NWAPRS serves: Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories,
Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana

1. During periods of local or regional emergency, the NWAPRS may be called upon to provide communications support to local city, county, state, federal, or provincial government. To ensure the system works when it is absolutely needed, periodic tests may be conducted. U.S. FCC Part 97 and the Radio Amateurs Canada Regulations provide detailed requirements for this, and I direct you to review them for applicability to packet communications. This procedure is similar to have a dedicated net on voice frequencies, but the the best of my knowledge, no procedure presently exists for packet communications. When called up, we must all be able to immediately do what is requested, for that reason, the following procedures are suggested for NWAPRS.

2. As part of NWAPRS, three communications modes exist:

a. NORMAL. During NORMAL communications mode there are no restrictions on the use of the regional NWAPRS frequency. Trackers, portable, home, and other stations may operate without restriction. Recommended station settings are found elsewhere in these pages.

b. REDUCE. During REDUCE communications mode, certain restrictions may be requested during the emergency or event that requires a reduction in the traffic across the system. REDUCE can be implemented locally, or regionally, but can very likely affect all users of the NWAPRS. All NWAPRS are requested to comply with INITIATE REDUCE if announced. When REDUCE is received, please adjust home or portable APRS station transmissions to once per hour, or a setting as directed by the issuing authority. Reduce tracker or other mode transmissions to once per 30 minutes, or a setting as directed by the issuing authority. Keep regular traffic, including one-liners or bulletins, to an absolute minimum, until the conclusion of REDUCE is sent.

c. MINIMIZE. During MINIMIZE communications mode, please curtail all normal APRS activity. If requested to shut down home stations and disable trackers, please do so. Typically however, only trackers will need to be turned off in order to achieve the desired reduction in traffic, which would then allow for EMERGENCY communications to get through the system unabated. MINIMIZE can be implemented locally, or regionally, but can very easily affect all users of the NWAPRS. As necessary, specifically stations may be contacted to operate APRS, or operate other packet applications, such as pacterm, paKet, or ARESpack. The goal of MINIMIZE is to curtail most APRS activity, enough so the frequency can be used for dedicated emergency communications, either thru UI or Connected protocols.

3. Initiating NORMAL, REDUCE, or MINIMIZE shall be the express authority of the NWAPRS Coordinator (K7GPS) or his designated representatives, the NWAPRS Area Coordinators. Requests for REDUCE or MINIMIZE must be justified and authorized before placing into effect. Likewise, return to NORMAL communications mode requires similar authorization. These requests should be discussed or transmitted to Dave/K7GPS via email or phone call (360-291-3244 x214, or 291-3707 pm). NORMAL, REDUCE, or MINIMIZE shall be transmitted by email to the nwaprssig, and by RF thru bulletins. A communications status shall be posted on the nwaprs.info web page.