Mystery of 455 kc/s = USA WT Stations 5 kW

[David Ring]

I came across an odd fact today when doing some research on WT stations in the USA.

I noticed that KPH is listed for 455 kHz but at a lower power 5 kW (today on their license).
They also have 426 and 460 and 500 listed at 20 kW.

Now the oddest thing I found out is that KFS was ALSO issued 455 kHz at 5 kW.

Why?  Was 455 kc/s used for fishing boats calling and working? 

I just checked WCC and they ALSO have 455 kc/s at 5 kW.  So does WNU - at 5 KW.

So KFS, KPH, WCC, and WNU were issued 455 kHz at 5 kW.

This was lower than their normal power on their 500 and working frequency transmitters.

What was 455 kHz used for and when?

73

DR

[Spud Roscoe]

Hi Dave:

 

Good Evening. Around Canada during the war the Navy had stations all over both coasts known as Port Wave Stations transmitting and receiving on 425 KCS (it were then). I doubt they were running much more than a 100 watts or so. Could this have been a similar scheme?

 

73

Spud VE1BC

[KSM - San Francisco Radio]

>I came across an odd fact today when doing some
>research on WT stations in
>the USA.
>
>I noticed that KPH is listed for 455 kHz but at a
>lower power 5 kW (today on
>their license).
>They also have 426 and 460 and 500 listed at 20 kW.
>
>
>Now the oddest thing I found out is that KFS was
>ALSO issued 455 kHz at 5
>kW.
>
>Why? Was 455 kc/s used for fishing boats calling
>and working?
>
>I just checked WCC and they ALSO have 455 kc/s at 5
>kW. So does WNU - at 5
>KW.
>
>So KFS, KPH, WCC, and WNU were issued 455 kHz at 5
>kW.
>
>This was lower than their normal power on their 500
>and working frequency
>transmitters.
>
>What was 455 kHz used for and when?

I noticed this a couple of years ago. 455kc was not issued to these stations in the "golden years". It is a recent development. But I have never been able to get an answer from anyone as to the meaning of the 455kc allocation. Certainly none of the stations you mention are using that frequency now. And if they did they would raise Old Ned with all the BC receivers in the vicinity. Interestingly, 455kc was not assigned to KSM, KDR or WFT (not was it requested). This frequency is not listed in Part 80 that I can recall.

A mystery...

Richard Dillman
Chief Operator, KSM
Standing Watch on 600m
=================================
KSM - San Francisco Radio
Radiogram Service to Ships at Sea
Mark Your Messages "Via KSM"
=================================

[Dave Shirlaw]

Would these've been for DF calibration? Many lighthouses had this
capability.

[David Ring]

Here is an answer from R/O John Schalestock =

---------- QTC ----------
From: John Schalestock
Date: Dec 3, 2007 9:39 AM

David,

As I recall, 455 was used as the working freq on those rare occasions
when shore stations wanted to qso directly for brief housekeeping tfc.
por ex. KFS de KPH up 5.

73

John S

=30=

[David Ring]

Hello Larry,

I think you're being mislead by 455 kHz also being the i.f. frequency - and that the power is lower than the 500 kHz and working frequencies.

What is standard is that all these stations were authorized 455 kHz at all and that they all used the same frequency.

We have found out that KPH and KFS would say to each other "up 5" and then they would do housekeeping (telling KPH that SVEI or KSFE was on 8 MHz or something like that) - I remember hearing this once - I tuned into KPH on their working frequency after they called KFS but I didn't hear them - now I know (30 years later!) that they probably went to 455 kc/s.

143 kHz was the calling channel of the LF band - ships and coast stations called each other there.

WCC took down their 143 and 147.5 kHz transmitters and antennas in the 1970s - traffic had stopped on this band by then.  WCC and KPH would start listening at sunset on these frequencies, according to some of the R/Os on passenger ships, they said they could QSO WCC half way across the Atlantic on this frequency.

WCC had LF of 147.5, Intermediate Frequency (IF) of 436, and many HF freqs.

I remember the ITT/Mackay brochures of their stations also used the term "IF" for Intermediate Frequency - meaning what many of us just called "MF" - 410-520 kHz band.

WCC's 2 MHz frequency was on the air during the 1960s to 1970s as I used to copy Press (0300Z) every night on that frequency as I was only 30 miles from Chatham and their 8 and 13 MHz would be too watery to copy well.

