Each month the hams of Ohio
are given the opportunity to send a report to the Section
Traffic Manager. The report can be a monthly traffic report,
a PSHR (Public Service Honor Role) report or both.
Some hams will say, “I only handle one or two pieces of
traffic a month and it is not worth reporting.” It is
important to send in a report regardless on how much traffic
you handle. When you take all those stations that handle 1,
2, 5, 10 or more pieces of traffic and add them together,
they add up.
Why is it important to submit these reports? The totals of
these reports are an indication of the activity in Ohio.
When only a handful of hams submit reports, it gives the
appearance we are not doing as much as we could be. There
are far more stations active in Ohio than these reports
indicate.
What is PSHR? Public Service Honor Role is recognition of
amateur station activity. The PSHR reports are printed in
QST each month in the public service section.
How do you qualify for PSHR?
You must have a total of 70 points in any of 6 categories.
These are;
1. Participating
in a public service net (max. 40)
2. Handling formal messages (max. 40)
3. Serving in an ARRL-sponsored volunteer position (max. 30)
4. Participating in a scheduled, short-term public service
event, including off-the-air meetings
(5 points per
hour - no limit)
5. Participating
in an unplanned emergency response (5 points per hour - no
limit)
6.Providing and
maintaining an automated digital system handling ARRL
radiogram-formatted
messages or a
web page e-mail list server oriented toward Amateur Radio
public service.
(10 points per
item)
1) Participation
in a public service net --
1 point, maximum
40.
A public service
net is one that is regularly scheduled and handles Amateur
Radio formal messages. Here are examples of public service
nets: Local and section nets that are affiliated with the
National Traffic System (NTS); NTS region, NTS area, and
independent nets that handle traffic; ARES�,
RACES, SKYWARN nets that meet on a regular basis; net
sessions that are activated during emergencies and threats
of potential emergencies; public service and safety nets;
nets that are established for training radio amateurs in
public service and emergency communications.
2) Handling formal
messages (radiograms) via any mode -- 1 point for each
message handled; maximum 40.
A "handled"
message is defined as a message that is originated or sent
or received or delivered. PSHR will follow the same method
as Brass Pounders' League to count an individual operator's
traffic total (also known as station activity report) to
reach the figure for the new PSHR Category 2. There is
one point granted for each message handled; maximum 40
points per calendar month.
Originated--One
point for each message from a third party for sending via
your station. This "extra" credit is given for an
off-the-air function because of the value of contact with
the general public.
Sent--Every
message sent over the air from your station to another
amateur receives a point in this category. Thus, a message
that is eligible for an Originated point as above receives
another point when it is sent on the air.
Likewise, a
message that is received on the air conveys a Sent point
when it is relayed to another station. A message that you
initiate yourself, while it gets no Originated point, gets a
Sent point when cleared. All Sent points require on-the-air
sending.
Received--A
message received over the air gets a Received point, whether
received for relaying (sending) or for delivery to the
addressee. Any message received which is not eligible for a
Delivery point (such as one addressed to yourself) is
nevertheless eligible for a Received point.
Delivered--The
act of delivery of a message to a third party receives a
point in this category, in addition to a Received point.
This is strictly an off-the-air function and must be coupled
with receipt of the message at your station. Thus you can't
get a Delivered point unless you first get a Received point.
Further example
for clarification: If I send a message originated on behalf
of myself, I know I get only one point for a message SENT.
However, if I originate a message on behalf of a third
party, and then send it, I get TWO points, (origination and
sending), even though ONE message was handled.
3) Serving in an
ARRL-sponsored volunteer position: ARRL Field Organization
appointee or Section Manager, NTS Net Manager, TCC Director,
TCC member, NTS official or appointee above the Section
level.
--
10 points for each position; maximum 30.
ARRL Field
Organization appointees (in alphabetical order) include the
following: Assistant Section Managers, District Emergency
Coordinators, Emergency Coordinators, Local Government
Liaisons, Net Managers, Official Bulletin Stations, Official
Emergency Stations, Official Observers, Official Observer
Coordinators, Official Relay Stations, Public Information
Coordinators, Public Information Officers, Section Emergency
Coordinators, Section Managers, Section Traffic Managers,
State Government Liaisons, Technical Specialists.
