Tag: special event station

NPOTA: ARRL’s Best Idea?

The National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) is off and running. Making contact with a handful of stations currently operating from NPOTA locations has made me wonder if the ARRL has had a good idea with NPOTA as a way to help celebrate the anniversary of the National Park Service.

From ARRL: “Throughout 2016, Amateur Radio will be helping the National Park Service celebrate their 100th anniversary. Hams from across the country will activate NPS units, promote the National Park Service and showcase Amateur Radio to the public.”

I am a huge fan of both the National Parks and the National Park Service. Anyone who is interested in the history of our National Parks would be well rewarded to start with the Ken Burns documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Yellowstone generally gets credit for being the first National Park back in 1872. However, the National Park Service was not established until 1916. That period in between provides us a very good reason that there are times when we need a government organization to protect us from ourselves. During that in between period, the Army was given the mission of attempting to protect both Yellowstone and Yosemite. Like most missions the Army received, they were underfunded, under equipped, and undermanned. They did, however, do the best they could to protect these amazing areas. Many Americans saw these new National Parks as areas for economic exploitation. If it wasn’t for many individuals working long and hard for the establishment of the National Park Service, it is very likely we would not be able to enjoy the parks we have today. Stephen Mather and Horace Albright were the two primary individuals who secured the establishment of the National Park Service. Ken Burns talks about these two individuals in his documentary and there are also a few books that do a great job telling the story (Creating the National Park Service: The Missing Years and The Birth of the National Park Service: The Founding Years, 1913-33).

Yosemite: President Theodore Roosevelt, left, poses with John Muir for pictures on Overhanging Rock at the top of Glacier Point, near which the men camped in a hollow and awoke to five inches of snow in 1903.

The National Parks exist for our enjoyment. Generally that enjoyment manifests itself in some type of hiking, camping, fishing, watching for wildlife, or learning about history. This interaction between Park and citizen can be passionate, emotional, revitalizing, inspirational, and an educational experience.

With all that being said, I was a bit surprised to hear stations making contacts for NPOTA locations like it was a contest. Each NPOTA location is identified by a letter-number combination. No discussion of where they actually were. No description, no discussion. It is a bit sad to see there is a Leader Board – which only facilitates looking at NPOTA as a contest rather than an actual celebration.

I also wonder how these activations are impacting those non-amateur radio enthusiasts who are visiting a NPOTA site. Is this putting amateur radio in the best light?

Are these NPOTA activations promoting the National Park Service or showcasing Amateur Radio to the public?

If so, how?

What would Stephen Mather and Horace Albright think about NPOTA?

It will be interesting to see how NPOTA progresses over the coming weeks and months.

Notes from the shack

Over winter break I have been putting in a lot of time behind the radio. Here’s the wrap up:

First – more DX. In general, this is a good time of year to catch hams behind their rigs. Some contacts that I am particularly proud of:

4U1WB, The World Bank in Washington D.C.
ZD7DL, St Helena Island
WH6S, Kauai
C5YK, The Gambia
9H5BZ, Malta
MI5AFK, Northern Ireland
FG5GP, the island of Guadeloupe
ZS6TVB, South Africa
EA8DAZ, Canary Islands
VP2ETE, Anguilla

Second – working a lot of DX. There is the 90th anniversary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) special event activations. Plenty of good DX participating in this and working multiple bands.

Cuba
Bermuda
Finland
Germany
Aruba
Venezuela
Jamaica
Ireland
Italy
Slovenia
Brazil

Third – working Santa (aka AA4EE) on Christmas Eve. The girls really enjoyed telling Santa what they wanted. Thank you Santa!

Four – joining the OMISS and the 3905 Century Club nets. I am not sure if I fully understand these nets. I get the convenience in pursuing Worked All States awards. That makes sense. However each club also has an additional bevy of other types of awards. The actual contacts during the nets seem a bit unfulfilling. But I may not yet fully understand these nets. I need to thoroughly read all the literature.

Five – Log of the World: I have uploaded the vast majority of my logs. I mentioned before about uploading my YI9MI logs. I also went back and uploaded my log from KD7PJQ back in Virginia. The logs from Korea (HL2/AD7MI and HL9MI) are now uploaded. All my logs using AD7MI have been uploaded.

WW1USA


I had the opportunity to be a guest operator at WW1USA today. WW1USA is a special event station located at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, MO.

There was a request for operators that I saw on Larry’s List. Larry’s List is an awesome resource for hams in the greater Kansas City area. Not just another email list-serv, but a truly valuable resource in understanding what is happening in the area. From community events, swap-n-shop, club meetings, weekly nets to nearby hamfests – Larry’s List is one stop shopping for everything you need to know about amateur radio in Kansas City.

I read about the opportunity to sign up for operator/logging slots during this weekends activation of WW1USA and thought it would be a neat opportunity.

Arriving about 10 minutes before my shift started, I was immediately directed to a position and asked to start logging for an operator working contacts on 20 meters. The brief instructions I received was to log the callsign, name, and state of the contact. I think I recognized the logging program as N3FJPs logging program for Windows. I had used this program before during Field Day 2009 with my dad, KD6EUG.

