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August
2025
MRHS
Newsletter No. 100
Dedicated
to True Believers Afloat & Ashore
After
Action Report: Night of Nights XXVI
Announcement:
Enigma Encrypted Broadcast Event
"Rust
Never Sleeps": Previews of Coming
Attractions
LIVING
History: Keeping It Real
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After
Action Report: Night of Nights XXVI
At 0001
GMT 13 July 2025 Night of Nights XXVI commenced:
the annual commemoration of the supposed end of
Morse Code in the maritime radio service in the
United States and the celebration of the
continuation of that great historical and cultural
legacy through the ongoing operations of the
"Wireless Giant of the Pacific" ... seemingly the
last of the line, but standing proud
still,
With
Night of Nights falling on a Saturday this year
the staff at KPH had a very long day ... providing
the usual service on Saturday and then kicking off
Night of Nights at 5pm local time and running
until just beyond midnight.
If you
were not able to be there we provide this "After
Action Report" to present the highlights of
another successful event.
As
tradition demands the event began at 0001 GMT --
the beginning of a literal and metaphorical "new
day" for the history of maritime radio -- with the
Opening Message. This year the opening broadcast
was in the capable hands, or should we say "fist"?
of veteran Operations Department staff member
Wally
Pugh/WP. | |
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To see
and hear a bit of the transmission of the opening
message, Click
Here.
And
here is the text of the Opening Message
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Following
the Opening Message KPH began a time of listening
for ship calls, as the station has done for over a
century, and broadcasting the "Traffic List" (a
broadcast that lists the callsigns of ships that
KPH is holding radiogram message traffic for),
weather forecasts, and commemorative messages.
These operations keep all the transmitters at
Bolinas Radio humming for the entire seven plus
hours of the
event. | |
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Overseeing
the operations at the Bolinas Transmitter site is
Transmitter Manager Steve Hawes/SH. Here we see
Steve in the Control Room at Bolinas Radio at the
Logging "Mill," or
typewriter. | |
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Also
supporting the operations at Bolinas Radio were
Roy Henrichs/RH and Maintenance Director Bill
Ruck/RK.
The
MRHS is blessed to have staff members who can
multitask. As well as helping with operations at
the receive and transmitter sites, Roy has been
invaluable in helping with the management of the
various engineering projects undertaken by your
MRHS in recent years. When Bill is not wielding a
soldering iron or crawling like a snake under an
operating console at the receive site he is also a
master chef, who once again provided his
world-famous "Radioman's
Stew." | |
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While
keeping the classic transmitters on the air at
Bolinas is a deadly serious business (Literally!
These transmitters use lethal voltages!) there is
also a great spirit of camaraderie amongst the
staff. Here we see Bob Venditti/VI enjoying a
lighter moment at the power
panels. | |
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After
seven hours of continuous operations (that always
seem to fly by) the on-air celebration concludes
with the "Benediction" Closing Message. This text
was composed in the earliest days of the MRHS by
Our Beloved Denice Stoops/DA, the first woman
hired as a coast station Morse operator by RCA at
KPH. Denice was not able to send the message this
year so the honor of sending this beautiful text
was taken up by Rob Harris, who travels from his
home in Southern California each year to help make
Night of Nights the success that it always
is. | |
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The
sending of the "Benediction" is always the most
solemn moment of Night of Nights. As the ether is
electrified with the "Music of Morse" the staff
observe a dignified respect in memory of all those
men and women who spent their lives, sometimes
literally and totally, as radio operators, serving
to protect the safety of life at sea for over a
century. | |
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With
the on-air activities completed the staff gather
to continue the celebration by sharing in the
traditional "Night of Nights" Chocolate Cake ....
which is always even better than it
looks. | |
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In the
last newsletter True Believers were invited to
send pictures and video of how they marked "Night
of Nights" at their home stations.
First,
we would like the acknowledge a signal report from
our good friend "Eddie from Australia" who has
been known to call the landline phone at Point
Reyes during "Night of Nights," holding his phone
up to his speaker so we can hear what KPH sounds
like on the other side of the planet. Thanks,
Eddie! You are a most cherished and appreciated
part of "Night of Nights" tradition!
