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This Week in Amateur Radio
- PODCAST: This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1329 – Truncated 1-hour version
via Amateur Radio Daily: Merchant Navy Day Special Event
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PODCAST: This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1326 – Full Version
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This Week in Amateur Radio
- PODCAST: This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1326 – Truncated 1-hour version
PODCAST: This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1326 – Truncated 1-hour version
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This Week in Amateur Radio
- Via the ARRL: Amateur Radio Participates in World’s Largest Naval Exercise
Via the ARRL: Amateur Radio Participates in World’s Largest Naval Exercise
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PODCAST: This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1325 – Full Version
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This Week in Amateur Radio
- PODCAST: This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1325 – Truncated 1-hour version
PODCAST: This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1325 – Truncated 1-hour version
2024 Museum Ships Weekend
The event was held on June 1st and finished on June 2nd. At the time of posting this there were 106 Museum Ships (including memorials) on the list. For more info on the event check out: https://www.nj2bb.org/museum/ .
In Kingston we were fortunate enough to have the SS Keewatin berthed at the Great Lakes Museum and so for this event it was a 45 min bus ride with all the radio gear I needed to participate.
Here is a couple of pics I took while at the museum.
The gear I used for operating from alongside the Keewatin was my POTA Station that consisted of my Yaesu FT891, Eco-Worthy 20ah LIPO 4 battery and a MFJ 33 foot telescopic mast to support the home brewed 63 Foot End Fed Half Wave (10m to 40m) antenna.
It looks rather small compared to the size of the Keewatin… Thanks to the Taxi Driver who moved into the pic so I could show the size of the ship easier. No I did not use the taxi… Kingston Transit bus #3 stops right at the front door of the Museum.
All my gear fit in my wife’s laundry cart… She may never get it back now…
I used some bungy cords to secure the mast (right of the pic) to a fence behind the tree cover. It suspended the EFHW in a “inverted Vee” configuration and worked well for me with no tuner needed.
I was able to operate for about 3 hours (or less) each day. The gear worked without a hitch but not so much the operator.
As the radio room in the Keewatin has not been updated yet, I was forced to operate from alongside (the above pic) so I was unable to leave the gear to use the facilities and so once nature called… it was time to pack up.
At the end of the event according to my logs I actually was contacted by 100 stations that were “Welcomed on Board the Keewatin”… of those 100 contacts 12 of them were other Museum Ship and their details follow.
(Pictures above the name of the ship)
Col James M Schoonmaker
USS Lafferty
USS Thresher Memorial
USS Massachusetts
Tall Ship Elissa
USS Nautilus
Claud W Somers
USS North Carolina
Watson Naval Museum
USS Salem
USS Cobia
This was a “spur of the moment” style of activation. I was going past the ship a week before and then found out the Museum Ships event was the next weekend. Although the Keewatin does have a valid Callsign without the radio room ship shape they were not in a position to activate.
I asked if I could do it and was given the green light to operate (using my own personal callsign) from where I did. (alongside but outside the fence)
As the Drydock is part of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail (POTA CA-6003) some amateurs also got a new park in their logs.
Long story short… The activation was a success…. At least 100 amateurs now know of our ship and the Museum Ship community welcomed the Keewatin and its my hope that next year the ship itself will the on the air.
If we made the contact, thanks again. My logs for the two day event have been uploaded to EQSL, QRZ.com, the Museum Ships Group and will be uploaded to LoTW when they have fixed the security issue. I will also offer a copy of my logs to the Keewatin Radio Operators (see above link) for their records.
73bob
SS Keewatin will be on the air
The lastest (and largest) addition to the Great Lakes Museum collection in Kingston Ontario is the SS Keewatin.
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I took this pic Saturday May 25 just before the Museum opened the exhibit.
Its new home is in the Kingston Drydock which is on the shore of Lake Ontario and its history goes back before Canada’s Confederation.
The above shows the Keewatin in the Drydock over the winter. Thanks to Google Maps and Doug Knutson for the Graphics.
Now on the the Radio Part of this….
This coming weekend is the Museum Ships Weekend event (June 1st and 2nd) and the Keewatin will be on the air for this event and we are in really good company.