The Section
Manager is the ARRL-member elected League official the
section. NTS Net Managers would include the following nets:
NTS Region and NTS Area. TCC (Transcontinental Corps)
Director is in charge of organizing his/her TCC membership
roster of operators that comprise the corps. TCC members are
those operators that are assigned to relay traffic from one
NTS area to another, conducting liaison with NTS nets to do
so. NTS official or appointee above the Section level
includes NTS Area Staff Chairs, NTS Area Digital
Coordinators and NTS Digital Stations.
More information
about the structure of the NTS and the positions and nets
that are mentioned in this article may be found in the
ARRL's Public Service Communications Manual. It is on
the
ARRLWeb.
4) Participation
in scheduled, short-term public service events such as
walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, parades, simulated emergency
tests and related practice events.
This includes
off-the-air meetings and coordination efforts with related
emergency groups and served agencies. -- 5 points per
hour (or any portion thereof) of time spent in either
coordinating and/or operating in the public service event;
no limit.
This category
recognizes the value of public safety communication events
that Amateur Radio is often called to participate in.
Simulated emergency tests, exercises, and drills are covered
by this category. Points are gained by the amount of time
that an Amateur Radio operator spends directly involved in
operating the event. This also recognizes the value of
off-the-air time it takes to meet with the organization or
public service agency to plan and coordinate Amateur Radio
involvement.
5) Participation
in an unplanned emergency response when the Amateur Radio
operator is on the scene. This also includes unplanned
incident requests by public or served agencies for Amateur
Radio participation.
--5 points per hour (or any portion thereof) of time
spent directly involved in the emergency operation; no
limit.
This category
recognizes an Amateur Radio operator who is directly
involved in an actual emergency operation. This includes the
operator who is on the scene or out in the field, in the
shelter, at the emergency operations center, at the
hospital, or other served agency's headquarters or their
temporary command center.
The second
sentence of Category 5 invites the Amateur Radio operator
who is an active participant in an unplanned incident -- or
in other words, an emergency operation-- to take credit for
his/her participation even though he/she is not physically
at the emergency scene.
The intent behind
Category 5 is to also include the Amateur Radio operators --
like net controllers, net operation and other radio amateurs
that support communications in unplanned incidents-- that
are not actually on the emergency scene or at the shelter,
etc, but are spending time and efforts for supporting the
same emergency communication efforts.
As an example, if
the National Weather Service activates SKYWARN, Amateur
Radio operators serve as weather spotters from their home
(or car, or work, or other locations) during the weather
event. Then, a tornado strikes and the Red Cross calls out
the ARES� members to serve in shelters and to
provide support for damage assessment communications. These
operators would be among those to qualify for points under
Category 5.
There would likely
be several net control operators, net liaison operators,
traffic handlers, etc, who are away from the disaster scene,
but are spending time to support the Amateur Radio emergency
communication effort on behalf of the served agencies (Red
Cross and National Weather Service, in this example). They,
too, would qualify for points under Category 5.
6.) Providing and
maintaining a) an automated digital system that handles ARRL
radiogram-formatted messages; b) a Web page e-mail list
server oriented toward Amateur Radio public service -- 10
points per item.
The portion, "a,"
is a carry-over from the previous PSHR criteria as this sub
category recognizes the efforts it takes to provide and
maintain an automated digital system (like a packet bulletin
board or a PACTOR system) that handles ARRL
radiogram-formatted messages.
The portion "b,"
is a new item. Since the last time PSHR criteria were
revised, newer technologies like Web pages and e-mail list
servers have become popular and effective ways to
communicate news and information to the community of radio
amateurs that are involved in emergency and public service
communication operations and preparedness.
Check the ARRL web site for
full details.
Why submit a PSHR report? Again to show how active Ohio hams
are. This lets the ARRL see how hams are serving their
community and section.
I would encourage all hams to submit both of these reports
to out to our Section Traffic Manager.
Don't have time to get on the traffic nets to give your
report.. We have the answer for you. Just fill out the
on-line PSHR form and it will email it directly to the STM
for you. Here's the form. FSD-210
We also have a Traffic Report form
that is used in the Ohio Section. This report form is for
the reporting ONLY of traffic received / passed which
differs from the PSHR.