NTS radiograms

A radiogram is a short, fixed-format message that amateurs relay station to station until someone near the addressee can deliver it by phone, email or in person. The National Traffic System (NTS) is the set of scheduled local, section and region nets that move them. The format is old, strict and very good at one thing: getting the same words to the far end with a way to prove nothing was lost.

This page walks through the form line by line, works one complete example, and shows where to practice. It builds on the radiogram row on Emcomm.

Independent guide, not affiliated with ARRL, NTS, Radio Relay International or any net. The authority is ARRL's own methods and practices material, linked at the bottom. Where this page and your net's practice differ, follow your net.

NTS radiograms v1.0 · written 2026-10-08 · HX list, ARL texts and precedences checked as of Oct 2026

What changed recently

Traffic handling is in the middle of a modernization (NTS 2.0). Three changes matter if you learned from an older handout:

• Handling instructions (HX): ARRL and Radio Relay International (RRI) published a revised HX list on November 16, 2025. It redefines HXA (now: email or text delivery preferred) and adds HXI (deliver as an ICS-213), HXR (read-receipt reply) and HXT (special traffic test). Older handouts such as FSD-218 still show the pre-2025 list.
• ARL numbered texts: a new set (version 3.0, released October 7, 2025) added safe-and-well texts. In November 2025 RRI dropped its separate "RRC" prefix and went back to ARL, so both systems use the same texts.
• Certified precedence: introduced on the NTS 2.0 site in April 2026 for personal routine messages that should be delivered within 48 hours. Details below.

The parts of a radiogram

A radiogram has four parts, always in this order: preamble, address, text, signature.

Preamble

The preamble is the message's header. It is written once by the originating station and never changed by anyone who relays it.

Address

Name, street, city, state and ZIP on separate lines, then a phone number and, if useful, an email address. No punctuation: write EAST rather than E., and give the phone number as three groups (717 555 0123). A short OP NOTE after the address can tell the delivering station something useful, such as the best time to call.

A complete address, with a phone number, is what makes a message deliverable. Messages with a name and a city only often die at the last net.

Text

The text is the message itself. Keep it to 25 groups or fewer. Write it in capitals, without punctuation marks. The counting rules:

Signature

The name of the person who is sending the message, as they want it to appear. A call sign or title can follow if it helps the addressee. The signature is not counted in the check.

Precedence

Certified precedence has conditions in the April 2026 NTS 2.0 post: the address and phone number must be verified (not harvested from an online directory), the message must be unique and come from a prior relationship between sender and addressee, and the time of origin must be given in UTC. Bulk messages, such as greetings to strangers, stay Routine. The post doesn't give a one-letter abbreviation, so ask your net before you originate one.

If a message is truly urgent for safety of life, call 911. Radiograms are for when normal channels are down or for practice, not a replacement for emergency services.

Handling instructions (HX)

HX codes go in the preamble after the precedence. The current list (revised November 16, 2025):

Most everyday radiograms carry no HX at all. HXC is a common, polite one for a message you want confirmation on.

Worked example

You are at a state park for an afternoon activation and want to let your sister know you're fine and when to listen for you on the local repeater. Call signs, names and the phone number below are made up (555-01xx numbers are reserved for fiction).

NR 12  R  HXC  K3ABC  18  ELVERSON PA  1830Z  OCT 8

MARY SMITH
123 EAST MAIN STREET
LANCASTER PA 17602
717 555 0123

ALL WELL AT FRENCH CREEK STATE PARK X LISTEN
FOR ME ON 146R52 SUNDAY 1900 LOCAL X LOVE

TOM

The NR is only a label on the form; the number itself is 12. Counting the text, five groups to a line (the methods guide suggests five or ten):

The check is 18. 146R52 is one group because the R stands for the decimal point, and both X groups count.

The same news with an ARL text is shorter. ARL SIXTY FOUR means "Arrived safely at ___." and its blank is filled in order:

NR 13  R  K3ABC  ARL 7  ELVERSON PA  OCT 8
...address as above...
ARL SIXTY FOUR FRENCH CREEK STATE PARK
TOM

Seven groups: ARL, SIXTY, FOUR and the four words of the park name. The delivering station translates the ARL text into plain English when it calls Mary.

Sending it on phone

When the net control station sends you to a frequency with the receiving station, a typical voice rendering of the first example sounds like this:

"Number one two, routine, HX Charlie, Kilo Three Alpha Bravo Charlie, one eight, Elverson Pennsylvania, one eight three zero Zulu, October eight.
Mary Smith, figures one two three East Main Street, Lancaster Pennsylvania one seven six zero two, telephone seven one seven five five five zero one two three. Break.
All well at French Creek State Park X-ray. Listen for me on figures one four six roger five two, Sunday, figures one niner zero zero local X-ray. Love. Break.
Tom. End of message, no more."

