Emergency Nets Etiquette

Emergency Nets Etiquette

"Emergency Nets Etiquette
Eric Behr (KC9DUX) on September 10, 2005

I have been monitoring more than usual recently, and I am very disappointed by the way some hams are behaving in this time of crisis. Most people out there are doing a truly fantastic job, but some of us are doing amateur radio a real disservice.

Anyone who has any contact with the outside world knows by now that two main 40 meter and 80 meter nets run by the West Coast ARES are handling most of the traffic, and that the ARRL has asked everyone to give them 5 kHz of elbow room on either side. But night after night I hear 'nets' or other QSOs, with amps full blast on and deviation at scary levels, 2 or even 1 kHz away from the well-advertised frequencies. These people also routinely ignore breakers who want to politely ask them to move, or -- when they do they heap abuse on them. This may be a coincidence, but many of these operators go on for as long as 30 minutes with no ID. I won't mention specific callsigns this time.

To those folks who say 'we've been meeting here since 1955 and we won't budge', I say: I hope your loved one is in an emergency one of these days, and you will need help getting through to the net with strong QRM nearby.

The net controls and their relays, tired after hours of work day in and day out, need to pull out some very weak signals, given the current propagation and the nature of emergency operations. The last thing they need is a strong CW carrier which covers everything else. It is amazing to me that there are still many dozens of people who tune up, sometimes for minutes on end, the moment the NC stops talking and starts listening. How clueless can one get? Reduce your power; find a spot a few kHz away, then tune. Otherwise you are doing the very opposite of what we need to do"


73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET

(old calls KE5CTY - WB5ZQU - WY5L)
10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.qsl.net/ke5cty/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.