We
received two short videos from Guillermo Gustavo
Llorens/LU5WE in Argentina. Thanks, Guillermo! If
you would like to hear what KPH sounds like on 6
mc at Guillermo's station in Argentina, Click
Here. To
hear what KPH sounds like on 12 mc, Click
Here.
Closer
to home, we received a report from Jim
Emrich/N6NRV in Novato, CA. Jim was copying the
broadcasts on the KPH MF frequency of 426 kc on a
real "mill" (i.e., a typewriter specifically
designed for communications use ... it functions
only in Upper Case). Here are a few pics from
Jim's classic
station. | |
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And
here is a bit of his copy of the broadcast message
on the
"mill." | |
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We did
a little detective work and discovered that Jim
was a Viet Nam era US Coast Guard veteran who
served as a Radioman at the USCG martime radio
coast station on Guam, NRV. Jim, thank you for
your service. We do what we do to honor you and
all of your brother and sister radio operators
throughout time.
If you
would like to know more about Guam Radio/NRV, with
a lot of fascinating detailed information about
maritime radio during the Morse era, see Jim's
excellent, poignant web site by Clicking
Here.
We hope
you enjoyed this "After Action Report" of Night of
Nights XXVI. Mark your calendars now .... Night of
Nights XXVII begins at 0001 GMT 13 July 2026. We
hope you can join
us! | |
Announcement: Enigma
Encrypted Broadcast
Event | |
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The
MRHS in cooperation with our good friends at the
Cipher History Museum
will send a coded message in 5-letter groups via
the facilities of coast station KPH on Saturday
August 30, 2023. The message will be encrypted
using the famous Enigma code machine.
The
Enigma was the Germans' most sophisticated coding
machine for securely transmitting command and
control messages via radio communications in WWII.
It was considered so secure that it was used to
encipher the most top-secret of
messages.
All
KPH listeners are invited to try their hand at
receiving and decrypting the message. Certificates
will be awarded for proof of successful decode,
first to decode and use of original or replica
hardware.
You
say your Enigma hardware is a bit rusty? Perhaps
it has slipped a cog? No problem, MRHS has you
covered! Software simulations exist for the Enigma
code machine. Click Here
for an easy-to-use Enigma simulator. It is
web-based, so no download necessary.
For
additional information on the Enigma please see
Ralph Simpsons' Cipher Museum History
site.
Crypto
broadcast date, time and formats
The
crypto broadcast will commence at 2000 GMT (1300
Pacific) on 30 August 2025 on all KPH CW and RTTY
frequencies. The CW frequencies are (in kc):
6477.5, 8642.0, 12808.5, 17016.8, and 22477.5.
Upon completion of the CW transmissions, the
broadcast will be repeated on the KPH RTTY
frequencies. The RTTY transmission will be 170cps
shift Baudot, 45 baud. The RTTY frequencies are
(in kc): 6324.5, 8427.0 and 12585.5.
Further
Information
Full
details will be announced in mid-August via a
Special Bulletin to all MRHS newsletter
subscribers and on the MRHS website.
The bulletin will contain a link to a code book
where the Enigma machine keys can be found, plus
helpful hints on Enigma decoding
procedures.
For
more information or questions about the KPH cipher
broadcast send email to cry...@radiomarine.org.
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"Rust Never Sleeps":
Previews of Coming
Attractions | |
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True
Believers will recall that in recent years the
MRHS has succesfully completed several major
restoration projects in the antenna fields at KPH.
At the Bolinas transmitter site much of the
infrastructure that carries the transmission lines
to the antennas was restored and rebuilt. At the
Point Reyes receive site the Medium Frequency
Marconi T antenna was restored to service, as well
as clearing the area around the main High
Frequency antenna to protect it from damage from
falling trees and branches. All that to say, a LOT
of work has been completed, in part, thanks to
your support.
