signs, which stations involved must still announce at prescribed times.
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When a net covers a large geographic area, such as a continent or even the world, it becomes impractical for a single NCS to control. To cover a large scale area a net must operate on a frequency where signals can
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Special interest clubs or non-club groups often organize nets to enable discussions on a particular topic. A wide variety of such nets are in operation. One such example is nets that meet to discuss
72:(NCS) that manages its operation for a given session. The NCS operator calls the net to order at its designated start time, periodically calls for participants to join, listens for them to answer (or
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Amateur radio clubs often organize nets to foster communication between members on a regular basis. These can be clubs based on geographic location or clubs formed around a special interest.
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nets are organized to help amateur radio operators make contact with stations in distant locations or regions where amateur radio operators are scarce. By checking into a DX net, a
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A different station might be designated NCS for each net session. Overall operation and scheduling of NCS assignments and net sessions is managed by the
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discussing equipment or other topics, use a NCS simply to control the order in which participants transmit their comments to the group in
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could have a chance to contact another station he or she might otherwise not be likely to hear by randomly tuning across the amateur
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76:) keeps track of the roster of stations for that particular net session, and generally orchestrates the operation of the net.
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or antique radio equipment. Another example is nets for using and discussing the AM mode of voice transmission.
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emergency-powered stations) are used to pass information into and out of affected areas.
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activation), emergencies, or simply as a regular gathering of friends for conversation.
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56:(ARRL) to handle routine and emergency messages on a nationwide and local basis.
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amateur radio regulations. The original organizational purpose of the
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is a form of directed net in which stations are assigned
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244:, The American Radio Relay League, Inc., 2007, (
223:Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
52:(NTS), organized and operated by members of the
339:e.g. The Collins Collectors Association,
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288:"Ham Radio Frequently Asked Questions"
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16:Gathering of amateur radio operators
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275:The National Traffic System (NTS)
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203:American Radio Relay League
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142:American Radio Relay League
54:American Radio Relay League
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286:Lau, Mary E (2006-05-23).
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374:Amateur radio net Website
317:ARRL OnLine Net Directory
242:The ARRL Operating Manual
358:The AM Window Web site,
213:National Traffic System
50:National Traffic System
380:“Net Directory Search”
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70:net control station
101:tactical call signs
360:Nets listed by day
346:2009-01-15 at the
117:Informal operation
68:net has a single
21:amateur radio net
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124:round-robin
106:Medical One
81:net manager
302:2007-08-25
273:ARRL Web,
229:References
29:on-the-air
391:Netlogger
384:Ham.Live!
315:ARRLWeb,
240:See e.g.
218:Radiogram
89:propagate
33:frequency
27:, is an "
403:Category
344:Archived
341:CCA Nets
296:Archived
292:ARRL.org
192:See also
74:check in
66:directed
329:DX Nets
263:HF Nets
186:vintage
135:Traffic
126:style.
37:Skywarn
25:ham net
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378:ARRL
170:bands
246:ISBN
146:ARRL
166:ham
144:or
108:or
19:An
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162:DX
157:DX
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