DRN7 information from W7IG

[K7MT]

Howdy gang, I just received the following from Armand Pilotte W7IG the present director for DRN7. It is a good explanation of DRN7's role in the National Traffic System (NTS).

Bill K7MT

The National Traffic System and Daytime Region Seven Net.

Welcome to the Daytime Region Net (DRN7). This is a brief description of The National Traffic System (NTS)
and (DRN7). NTS is composed of three Areas: Eastern, Central, and Pacific. Traffic that is initiated in one
Area is sent to Amateurs in another region by a variety of modes, primarily digital. The Area nets then move
the traffic to Liaison Stations who forward the traffic to Regional Traffic Nets. The ARRL publication, the
Public Service Communications Manual, provides a complete description of the various parts of the NTS.

The DRN7 Net includes Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. DRN7 meets
twice a day at 0945 and 1515 hours local time on 7235 MHz DRN-7 is not a traffic net in the same sense as
WARTS and Noontime Net in that all the traffic for a given state is moved to a single designated Liaison
Station.

Each state or province has a designated Liaison Station for each session. The Liaison Stations have specific
times for which they are responsible for receiving all incoming traffic for their state or province. The
designated Liaison Station is responsible for moving it along to the general or Section traffic nets. Once a
Liaison Station accepts the traffic it must go to a general traffic net and not returned to DRN7. Generally,
Washington traffic that arrives via the morning session of DRN7 is taken to the Noontime Net and traffic from
the afternoon DRN7 is taken to WARTS or one of the other evening nets. The Liaison Station may take traffic
to a net of their choice as there are some VHF/UHF nets that will also pass traffic. This is a judgment
decision on the part of the individual Liaison Station consistent with the timely passing of traffic.

Suggestions:

1. Listen to a few DRN7 sessions before checking in. This will help you learn the way traffic flows and
how the net operates. This is not the usual traffic net. There are assigned Liaison Stations for each
session. The Liaison Station and the station with traffic will often go off frequency to pass the
traffic. Follow some to see how it is done.

2. Sometimes a designated Liaison Station is unable to check into the DRN7 net. If the designated Liaison
Station does not check in by the start of the DRN7 net the net control will ask for someone to fill
in to act as the Liaison station. When you check into the net you may be asked to take traffic. Please
be flexible. If you can cover for another operator it helps the traffic flow. Also, if you can take
part of the traffic on high volume sessions it is greatly appreciated by all.

3. As a Liaison Station, if you are going on vacation the Section Traffic Manager will help find someone
to take your place, however if you can arrange your own coverage it is greatly appreciated. If your
personal schedule changes the Section Traffic Manager will work with you to change your duty days
and/or times. Changes of this type do take some time to arrange so please give as much lead time as
possible.

4. If you receive DRN7 traffic try to take it to the next available net. If you can’t take it to the next
available net or if no one takes the traffic it is permissible to take it to a later net. Band
conditions vary and sometimes the message can be handled on a later net.

5. Messages containing ARL Numbered Messages should be decoded before delivery. This is generally done
by the station that delivers the message to the recipient and not the Liaison Station. The decoded
message should be completely plain text with no ARL numbered messages stated.

6. The National Traffic System is dedicated to communications during disasters on behalf of ARES, as well
as the daily handling of third-party traffic. Participation in NTS is the only daily activity that
provides the opportunity to do daily public service as required by FCC Part 97. It is a good way to
meet other hams, especially new ones. The practice will prepare you for disasters and make you more
valuable to the traffic handling system.

7. If you do not have a copy of the Common Message Texts or the ARRL Numbered Messages please send an
email to: KI7PY@AOL.COM and put Common Message Texts and/or ARRL Numbered Messages in the subject
line. You will receive a copy of these documents as well as being entered on the email address list
to receive revisions.

8. If you have further questions please contact W7ARC, W7TVA, or KI7PY. Please do not hesitate to contact
us.

9. For more information please see the Public Service Communications Manual (PSCM) It is available in PDF
format http://www.ctares.org/files/ARESmanual.pdf This is the definitive document for the National
Traffic System.

Thank you for your interest in handling traffic. Your ongoing participation, and that of each amateur radio
operator, is greatly appreciated and provides the experienced operators needed in an emergency.

John, KI7PY
Armand Pilotte W7IG