NCS Procedures

Net control stations need to take particular care during SET to record such details as whether a station is new, liaison to another traffic net, or on emergency power. (We are not keeping track of fldigi digital stations this year.) Net control stations are responsible for reporting the usual session report as well as compiling a special SET session report that includes such details as how many stations acted as liaison for served agencies, how many are new, how many are capable of digital relay, etc. The online form to capture the session report now includes a section at the end for this information.

SET Net Control Script

Please be sure to start the net on time. Check with WWV or another accurate source for the correct time.

The # symbol means drop carrier. Also, remember to identify the net every 10 minutes. ("This is the Central Ohio Traffic Net, (your call) is net control.")

If you have the procedure to put the repeater into net state, do so. If you do not have the procedure, do not worry: just run the net without it.

Be sure that you know the net's secondary, tertiary, and simplex frequencies. Expect that at some point during SET we will simulate repeaters being unavailable, requiring simplex operations.

This is the Central Ohio Traffic Net, a part of the Ohio Section of the National Traffic System. We meet daily to handle traffic. This is a directed net and net control will control the net. Your net control is (your callsign), my name is (your name), and I am located at (your location). This net is participating in the annual Simulated Emergency Test. Please be sure that all test traffic comes with a precedence that starts with TEST, for example, welfare precedence traffic for SET is TEST WELFARE. #

When checking in please announce yourself with your callsign using standard phonetics. In addition, add stroke echo if you are operating on non-grid electric power. Also, please say "new ham" if you got your license in 2016 or after. #

Is there any emergency or priority traffic? #

If any traffic is listed here, call for a station to help pass the traffic listed. Emergency and priority traffic move before the rest of the call-up. If there's significant traffic, direct stations to another frequency, e.g., secondary, tertiary, or simplex to pass the traffic so once the sending and receiving station are gone, net call-up can continue. Stations handling emergency traffic should return to net frequency one traffic is handled.

Receiving stations are not to hold emergency or priority traffic; it's to be handled immediately. Pick up the phone if available, use the radio to relay the message closer to the addressee, send a text (SMS) message to establish a circuit: use whatever means available to get the message to the addressee, now.

If running a simplex net, before moving on to mobile stations, ask for relays for emergency or priority traffic. A station may be responding to you but that you cannot hear. Give someone who can hear you both time to respond to you and tell you who is checking in. Record the relay station and the station with the traffic. Ask the relay station to talk to the other station for you: list the traffic, ask who else can hear that station, move the traffic, etc.

Are there mobile stations? #

Record all stations and their traffic (if any).

Traffic Net Liaisons please. #

Acknowledge the liaisons that are coming from or going to other traffic nets, and record their traffic (if any).

Any other liaison stations? #

Acknowledge stations acting as liaison to local outlets, e.g., OHDEN, W8SGT (Ohio EMA), W8THV (Franklin County EMA), W8OMR (Ohio Military Reserve), any ARES, CERT, or other group sending a representative.

Stations with traffic only. #

Record all stations and their traffic. Repeat this as often as is needed. If running simplex nets, ask for relays.

Stations with or without traffic. #

Record all stations and their information (portable, mobile, etc.). Before you pass traffic from a station portable or mobile, ask them if they can take traffic. Try to pass traffic going to the SNL first, and try to send all traffic closer to its intended location (i.e. traffic for Westerville should be given to someone in Westerville or close to it, if possible). Informal message ("IF") requests should be handled after all traffic is passed (unless the IF deals with a specific piece of traffic).

Remember, traffic will move according to precedence:

    1. EMERGENCY

    2. PRIORITY

    3. WELFARE

    4. TEST EMERGENCY

    5. TEST PRIORITY

    6. TEST WELFARE

    7. ROUTINE

If there's significant traffic, don't hesitate to send stations to other frequencies to handle the traffic, keeping net control's frequency quiet and ready to take check-ins, traffic listings, returning stations, and other business.

If running a simplex net, periodically ask for relays.

All traffic and business brought to the net has been taken care of. Is there any more business for this session? #

Take care of any additional business listed.

COTN is operating in the annual Simulated Emergency Test. All stations please standby for any traffic. Any station leaving the net before the top of the hour please call net control. #

The midnight session should close as usual. For all other sessions, rather than close the net as usual, the net will stay open until the top of the hour. Close the session in minute 59 minute so the next session can start promptly at minute 0 of the next hour.

Any station calling should be answered by net control, and asked to check in, e.g.,

This is KE8EEO.

Net control will identify and ask KE8EEO to check in—keeping in mind that a station calling might not know that there's a net going on, or what the procedure is.

KE8EEO this is K3AUX. Please check in to Central Ohio Traffic Net.

