That said, there are weekly ARES nets where formal traffic is never passed except in the event of an emergency. So, this is a time when it is even more important for the checked in operators to follow the instructions of the net control operator.
Some people might dismiss net control instructions as being needless formalities, but many of the instructions are given for a reason.
Here are some common Net Control instructions and their purposes:
1. Please follow the instructions of the net control station- This rule clears up who is coordinating the net communications
2. When checking in, Please give your call sign phonetically- This ensures efficient copying of the call signs and cuts down on the need for fills.
3. Stations relaying, Please say “relay” and give your call sign only - This cuts down on confusion. If several stations suddenly keyed up saying “I have a relay, did you get …” a lot of time is wasted sorting through the confusion. It may not seem like much time is wasted, but shouldn’t we strive to be better operators?
An incident occurred this evening when I corrected an operator for not following a net instruction. I tried being cool about it, but I think that in trying so hard I did just the opposite.
That wasn’t the only incident this evening though. I asked for calls phonetically so I’d have time to write them. What happened though? A I got a few calls phonetically, then a long string of them, one right after the other really fast, non-phonetically
This is why I’m writing this now. Maybe I’m too much of a hardass, but I don’t think it’s wrong to expect the net instructions to be followed. Somebody tell me, am I expecting too much professionalism from amateurs?
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