2043 (I think) was the calling frequency - perhaps it was 2039 - but at any rate, I knew what it was and I was absolutely shocked when I was near Japan to tune into this frequency - why I don't know but I used to see if anyone still used that - the UK Navy used it, but I found out that the Japanese fishing boats used it like 500 kHz.  I actually got on that frequency and called the Japanese Coast Guard and passed AMVER traffic there!  I thought I wanted at least to use 2 MHz WT once in my career.

Thanks for the email, Larry.

73

DR

David Ring

On 12/5/07, Larry Morgan <lar...@innw.net > wrote:

David:

455 khz was, and still is, the intermediate frequency for almost all
hetrodyne radio receivers.  In other words, for virtually all receivers,
period.  (Collins Radio built some high performance receivers using a
500 khz IF, for some unknown reason).

This has been so since well before my time.  In other words, well before
1950.

It would make sense that the reduced power authorization was to lessen
the chance that coast stations would interfere with nearby radio
receivers.  I'd be suprised if they EVER actually transmited on that
frequency.

New subject:

In your research, I know that these coast stations had licenses to
transmit in a band above 100 khz.  For some reason 143 khz sticks in my
mind.  So were frequencies in this range ever used for ship-to-shore
communications?  Or, maybe they were used for "broadcast transmissions"?
In the way that KPH used a frequency in the 2 mhz band, even tho they
never used it for two way communication.

73, Larry Morgan

----- Original Message -----
From: "R/O David Ring - N1EA" < djri...@gmail.com>
To: <ara...@freelists.org>; <ara...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 3:33 PM
Subject: [aranet] Mystery of 455 kc/s = USA WT Stations 5 kW


| Hello everyone -

[R/O David Ring - N1EA]

Received from R/O Dewey Ross Duffel <duf...@blackfoot.net>

Hello Fellow R/Os:

It itched in my mind that 143khz was a 2 way service, but as I have
never used it, did a bit of google research.

Found a nice web page about GKA and 143khz. Will paste below my name a
key paragraph.

73, Dewey Duffel

http://www.gka.btinternet.co.uk/history.htm

Ex Station Manager Don Mulholland recalls:
"The old building was originally a bungalow, and it housed an
engineer, handyman. kitchen, writing room and the office of the OC. In
addition it had very large long wave receivers, some nine feet in
length (guessing).The receiving positions operated on 143 k/cs,
answering and calling frequency, and on working frequencies of 121 and
129 kc/s. As you can see they were extremely long waves. 143 was GKU
(the familiar name of the station to R/O's). .I worked long wave from
wing C in the first half of the 50's but was done away with then.In
the heyday it was only large liners who had long waves.Other ships did
a QSPon MF to the liners. This system was also used when short wave
was introduced. Eventually short wave tests were conducted. I think it
was with the Esperance Bay on a trip to Adelaide.

[Glenn VK4DU]

 

That's truly fascinating, Dave.

 

In Australia, the lowest "HF" CW channels we used were on 4 MHz.

 

Australian stations never used LF (to my knowledge).

 

I remember QSO'ing the JA stations on 2 MHz, and taking the wx on LF....it was amazing to hear the rx noise floor rise as you approached JA.

 

The Japanese ran really first rate stations - as good as GKA.  You could set your watch by their traffic lists.

 

73

Glenn

---

From: radio-o...@googlegroups.com [mailto:radio-o...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of David Ring
Sent: Thursday, 6 December 2007 15:15
To: Larry Morgan
Cc: duf...@blackfoot.net
Subject: [Radio Officers, &c] Re: [aranet] Re: Mystery of 455 kc/s = USA WT Stations 5 kW

[Jeffrey Herman]

Back in the 70s we used 512 kc for brief shore-to-shore QSOs (which I
believe were not really authorized).

The fixed xmit freq'ys we had available to us (at NMO) were 440, 500, 500
A-2 emission, and 512.

73,
Jeff KH6O

[R/O David Ring - N1EA]

I know this thread is REALLY old, but there's an error, a small one.

The frequency assigned to KPH, KFS, WNU, WCC was 455.5 kHz - which proves a point that the owner of WNE Stoneham, MA was saying that years ago - maybe 60 years ago! He heard WCC on the broadcast band without retuning the dial to go below the broadcast band (possible on the old car radios) from north of Boston - if WCC put 5 kW CW on  455.5 kHz he would have heard it because it would have passed right up the i.f. strip of the car radio.

73

DR