As I adjusted into the chair, my ear turned towards a speaker, my fingers pecking away entering callsigns… I noticed there were not any radios here! Each of the operating positions were laptops, using HRD to control a rig at a remote location. Pretty cool. As I believe it would have been fairly difficult to raise antennas on top of the museum and then route feedlines down to an operating room, the planners of this special event used internet connectivity. To be honest, as an operator, the fact that I was not in front of the rig was really not even apparent.

After twenty minutes, I slid into the operators chair and proceeded to work contacts for the next two hours. Again, the planning effort of this operation became evident when I saw a short script in front of me for calling CQ as well as providing answers on how calling stations could QSL the contact. When a station at the distant end asked for more information about the reason for the special event, I was handed another card which talked about commemorating the failed Gallipoli campaign.

I had a great time making contacts: stations all over Canada and the United States. What a fun time!

National Parks On The Air


From the ARRL: “Throughout 2016, Amateur Radio will be helping the National Park Service celebrate their 100th anniversary. Hams from across the country will activate NPS units, promote the National Park Service and showcase Amateur Radio to the public.”

This should be an exciting event for me. This past summer I got to enjoy some extended travels through a few of our national parks (visited a total of 5). This coming summer I am planning the same but hopefully am going to be able to visit even more.

While I do not intend to conduct any extended activations, I do plan on getting onto the HF bands from my mobile while I am at the parks.

I am getting closer to locking in my summer travel’s calendar. Most parks start taking reservations at six months out… just about there.

ARRL is already selling quite a bit of National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) swag. One item that I have ordered is the NPOTA map, which I’ll post in the room where I will do my trip planning.

I will need to think through how I cam going to do my logging. For QSL cards, I can use postcards from the park and stamp them with each park’s National Park Passport stamp.

Armed Forces Day Crossband Test

I had a fairly successful day participating in the Armed Forces Day Crossband Test. To recap, I am currently at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin for a brief period of time supporting a National Guard exercise. Normally when I go around to different Army units and assist in their exercises I fly. But I decided to take my Toyota Tundra on this trip and re-installed my HF rig. I have never preiously particpated in the Armed Forces Day Crossband Test and have always wanted to…. this was my chance.

The AFD Crossband Test has two components to it. The first is to receive a message from the Secretary of Defense which is transmitted in various digital modes from different military stations during the day. The second part of the Test is to make contact with the military stations with the military stations operating in their band and the amateurs in their band (hence the term “Crossband”).

For the Secretary of Defense message I hooked my Rigblaster Plug & Play to my IC-706MKIIG and brought my laptop into the truck (which has fldigi installed). The Rigblaster worked like a charm and I was able to copy the SECDEF’s message from WAR (at The Pentagon), AAZ (Fort Huachuca, AZ), and AIR-2 (New York). All these transmissions were in RTTY, which fldigi was able to read without issue. Now I need to print out copies of the messages I copied (which are the same, except the header information which reflects what station was transmitting the message) and send them in to the corresponding station. In return, I believe, I’ll receive a certificate from the SECDEF (suitable for framing, I’m sure).

The crossband contacts caused me to take a crash course in split frequency operations for my IC-706MKIIG. Fortunately I had my Nifty “Cliff Notes” version of the manual and was able to figure it out pretty quick. Although the actual execution took a bit of time to get down. First, obviously, I had to hear the station calling. MARS HQ publishes ahead of time a list of each station and the frequency that they will transmit from. I built a spreadsheet that allowed me to sort by frequency which made it easier to search for the transmitting station. The searching was done in the IC-706MKIIG’s VFO A. Once I found the station, I had to listen for them to announce the amateur frequency they were listening to… which most stations did periodically. Once I got their listening frequency, I flipped over to VFO B, dialed up the frequency, tuned the Tarheel screwdriver antenna, flipped back to VFO A, then hit the Split function, and waited for a chance to call. In the end, I was successful in contacting five different stations: WAR (at The Pentagon), NWKJ (located on the USS Yorktown, Charleston, SC), NMN0CQQ (located on the USS Midway, San Diego, CA), AAZ (good ol’ Fort Huachuca, AZ), and NWVC (a Navy MARS station in Indiana). For these contacts I get to send in my QSL card and hope for a response.

None of this was exotic DX but it was fun and exciting… and a bit challenging trying to do it all from inside my Toyota Tundra. I hope I am able to particpate again next year.

$3 AIR-2 AIR-2 MESSAGE FOLLOWS

RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRY
RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRY

DE AIR-2 AIR-2 MESSAGE FOLLOWS

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

ARMED FORCES DAY 2012 MESSAGE

TO AMATEUR RADIO AND
MILITARY AUXILIARY RADIO SYSTEM
OPERATORS

QUOTE

FOR THE PAST SIXTY-THREE YEARS, OUR NATION HAS RECOGNIZED
THE DISTINGUISHED GLOBAL SERVICE OF OUR UNITED STATES
MILITARY DURING THE ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY CELEBRATION.

