I received this email this morning… Morse Code, the US Coast Guard and a radio event- sounded interesting.
Each year around this time, the Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS) sponsors an on the air event in commemoration of the last (more or less) presence of Morse Code on the maritime frequencies. Information available on the following MRHS home page. Follow “links” to “nicht of nights” or “MRHS Newsletter No. 45”.
The DTG for the event start time is:
130001Z JUL 2014
(a/k/a July 12, 2014, 5:01 PM PDT, 8:01 PM EDT, etc.)
The event is Morse Code (CW) in nature and runs for 24-Hours, but there may be some “run-up” and “taper off” activity on both ends.
This year, the following Coastal Stations will participate: KPH, KFS, KSM, KLB and WLO.
In addition, despite rumors of the demise of CW in the USCG ranks, once again this year, a few USCG stations will return to the air. NOTE: Sadly, as the “legacy” rigs are replaced, the presence of any 1/4″ jack, marked “KEY” is becoming fewer and far between. Even this year, I suspect some of the “activations” will require a little modification of the normal configuration. This could be the last time (EVER) that any USCG station is heard on HF using CW.
The current list of USCG participants are: NMC, NMQ, NMW, Unfortunately, these are all west coast stations. NMC is a large station (CAMSPAC), while NMQ and NMW are smaller stations. The best catch of the three would be NMW in Astoria, Oregon. Depending on real world requirements, the “rigs” and personnel may have limited availability. See the previous URL for specifics.
There is also a schedule for the Special Events callsign K6KPH to be available on the Ham Bands during this period.
The newsletters and MRHS web site are also interesting just to follow the adventures of the crew out there at Point Reyes, as they struggle to keep those stations on the air.
NOTE; They would like to find someone with a 500-Foot spool of “Outside Plant Control Cable”, 7+ Conductor, #18 AWG (give or take a little), to replace the existing cable to a recive filter box on a distant tower. If no cable is laying around, they also accept $$$$. 8*)
Enjoy!
73, Dave
Dave Williams – K7HMP/4
Stafford, Virginia
http://radiomarine.org/gallery/show?keyword=nonxi&panel=pab1_5#pab1_5