The National Traffic
System (NTS) is a structure designed to move traffic and
train amateurs to handle traffic and participate in directed
nets. The system consists of the amateurs, the local, regional
and area networks, and the digital links which move traffic
from its origin to destination.
According to the
ARRL's Public Service Communications Manual, the NTS has
four levels of nets, sequentially activated, to allow traffic
to flow smoothly. The manual likens the NTS to an airplane
trip, where a traveler boards a local airline destined for
a major airport, there boarding a continental airliner to
the next major airport, then again taking a local airline
to the final destination.
The four levels
of nets allow traffic to be originated at a local level,
be passed to a section level net, then on to a regional
net, across area boundaries, and back down to a local net
via another regional and section level net. This assumes
that traffic is bound for another part of the country. Traffic
within a localized area should never rise up to a level
higher than necessary to complete its journey.