AMATEUR RADIO AND MILITARY AUXILIARY RADIO SYSTEM OPERATORS
PROVIDE ESSENTIAL CONTINGENCY COMMUNICATIONS TO RELIABLY SUPPORT
OUR NATIONS MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. YOUR SUPPORT OF
COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN DEPLOYED SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AIRMEN,
MARINES, SUPPORTING CIVILIANS, AND THEIR FAMILIES IS DEEPLY
APPRECIATED.

ON BEHALF OF ALL UNIFORMED SERVICES, I EXTEND MY SINCEREST
APPRECIATIMN FOR YOUR HARD WORK, SELFLESS DEDICATION, AND
VITAL SERVICE TO OUR GREAT NATION. WELL DONE!

/S/ LEON E. PANETTA

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

UNQUOTE

APPROVED FOR TRANSMISSION,

DE AIR-2 AIR-2
SK

Hold The Cheese Jokes

The road trip to Wisconsin went off without an issue. Despite the poor weather the night before, the skies generally cleared in the morning and I encountered only a few drops of rain during the first hour or so. By noon, the skies were blue and pleasant. The route was straightforward; I-35N, then I-90E.

I enjoyed using my mobile HF rig on the trip, mostly listening to pass the time but also having a few QSOs. There is a regional 40M net that occurs around 1100 AM (Central) that often has an NCS, Dave, KE0DL, who I talk to from time to time on the local repeater. I was able to check into the net and say hello to Dave. Then I made my way up to 17M and the band was hot with European DX for the rest of my trip: Hungary, Bosnia, Russia, Belgium, and Kaliningrad (a new one for me… I think). I was able to bust the pileups even with out adding the “mobile” to the end of my call.

This Saturday is the Armed Forces Day Crossband Test. The purpose of the event is to “give Amateur Radio operators and Short Wave Listeners (SWL) an opportunity to demonstrate their individual technical skills, and to receive recognition from the appropriate military radio station for their proven expertise.” Cooperation between civilian radio enthusiats and the military can trace its roots back to the Washington’s Birthday Amateur Relay Message back in Februrary 1916 in which a message was originated from the Army’s Rock Island Arsenal and was then passed over amateur relays around the country. Prior to and after WWII, the relationship between civilian amateurs and the military evolved to events more similar to what we see today with the Army Day and Navy Day messages from their respective service secretaries.

I have never participated in the Armed Forces Day Crossband Test but am hoping to this Saturday. I am going to try and copy the Secretary of Defense’s message via one of the digital modes. Once the message is copies, I can send in a copy (via mail) in order to receive a certificate. I think it will be fun to participate in this event – we will see how it goes.

Field Day

My Field Day adventure started on Tuesday, 23 June. I finished the final touched to the eARSIB and then through every possible item I thought I might need (minus a 25 pin to 9 pin cable for a Kantronics KPC-3+ which I will talk about later) in a total of 3 footlockers. I packed up the truck, loaded up the dog and was on the road by 10:30am. There was good APRS coverage on my route along I-80 up until western Nebraska where I encountered an almost 200 mile gap. Once I hit Cheyenne, I was back in APRS coverage. My stop for the first night was Laramie, Wyoming, which I made before sunset.

The next day I pushed on west. While in western Wyoming I was able to check into the 40M Sparkle Net (7262 kHz) and talk with Dave, KE0DL, back in Leavenworth, Kansas. I also noticed on my GPS that one of the APRS stations was moving along I-80 the same direction that I was going. I gave a short call on the 2M National Simplex frequency and got a reply. We had both started the drive in Wyoming but parted ways in Salt Lake; he headed south on I-15 to Vegas, I kept west on I-80. I enjoyed the drive through eastern Utah. Park City, Utah is a place I had spent a lot of time skiing about twenty years ago. I’d been there often in the winter, but this was the first time seeing it during the summer.

Traffic was heavy through Salt Lake City and I did my best to make my way around the city as quickly as possible. West of the Great Salt Lake, I had an interesting HF QSO with a gentleman in Southern California who was using an Elecraft K3 with an the diminutive MT-1 antenna. My initial plan was to spend the night in Winnemucca, Nevada but upon arriving discovered they had me on the second floor in a non-pet room. Instead of hauling my footlockers up a flight of stairs I decided to push on to Fernley, Nevada (just east of Reno) where I found a great hotel with a first floor room I could practically back my truck up into. The dog liked it too.

Thursday morning I worked my way up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas, listening to a few 40M nets. I reached the Sonora Pass around noon and enjoyed the view. The dog a I hiked up to a nearby plateau and took in the view.

