|
July
2025
MRHS
Newsletter No. 99
Dedicated
to True Believers Afloat & Ashore
Photo
Essay: Night of Nights XXV
Announcement:
Night of Nights XXVI
Marconi
T Antenna at RS Restored To Service
Announcement:
Enigma Encrypted Broadcast Event
Heading
for Gold: The Second Quarter Century
...
|
|
|
Photo
Essay: Night of Nights XXV
The
Silver Jubilee edition of the Night of Nights:
Night of Nights XXV was another rousing success!
In previous years "The Wireless Giant of the
Pacific," KPH, was joined by other historic
maritime radio coast stations from both the
commercial world and the United States Coast
Guard. KPH this year is the last station standing
proud, keeping the "music of Morse" alive on the
ether in this annual celebration of the noble
history of maritime radio,
This
year, once again, the staff of KPH were joined by
the Maritime Radio Historical Society OFFICIAL
Photographer, Ann Hermes, who attended the
festivities at both the Bolinas Radio transmitter
site (BL) and the Point Reyes receive site
(RS).
We are
honored to share her beautiful, artistic work with
you again this year to document another successful
operation. |
|
|
As all
"True Believers" know, Night of Nights is
celebrated each year on July 13 (Greenwich Mean
Time). The last American Morse maritime radio
coast station ceased operations on 12 July 1999.
But it was that sad event that inspired the
founding of your Maritime Radio Historical Society
(MRHS). Hence, each annual celebration of Night of
Nights is a remembrance of what was and
a
celebration of what continues to be.
This
year the staff at KPH were duly honored to be
joined by one of the Co-Founders of the MRHS, Tom
Horsfall, pictured above in the "Treasure Room" at
RS. If it was not for the vision, persistence and
hard work of Tom and his fellow Co-Founder,
Richard Dillman, Night of Nights I would never
have happened, much less still be happening a
quarter of a century later.
Many
thanks Tom for honoring us with your presence this
year! | |
|
Crack Morse operator
Mike Payne/MP presiding at the fabled "Position
One" at RS, where the commercial service is
controlled during operating hours. MP is a
veteran, literally, operator with vast experience
as a US Navy and US Coast Guard
radioman. | |
|
The
MRHS staff is blessed to have a small core group
of dedicated volunteers who are local to KPH. But
there are others, like Rob Harris (pictured above)
who travel a long distance when they can to
support the core team. We are grateful to Rob for
making the journey from Southern California to sit
the circuit at the "Wireless Giant of the
Pacific."
Do you
have a desire to assist the mission of the MRHS,
but live at a distance from the Bay Area? Rob is a
living example that maybe YOU can help the
mission, too! Drop us an email ... just hit REPLY
to this email and you will be directed to the
right
department. | |
|
Transmitter
Department member Paul Shinn/PS made the fraught
journey to the Bay Area from the radio ranch at
Mount Shinn to assist the staff at the transmitter
site at Bolinas Radio. Paul brings his extensive
experience as a broadcast engineer to keep the
classic transmitters at BL on the air. Thanks,
PS! | |
|
One of the unsung heroes
of the MRHS is Maintenance Supervisor Bill
Ruck/RK. Bill is a Bay Area radio legend with
decades of service in the broadcast industry. Bill
brings those gifts to help keep KPH on the air ...
especially in the middle of an operations day when
critical hardware goes down for the count. In the
finest traditions of the service Bill helps to
keep the station on the air no matter what. It
should also be noted that Bill is a gifted chef
(his famed "Radioman's Stew" keeps the staff
satisfied and nourished during the long hours of
Night of Nights each year). Bill is also an
excellent host to the countless visitors to KPH,
sharing his vast knowledge of the history of the
station and maritime
radio. | |
|
Here we
see Operations Department member Kevin McGrath/KM
at the key at BL. By the clock on the wall we can
tell it is late in the evening and the operations
at RS have secured in preparation for the end of
Night of Nights XXV. Kevin is also the KPH
Cryptography Manager. He has an exciting
announcement a little further along in this issue
of your MRHS newsletter ... keep
reading! |
|
|
The
most solemn moment of Night of Nights has arrived,
the closing "Benediction," being sent this year by
Roy Henrichs/RH, doing his usual masterful job at
the key. When Night of Nights began our beloved
Denice Stoops/DA composed a moving text to close
the festivities. DA was one of the last operators
at KPH before the station secured operation at
Point Reyes. Her "Benediction" text is a tribute
to the men and women who helped to protect the
safety of life at sea and who provided vital
communications services on a constant, never
ending watch over the course of almost a
century.