But,
"Rust Never Sleeps."
Wind
and salt air constantly corrode the hardware that
keeps the antennas in the air. At Bolinas the
transmitting antennas are arranged in long rows,
suspended between massively tall utility poles.
These poles, peaking out at over 90' in height,
are kept vertical by a robust guying system -- or
at least it was robust when the current antenna
system was constructed many decades
ago.
"Rust
Never Sleeps"
The
hardware that connects the guy lines to the poles
corrodes and fails. The soil chemistry eats away
at the anchors that are driven deep into the
ground. Sometimes "Rust" wins and poles fail,
taking the antenna with them.
The
good news is that most of the poles are
vertical.
The bad
news is that in many places "Rust" is winning, and
time is of the essence in keeping those poles
vertical. Sadly, as you can see from the picture
above, several of the poles have succumbed to
"Rust" and "Gravity" and are horizontal on the
ground.
Currently,
efforts are underway to survey the antenna field
at Bolinas and the status of the guying system at
each pole in order to prepare a proper scope of
work
plan. | |
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As you
can see from the above picture, just gaining
access to the poles is a major undertaking because
of undergrowth and fallen trees.
Needless
to say, the restoration of the guying system of
the poles at Bolinas is a significant project that
is only just beginning. But time is critical.
Fallen poles take antennas out of service. But it
also dramatically increases the complexity and
cost of restoration when a pole has fallen than if
it is repaired while it is still
vertical.
Watch
this space in future issues of your
MRHS
Newsletter for updates as this project moves
forward. "Excitement
Guaranteed"! | |
LIVING History:
Keeping It
Real | |
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"...
put up the plexiglass ..."
The
preceding phrase seems innocuous enough, but it
instills fearful dread in the hearts of the
members of the operational staff of the Maritime
Radio Historical Society.
And it
should instill fear in the hearts of all True
Believers.
Why?
This
phrase, that is spoken with trepidation, is an
image of what happens to historical and cultural
treasures that have been reduced to museum pieces.
Once an artifact is put behind plexiglass it is no
longer an object that continues to fulfill the
mission for which it was created. It becomes a
static display collecting dust. It's "life" has
been taken and its ability to communicate meaning
is drastically reduced.
Indeed,
preserving historical artifacts in static displays
is important, and we are grateful to our
colleagues around the world who are as committed
as we are to preserving the artifacts of the
history of wireless communications in static
displays. But when the MRHS was founded on that
fateful day twenty-six years ago (and counting!)
the goal was to preserve the artifacts, culture
and history of maritime radio by preserving them
in an operational, living state.
The
MRHS is primarilly focused on LIVING
history.
If you
have ever had the opportunity to visit KPH you
know what we mean. Experiencing the "Wireless
Giant of the Pacific" in operation is an immersion
in the history of marime radio that involves all
of the senses ... Hearing the keying of the
transmitters ... Feeling the heat of the
transmitter gallery on a warm summer night ...The
smell of warm electronics with the well-deserved
patina of dust from decades of faithful service
... The flash of mercury rectifiers as they blink
with the keying of the PW-15 ... Put all that
behind plexiglass and it would not be the same
experience. It would not communicate the same
meaning. It would not be living.
As you
read in the "Rust Never Sleeps" article you know
that the next major project for keeping the
plexiglass at bay is on the horizon. In the
upcoming editions of the newsletter we will keep
you updated every step of the way. This is
our
project,
the project of all True Believers, and we will
take you on the journey with us.
As
always, thank you for your incredible support.
Only you can prevent
plexiglass!
Until
next time, Fair Winds and Following
Seas! | |
And
don't miss our fabulous MRHS Swag store. Your
purchases also provide some much needed income to
the MRHS. To access these treasures, click on the
picture of our lovely MRHS Model, Tina Shinn/TS,
below! | |
When
visiting KPH be sure to tune in to KWMR for
the
great music,
local
knowledge and,
most
important, emergency information.
For
more information about KWMR, and to listen to the
live stream, click here.
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