After traveling down the western side of the mountains I was able to raise my dad, KD6EUG, on a repeater near his cabin in Mi-Wuk Village. California Hwy 108 wound its way down from Sonora Pass. The drive was spectacular along the scenic route and traffic was sparse. I rolled down the windows and opened the sun roof to take in gorgeous day. Reaching the cabin in Mi-Wuk, both the dog and I got to strech our legs and rest up. Thursday night we assembled the gear that would become a permanent station at the cabin: an IC-706MKIIG, LDG Z-11 Pro, RIGblaster PnP, IC-208H, all powered by an Icom PS-125. In addition to the radio gear, the station would also integrate a Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station, beaconing the weather data view APRS.

To simplify the APRS setup in the cabin, I decided to use a special add-on piece of equipment from Davis specifically designed to be used for APRS – the WeatherLink APRS streaming data logger. The data logger, once configured, streams weather data directly to a TNC, eliminating the need for a computer (or UI-View32). With this setup, it was not necessary to leave a computer running to keep the weather station pushing data to the TNC and VHF radio. The weather data is formated by the data logger to be ready for transmission into APRS. The station also has a laptop which I installed the WeatherLink software that would allow me to configure the APRS data logger. Configuring the data logger was pretty straight forward. Setting the parameters in the TNC to grab the data loggers APRS weather info proved a bit more challenging. The challenge was further compounded by my forgetting to pack the 25 pin to 9 pin cable that connects the laptop to the Kantronics KPC-3+ TNC.

The real work started Friday. The first task was completing the installation of a Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station on the cabin roof. That was done without much trouble.

The next step would be to get the weather data out via APRS using the IC-208H paired with the Kantronics KPC-3+ TNC and the Davis APRS streaming data logger. With the lack of a good cable to use between the laptop and TNC as well as not knowing exactly what parameters were need in the TNC we decided that task would have to wait until after Field Day.

Now it was time to string some antennas. The first was a 132′ dipole which ran N/S. I’d packed my CVS19 Pneumatic Antenna Launcher (aka tennis ball launcher) which helped us position the antenna up about 40′.

Next we strung a G5RV going E/W. This is the same G5RV I bought from a fellow ham when I lived back in Virginia. He had never used it and I had used the antenna only once while running a special event station at Fort Monroe.

It quickly became apparent that we could not both operate using both antennas due to their proximity to each other and surrounding powerlines prevented us from placing the antennas end to end in order to minimize interference. The solution: my dad’s Force 12 Sigma 5. The problem: the antenna was back in San Jose. So Friday night consisted of my dad traveling back to the Bay Area to retrieve the vertical antenna while I continued to configure the laptop (N3FJP Field Day networked logging software, Digipan for PSK-31, and the Davis Weatherlink program) in addition to setting up my operating position on the back deck of the cabin.

My operating position setup consisted of a 10’x10′ pop-up shelter (with mosquito net) and a large table with comfortable folding chair. Inside the shelter I placed a large table with the eARSIB and my station’s laptop.

I verified that the laptops at either operating position (the one inside the cabin and mine outside on the deck) could communicate via WiFi using the N3FJP software: it worked like a charm. The software allows two (or more) operating positions to share one log. Each operator gets to see the combined log and is notified of potential dupes.

Saturday morning my dad arrived back from the Bay Area and we setup the Sigma 5.

My operating position on the deck had the antenna connections for both the G5RV and the Sigma 5, my dad’s position had the 132′ ladderline-fed dipole. Interference between the two positions was sometimes a problem. I could use the Sigma 5 vertical on 20M, 15M, and 10M as long as my dad stayed on 80M or 40M (as long as I wasn’t on 15M). While this slowed down operations a bit, it gave us time to take plenty of breaks. My dad started Field Day by working PSK-31 on 20M. I worked phone contacts on 15M and 10M. Later my dad switched to phone, which he really started to enjoy.

10M and 15M were really incredible. I was able to work all the way to the East Coast and up and down the West Coast. For dinner, I BBQ’d some brauts. By midnight we were both exhausted and decided to get some rest.

I enjoyed using my eARSIB. This is the first time I used a foot pedal for my PTT – paired with a Heil headset. That worked great, allowing me to use both hands on the keyboard. I had been unable to configure the West Mountain RIGtalk to work on my laptop – not sure why. But it wasn’t too hard to just flip the band in the logging software. I had not used my Logikey CMOS4 Keyer in some time. I paired it with my Vibroplex paddle and the two worked well together. I enjoyed a few QRS CW QSOs – thank you for those who took the time to slow down for me. I had picked up a marine battery to use with my PWRgate and that worked well.

Sunday I got up after four hours of sleep and started working 80M using the G5RV.

The G5RV worked nicely and I contacted stations from Western Canada down to Southern California and Arizona. I moved up to 40M and expierenced similar results – but was also able to work a station in Japan. My dad was up soon and started to work on 80M and 40M with the 132′ dipole while I switched to the vertical and worked stations on 20M. By about 11:30am we were both pretty much spent. Overall we made about 250 contacts, mostly phone but also a few PSK-31 and CW…. and we had a great time!

