Amateur Radio Traffic Handling
Sending Messages over the Airwaves
During times of emergency, it can be imperative that communication happen reliably. For that reason, the American Radio Relay League developed the National Traffic System, or NTS. The NTS is made up of a series of nets, occurring at the regional, state (section), and local levels.
The purpose of the NTS is to move formal message traffic from one location to another. Also, being trained in how to handle formal traffic, and also how to act in a directed net, can be extremely helpful when taking part in an operation that isn't using formal message traffic.
The information that follows is good for review, or as a quick-and-dirty how-to. Nothing beats real practice, however, so find a local traffic net and get involved!
To assist with the handling of formal traffic, or at least to get used to handling formal traffic, there is a standard Radiogram form that the American Radio Relay League has developed.
There are 4 main sections to a piece of formal message traffic.
The Preamble (surrounded in red)
The Addressee (surrounded in blue)
The Message text (surrounded in green)
The Signature