HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL TRAFFIC SYSTEM
Public service and amateur radio have gone hand-in-hand since the
earliest days of radio. March of 1913 brought about one of the
first instances of traffic or message handling, when amateurs
successfully provided communications to a large area in the
Middle West left isolated by a severe windstorm.
Message handling of all kinds, such as for pleasure or emergency,
was quickly becoming an important part of amateur radio. By late
1914 the ARRL, the brainchild of Hiram Percy Maxim, was relaying
messages. Dozens of stations, on the air continuously, did
nothing but handle traffic.
Relay networks had been lined up, with fairly good success, for
most of the Eastern United States.
The league was growing rapidly, but there remained the problem of
organizing schedules for stations in distant states. The
introduction of QST magazine in 1915 greatly helped with keeping
stations informed and maintaining organization, and schedules.
With the threat of impending war the league offered its services
to the military. By this time relay routes to every section of
the country were in the process of being formed. By 1916 six
trunk lines to cover the entire United States, three east and
west and 3 north and south were established and drills were being
performed on these trunk lines to keep operators well trained.
Great success was achieved. For example, on February 6th a
message was started from the East Coast, relayed to the West
coast, and an answer received in the record time of one hour and
twenty minutes.
World War 1 brought about the cessation of amateur radio by order
of the president of the United States. Amateurs, during this time
gave their all to the war effort and greatly aided military
communications. People from the military had nothing but praise
for the radio amateurs.
By the end of 1919 amateur radio was back on the air after the
cessation of hostilities. The first official postwar
transcontinental relay was carried out in 1921 with a record time
of 6 1/2 minutes round trip.
The following years brought about further improvements such as cw
replacing spark, and the advent of new designs for vacuum tubes.
Amateurs were becoming more efficient and in fact transoceanic
relays were taking place. Shorter wavelengths made for greater
distances.
Nineteen twenty five brought amateurs even more intimately
involved with the military. The navy with the help of Fred
Schnell, the ARRL traffic manager, installed a shortwave
transceiver aboard the U.S.S Seattle and this setup showed
tremendous performance during tests on an Australian cruise.
The army , in 1925, along with amateur radio, linked up to form
the Army-Amateur Radio System. This system had several purposes:
1. To provide emergency communication during times of domestic
emergency,
2. To provide communication channels for the civilian components
of the armed forces such as the National guard.,
3. To provide a pool of trained operators.,
4. To provide a means of establishing contact with a considerable
number of radio operators and making the public aware of the
Signal Corps and its activities, as well as exchanging views on
experimental work.
Further refinements of the art continued as higher frequencies
were employed and radio sets were developed with greater
stability, selectivity, and sensitivity.
In March of 1929 a new plan for the Army-Amateur Radio System was
implemented, where networks were organized in all sections of the
country for the purpose of aiding the Army and the American Red
Cross in the relief of distressed communities. This system
continued until late 1941 when it was dissolved due to war and
all amateur activity ceased again for the duration of the war.
Once again with the cessation of hostilities, amateur radio
activity was resumed and in 1949 the modern National Traffic
System was formed.