Overseeing
the operation are David Mortimer/DV and
Transmitter Supervisor Steve Hawes/SH. Steve and
David do yeoman work each year preparing for Night
of Nights and then keeping all the classic
transmitters on the air through a grueling day and
night. | |
|
With a long day's work
now complete the entire staff gathers for a
commemorative picture. Well done to all for making
Night of Nights XXV another great
success! |
|
|
The
reward for all of their efforts is the traditional
Night of Nights cake, which was enjoyed once again
by all before the long ride home and a
well-deserved rest, with dreams and plans for
Night of Nights XXVI!
Speaking
of which
.... | |
Announcement: Night
of Nights
XXVI | |
|
July
12, 1999.
A dark
day in the history of wireless
communications.
For a
century ships at sea were never alone. Despite
distance and tempests the miracle of wireless
telegraphy kept mariners in contact with shore.
Twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week,
three hundred and sixty five days per year, the
limits of time and space were overcome by
wireless. What made this form of communications
special was that it was always undertaken in the
form of a Morse code "conversation" between two
operators, two living human beings: one at sea,
the other ashore.
But,
seemingly, the conversation came to an end in the
United States of America at the end of the
Greenwich Mean Time day of 12 July 1999 at Half
Moon Bay, California. A century of communication
reduced to silence.
However,
as all True Believers know the radio silence of 13
July 1999 inspired the founding of your Maritime
Radio Historical Society. In short order the
silence was ended as the facilities of maritime
radio coast station KPH were restored and the
fabled music of Morse was revived. Despite
technical challenges, weather induced damage, and
a global pandemic, the silence continues to be
overcome by "The Wireless Giant of the
Pacific."
Each
year the renewal of maritime Morse wireless is
celebrated on the anniversary of the founding of
the Maritime Radio Historical Society with an
event called "Night of Nights." This year marks
the twenty-sixth anniversary of the founding of
the MRHS.
We
invite all True Believers to join in the
celebration once again by tuning into the
transmissions of maritime radio coast stations KPH
and KFS, beginning at 0001 GMT, 13 July 2025
(5:01pm PDT, 12 July 2025).
Reception
Report and QSL Information: Please send reception
reports for KPH and KFS and QSLs for K6KPH to the
Maritime Radio Historical Society at Post Office
Box 392, Point Reyes Station, CA 84856 USA. Please
include a self addressed stamped envelope for an
expedited reply, including covetted KPH/KFS/K6KPH
QSL cards.
N.B.
Due
to the challenges presented by logistics and crowd
control Night of Nights XXVI will be a non-public
event. We regret that this is the case but we
invite you to join us on the air at the
frequencies listed below.
Here
is the transmitter, antenna and frequency
information for Night of Nights XXVI:
FREQUENCY
TRANSMITTER
ANTENNA
KPH
CW
500/426
HENRY
MF5000D
MARCONI T
(PARTLY
DOWN)
4247.0
OFF THE AIR ANTENNA DOWN
6477.5
RCA K SET
251
DOUBLE EXTENDED ZEPP
HENRY HF5000D B2
8642.0
RCA L SET
303B3 DOUBLE
EXTENDED ZEPP
HENRY HF5000D B3
12808.5
RCA L SET
304
H OVER 2
HENRY HF5000D B4
17016.8
RCA L SET
305
H OVER 2
HENRY
HF5000D B6
22477.5
RCA H SET
298
H OVER 2
HENRY HF5000D D3 ANTENNA
DAMAGED
KPH
RTTY
6342.5
HENRY HF5000D A2 DOUBLE EXTENDED
ZEPP
8427.0
HENRY HF5000D A3 END-FED WIRE
ANT
12585.5
HENRY HF5000D A4 H OVER
2
K6KPH
CW
3550
HENRY HF5000D A1 END-FED
WIRE
7050
RCA L SET
271
DOUBLE EXTENDED ZEPP
HENRY HF5000D D2
14050
HENRY HF5000D D1
18097.5
HENRY HF5000D B5 ANTENNA
DAMAGED
21050
HENRY HF5000D D4 ANTENNA
DAMAGED
KFS
CW
12695.5
PW-15
12B
H OVER 2
We will
have a complete report about this years "Night of
Nights" in our next newsletter. We would be
delighted to receive pictures and videos from your
own station showing how you participated in "Night
of Nights." To forward your contributions, just
hit REPLY to this newsletter email and send them
along! | |
Marconi T Antenna at
RS Restored to
Service | |
|
Maritime
Radio Coast stations were able to provide coverage
to ships in all the oceans and seas of the world
twenty-four hours a day because the service used
frequency allocations in various parts of the
radio spectrum, If a ship could not get their
message to a coast station on one frequency they
could try another frequency at a very different
wavelength in order to get the message through to
its destination. As the Night of Nights
announcement above indicates, KPH currently
operates on five frequencies in what are commonly
referred to as the "short wave" bands.
