[Harc] HARC Net Control Scrip

[Friday Ululani]

Hey, Peter!

Thanks for working on this.

My suggestions:

- When I worked at Caltrans, I tried for years to get us to drop the 
"10" codes from our radio communications.  It took longer to say "My 
10-20 is" than it did to say "I'm at".  It was pretentious and childish 
to cling to secret codes and handshakes.  In the same vein, I've often 
thought the use of "Q" codes is counter-productive and off-putting, when 
we're using phone communication modes.  We are using voice, not CW, and 
we should let it go.  Our discussion at the last AuxComm meeting 
confirmed this, when we were told we'd lose access to police & fire 
repeaters if they heard us saying "QST, QST, QST" over their repeaters 
during non-ham events.  I have switched to saying "Calling all Stations" 
during my nets, and I encourage HARC to do the same, at least on VHF/UHF 
nets.  This is doubly true if/when we have CERT and other non-ham 
members in our nets.  Our purpose is /communication/, after all, not 
mystery or nostalgia.
- Since these nets are not practice-for-emergency events, I suggest we 
drop the break for emergency traffic during the preamble.
- I suggest adding something like "When calling Net Control, please 
practice proper radio protocol, by speaking first the call sign of your 
target, followed by your own call sign (tactical).  This could sound 
like, "Net Control, this is the half-marathon turn-around.", or "Net 
Control, Water Exit".  When responding to a call, don't state both 
parties to the communication.  If Net Control calls "Honeydew, Net 
Control", just respond with "this is Honeydew", or "Honeydew".
- Maybe emphasize the end of communication use of the FCC callsign. We 
could add something like "so the net knows you're done with your 
exchange/communication/conversation"(?)
- I suggest adding a couple points.  ONE, whether you're Net Control or 
other, if someone calls you, and you cannot speak right away, please say 
"calling station, please standby".  TWO, be *listening *to the net, and 
be aware if someone is away from their mic, so you don't keep calling 
them when they cannot answer, and be aware if a conversation is 
underway, so you don't interrupt.
- Conversation is, of course, a two-way effort.  Net Control should work 
at sharing information with all the net participants.  If a runner comes 
to the trailer, and says the race has started, let the net know.  If the 
first racer crosses the finish line, let everyone know.  If there's an 
injured participant, who is taken by ambulance, let the net know.  This 
isn't a script thing, really.

Just my 2¢ worth.

Friday

On 5/31/2024 1:49 PM, Peter Esko via Harc wrote:
> As I promised at the last meeting, I've drafted a script for net 
> control to use at the races and other events we help out. Please have 
> a look and let me know if you have suggestions.  I hope to review and 
> approve at Tuesday's meeting.
>
> 73
> Peter
>
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