The ESS Bulletin

January totals: QNI 325, per session 10.5 (Dec 9.4); QSP 64, per session 2.1 (Dec 1.7). Checkins up, traffic down--must be the weather and post-holiday whatsis. Valentine's Day is coming, though! A warm welcome back to W2ITT, who's returned to his Sunday NCS slot in addition to his NYS/2RN/EAN skeds; many thanks to W2XS for filling in during Rob's absence. K2EAG emailed the Western District Net list that it's almost time for the third N4T POTA (Parks on the Air) DXpedition to Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida from February 17th to the 25th; Matt, Angela (N3ARB) and the N4T team are also planning to activate the Key West National Wildlife Refuge (POTA US-0244) before heading to Dry Tortugas. Lots more information is at https://www.qrz.com/db/N4T. We wish them good weather and plenty of contacts. With the space cadets continuing to drift down from 3570, if you're running the net it's better to send stations down 3 (early in the session--QMN meets at 6:30 on 3563) or down 5 kHz than up the band. If you're checking in, zero-beat the NCS as much as possible; the net control should ordinarily use a broad filter, but sometimes it's necessary to tighten up a bit to dodge the digital QRM. And don't be a shrinking violet about handling traffic for your area; the best way to learn is by doing, and there's nothing wrong with asking for fills or asking a sending station to slow down (PSE QRS). Don't forget that ESS is a slow speed net; conversely, don't disappear when traffic for your neighborhood is listed. If you've been checking in regularly, you've already learned much of what you need to know by osmosis. Birthdays: February—WA3JXW 1, K2NPN 8, K2TV 12, VE3MVM 15, N3AAK 26 and W2XS 27. March—K2EAG 1, WB2GTG 11 and KA2GJV 25. Additions and corrections, preferably by radiogram, are always welcome!

As you can see from the stats, the glass is two-thirds full; checkins are up, but traffic continues down. Given a choice, I'd rather see checkins than traffic but it's hard to keep folks interested when there's little (or no) traffic. ESS is far from the only net to have fallen on less-than-stellar times, and the ennui isn't limited to HF nets; Western District Net manager KB2YAA is also trying to drum up business, and I hope Gary is successful. On the plus side, we had a goodly number of net-certificate recipients last year. With more checkins than we had in 2024, it wouldn't take much to bump up the traffic count. Birthday greetings are easy (ARL FORTY SIX 73) and, given our wretched winter—about which the less said the better—we can always kvetch to each other about the weather!

When I got into traffic-handling, I'd occasionally get a message on the Big Apple net to deliver to someone who the station of origin could almost open his window and holler to. I thought it odd, and it took me a while to realize that part of the reason for the traffic was to teach me how to deliver a message! VHF nets have developed another function in recent decades, with fewer nets and traffic-handlers; they enable the timely delivery of traffic which would wither on the vine, as it were, with by-the-book routing. Even when we lived in Queens in the late 1980s, traffic from NLI would occasionally be routed to New Jersey via the Old Bridge Trash & Traffic Net instead of up and down the ladder to the section nets and 2RN. Used infrequently for time-sensitive traffic (birthday and anniversary greetings and what-not), such an alternative routing was unorthodox but effective and didn't starve the System of traffic.

Fast-forward to 2026, when many HF nets (including ESS) are hit-or-miss when it comes to coverage. New York has more "dead zones" than it used to, and few stations are able—or want—to check in every night; the amateur is balanced (or should be), after all. If AA2QL has traffic N2TQT can handle but Colin didn't check into the net, it's fine that ESS had the right of first refusal and equally fine for Freddie to try his luck elsewhere--including the NLI VHF nets. We can only do the possible, and working smart works wonders!

I'm not an ARRL member, and appreciate N2PEZ' emailing me the NTS Letter. The January issue explains NTS Treasure Hunt traffic, helping me understand messages with a strange alphanumeric first group. AC8NP and KY2D emphasize the importance of observing the HXC handling instruction and servicing the station of origin with the date and time of delivery. Let me know if you'd like a copy!