KD6EUG Brags About The Number of QSOs He Made

We slept well Sunday night and Monday morning had me back working on the Kantronics KPC-3+/Davis weather station. The biggest problem I was having was figuring out what value to use for the GPSHEAD parameter. Without the correct value, the KPC-3+ was not grabbing the weather data. GPSHEAD would pull in the data a place it in LT (a buffer). LPT setup the APRS path. BLT setup the amount of time in between the TNC initiating a beacon transmission containing weather data.

After a few calls to the Davis headquarters, I was able to figure out that “@” was the magic value for GPSHEAD. Now the weather station is up and operational.

It was then back on the road, up and over the Sonora Pass. I was able to talk to my dad, operating from the Mi-Wuk cabin station, on 80M from the top of the pass. I spent the night in Carson City, Nevada and the next day headed east on I-80. I had made the decision to take I-70 back to Kansas in order to try something different as well as seeing a part of Colorado I had never seen before. It was a long haul to Grand Junction, Colorado – I arrived around midnight. After a few hours of sleep, I was on the road again heading east through some of the most beautiful scenery of the trip. Aspen and Veil were beautiful cities – I hope I get a chance to go back there someday. But while the drive was scenic, the going was slowed and progress was not nearly as quick as I had experienced before while moving through Wyoming and Nebraska.

I finally emerged from the Rockies and headed into Denver, stopping at the Ham Radio Outlet located there. Terry, KC0VFO, and I talked about our Field Day experiences – he operated mobile. His call sign looked familiar and sure enough, I had worked Terry on 15M during Field Day.

Moving east through Denver I was back on the open road, moving rapidly along I-70. I heard a call coming over the 2M National Simplex frequency. It was a gentleman operating from the Mt. Evans Observatory – we had an enjoyable QSO and he went on to work others. The Canada Day contest was also underway and I started to hand out contacts from the mobile. I had planned to make it all the way back to Leavenworth, Kansas but realized I was too tired and needed to spend the night somewhere. I crossed the Colorado/Kansas border and arrived in Goodland, Kansas were I found a hotel room and promptly fell fast asleep.

My final day on the road was pretty easy driving. When you think about Kansas, it is usually what you see in western Kansas along I-70. Flat terrain, lots of farms, not much else. For some reason, the speed limit max in Kansas drops to 70mph (Nebraska, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado all have a max of 75mph). I listened to some of the morning HF nets on 80M and 40M, then made contact with K2L, a special events station in Charleston, South Carolina. I was also able to check into the Sparkle Net on 40M and then later worked two stations on 17M, both located in and around the western border area between North and South Carolina. Soon I was back home, arriving before 3pm.

ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY CROSSBAND MILITARY/AMATEUR RADIO COMMUNICATIONS TEST (09 MAY 2009)

The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are co-sponsoring the annual military/amateur radio communications tests in celebration of the 59th Anniversary of Armed Forces Day (AFD). Although the actual Armed Forces Day is celebrated on Saturday, May 16, 2009, the AFD Military/Amateur Crossband Communications Test will be conducted 09 May 2009 to prevent conflict with the Dayton Hamvention (15-17 May 2009), which is the same weekend as the actual Armed Forces Day.

The annual celebration features traditional military to amateur cross band communications SSB voice tests and copying the Secretary of Defense message via digital modes. These tests give Amateur Radio operators and Short Wave Listeners (SWL) an opportunity to demonstrate their individual technical skills, and to receive recognition from the Secretary of Defense and/or the appropriate military radio station for their proven expertise. QSL cards will be provided to those stations making contact with the military stations. Special commemorative certificates will be awarded to anyone who receives and copies the digital Armed Forces Day message from the Secretary of Defense.

MILITARY-TO-AMATEUR CROSS BAND SSB & CW TEST CONTACTS.
Military-to-Amateur cross band operations will take place on the dates/times in ZULU (UTC), and frequencies listed below for each station. Voice contacts will include operations in single sideband voice (SSB). Some stations may not operate the entire period, depending on propagation and manning. Participating military stations will transmit on selected Military MARS frequencies and listen for amateur radio stations in the Amateur bands indicated below. The military station operator will announce the specific amateur band frequency being monitored. Duration of each voice contact should be limited to 1-2 minutes. The following stations will be transmitting on MARS frequencies listed below which are provided as “Window/Dial Frequency” in kHz.
Some stations will use CW to provide the opportunity to check in by Morse Code

Army Stations
STATION: AAZ (09 May 1400Z – 10 May 0300Z)
Frequency Emission Amateur Band
4038.9 kHz LSB 80M
6913.0 kHz LSB 40M
14.402.0 kHz USB 20M
13996.0 kHz USB 20M
18211.0 kHz USB 17M
7577.0 kHz CW 40M
13507.0kHz CW 20M
7639.5 kHz RTTY 40M
13512.5 kHz MT-63 20M
Location: Fort Huachuca, AZ
Address:
Commander NETCOM/9th ASC
ATTN: NETCOM-OPE-M (MARS) (31)
2133 Cushing Street
Ft. Huachuca, AZ 85616-7070
POC: Mr. Dewayne Smith
DSN: 821-7324
Commercial: (520) 533-7324

