ARRL Radiogram
It is a plaintext message, along with relevant metadata (headers), that is placed into a traffic net by an amateur radio operator.
Within the United States, amateur radio operators can send and deliver radiograms on behalf of any member of the general public; this is one type of "third-party traffic" that is specifically permitted by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules.
Radiogram forms facilitate a standard protocol between amateur radio operators, allowing much faster relay of formal messages.
This is especially important in hectic and stressful environments such as during a disaster, when many parties call upon radio operators to quickly transfer messages in and out of the affected areas.
The headers' purpose and order is logical and intuitive enough that many amateur radio operators have memorized it and in extremis can transmit and receive radiograms without referring to the form.
Preamble information is used to service undeliverable messages and to generate replies to specific handling instructions.
The second section of the message is used to specify the name, address, city, state, zip, and telephone number of the addressee.
Line 1 should contain the full name of the addressee and, if possible, it should be the name as it is most likely to be found in the local telephone directory at the point of delivery.
Enter figures, street name (spell out east, west, north and south for clarity), and apartment or unit number.
The CITY, STATE (using standard two letter abbreviations), and ZIP code are entered without punctuation.
NINE DIGIT ZIPs are written with a spelled DASH, i.e. OWINGS MILLS MD 21117 DASH 2345 Telephone numbers are written as three groups of digits with no punctuation; area code, exchange, and number (only two groups if the area code is not required): 212 555 3245, or 555 1200 (note no hyphens used) The latest version of the Radiogram has a space for eMail address of the recipient.
An OP NOTE may be inserted after the telephone figures, before the text, relating to handling and/or delivery matters.
OP NOTES are optional, and are generally not considered part of the message to be delivered to the addressee.
(When transmitting a message, the text is separated from the preceding address, and the signature to follow, by the use of the word "BREAK" on voice, the prosign
OTHER PUNCTUATION is spelled out (in order to avoid confusion with prosigns used in the transmission of the message) as in "QUERY" for a question, "DASH" to separate special number or mixed groups, "EXCLAMATION", "COMMA", etc.
For commonly sent messages, and for efficiency during times of radio congestion, the ARRL Numbered Radiogram brevity code may be employed.
This assigns full sentences to each of 48 different numbers, which are spelled out in the message and preceded by the procedure word "ARL".
Words like love and regards, often associated with signatures in formal letters, are put in the text in amateur messages.
Amateur call signs, titles, QCWA or OOTC numbers, etc., in the signature follow the name on the same line.
Messages for served agencies, particularly during disasters, generally require an authorizing signature in full.
An OP NOTE may be inserted after the SIGNATURE, before the end of the message, relating to reply and/or servicing matters.
