The Battleship IOWA Amateur Radio Association’s NI6BB will celebrate the IOWA’s 81st “birthday” from 1600 to 2400 UTC on 22 February 2024. Look for us on 7261, 14261, 14061, 21361 and or 21061 KHz. QSL per instructions posted under NI6BB as found on QRZ.com and or at https://biara.org.
MUSEUM SHIPS WEEKEND EVENT is sponsored by
The Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station
As of May 30, 100 ships have signed up to participate, including the Iowa. This is NOT a contest! It is a FUN Event!
All stations that work at least 15 different ships of those participating (listed here) will receive a certificate if they send a copy of their log entries. Working the same ship on different frequencies or different modes DOES NOT count as 2 ships. Working a ship not listed will not count.
While operation on any amateur frequency is allowed, most ships will be operating in the General portion of the bands. Some ships could also be on PSK31, FT4/8, or 3880 KHz – 3885 KHz and 7290 KHz AM with either their ship’s original equipment or with modern equipment.
More information is available at https://nj2bb.org/museum/
NE6PM will be operating from the Battleship Iowa using the ship’s legacy equipment on 4/15/2023 from 9a-12p (1600 to 1900 UTC). Look for us on bands and frequencies on our home page.
The 2023 running of the Armed Forces Day (AFD) Cross-Band exercise will be held on May 13, 1300 – 2200 UTC (6A – 3P PST). A complete list of participating stations, modes, frequencies, times, and other details was announced. The event is open to all radio amateurs. Armed Forces Day is May 20, but the AFD Cross-band Military-Amateur Radio event traditionally takes place 1 week earlier in order to avoid conflicting with Dayton Hamvention®.
During the exercise, radio amateurs listen for stations on military operating frequencies and transmit on frequencies in adjacent amateur bands.
Military and amateur stations have taken part in this event for more than 50 years. It’s an exercise scenario, designed to include ham radio and government radio operators alike.
Per previous announcements: “The AFD Cross-band Test is a unique opportunity to test two-way communications between military communicators and radio stations in the Amateur Radio Service, as authorized in 47 CFR 97.111. These tests provide opportunities and challenges for radio operators to demonstrate individual technical skills in a tightly controlled exercise scenario that does not impact any public or private communications.”
Military stations in various locations will transmit on selected military frequencies and announce the specific ham band frequencies they are monitoring.
An AFD message will be transmitted utilizing the Military Standard (MIL-STD) serial PSK waveform (M110) followed by MIL-STD Wide Shift FSK (850 Hz RTTY), as described in MIL-STD 188-110A/B. The AFD message will also be sent in CW and RTTY.
From the ARRL website:
What: 2023 World Amateur Radio Day
Who: All amateur radio operators worldwide
When: Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 0000 UTC until Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 0000 UTC
Where: A global event covering all regions of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)
Why: World Amateur Radio Day, held on April 18 each year, is celebrated worldwide by radio amateurs and their national associations which are organized as member-societies of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). It was on this day in 1925 that the IARU was formed in Paris. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim was its first president.
Amateur radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short-wave spectrum could support long-distance radio signal propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, amateur radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history has noted. Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to promote the interests of amateur radio worldwide and to protect and enhance its spectrum privileges. Today, the IARU is a federation consisting of more than 160 national amateur radio organizations in as many countries and separate territories. The International Secretariat of the IARU is ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® in the United States.
On World Amateur Radio Day, all radio amateurs are invited to take to the airwaves to enjoy our global friendship with other amateurs, and to show our skills and capabilities to the public.
How: World Amateur Radio Day is not a contest but rather an opportunity to “talk” about the value of amateur radio to the public and our fellow amateur colleagues. It is also a great opportunity to talk about your radio club and amateur radio in local media as a lead-up to ARRL Field Day (held each year during the fourth full weekend in June) and another ham radio related activity in your community – such as volunteers who serve in local emergency communication readiness including the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service®.
FCC “Technician” course (entry level)
FCC “General” course (2nd level)
Each course is 2 sessions:
The sessions will be on 29 April and 6 May 2023
Technician 9:30 AM to 1:15 PM both Saturdays (bring your lunch)
General 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM both Saturdays
The FCC tests will be 10:00 AM to noon on 13 May 2023
At the start of the 29 April Technician course, a member of the Palos
Verdes Amateur Radio Club will give a 30-minute presentation on how to get further involved in amateur radio.