STATION: AAC (09 May 1300Z – 10 May 0100Z)
Frequency Emission Amateur Band
3348.5 kHz LSB 80M
7363.0 LSB 40M
9180.5 MT63 USB 30M
13910.5 kHz USB 20M
Location: Lexington, KY
Address:
HQ 1st BDE, 100th DIV (IT) MARS Station
Barrow Army Reserve Training Center
1051 Russell Cave Pike
Lexington, KY 40505
POC: Barry Jackson
Commercial: (859) 227-0137

STATION: ABH (09 May 1600Z – 10 May 2300Z)
Frequency Emission Amateur Band
3195 kHz LSB 80M
3360 kHz LSB 80M
4440 kHz LSB 80M
4466 kHz LSB 80M
7360 kHz LSB 40M
7720 kHz LSB 40M
8040 kHz LSB 40M
8094.5 kHz LSB 40M
14483.5 kHz USB 20M
14489.5 kHz USB 20M
17443.0 kHz USB 17M
17592.5 kHz USB 17M
20978.0 kHz USB 15M
20559.0 kHz USB 15M
Location: Schofield Barracks, HI
Commander, 396th Signal Company
30th Signal Battalion, 96857
POC: WO1 William Pemberton
Commercial: (808) 655-3387

STATION: ALM (09 May 1600Z – 10 May 2300Z)
Frequency Emission Amateur Band
13741.5 kHz USB 20M
4003.0kHz LSB 80M
7317.0 kHz LSB 40M
Location: Fort Wainwright
Commander, 507 the Sig Co, 99703
POC: CW4 Roderick Mitchell
507th Signal Company
Commercial: (907-353-0082

STATION: WAR (09 May 1200Z – 2400Z)
Frequency Emission Amateur Band
4020.9 kHz LSB/CW 80M
7504.0 kHz LSB/CW 40M
13512.5 kHz USB/CW 20M
20518.5 kHz USB/CW 15M
Location: Pentagon, Arlington VA
Address:
Pentagon ARC
PO Box 2322
Arlington VA 22202
POC CAPT Rick Low, USN
Station telephone:
Commercial: (703) 693-8423 DSN 223-8423

STATION: WUG-231 (09 May 1300Z – 10 May 0200Z)
Frequency Emission Amateur Band
4032.9 kHz LSB 80M
7.360.0 kHz LSB 40M
6.826.0 kHz LSB/CW 40M
14486.0 kHz USB 20M
14663.5 kHz USB/CW 20M
20973.5 kHz USB/CW 15M
Location: Memphis, TN
Address:
USACE Memphis District Office
ATTN: Jim Pogue
Public Affairs Office Room B-202
167 N. Main St.
Memphis, TN 38103-1894
POC: Mr. Jim Pogue
Commercial: (901) 544-4109

STATION: AAV (09 May 1300Z – 2000Z)
Frequency Emission Amateur Band
4038.9 kHz LSB 80M
7360.0 kHz LSB 40M
13963.5 kHz USB 20M
FORT MONMOUTH NJ
POC WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS
DIRECTOR REGION 2
N2LMU@JUNO.COM

Air Force Station
STATION: AIR (09 May 1200Z – 2400Z)
Frequency Emission Amateur Band
4517.1 kHz USB 80M
6996.1 kHz USB 40M
13985.1 kHz USB 20M
20737.6 kHz USB 15M
ROBERT WILLIAM STROH, A1C, SCORB, USAF
GLOBAL SYSTEM RADIO OPERATOR
89 CS/ 89 ASG
ANDREWS AFB, MD
DSN: 858-3109
COMM: 301-981-3109

STATION: AIR-2 (09 MAY 1200Z TO 2400Z)
Frequency Emission Amateur Band
4590.1 KHZ USB 80M
7540.1 KHZ USB 40M
13993.1 KHZ USB 20M
POC: Mr. AL EIERMANN
ADDRESS: AFCA / AF MARS
203W LOSEY ST
SCOTT AFB, IL 62225
COMMERCIAL: (618) 229-5963

Navy/Marine Corps Stations
STATION: NAV (09 MAY 1200Z – 09 MAY 2330Z)
FREQUENCY EMISSION AMATEUR BAND
4010.0 KHZ LSB 80M
7348.0 KHZ LSB 40M
14478.5 KHZ USB 20M
20994.0 KHZ USB 15M
ADDRESS: HQ NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION NAV CHEATHAM ANNEX BLDG. 117
108 SANDA AVE
WILLIAMSBURG, VA 23185-5830
POC: BO LINDFORS
COMMERCIAL: (757) 887-4494 DSN: 953-4494

STATION: NAV3 (09 MAY 1200Z – 10 MAY 0400Z)
FREQUENCY EMISSION AMATEUR BAND
4014.0 KHZ LSB 80M
7394.5 KHZ LSB 40M
13974.0 KHZ USB 20M
20997.0 KHZ USB 15M
ADDRESS: NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION NAV3
9035 OCEAN DR SUITE 3A
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX 78419-5234
POC: ITSC (SW) BROWN
COMMERCIAL: (361) 961-5002 DSN: 861-5002

