[CW] Announcement: Night of Nights XXVI
D.J.J. Ring, Jr.
n1ea at arrl.net
Sat Jul 5 23:00:45 EDT 2025
With great pleasure and gratitude as relayed by former Radio Officer of SS
UNITED STATES/KJEH, Richard Ostrowski, N2NA
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 ...
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