SHIPS PARTICIPATING FOR 2024 – 101 Ships
updated 26 May 2024
NAME TYPE OF SHIP LOCATION CALLSIGN
K1USN Watson Museum Braintree, MA K1USN
USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier Alameda Point, CA NB6GC
USS Midway Aircraft Carrier San Diego, CA NI6IW
USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier Corpus Christi, TX W5LEX
USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier Charleston, SC WA4USN
ST-695 Angels Gate Army Tugboat San Pedro, CA K6AA
USS Montrose Memorial Attack Transport(Haskell Class) Montrose, CO N0P
USS Alabama Battleship Mobile, AL KQ4RXA
USS Massachusetts Battleship Fall River, MA NE1PL
USS New Jersey 8am to 6pm from drydock Battleship, New Jersey NJ2BB
USS Missouri Battleship Pearl Harbor, HI KH6BB
USS Wisconsin Battleship Norfolk, Virginia N4WIS
USS Iowa Battleship San Pedro, CA NI6BB
USS North Carolina Battleship Wilmington, NC NI4BK
USS Oklahoma Mast Memorial Battleship Mast Memorial, OK WW2OK
**HS Georgios Averof Battleship Paleo Faliro, Greece SZ1AB
USS Tennessee Museum Battleship Museum Oneida, TN W4BSF
SS Col. James M Schoonmaker Bulk Carrier Toledo, OH K8E
**SS William A Irvin Bulk Ore Carrier Duluth, MN W0GKP
Claud W Somers Chesapeake Bay Skipjack Reedville, VA W4NNK
CSS Neuse (Jun 1 only) Civil War – Ironclad Gunboat Kinston, NC KN4RAM
MV Iris-Joerg Cargo Ship Wischhafen,Germany DL0MFM
MV Cap San Diego Cargo Ship Hamburg,Germany DL0MFH
USCG Ingham CG Cutter Key West, FL NR4DL
USS Potomac CG Cutter/Pres. Yacht Oakland, CA. NE6JP
USS Indianapolis CA-35 Memorial Cruiser Indianapolis, IN WW2IND
USS Littlerock Cruiser Buffalo, NY W2PE
USS Olympia Cruiser Philadelphia, PA WA3BAT
USS Salem Cruiser Quincy, MA N1SLM
HMAS Vampire Destroyer Sydney, Australia VK2VMP
USS Turner Joy Destroyer Bremerton, WA NS7DD
USS Cassin Young Sat only 9am-3pm EST Destroyer Boston, MA WW2DD
USS The Sullivans Destroyer Buffalo, NY K2EAG
USS Orleck Destroyer Jacksonville, FL K4D
USS Laffey Destroyer Charleston, SC NT4HI
USS Slater Destroyer Escort Albany, NY WW2DEM
USS Stewart Destroyer Escort Galveston, TX N5FKP
Evelina M Goulart Fishing Schooner Essex, MA W1E
**HMCS Sackville Flower Class Corvette Halifax, Nova Scotia VE0CNM
SS Grandcamp Memorial French Liberty Ship Texas City, TX K5BS
HDMS Peder Skram Frigate Copenhagen, Denmark OZ1RDN
SS Hope Memorial Station Hospital Ship Memorial Chatham, MA W1HNJ
Krasin Icebreaker St. Petersburg, Russia R1LK
SS Sankt Erik Icebreaker Stockholm, Sweden 8SØHRA
**Ernest Lapointe Icebreaker L’islet, Qc, Canada VB2MMQC
USCGC Mackinaw WAGB-83(Maritime Museum) Icebreaker, MI W8AGB
SS Jeremiah O’Brien Liberty Ship San Francisco, CA K6JOB
SS John W Brown Liberty Ship Baltimore, MD K8JWB
Amrumbank /Deutsche Bucht Lightship Emden, Germany DF0MF
LS Ambrose Lightship East River, NY City, NY W2AQ
LS Westhinder III Lightship Antwerp, Belgium ON9BD
Borkumriff Lightship Island Borkum, Germany DL0BRF
USS LST-325 LST Evansville, IN WW2LST
LST-393 LST Muskegon, MI N8LST
Chatham Radio/WCC Station Maritime Radio Station Chatham, MA W1WCC
SS Selma Merchant ship WWI(Concrete Hull) Galveston, TX W5MSQ
**Edwin Fox Museum Merchant Ship Picton, New Zealand ZL2KS
USS Lucid Minesweeper Stockton, CA N6MSO
HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen Minesweeper Den Helder, NL PA38AC
HNMS Mercuur Minesweeper Port of Vlissingen, NL PA6PARE