However,
historically, when maritime radio began in the age
of Marconi, and right up to the seeming end of the
Morse maritime radio service (c. 1999), the main
distress and calling frequency was in the "Medium
Frequency" spectrum, at a wavelength of 600m, or
500 kilocycles (kc). There were/are also working
channels "above" the distress and calling channel,
in terms of wavelength. Following the loss of RMS
TITANIC/MGY in 1912 all ships at sea, and most
coast stations, were required to maintain a
continuous watch on 500 kc. Twice an hour, from 15
- 18 minutes past the hour, and 45 - 48 minutes
past the hour, all station observed a "Silent
Period" on 500 kc so that ships in distress, who
perhaps were operating under reduced power, could
be heard through the constant cacophony of the
massive amounts of radio traffic that was present
on that channel. Every ship and coast station
listened carefully at those times, and then made a
notation in the official radio log for that
station that the "Silent Period" was observed and
that (hopefully) nothing was heard. Even today the
operators at KPH observe the Silent Period and
make a notation in the log indicating that nothing
was heard ("SP OBSERVED -- NILL").
For
reasons beyond the scope of this presentation
transmitters and receivers on 600m needed very
large "vertical" antennas. On a ship at sea it was
impossible to install an antenna that was of the
proper length that would have been efficient at
this long wavelength. But a compromise could be
created by using a "short" vertical wire that was
attached to a long horizontal wire ... perhaps
between a fore and aft mast on a ship at sea. This
type of antenna is called a "Marconi
T". |
|
While
at one time KPH had a huge transmitting tower for
600m, it eventually became unsafe and was taken
down and replaced by a "Marconi T" for
transmitting at BOLINAS RADIO. This is the style
of antenna that was used at the time the station
closed in 1997 and is still in service
today.
A
"Marconi T" is also used at the receive site at
Point Reyes. The antenna is relatively simple: an
incredibly long horizontal wire, suspended between
two very high poles, and a vertical wire coming
down from the center of the horizontal wire that
serves as the active element of this receiving
antenna.
Regular
readers of these newsletters will know that
"incredibly long horizontal wires" and the
sometimes ferocious weather at Point Reyes do not
always make a good match. Wires corrode and part.
Poles fall over in the wind. It is not unusual for
bad things to happen. But as you can see from the
above, maintaining a good receiving antenna on
600m was a mission critical requirement. However,
the MRHS does not enjoy the benefit of a full-time
staff of brave riggers who can climb poles in a
storm, or the deep pockets of the Radio
Corporation of America (RCA) in its heyday. When
one more bad Winter took down the "Marconi T" at
Point Reyes the service was severely
impacted.
However,
the overall steward of the facilities at KPH, the
US National Park Service, on behalf of the tax
payers of the United States were able to provide
funding to restore the wrecked "Marconi T". Our
good friend and MRHS True Believer Adam McLaughlin
and his team were contracted to restore the
antenna in the Autumn of 2024.
The
first task was simply to create access to the site
through the overgrown flora
... |
|
Then the work of
restoring the poles and the infrastructure that
supports the actual antenna could be
accomplished. |
|
A new antenna was
created and prepared for installation
... |
|
Here you can see the new
vertical element securely attached to the new
horizontal element. |
|
Then the new antenna was
restored to the poles
... |
|
Then the vertical wire
was reattached to the feed point which connects
the antenna to the transmission line that carries
the received signals into the building where they
are distributed to the
receivers. |
|
So, how well does this
restored antenna work?
