"Radiograms" Yahoo Group reaches 100 members!

Have you ever dreamed what it would be like if you could attend a HamCon that would feature as guest speakers: Section Traffic Managers, TCC Directors, Net Managers, and Traffic Ops whose SARs measure traffic points in the thousands? What questions would you ask if you had a few minutes with some of the brightest and sharpest NTS minds from the United States and Canada? What great ideas would you bring to the discussion if you could sit down and talk about handling Radiogram traffic with those who really believe in Public Service? Lastly, how would you like to have the opportunity to listen to the wisdom from Traffic Ops with over 60 years of Traffic Handling experience?

These dreams are coming true. These questions are being asked. These ideas are being shared. This wisdom is being offered up every day. Where? On an internet forum that was started in March of last year. The Yahoo Group, Radiograms, was launched last year by KD8LZB in the hopes of being a place where ideas for how to expand and develop routine Radiogram traffic could be shared. Little did anyone guess that from such a humble beginning, in less than a year, the Group membership would grow to 100 members.

Membership covers the spectrum of experience and interest. From new Techs to Ol’ Traffic Vets, each member has the equal opportunity to share ideas and experiences, and to learn from and be encouraged by each other. From technical discussions to procedural debates… from history lessons to future hopes… each day offers up exciting and often times unexpected views and insights into the world of Radiogramming. Members include several great STMs, TCC Directors, Net Managers, and major contributors to the daily flow of Radiogram Traffic.

Included on the Radiograms website are many helps, files, and links that would benefit anyone interested in Traffic Handling. For those willing to volunteer to receive Radiograms for training purposes, or just for fun, the Radiograms website offers a Database file where your name can be added. There is Trivia Radiogramming, Recipe Radiogramming, Chess Radiogramming, Grid Square Radiogramming, and much more to be found at the Radiograms Group. Traffic Handling is indeed, at its heart and soul, serious business. However, that doesn't mean that routine traffic handling can't be fun. Links are included for Youtube training videos covering the basics of handling of Radiogram traffic.

Perhaps the greatest good that has come from the Radiograms Yahoo Group happened not be design but by default. What has become known within the Group as the “Radiograms Brain Trust” provides a wealth of knowledge, wisdom, technical know-how, hopes and dreams. This “Brain Trust” is not defined by a list of names and call signs, or by Ham Radio resumes. It is comprised of all the members of Radiograms Group collectively. And… it is amazing!

The future for Radiogramming is bright at Radiograms. The work of the NTS has found a place where it is nurtured and appreciated. Anyone with any interest whatsoever in Traffic Handling, in Public Service, in the NTS should take a look at Radiograms. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/radiograms/

 

As an active participant, this group is fantastic. If you ever wanted to learn how to handle traffic, this is a good start. Plenty of experienced operators to help you grow as a NTS operator.

Some say learning a specific mode is what makes you a "REAL HAM." That is FALSE. Becoming an active traffic handler is what makes a person a "REAL HAM" as that is what the "R's" in the A.R.R.L. stand for, i.e. RADIO RELAY.

Playing on the bands however you may do it is the hobby portion of ham radio. The service portion, of which we do to give back for all the frequencies we have to enjoy, is being communicators. That simply put is knowing how to handle traffic, primarily in NTS format.

Take a step towards learning traffic handling and you won't regret it.

 

Glad to see a vibrant healthy Yahoo Group that people like.
I started many small Yahoo groups. A few of them ended up getting fairly large.

 

Traffic handling used to be a lot of fun and I did a lot of it over the years. Now, however, all the traffic is the same ..... "congrats on getting your license". "Try checking into cw nets". "Your license isrenewal time is nearing". All booooooring stuff.

 

That is exactly why Radiograms was started.... to "brainstorm" new ways to enjoy Radiogramming. We have several different "unique" Radiogram opportunities available at the Radiograms Group. Recipe Radiograms Trvia Radiograms Chess Radiograms as well as others. My personal favorite is Grid Square Radiogramming. You can find info on all of these and more on Radiograms.

 

The REAL Deal

The Amateur side of traffic is ' ANTIQUATED ' at best . Voice is NOT the preferred method of transferring TRAFFIC .

Navy-Marine MARS worked the voice on HF back in the '70s .... That was after they ran many runs of traffic on RTTY .

Since then , that military message system has gone to digital only . Local delivery is done by packet radio ...

No voice is NEEDED !

The voice network ( NTS ) should go to the faster modes of transmission . Unfortunately , the amateur side wishes to remain in

antiquity . It is NOT precise . It is NOT efficient . I used RTTY to PACKET conversions for local delivery without need of voice

until it reached the destination . There were NO computers involved . A typical daily run would be 140 messages ( local delivery ) .

The traffic was passed within 10 minutes .


Voice delivery ( locally on FM repeaters ) can ( 20 pieces of traffic ) can and do run for HOURS !!!!!!

Saving our ' SPECTRUM ' on two meters is NOT an issue . Locally , it is just a few of the regulars who take traffic .

Some of the ' regulars ' still have issues with handling traffic spam ( happy birthday , renewal stuff , etc ) .......

When ' REAL ' traffic exercises happen , 99.9 percent of the NTS people never show up . THAT IS A FACT !!!!!