KRS 575 “Hans Beimler” Missile Corvette Peenemuende, Germany DL0MFN
Farragut Nav Training Sta.Brig Naval Training Station Athol, ID N7F
NS Savannah Nuclear Merchant Vessel Baltimore, MD K3SAV
SS Hohentwiel Paddle Steamer Bodensee, Austria OE6XMF/9
RMS Queen Mary Passenger Ship Long Beach, CA W6RO
SS Rotterdam Passenger Ship Port of Rotterdam PI4HAL
SS Keewatin Passenger Steamship Kingston, ON VA3QV
HMAS Gladstone Patrol Boat(Fremantle Class) Gladstone QLD, VK4GLA
**USS Pueblo Memorial Research Ship Pueblo, CO N0K
MK1 PBR #105 River Patrol Boat Charleston, SC WD4PBR
PB Niederoesterreich (Jun 2 only) River Patrol Boat Danube/Vienna, OE3XNO
Tall Ship Elissa Sailing Barque Galveston Island, TX N5E
MS Seefalke Salvage Tug Bremerhaven,Germany DK100DDSR
USS Ticonderoga (1814) Schooner Whitehall, NY W2C
USS Cod Submarine Cleveland, OH W8COD
USS Cobia Submarine Manitowoc, Wisconsin NB9QV
USS Blueback Submarine Portland, OR W7SUB
USS Drum Submarine Mobile, Alabama K4DSR
USS Razorback Submarine N.Little Rock AR N5R
USS Nautilus Submarine Groton, CT N1S
U-995 Submarine Laboe Germany DL0DMB
USS Croaker Submarine Buffalo, NY N3ARB
USS Albacore Submarine Portsmouth, NH NM1JY
Flore Submarine Lorient, France TM2FLO
HMCS Onondaga Submarine Pointe-au-Père, Quebec VA2GNQ
Nazario Sauro Submarine Genoa, Italy II1NS
S-61 Delfin Submarine Torrevieja Spain EH5DLF
USS Batfish Submarine Muskogee, OK WW2SUB
USS Pampanito Submarine San Francisco, CA NJ6VT
USS Cavalla Submarine Galveston, TX N5FKP
USS Silversides Submarine Muskegon, MI N8SUB
H. L. Hunley Submarine – Civil War Charleston, SC N4HLH
Novosibirskij Komsomolec (B-396) Submarine 641-B Moscow, Russia RU3AWK
USS Thresher Memorial Submarine Memorial Kittery, ME W1WQM
USS Parche Memorial Submarine Memorial Bremerton, WA N7P
**”The Fin Project” Submarine Fin Memorial Seattle, WA NR7WL
**CSS Acadia Survey Vessel Halifax Nova Scotia VE0MMA
USS Hoga YT-146 Tugboat N. Little Rock, AR N5H
USAT LT-5 Tugboat/Cargo Transport Oswego, NY W2LGA
SS American Victory Victory Ship Tampa, FL W4AVM
Red Oak Victory Victory Ship Richmond, CA K6YVM
And as you can see we will be in pretty impressive company…
Now the only issue with this (the first) activation of the new museum ship is that the passenger areas of the ship are open to the public but the Radio Operators Room is still waiting for some period equipment to be set up as a display. So until that is done we can’t install as we don’t know how much room there will be for the “modern” equipment.
So for this event I will be operating from “alongside” the ship (see below pic)
The Radio I use for this event will be my POTA Station gear which is a Yaesu FT891 along with a 40m (64:1 unun) EFHW supported by a 33 foot MFJ Telescopic mast. Backup antenna will be a 17.5 foot vertical (using same mast) fed by a 9:1 unun with a single raised counterpoise.
The operating plan is to be operating from the “American General” parts of the different bands. Hoping that 20m and 40m will be good for us but we have the equipment to operate from 6m to 40m
I hope to start operating at 1300 (UTC) and run till the 20ah battery dies out ( or darkness arrives) on both days.
Will be operating as VA3QV and will uploading logs to LoTW, EQSL and QRZ.com.
This page will not be updated so check my QRZ page for last minute updates….
73bob