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 Previous: CNCS Emergency Communication Training Grant News: |  Next: Scouts Delve into Emergency Training |
 "Old Ironsides," the USS Constitution, commissioned in 1797. |
 The USS Cassin Young. |
 Bob Callahan, W1QWT (right), and Lt William J. Marks, Executive Officer of the USS Constitution. "The radio station will be set up on the upper deck aft, and the 20-meter dipole will be 'run up a halyard,'" Callahan said. |
 Pi Pugh, K1RV (right), and Master Chief Steven H. Brandt. |
 The USS Chaffee (DDG 90). |
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 6, 2003--Amateur Radio special event stations will be a part of the biennial "Turnaround Cruise" Saturday, October 11 in Boston Harbor. Two famous ships--the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") and the USS Cassin Young--will traverse Boston Harbor, exchanging cannon salutes with the fort on Castle Island. The ships then will meet with the guided missile destroyer USS Chaffee and head back to the Old Boston Navy Yard Pier. Special event station N1S will operate from onboard the Constitution, WW2DD will be on the air from the Cassin Young, KS4E and KF6MLK will operate from the USS Chaffee and N1B will operate from a kiosk on the pier. Members of the USS Cassin Young and USS Salem radio clubs will staff both the shipboard and shoreside stations.
"We will have a PA system connected to the radios, so that visitors on the pier can hear what is going on," said Bob Callahan, W1QWT, of the USS Cassin Young Radio Club. "We will be on 40, 20, 17, 10 and 2 meters. There will also be a receiver tuned to the Boston Pilot Coast Guard frequency." Callahan--who was sworn into the US Navy onboard the USS Constitution in 1968--said the general public is encouraged to attend.
As its ham radio call sign suggests, the USS Cassin Young is a World War II-era destroyer, now a museum ship, berthed in the Old Boston Navy Yard at the same pier as the USS Constitution. The USS Chaffee will arrive in Boston Harbor to accompany the USS Constitution--America's oldest commissioned warship.
Amateur operations will start around 1230 UTC (8:30 AM EDT). Shipboard operations will end around 1700 UTC (1 PM EDT), Callahan said. Boston Navy Yard Station N1B will remain on the air until approximately 1900 UTC (3 PM). Operators aboard the USS Chaffee plan to remain on the air while the vessel is at anchor.
The stations will operate on or near 7.260, 14.260, 18.160 and 28.360 MHz on SSB as well as on or near 7.290 and 29.120 MHz on AM and 14.039 MHz for CW. On 2 meter FM, operation will be on 146.52 MHz simplex and on the 145.39 repeater in Scituate, Massachusetts. As time permits, operators may access some Boston repeaters as well.
Situation reports will air on 18.16 MHz SSB and 146.52 MHz FM every half hour, Callahan said.
W1QWT is the QSL manager for N1S and N1B, while K1RMC is the QSL manager for WW2DD. All QSL requests require an SASE. For this event only, any QSLs for operators aboard the USS Chaffee should go to W1QWT, who will forward them to the proper FPO address.
For additional information and updates, visit
the USS Cassin Young Radio Club Web
site.
| Previous: CNCS Emergency Communication Training Grant News: | Next: Scouts Delve into Emergency Training |