Habits that keep it clean:

• Say "figures" before a number that could be mistaken for words and "initial" before single letters. Spell difficult or unusual words phonetically, but not common ones.
• Read at the speed the receiving station can write, not the speed you can talk. Pause at the line breaks.
• Use "more" if you have another message for the same station, "no more" if not. Don't use CW abbreviations or Q-signals on phone.
• The receiving station counts the text. If their count differs from your check, read it again. If it still doesn't match, the receiver writes both numbers in the check field, such as 18/17. Nobody changes the text to make the count agree.

On CW the same message uses prosigns instead of prowords: BT separates the address, text and signature, and AR ends the message, followed by B (another message follows) or N (no more). FSD-218 lists the full set of prosigns and prowords.

ARL numbered texts

ARL texts are standard messages sent as a number, which saves time and reduces errors. A few from the October 2025 list (version 3.0):

Always spell out the number (ARL FORTY SIX, never ARL 46) and put ARL in front of the check. Check the current list for the exact wording and the blanks before you use one; the safe-and-well group starts at ARL TWENTY SEVEN ("I am safe and well.").

Finding a net

• Your section: ARRL's net directory lists traffic nets by section, band and time. Your section traffic manager can tell you which local VHF net feeds the section net.
• Practice first: the Virtual NTS Training Net meets on Zoom on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM ET (as listed Oct 2026) and walks newcomers through radiograms, prowords and relays over several weeks. The connection details are on that page. It's aimed at Technicians who don't have a local VHF traffic net.
• Training material: the NTS 2.0 training page and the radiogram call script for delivering a message by phone.
• Forms: a fillable radiogram form. Print a few for the go-kit.
• Non-hams: friends and family can send a free radiogram through the Radiogram Portal. Both sender and recipient must be in the US or Canada.

On the net, listen first. Net control will ask for check-ins and traffic, usually by destination ("anyone with traffic for Lancaster?"). Give your call and say what you have, for example "one routine for Lancaster."

Delivering and servicing

Delivering a message is the most important job in the chain. Phone the addressee, say who you are and that you have a message by amateur radio, and read the text (translating any ARL text). The call script above is a good model.

If you can't deliver, send a service message back to the station of origin explaining why (wrong number, no answer after several tries). Service messages go back through the system like any other radiogram. Don't just drop an undeliverable message.

What not to put on the air

Radiograms are sent in the clear and anyone can listen. Before you originate one, check:

• No business. Nothing in which the sender or an operator has a pecuniary interest (§97.113). No sales, no orders, no work scheduling for an employer.
• No encryption or codes meant to hide the meaning. ARL texts are published, so they're fine.
• Nothing private. No Social Security numbers, account numbers, passwords, medical details, or anything the addressee wouldn't want read aloud.
• International traffic goes only to countries with third-party agreements with the US, apart from emergencies (§97.115).
• Nothing truly urgent. Routine traffic can take a day or two. The Radiogram Portal says the same: no business, urgent or very private messages.

Habits / gotchas / checklist

• Address complete, with a phone number. Without one, the message may not be deliverable.
• Text 25 groups or fewer. X for periods, never last.
• Check counted twice, and ARL in front of the check for ARL texts.
• Preamble never edited in relay. Count mismatches written as 18/17.
• HX codes from the November 2025 list, not an older handout.
• Time in UTC, with Z, when you include it.
• Undeliverable? Service the station of origin.
• Practice on a quiet weekly net before you need it.

Sources (checked Oct 2026)

• ARRL, The Methods and Practices Guidelines, Chapter 1 (PDF): radiogram format, check counting, preamble rules.
• ARRL, FSD-218, ARRL Radiogram brief: precedences, phone and CW procedure (its HX list predates November 2025).
• ARRL/RRI, NTS Handling Instructions, revised November 16, 2025, and the HX page.
• ARRL/RRI, ARL Numbered Radiogram Texts v3.0, October 7, 2025.
• NTS 2.0, Introducing the Certified precedence (April 2026).
• ARRL NTS, NTS manual, NTS 2.0 site, Radio Relay International.
• FCC rules via eCFR: §97.113, §97.115.

Related

• Emcomm · SKYWARN · Public-service events
• Keyboard modes — Winlink for email-style traffic
• Net Scribe — check-in log for net control