STATION: NAV4 (09 MAY 1200Z – 10 MAY 0400Z)
FREQUENCY EMISSION AMATEUR BAND
4011.5 KHZ LSB/MT63 80M
7376.5 KHZ LSB 40M
14467.0 KHZ USB 20M
21758.5 KHZ USB 15M
ADDRESS: NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION NAV4
615 PREBLE AVE
CAMP BARRY, BLDG. 153
GREAT LAKES, IL 60088-2850
POC: ITC (SW/AW) STEPHEN ANDERSON
COMMERCIAL: (847) 688-3787 DSN: 792-3787

STATION: NBL (09 MAY 1200Z – 10 MAY 0400Z)
FREQUENCY EMISSION AMATEUR BAND
4041.5 KHZ LSB 80M
7371.5 KHZ LSB 40M
14391.5 KHZ USB 20M
20623.5 KHZ USB 15M
ADDRESS: NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION
4 LANTERN LANE
CHELMSFORD MA 01824-1316
POC: ROBERT VETH, DIRECTOR REGION ONE
COMMERCIAL: (978) 256-5264

STATION: NPL (09 MAY 1500Z – 10 MAY 0400Z)
FREQUENCY EMISSION AMATEUR BAND
4003.0 KHZ LSB 80M
7351.5 KHZ LSB 40M
14463.5 KHZ USB 20M
20936.0 KHZ USB 15M
ADDRESS: NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION
937 NORTH HARBOR DRIVE
SAN DIEGO, CA 92132-5100
POC: ITC (SW) TIGHE
COMMERCIAL: (619) 532-1490 DSN: 522-1490

STATION: NUW (09 MAY 1500Z – 10 MAY 0400Z)
FREQUENCY EMISSION AMATEUR BAND
4044.0 KHZ LSB 80M
7381.5 KHZ LSB 40M
13528.5 KHZ USB 20M
20952.5 KHZ USB 15M
ADDRESS: NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION
260 W. PIONEER FSC BLDG.
NAS WHIDBEY ISLAND, WA 98277
POC: MR. DIGGER O’DELL
COMMERCIAL: (360) 675-2823 DSN: 820-8038

PART II. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MESSAGE TEST VIA DIGITAL MODES.
The Secretary of Defense message will be transmitted via digital modes including RTTY, PACTOR, AMTOR, PSK-31, MFSK and MT63 from the stations listed below, including frequencies, mode, and date/time in Zulu (UTC). All frequencies are listed for center of intelligence. Offset as appropriate for your TNC. Sound cards modes will use standard factory settings (Note: Not all stations may necessarily operate on all the frequencies listed, depending on propagation and available equipment.)

Army Stations
STATION: AAZ (HQ Army MARS and Western Area Gateway, Fort Huachuca, AZ)
Frequency Mode Broadcast Date/Time
6988.0 kHz RTTY 10 May/0110Z
PACTOR FEC 10 May/0130Z
MT63 10 May/0220Z
PSK-31 10 May/0250Z
14402.0 kHz RTTY 10 May/0110Z
PACTOR FEC 10 May/0130Z
MT63 10 May/0220Z
PSK-31 10 May0250Z

STATION: WAR (Pentagon MARS Station, Washington, DC )
Frequency Mode Broadcast Date/Time
6988.0 kHz Olivia 09 May/1700Z and 2300Z
MT63 09 May/1715Z and 2315Z
14440.0 kHz PACTOR FEC 09 MAY/1730Z
RTTY 09 MAY/1745Z
4020.9 kHz PACTOR FEC 09 MAY/2330Z
RTTY 09 May/2345Z

STATION: AAV
Frequency Mode Broadcast Date/Time
3243.5 kHz MT63 10May/0030Z
7358.5 kHz RTTY 10 May/0100Z

Air Force Stations
STATION: AIR-2 (Scott Air Force Base)
Frequency Mode Broadcast Date/Time
7831.1 kHz RTTY 09 May/1930Z
MT63 09 May/2030Z
MFSK 09 May/2100Z

14877.1 kHz RTTY 09 May/2130Z
MT63 09 May/2230Z
MFSK 09 May/2300Z

Navy/Marine Corps Stations
STATION: NAV (HQ NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION, WILLIAMSBURG, VA)
FREQUENCY MODE BROADCAST DATE/TIME
7346.5 KHZ RTTY 75 BAUD 09 MAY/2340Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0010Z
MT63 10 MAY/0040Z
14480.0 KHZ RTTY 75 BAUD 09 MAY/2340Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0010Z
MT63 10 MAY/0040Z

STATION: NAV3 (NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION, CORPUS CHRISTI, TX)
FREQUENCY MODE BROADCAST DATE/TIME
7393.0 KHZ RTTY 09 MAY/2340Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0010Z
MT63 10 MAY/0040Z
13975.5 KHZ RTTY 09 MAY/2340Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0010Z
MT63 10 MAY/0040Z

