Public service communications have been a traditional responsibility of the Amateur Radio Service since 1913, when amateurs at the University of Michigan and Ohio State University, in conjunction with numerous individual amateurs in and around the region, successfully bridged the communications gap surrounding a large isolated area left by a severe windstorm in the Midwest. In those early days, such disaster work was spontaneous and without previous organization of any kind.

In today's Amateur Radio, disaster work is a highly organized and worthwhile part of day-to-day operation, implemented principally through the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the National Traffic System (NTS), both sponsored by ARRL. The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), independent nets and other amateur public service groups are also a part of ARRL-recognized Amateur Radio public service efforts.

The ARES now consists of approximately 80,000 licensed amateurs who have registered their availability for emergency operation in the public interest. The operational leadership of ARES consists of approximately 2500 local and district emergency coordinators, along with the section ECs.

NTS operates daily to handle local, medium and long-distance written traffic in standard ARRL format. NTS consists of nets at four levels, with lines of liaison connecting them for the systematic flow of message traffic from point of origin to point of delivery in the shortest possible time consistent with organizational training objectives and mass handlings.

A subpart of the US amateur regulations (Part 97, Subpart E) provides for the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service. RACES is a special phase of amateur operation sponsored by local emergency management agencies with support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and applies to US amateurs only. The primary purpose of RACES is to provide amateurs with a special opportunity to serve governmental civil preparedness agencies. ARRL has signed a memorandum of understanding with FEMA to enhance the coordination of ARRL and FEMA resources.

This edition of the Public Service Communications Manual constitutes an overall source of basic information on the League's public service communications program. The appendices will provide the reader with additional operational details that are not covered in the rest of the booklet.

Thanks go to Rob Griffin, AB6YR, Santa Barbara Section Manager and the section's former Section Traffic Manager, and especially Bill Thompson, W2MTA, Western New York Section Manager, for their efforts in making this 1996 edition of the PSCM an accurate source of guidance for both the new and experienced public service communicator.

A Short History of NTS

Since the dawn of radio, the handling of messages accurately and speedily has been held in highest esteem. In the early days, The range of the average spark gap station varied from 5 to 10 miles. As better antenna systems, receivers, and higher power rotary spark-gap transmitters evolved, distances of 400 miles and more could be achieved as early as 1914, by the better stations operating on 200 meters and down. Obviously, longer distance communications could not be achieved reliably without relays.

The American Radio Relay League was founded by Hiram Percy Maxim primarily as a long distance radio relay system. By the end of 1915, over 600 stations in almost every e kept very high. The technical capability had been present for a long time before; but it is most definitely the organizational structure created by the ARRL that quickly increased the distance a message could travel from 50 Miles in early 1914 to reliable trans-continental messaages by February 1917. The commercial communications systems at that time were fragile and often made unusable during disasters. Amateurs even in their dawn proved their worth to those communities which found themselves helpless without emergency communications.

Operation then was strictly by Morse code and suffered under the worst combinations of noise, poor receiver selectivity, frequency unstable of transmitters and receivers, poor receiver sensitivity, etc. A message was handled with almost a feeling of sacred trust by dedicated and skilled operators.

A message from coast to coast often had to be painstakenly relayed 8 times or more. To "botch" or delay such a message was not looked at very kindly by "The Brethren". An operator was judged not so much for the amount of messages that he could handle nor the "sweetness" of his fist as much as how accurate and reliable of a relay he proved to be. It was a high priority to have an efficient continental system established not only for amateur radio disaster communications. For accuracy and efficiency, a specific format was eventually determined to be the most effective. The standard NTS format in its present form is almost identical with that which also evolved in a parallel manner in the military and commercial message services; which, by the way, were for the most part staffed by hams as well.

The present day National Traffic System (NTS) evolved out of this eighty-year old public service and disaster communication tradition. The NTS is still sponsored by the American Radio Relay League and features an orderly method of reliably and responsibly moving messages across the continent on a daily basis as a public service through a system of voice and CW nets and now also Packet radio BBS forwarding systems. Packet radio forwarding, although made possible only as recently as late 1984 appears as a natural choice to continue this fine tradition, as it is proving both accurate, fast, and more and more reliable.

Throughout our history, we amateurs have established a reputation for public service communications which is of the greatest importance to our continued occupation of frequencies. At first, this service was rendered spontaneously and on an individual basis. As time progressed, the need for and value of organization became evident, resulting in the establishment of organized trunk lines and net systems; later the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the National Traffic System (NTS) were formed to complete the organization. The ARRL Field Organization includes the combined facilities of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, as it has developed since 1935, and the National Traffic System, which was begun in 1949.

It is significant that Part 97 of the FCC's Rules and Regulations states, as the first principle under "Basis and Purpose," the following:

"Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary non-commercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications."

ARES and NTS exist as the League's implementation of this basic principle. ARES and NTS have much in common. Every emergency net is bound to be, to some extent, a traffic net, and every traffic net should be prepared to take on various forms of emergency-related communications duties. Emergency-conscious and traffic-conscious operators have this in common: They both derive their chief reward out of activities which are directly beneficial not only to Amateur Radio, but also to their communities and country.

THE ARRL FIELD ORGANIZATION

BASIC ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS

The ARES and NTS work together from top to bottom. Most ARES nets exist only at the local level, and are tied into NTS at local or section level for integration into the national system. The overall support for all levels of ARES and NTS is provided by the Field Services Department at ARRL Headquarters.

Leadership in the emergency division (ARES) is exercised by the Section Emergency Coordinator and the District ECs and local ECs, as shown; in the traffic division (NTS) by Section Traffic Manager and by Net/Node Managers at the local and section levels.

Usually, emergency operation is initiated at the local level and is the business of the ARES local Emergency Coordinator. Even if the emergency situation transcends the local level and becomes of statewide, regional, or even national concern, the immediate situation and what to do about it are primarily the concern of local ARES officials. Much of the emergency messages and other communications will be generated by civic and welfare officials, or at their request, with resulting logistical challenges in effecting their conveyance, are handed to the ARES for solution.

While ARES and NTS are two of the ARRL's public service organizations, it should NOT be concluded that this is all that there is to Amateur Radio public service, or that this is the extent of the League's interest in public service communications. On the contrary, there are many other amateur public service operating groups under different sponsorship which are a vital part of the public service function of the Amateur Radio Service. As such, they merit and receive the League's recognition and assistance to the extent desired and feasible.

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