The class location is at Fred Hesse Community Park,
29301 Hawthorne Blvd., Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
The Hesse Park facility no longer requires a mask
Confirm your attendance to Walt, K1DFO at wfordway@juno.com
There is no fee for either course. Taking the FCC test is $15. After
passing the Technician test the FCC will send you an e-mail for paying its $35 license fee and then they will post your call sign.
Optional Material (sold at cost):
Gordon West books with all the FCC test questions,
$30 for the Technician and $25 for the General
Paper copy of Walt’s Power Point charts,
$29 for the Technician and $25 for the General
For courses sponsored by the Palos Verdes Amateur Radio Club, students thru grade 12 who pass their examination at a PVARC VE test session will, upon application to the Club, be eligible for reimbursement up to a maximum of $50 to cover the cost of materials and the examination fee.
Everyone who obtains their first ham radio license through a PVARC VE test session, regardless of age, will receive a free membership in the Palos Verdes Amateur Radio Club for the remainder of the current calendar year.
NI6BB will be informally on the air 12/28/23 to celebrate IOWA’s 177th anniversary as a state. The hours will most likely be from 1800 to 2400 UTC. Bands and frequencies will be up to the individual operator(s). Look for us in the cluster spots.
As the representative of the National Museum of the Surface Navy at Battleship IOWA in San Pedro, California, the Battleship IOWA Amateur Radio Association (BIARA) will honor the sailors and ships previously home ported in San Pedro who were attacked on December 7, 1941, with special crossband activations of NEPM on December 6th and 7th, 2022.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked on 7 December 1941, seven of the battleships formerly homeported in San Pedro Bay weren’t present. Eight Pacific fleet battleships (Arizona, California, Maryland, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania) were at Pearl Harbor and absorbed the brunt of the Japanese attack. Of these eight, three sank, one capsized, and four suffered varying degrees of damage.
With authority from the Navy and Marine Corps Spectrum Office Southwest, we will transmit using the IOWA’s NEPM call sign on assigned military frequencies and listen for calls from the amateur radio community in their adjacent bands. NEPM will transmit on 14.375 MHz, 18.170 MHz, and or 21.460 MHz on J3E/USB and or A1A/CW. The operator will advise listeners as to where they are listening. Amateur participants are reminded not to transmit on the NEPM military frequencies. Operations on both days are expected to be from 1500 to 2400 UTC. QSL procedures can be found at https://biara.org. For specific questions in advance of the operation, contact w6hb@biara.org.
Spectrum Office Southwest, we will transmit using the IOWA’s NEPM call sign on assigned military frequencies and listen for calls from the amateur radio community in their adjacent bands. NEPM will transmit on 14.375 MHz, 18.170 MHz, and or 21.460 MHz on J3E/USB and or A1A/CW. The operator will advise listeners as to where they are listening. Amateur participants are reminded not to transmit on the NEPM military frequencies. Operations on both days are expected to be from 1500 to 2400 UTC. QSL procedures can be found at https://biara.org. For specific questions in advance of the operation, contact w6hb@biara.org.
Battleship IOWA Amateur Radio Association’s NI6BB will be on the air on December 28, 2021 from 1600 to 2359 UTC to commemorate Iowa’s statehood in 1846.
Anticipated frequencies will be 7043, 7243. 10121, 14043, 14243, 18080 or 18143 all depending on operator participation and conditions.
QSL to address as shown at www.biara.org.
With operating authorization from the Navy’s 3rd Fleet Spectrum Manager, Battleship IOWA Amateur Radio Association, Inc. and the IOWA’s Innovation and Engineering Team will activate the ship’s legacy Navy call sign, NEPM, on December 7, 2021 in memory of Pearl Harbor Day. Operation will be from 1600 to 2359 UTC.
NEPM will TRANSMIT on 14781.5 KHz using J3E USB and listen on 14343.0 KHz J3E USB. Amateurs are reminded that they may NOT transmit on 14781.5 KHz. If there is traffic on 14343.0 KHz, the NEPM operator will advise of an alternate frequency where he is listening.
Please visit BIARA’s website at https://biara.org for QSL procedures and more information about radio operations aboard the Battleship IOWA soon to be the home of the National Museum of the Surface Navy.