MDC NTS AND EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS REGIONS

NTS Nets:

MEPN	1800L	3820 kHz, LSB (3821 kHz) (1920 kHz) (7243 kHz)	The Maryland Emergency Phone Net meets daily with liaisons from 3RN/C2, NTSD/WL2K; and liaisons to DE, WVA (ARES®), MDD and BTN*, Echolink WASH-DC conf.
BTN	1830L	146.67/R, FM (145.33/R Alt.)	The Baltimore Traffic Net meets daily with liaisons from MEPN and NTSD/WL2K; and to MDD. This is a Local NTS net handling traffic in the repeater coverage area*, Echolink WASH-DC conf.
MDD	1900L 2200L	3557 khz CW 3557 kHz, CW	The Maryland-DC-Delaware combined Section net meets twice daily with liaisons from MEPN, DTN/DEPN, NTSD/WL2K; and liaisons to MSN and 3RN/C4*, Echolink WASH-DC conf.
MSN	1930L	3563 KHz, CW	The Maryland Slow Net meets daily with liaisons from the early MDD and to the late MDD. This is a wide area traffic handling and net operation training net with individual student instructors

NTS Daily Operations

TRAFFIC FLOW

The MDC Section and Local NTS nets meet daily to handle traffic to and from the national NTS/NTSD and to distribute traffic to local stations for delivery. Messages in the standard ARRL format for anywhere in the US may be posted on these nets and will be distributed nationally by the NTS/NTSD.
All stations are welcome to participate in the MDC NTS nets. As can be seen from the NTS structure in Figure 3 above the net system is responsible for moving messages about the country but the individual amateurs checking into Section and Local NTS nets provide the “roots” for the system. Without such stations participating on a regular basis a public or amateur’s radiogram may not be delivered in a timely fashion or may be serviced back as undeliverable. Participate in your Section and Local NTS nets regularly.

Traffic coming into MDC from the afternoon Area and Region nets arrives at the MEPN at 1800L for distribution and delivery via stations in all our jurisdictions. Those stations attending may also inject outbound traffic for anywhere in the NTS which is then passed to our MDD CW net at 1900L. Traffic which may be distributed via the Baltimore wide-area repeater(s) may be sent to the BTN two meter net meeting at 1830L which also has an outbound link to MDD. Traffic for other parts of the NTS leaves the early session of MDD, moves up to the Third Region net (3RN) at 1945L and may continue up to the Eastern Area Net (EAN) for national distribution. The Eastern, Central and Pacific NTS Areas are linked by stations in the Transcontinental Corps (TCC). Traffic from the EAN at 2030L headed for MDC passes down through the late session of 3RN to the late session of MDD at 2200L, thus completing the Cycle 4 (C/4) depicted in the diagram above. The Maryland Slow Net (CW training net) meets at 1930L daily with liaisons to and from the MDD net.

Additional services are provided by stations at all levels connected for radio-email to the Winlink 2000 (WL2K) system and AirMail Direct Transfer messaging. All MDC stations are encouraged to deploy WL2K resources for use in ARES^® and NTS/NTSD operations. (See the link to WL2K information on the SM home page, General Information section, and the WL2K-NTSD Notes below.)

Stations also connect via regular packet radio, repeaters accessed via Echolink, amateur TV and the APRS network. All these stations may liaise with the jurisdiction, Region and Section nets as required.

In addition to the MDC NTS nets the MDC Region nets (WRN, CRN, and ERN) and local jurisdiction ARES^®/RACES nets may be activated under the MDC Emergency Response Plan. The NTS nets play in integral role in the Section’s emergency communications. (See the MDC ERP summary on the SM home page.)

APPOINTMENTS

Affiliated ARRL NTS Section and Local nets are maintained by Net Managers appointed by the Section Traffic Manager (STM). Liaisons between nets must be assigned in advance by the Net Manager or assigned ad-hoc by the Net Control Station for a particular session. Customarily liaisons are assigned by the “lower” net in the NTS structure, the exception being liaisons between parallel levels in different cycles which are assigned by mutual agreement between Net Managers.

The Official Relay Station (ORS) appointment is available for stations wishing to become regular participants in the NTS system. The ORS is expected to use best operating and engineering practices, participate in the nets on a regular basis, and report activity to their STM monthly. See the ORS requirements and the on-line application on the ARRL web page at ORS Appointment Description.

PROTOCOLS

The Basic Traffic Handling Voice and CW tutorials (BTH) on the SM home page (General Information section) provide protocol guidance for traffic handling. They also contain listings of the ARRL Precedences, Handling Instructions (HX codes) and the ARRL Numbered Radiograms.

See the ARRL PSCM, Appendix B, NTS Methods and Practices Guidelines (MPG) for the complete presentation of the NTS guidelines used for traffic handling and net operations in MDC for both the NTS and ARES^® functions. (The MPG is available on the ARRL web site at Methods and Practices Guidelines.)

WL2K – NTSD NOTES

The global Winlink 2000 (WL2K) network is used by NTS/NTSD and ARES^® for transporting radio-email formatted messaging including Batch-Files of NTS Radiograms. WL2K permits sending messages (with multiple addressees, copies, and binary attachments) to and from the public internet as well as to clients at [call sign]@winlink.org, or [Tactical Address]@winlink.org (for Paclink clients only). WL2K is a radio-email forwarding system, not a BBS system.

Airmail and Paclink clients can connect to WL2K via telnet-internet, packet radio via RMS-Packet Gateway stations, and HF PacTor via RMS-HF Gateway stations. AirMail stations can exchange radio-email directly between client stations by radio. Paclink clients can host multiple locally assigned Tactical Addresses to facilitate official’s use. RMS-Packet Gateways may include the RMS-Relay module which passes client packets through to the CMS when internet is available, but when the internet fails, the RMS-Relay becomes an automatic radio-email server for all its radio clients. WL2K radio-email can carry ICS-213 and similar formatted messaging in body text or as attachments. Thus officials linked to local client stations can send and receive radio-email over amateur radio from their own computers or networks – a major advance in amateur radio relevance in today’s information-technology world.

The NTSD maintains a network of MBO stations at Area and Region levels, and in some Sections, for posting of NTS Radiogram traffic for downloading by connecting liaisons. These stations operate the Winlink Classic software and may scan multiple HF bands and/or operate packet TNCs. NTS messages are routed to the NTSD MBO closest to the point of delivery or at the convenience of liaisons. ARES^® and NTS stations can transfer bulk Radiogram traffic to Target NTSD MBOs in Batch File format via radio-email.

Deploying WL2K clients throughout the Section permits the exchange of radio-email between all ARES^®/NTS and served agency clients thus ensuring total agency interoperability.

See the tutorial on basic WL2K topics on the SM home page, General Information section, for an overview of the WL2K system, installing AirMail, messaging formats and the Batch File format for NTSD bulk transfers.