STATION: NAV4 (NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION, GREAT LAKES, IL)
FREQUENCY MODE BROADCAST DATE/TIME
7375.0 KHZ RTTY 10 MAY/0240Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0310Z
MT63 10 MAY/0340Z
14468.5 KHZ RTTY 10 MAY/0240Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0310Z
MT63 10 MAY/0340Z

STATION: NBL (NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION, GROTON, CT)
FREQUENCY MODE BROADCAST DATE/TIME
7370.0 KHZ RTTY 09 MAY/2340Z
PACTOR FEC 10 MAY/0010Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0040Z
14393.0 KHZ RTTY 09 MAY/2340Z
PACTOR FEC 10 MAY/0010Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0040Z

STATION: NPL (NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION, SAN DIEGO, CA)
FREQUENCY MODE BROADCAST DATE/TIME
7350.0 KHZ RTTY 10 MAY/0240Z
PACTOR FEC 10 MAY/0310Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0340Z
14465.0 KHZ RTTY 10 MAY/0240Z
PACTOR FEC 10 MAY/0310Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0340Z

STATION: NUW (NAVMARCORMARS RADIO STATION, NAS WHIDBEY ISLAND, WA)
FREQUENCY MODE BROADCAST DATE/TIME
7380.0 KHZ RTTY 10 MAY/0240Z
PACTOR FEC 10 MAY/0310Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0340Z
13530.0 KHZ RTTY 10 MAY/0240Z
PACTOR FEC 10 MAY/0310Z
AMTOR FEC 10 MAY/0340Z

SUBMISSION OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE TEST MESSAGE ENTRIES.
Transcripts of the RTTY, PACTOR, AMTOR, PSK-31, MFSK and MT63 receiving test should be submitted “as received”. No attempt should be made to correct possible transmission errors. Provide time, frequency and call sign of the military station copied, including name, call sign, and address (including ZIP code) of individual submitting the entry. Ensure this information is placed on the paper containing the test message. Each year a large number of acceptable entries are received with insufficient information, or necessary information was not attached to the transcriptions and was separated, thereby precluding issuance of a certificate. Entries must be sent to the appropriate military address as follows:

a. Stations copying Secretary of Defense message transmitted from AAZ/WAR/AAV send entries to:

Armed Forces Day Celebration
Commander NETCOM/9th ASC
Armed Forces Day Celebration
Attn: NETC-OPE-MA (MARS) (31)
Fort Huachuca, AZ 85613-5000

b STATIONS COPYING SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MESSAGE TRANSMITTED FROM
NAV, NAV-3, NAV-4, NBL, NPL OR NUW SEND ENTRIES TO:
ARMED FORCES DAY CELEBRATION
CHIEF, NAVY-MARINE CORPS MARS
CHEATHAM ANNEX BLDG 117
108 SANDA AVE
WILLIAMSBURG, VA 23185-5830

c. Stations copying Secretary of Defense message transmitted from AIR-2 send entries to:

Armed Forces Day Celebration
AFCA / Chief, AF MARS
203W Losey St
Scott AFB, IL 62225

1 Faraday = 96 485.3415 coulombs

International Toroid Day, August 29th 0000-2359 Zulu time.


Special event station W1T honors the 176th anniversary of the invention of the toroid by Michael Faraday, and will be operated by many toroid luminaries, including Mychael the Toroid Guy. Please see http://w1t.org for operating times, frequencies, and modes or listen for the call “CQ T”
(long dash) or “CQ Toroid Day.”

Be Prepared for this Scouting Award

The Scouting 100 Radio Award is awarded for contacting Scout stations during 2007, the Centenary year of Scouting. This is an International award, available to any operator – it is also available on a listener basis, with the same requirements as the operator award.

Objective:
To help celebrate the centenary of Scouting through the medium of radio. To help publicise the Centenary, and to provide radio amateurs the opportunity of gaining another Award. Although not intended for profit, any surplus made will go to support Radio Scouting in developing countries.

Duration:
The Award will begin at 00:00:01 on January 1st 2007 and finish at 23:59:59 December 31st 2007.

Bands and Modes:
The Award is available through all bands and all modes, within the terms of the individual’s radio licence. The Award is also available through Echolink and IRLP modes. The Award can be endorsed for any special modes or bands ie ‘All satellite contacts;’ ‘all QRP contacts,’ etc. Activity for the Award should be focused around the Scout frequencies.

Requirements:
Stations are required to contact Scout and Guide stations to count for
points as follows:

* Each ordinary Scout station counts one point.
* Special Event Scout stations count 2 points.
* The World Jamboree, Gilwell Park and Brownsea Island stations count 5 points.
* Your logs should be verified as accurate by 2 other local radio amateurs.
* Normal log information is required with the following additional information: Name, Scout details and age of the operator of the station you contact. Your age should also be submitted when applying for Awards. Female operators send `YL’ as their age!

Website:
The Award is supported online by a website – full details of the award are available at www.scouting100award.org. An Honour Roll of Award holders will also be published on the website.

Contact: info@scouting100award.org