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CX2SA > NTS 10.05.26 22:20l 346 Lines 13865 Bytes #4 (0) @ ARRL
BID : NTS052026
Subj: May 2026 NTS Letter
Path: JH4XSY<F1OYP<F1OYP<N2MH4<N3HYM<W0ARP<CX2SA
Sent: 260510/1226Z @:CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM #:64902 [Salto] FBB7.00e $:NTS052026
From: CX2SA@CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM
To : NTS@ARRL
===================
May 2026 NTS Letter
===================
Editor: Marcia Forde, KW1U - May 5, 2026
- Digital Presentation at Dayton Hamventionｩ May 17
- Traffic Performance Test Set for May 11
- NTS Treasure Hunt Update
- Introducing the QTC App
- Amateur Radio in an Academic Environment
- National Traffic System Update
- NTS Table at Raleigh Amateur Radio Society (RARS) Hamfest
- Section Traffic Managers to Meet in June
- NTS Letter Archive
- Certified Precedence Explanation on NTS2 Website
- Spotlight: Michelle Roeten, KM2I
Digital Presentation at Dayton Hamventionｩ May 17
-------------------------------------------------
The National Traffic System Digital Committee (not to be confused with the
Digital Traffic Network, DTN) has been experimenting with proposals to
support nationwide "Black Swan" emergency events (in which there is a total
outage of communications/electrical power) using amateur radio digital
communications.
If you will be attending Hamventionｩ in Xenia, Ohio, and would like to hear
more about the efforts of this team, see the following announcement from
National Traffic System Digital Committee chair Don Rolph, AB1PH:
In a session at Hamvention: Sunday May 17, 11:40 AM, Room 4, we will hold a
forum on:
understanding the need for such capabilities
discuss the nature of communications required
committee explorations of options
exercise test data to date
proposal for a Sept 2026 country-wide exercise
We hope you will join us for the discussion! 73, Don Rolph, AB1PH
Traffic Performance Test Set for May 11
---------------------------------------
Greetings NTS traffic handlers!
The NTS 2.0 Performance and Standards Committee is gearing up to begin a new
round of NTS traffic performance testing this month. We are planning to
introduce the latest set of test radiograms into the NTS system on Monday,
May 11. In the past, our messages were sent by and addressed to stations in
New York, Ohio, Michigan, and Washington. This time, we're adding Florida to
the list.
As a reminder:
The traffic test radiograms contain a handling instruction of "HXT" followed
by the Test Set ID. This time around the Test Set ID will be 12, so the
handling instruction will contain "HXT12".
The text of the message will direct you to a web address containing a link
to the Traffic Test Reporting Page. All stations handling the radiogram at
any point along its journey (not just the initial and final stations) are
requested to please go to the page specified in the radiogram text and enter
the prompted information. Everyone's input into the reporting tool is
important to ensure that we have complete and usable data for reporting and
analysis.
Traffic Test Reporting tool developer Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD, has been
working on improvements to increase its usability. Most folks seem to have
been able to use the tool successfully, but a few have experienced
difficulties. This time around, the radiogram will include an op note
containing an email address that you can use to report any issues.
To all those traffic handlers who handle one (or more) of these radiograms
and utilize the reporting tool, thank you very much for your participation!
We appreciate it! -- Michelle Roeten, KM2I, on behalf of the NTS 2.0
Performance and Standards Committee
NTS Treasure Hunt Update
------------------------
Hello, NTS Treasure Hunters!
The second NTS Treasure Hunt for 2026 is complete!
Eleven stations completed all five rounds in the January 2026 Treasure Hunt.
K5ANP Alan Prager
KA9IKK Bill Novak
KC1TLF Dave Marcucci
KE8HKA Matthew Foltz
KF抉ZP Juanita Moore
KN1OBI Corwyn Miyagishima
N1CVO Shawn Dodds
N3KRX Jerry Palmer
W1LEM Lem Skidmore
W1OTW Doggone Dave Marsh
W4EDN Bill Heybruck
Mug Award Winner for March/April 2026 is Lem Skidmore, W1LEM
The mug is awarded following a random drawing from all hunters who complete
the hunt.
March/April Questions
THR1
WHAT NEW CONTEST WAS
ACOUNCED IN THE JAN 1938
QST QUERY REPLY TO DAN
AC8NP TIFFIN OH 44883
Answer: ARRL QSO Party
Reference: www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/QST/30s/QST-1938-01.pdf
THR2
WHEN RELAYING A RADIOGRAM WHAT
TWO PARTS ARE SPECIFICALLY PROTECTED
AGAINST ALTERATION QUERY ANSWER TO
BOB WB2JNQ BROOKLYN NY 11234
Answer: Text and check
Reference: www.arrl.org/files/file/MPG1V14A.pdf
Section 1.1.5 specifically addresses this and states in bold: "The text or
check is not altered to force agreement!"
THR3
WHERE IS THE TEST SET
ID LOCATED IN A SPECIAL
TRAFFIC TEST RADIOGRAM QUERY REPLY
TO MICHELLE KM2I POUGHKEEPSIE NY
12603
Answer: In the handling instruction (or HX section) of the preamble
Reference: nts2.arrl.org/hx-handling-instructions
THR4
WHICH RADIOGRAM PRECEDENCE CANNOT USE
HXR QUERY ANSWER TO JON
N1ILZ EASTHAM MA 02642
Answer: ROUTINE
Reference: nts2.arrl.org/hx-handling-instructions
THR5
WHAT YEAR WAS THE FIRST
DXPEDITION QUERY ANSWER TO RAY
KB8GUN LAURELVILLE OH 43135
A: Bob Dennison, W戰X, led the first DXpedition to the Bahamas operating as
VP7NG in 1948
Reference: www.dailydx.com/dxhistory
May/June 2026 NTS Treasure Hunt
This hunt will have 4 or 5 rounds this time. Can you get through all the
rounds by June 26?