KE8EEO then proceeds with the full check-in.

This is KE8EEO/E, W8SGT Liaison, in through the top of the hour.

Net control will record the checkin, and in this case will direct KE8EEO to call any station on frequency with traffic for KE8EEO or W8SGT. Net control may also list all stations on the net.

KE8EEO this is K3AUX. Good afternoon we have you in with emergency power and W8SGT liaison. There is no traffic for your station or W8SGT. Stations on the net are K3AUX, KD8UUB, AB8MW, KD8TTE, and KE8EEO.

Remember to identify the net every 10 minutes, even if there has been no transmission for the past 10 minutes. Any station listening should know that a net control station is on frequency.

Also remember that when we're on repeaters, we're guests of the repeater owners. If other stations wish to use the repeater while the frequency is quiet, do not interfere. If traffic is listed on the net while other stations are using the repeater when it was otherwise quiet, work cooperatively with the other stations to get the traffic handled. If necessary, net control can move the net to another frequency. That net is to be called up afresh on the other frequency, with all stations checking back in. Using the net above as an example, net control may move the net to the tertiary frequency, 147.24.

COTN this is K3AUX. Change frequency to 147.24. Change frequency to 147.24. Acknowledge in order. KD8UUB?

KD8UUB then answers with an acknowledgment, signs, and moves to 147.24.

24. KD8UUB.

Net control calls the next station on the list and does the same until all stations have acknowledged or had the chance to acknowledge but missed the window. Once the list is exhausted, net control announces the station is moving and moves.

COTN has moved to 147.24. This is K3AUX.

Net control records the time of the move—that's the end of one session—and calls up the net on the new frequency—which counts as a new session.

The Central Ohio Traffic Net is closed at (local time). Thanks to everyone who participated, especially those who brought or took traffic.

If on a repeater, thank the repeater owner,

e.g., for 146.97 or 146.76 say:

Thanks to the Central Ohio Radio Club for use of this repeater.

or for 147.24 say:

Thanks to the Capital City Repeater Association for use of this repeater.

Please check us out on the web at WWW.COTN.US. (your call) is clear. #

If the repeater is in net state, take it out of net state at the conclusion of your transmission.

NCS Reporting

The job of the net control station is not yet finished! For all nets, a standard net session report must be completed and submitted per usual procedure. Be sure to complete the section for SET data. See details below.

NCS Session Report

All session reports for COTN SET 2020 are submitted online. This year, only one report needs to be filed.

Disambiguate the session: If more than one net is held on a particular day, the second word is the time that the net started, in local time. For example, the midnight net on Saturday morning, October 3, will begin with words 3 0000.

Minutes in session: computing minutes in the session from starting the call of the net to the time that you announced on-air as when the net was being closed. A net that starts at 1915 and ends at 1932 is seventeen minutes.

Liaison stations: report only NTS net liaisons, not liaisons to special stations like W8THV, W8SGT, or W8OMR. If you have more than one section net liaison stations, list them all one right after the other in separate words, e.g., if W8OLO and W8KWG are both checked in as SNL, the last two words of your radiogram will be W8OLO W8KWG. If no SNL checked in, put NONE for that word in the report.

Example session report acknowledgment: putting the pieces together for a net that started at 0200 (we don't have one scheduled then for the real SET), ending at 0217, where three messages were relayed, with five stations checked in, including KE8EEO as net control, and KD8UUB and W8KWG acting as SNL, we wind up with a radiogram to back to KE8EEO from the net manager after SET with the text of:

ARL FIFTY THREE REPORT 3

0200 5 3 17 KD8UUB

W8KWG

NCS SET Session Report

All nets held during SET require an additional data, to be collected in the same form in the bottom section. The additional data are:

  1. Number of ICS-213 messages handled. These are where someone lists the traffic as an ICS-213 specifically. Traffic we're relaying for an agency is treated as priority traffic, but counted only here.

  2. Number of EMERGENCY precedence radiograms. Include any handled as emergency, including TEST EMERGENCY.

  3. Number of P precedence radiograms. Include TEST P.

  4. Number of W precedence radiograms, including TEST W.

  5. Number of R precedence radiograms, which would include any that someone lists as TEST R—though those are handled no different from R.

  6. Enumeration of stations. We need to know every station checked into the net, along with details, namely:

    1. Add /E if the station operated on emergency (that's non-grid, including battery, solar, generator) power,

    2. Add /New if the station was licensed since 2015, and

    3. Add /L if the station is a liaison to another traffic net.

    4. The result will look something like

    5. KD8TTE/E/L W6RRI/E W8SGT K8RSO/E W1AW/L W6RRI/E/L/New W8OMR W8THV