It is a chest beating issue here in this area . Generating traffic to yourself is a mockery of the system ... TRAFFIC

Numbers are what counts .... A handler gets POINTS ..... Points for WHAT ????


The NTS has been a JOKE for decades . It does give some people something to do .


That is the ' REAL DEAL ' folks .



J.

WØJBC ex KBØTT , NØAGS , WBØVBL NNNØZYD / GBBØ etc .....

 

Oh brother...

 

But wait... there's more...

There's the Birthdaygrams; the Biblegrams; and best of all, the Silent Key-grams. Yep. All widows of ham ops definitely appreciate getting license renewal messages years after said ham has passed away.

Instead of sending these spam-o-grams to each other, too many on the NTS nets are simply picking names randomly from a list, and sending them a message - whether they are interested in NTS or not. That's called "cold-spamming." It's the same thing we get when Apu calls from India offering us some special deal on computer support over the phone. Nobody likes Apu's calls either.

And here's the icing on the cake:

This past summer, the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) held it's first-ever cross-border emergency exercise on the Detroit river. SATERN members from both sides of the border were involved. Among the tests being conducted was how to get a message from one side of the border to the other without the use of their usual radio systems. NTS was the method used.

The ham that was net control on the Michigan side had never sent NTS before. Didn't know what it was. How to send it. How to reply. What the codes meant. He did an admirable job, under the circumstances.

My question is this: where were the NTS cheerleaders when that exercise was on? It was a two-day exercise. Surely, some of you could have found some time within those two days to participate in sending some NTS traffic.

But no.

All you have is birthdaygrams; remindergrams; biblegrams; sk-grams; and now, a 100-member Yahoo group with recipegrams; bingograms; triviagrams; and other related needlessness. KC mentions in his Youtube channel that he's really offended by the term "spam" for NTS nets, yet he's adding an entire menu of more useless NTS message types like triviagrams in this Yahoo group.

I have to ask: when an F5 tornado decimates this area, and NTS will actually be required to get health and welfare traffic into and out of this area, where will all you cheerleaders be?

After all - not one of the emergency exercises in this area have ever had the grace of your attendance. I have to believe when the real thing happens, you won't be there.

So all this "practice" is for not.

But hey, it gets you published....

 

Haven't you guys got email in America?

 

Interesting

You are correct . We do have e-mail ..... The Spam-net still happens everyday 365 .....

Practice needs NOT happen EVERYDAY ....

It is antiquated . It is just our old folks who wish it were before the computer days .

I understand the CW nets ...... Most amateurs in the USA cannot copy though ....

Recruiting new ' Tech Class ' operators in the USA is why this debacle has flourished .

As was stated , REAL drills are not attended by the NTS people . In a Disaster Scenario , they are not there .

It is a SHAM ..... It is WORK for some and an absolute ' get - to -gether ' for most .

That is the way it is .


Some must be a big shot at something !!!!!!!


J.

 

Oh brother is right .....

KD8QHZ / K8YYZ ...... 06-14 - 11 Seven months in ....


Cool,

Old timer ...


J.

 

Traffic handling and penny post cards both are out of date. Nets make for a good friendly get together, check bowel movements, hearing aid batteries, status of yesterday's colonoscopy, and on and on and on.

 

From time and time again, every "drill" or "real" situation, ARES falls flat on it's face because there is not any practice or training. Prime example was Michigan's most recent S.E.T. in October 2011. Every noted failure was at the local county level with these A.R.E.S. guys who don't train, but expect to be useful. The various levels of NTS in Michigan did just fine, even though we have to pass those "spamgrams" it still is practice.

Someone else mention here that it takes hours to pass messages?? Really?? Sounds like those are ones who don't deal with it on a regular basis. If a traffic net has a "chit-chat" portion, I can see where the net would take hours, but a decent, well run phone net can still move quite a bit of traffic if you have operators who are actually experienced and have a NCS who actually knows how to manage a net, I have seen several phone nets that have moved and frequently move upwards of 30-40 messages in just a little over an hour. Granted, digital (high speed digital, NOT PACKET!!!) is even faster, but not everyone has that functionality, nor may everyone have that functionality in the field in a real situation.

I believe KD8LZB's whole purpose of this group is to connect others interested in the NTS as well as provide for some different messages other that the routine "spam-grams" that others complain about. When he references those messages such as grid-square radiogramming, and others mentioned, primarily that would be to other WILLING participants in the Yahoo group.

All in all, training does make us better as communicators, as that is just what we are as licensee's. We can communicate for fun, but with the fecal matter hits the oscillating air moving device, a well trained (i.e. practiced) operator will out-perform every time assuming the one on the other end has as well. And that "ham hero" type showing up at a drill or a real incident who hasn't trained, fails an overwhelming majority of the time.

(As a retired firefighter with just under 2 decades of experience, I can clearly see how a well-trained person functions over a low-trained or no trained person functions. It's plainly obvious.)

 

At one time, you only had seven months under your belt J.

Without new blood, your precious hobby will die. I suppose that would probably suit you just fine.

People like you are a cancer to amateur radio.

 

As far as the renewal messages going to SKs: I've delivered a couple of those. In every case, the widow was appreciative, and not offended. (Of course, a reply was sent to notify the originator.) In one case, the widow asked for, and received, my help in getting the SKs license cancelled, and a notice in QST.