Adjacent to the 600m
maritime radio band there is an allocation of
frequencies in the amateur radio service, This is
a very difficult band for amateur radio operators
to use because of the very long wavelength,
However, some stalwart experimenters, using very
low levels of effective radiated power (less than
5 watts!) transmit beacons which are monitored by
other stations and are then posted to a web site.
One of the Software Defined Radios at KPH monitors
these amateur transmissions and posts the data to
the internet. Here is a sample of what the new
antenna received one night last
winter, |
|
Here you can see that
KPH heard a signal on the newly restored antenna
as far away as Vermont! Remember, this station is
transmitting with barely enough power to
illuminate a flashlight bulb!
Well done Adam, and
team! And thanks to the US National Parks Service,
the tax payers of the USA, and True Believers
everywhere who made this project a
reality! |
|
Announcement: Enigma
Encrypted Broadcast
Event | |
|
ATTENTION
ALL INTERCEPT OPERATORS!
Upcoming
KPH Crypto Event
On
Saturday August 30th 2025, KPH will transmit a
coded message in 5-letter groups. The message will
be encrypted using the famous ENIGMA German code
machine.
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 for use of original or replica
hardware.
You
say your Enigma machine is a bit rusty? Perhaps it
has slipped a cog? No problem, a Google search
will turn up several software simulations for the
Enigma code machine.
The
crypto broadcast will commence at 2000 GMT (1300
Pacific) on 30 August 2025 on all KPH CW and RTTY
frequencies.
More
details to follow in the next newsletter. Stay
tuned! | |
Heading for Gold:
The Second Quarter
Century | |
|
Okay
... maybe we are a bit premature here
...
But the
Maritime Radio Historical Society has come about
around the "Silver Anniversary" mark and with
Night of Nights XXVI we are headed to the next
waypoint on the voyage of the history of maritime
radio. Given that the first heat in this
historical voyage lasted almost a century ... up
to that fateful day in 1999 when the Morse service
of KPH/KFS went seemingly silent forever ... this
next leg of the journey has really only just
begun.
With a
quarter century of experience behind us we can
rightly celebrate the almost miraculous level of
restoration and preservation of maritime radio
that has been accomplished under the stewardship
of OUR Maritime Radio Historical Society. The
accomplishments of this past twenty-five years
should give us all encouragement and hope that in
twenty four years there will be an MRHS newsletter
announcing Night of Nights L.
So how
do we get there???
Almost
certainly that MRHS newsletter of the future will
contain pictures of few of the people who are
depicted in this issue.
But the
faithful staff of "The Wireless Giant of the
Pacific" today are looking for that next
generation who will take up the key and the
soldering iron and lead the MRHS into the next
quarter century. SO, especially if you are younger
than the folks in the pictures, please ask
yourself: "How can I help?" And then get involved!
All the people depicted in this issue, once upon a
time, wandered in the door with wonder and
goodwill and found a niche ... and kept coming
back. Even those who eventually had serious health
issues or who had to move away left their heart in
SANFRANCISCORADIO/KPH/KFS ....
SO, if
you are inspired by the dedication of the people
you see in this newsletter, we encourage you to
follow their good example ... and wander in the
door ... either literally or virtually. Stop by or
drop us an email and simply say: "How can I
help?"
The
amazing images of the restoration of the massive
Marconi T antenna at the Point Reyes receive site
reminds us that we need not only work, but the
resources to do the work, And this is where all of
us can help. You know what is coming
...
We are
SO grateful for the generosity of True Believers
everywhere who have made generous gifts, large and
small, that have made it possible for OUR MRHS to
do the amazing things that have been accomplished;
namely preserving the last historic maritime radio
coast station in the world. Your gifts make this
possible.
So,
once again, we ask you to consider making a gift
to the MRHS so that there will be a Night of
Nights L in 2049. Making a gift is easy ... Just
smash that yellow DONATE button you see below
...
All of
us today have hope that wherever we are we will be
bathed in the "music of Morse" at 0001 GMT 13 July
2049 ... That is our gift to the future
...
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.
|
|
| | |