For those of you who have trouble finding a net into the NTS, you are free
to use the Radiogram Portal or Winlink RRI Radiogram (not Winlink email). In
the message templates, you will find the RRI Radiogram under "Select
Template" --> "Standard Forms" --> "Radiogram & RII Forms" -->
"Radiogram.txt". It will open in your web browser. Follow the instructions
and be sure to select a liaison so your message will then be sent to a
liaison station for input to the Digital Traffic Network side of NTS and
work its way through the system. Do not send directly to the judges. Feel
free to send it via radio or telnet at this point.
So here is the first-round question:
NR1 R HXG KB8GUN 19 TIFFIN OH MAR 3
NTS TREASURE HUNTERS
BT
THR1 WHAT WAS THE INITIAL
NAME OF THE DAYTON HAMVENTION
QUERY REPLY TO RAY KB8GUN
LAURELVILLE OH 43135
BT
RAY KB8GUN
Please remember to start your message with the THR1-5 answer, which means
Treasure Hunt Round Number.
The judges will generally respond with a radiogram back to you within 24
hours of receipt of your message, although at times they may miss a day here
and there due to family obligations or illness, and sometimes we sneak off
on vacation. Our judges are on traffic nets almost daily. The in-transit
time will vary. So, if it has been 5 or 6 days and you do not receive a
reply radiogram, try sending an email message to the judge.
Try to learn about the NTS in your section. Who is your Section Traffic
Manager (STM)? The STM can answer your questions on how to move traffic in
and out of your section.
The NTS Treasure Hunt is a fun, on-air, multi-step competition in which you
will respond to a "judge" with your answer to an initial clue or question
via radiogram. The judge will reply via radiogram with the identity of the
next judge, along with the next question or clue in the hunt.
If you have any comments or suggestions, please email Dan Rinaman, AC8NP, at
ac8np@xxxxx.xxx.
Introducing the QTC App
-----------------------
In the long history of the National Traffic System, traffic handlers have
come up with all sorts of clever methods of managing the messages they
receive, send, and deliver. Five-by-seven-inch note cards, long rolls of
Teletype paper, and ARRL message blanks were once popular; more recently,
it's been Windows Notepad documents, spreadsheets, or even a sophisticated
purpose-built program such as Lane Kendall's "Ready to Copy."
Web browsers have become powerful application platforms recently, and
they've emerged as the basis for many popular apps. One advantage of these
types of apps is that they can run almost anywhere, and don't need to be
installed. With that in mind, the NTS2 team has built the Radiogram Portal
and the Radiogram Postcard apps on the browser platform, and now there's a
browser-based message management application available, called QTC.
For traffic handlers, QTC offers the basic functions of filing away
radiograms that you send, receive, or deliver, so that you can see a summary
list of them and quickly locate a specific message that you've handled in
the past. It also calculates and presents monthly reports on your
traffic-handling activity. It links directly to the Postcard app so that you
can quickly send a postal mail confirmation copy of any radiogram that you
deliver. The app also has convenience features for looking up mailing
addresses and generating message numbers and timestamps.
QTC is a free-of-charge app that runs on any modern web browser, on desktop
operating systems such as Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Once you've loaded the
app once, you can still use most of its functions when you're offline, such
as during an internet service outage; the app keeps a local database of your
messages and syncs them automatically with the cloud. This also means you
can log in to QTC from any web browser anywhere in the world and have full
access to all of your data.
To get started, visit nts2.arrl.org/qtc. If you're not already logged in to
NTS2.0, you'll be prompted for your login name and password. If you've never
logged in to the NTS2.0 website, you'll have the opportunity to register
(and choose a password). Your call sign will be used as your login name.
To get a sense of what QTC can do, and how to use it, take a moment to read
the Help page at nts2.arrl.org/qtc-help. For help and support - as well as
bug reports and feature requests - there's now a dedicated discussion group;
visit groups.io/g/qtc-users. -- Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD
Amateur Radio in an Academic Environment
----------------------------------------
Today's radio amateur averages 65 years of age or older. Meanwhile, ham
radio is increasingly invisible amid the noise of a popular culture lost in
the din of social media and incessant, almost juvenile, entertainment.
Overcoming these modern obstacles to generate interest in the Amateur Radio
Service often seems a herculean task.
If amateur radio is going to outlive those of us who are now in our 60s and
70s, it will require a concerted effort to introduce young people to the art
and science of radio communications. Much of this effort will need to take
place at the local level.
Career Technical Education
Beginning in 2024, our school system began looking into establishing a
Career Technical Education (CTE) electrical course for high school juniors
and seniors. Input from an industrial advisory committee showed strong
agreement that the prior decades of emphasis on software skills and IT had
left a serious knowledge void in areas such as power distribution,
electrical systems, industrial controls and RF technology. Simply put, many
new employees entering industry lacked the fundamental knowledge and
analytical skills needed to succeed in an increasingly technological world.
For the average American, infrastructure itself is dismissed as somehow
magical. One turns up the thermostat and the furnace comes on. One flips a
switch and the light comes on. The cellular mobile phone seems to work as if
by magic. Little or no thought is given to the massive infrastructure behind
it all and the army of engineers and technicians who maintain the foundation
of these incredibly reliable systems.
The CTE electrical program is designed to introduce
Numbered Texts
Encoding Rules for Agency Forms
Virtual NTS Training Net
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Editor: Marcia Forde, KW1U, Section Traffic Manager -- Eastern
Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts, and Rhode Island
ARRL Emergency Communications and Field Services Director: Josh Johnston,
KE5MHV
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