[Dx-qsl] Re: [dx-qso] I Found This on QRZ.com

[Alan C. Zack]

I used to operate from Johnston as well as Wake, Kwaj, Kure, Marcus,
Iwo Jima, Yap, Palau, etc, etc while supplying the Coast Guard LORAN
stations there.  As a Licensed ham my operations were never
questioned.  Doesn't a legally issued ham license allow you to operate
from any U.S. Territory?  There may be a question of if you can use
their equipment or put up an antenna but it seems that shouldn't keep
contacts made as being not recognized.  All the Coast Guard LORAN Stas
had HF rigs, mostly KWM-2's, and TA-33 beams.  At Johnston the AF had
a ham shack where the room was never locked.  You left a copy of your
license and started a new page in the log book showing the Q's you
made while there.
I did have to jump thru loops to operate from DU and HS, but that is a
different story.

n7dc@cs.com wrote:
> 
> It may be well and good that he is not concerned that the ARRL doesn't
> recognize his operation.  The trouble is that those whom he gave a contact to cannot
> use that contact for ARRL awards, and, after all, that is of utmost
> importance to them.  Without that approval, those contacts are next to worthless.  I
> encourage everyone who made a contact to write him and ask him to provide
> further info to the ARRL, as they requested.  Sadly, its the ARRLs stance on the
> subject, and there is not much anyone else can do about it.

The following e-mail exchange illustrates an
interesting "ruling" by the ARRL regarding the
legitimacy of the last ham radio operation from
Johnston Island in the Central Pacific.

John,

I want to thank you for the contact from Johnston
Island on 25/05/03 @07:45 UTC, 20m SSB 59. However
when I submitted this card for DXCC credit this
year, it was rejected by the ARRL. I spoke with Wayne
Mills today and he said all that is needed is a letter
from your captain, or any Island official that
permitted you to operate from land. While Johnston
Island is a US possession, the Island must give
permission to operate from land, otherwise amateur
radio is forbidden at the Island. If you or your
manager have any credential that will verify this
operations permission, please send a photo image to me
and to the ARRL DXCC bureau. It would be a great
disappointment to have worked so rare of a contact and
not get credit for it.
Please advise.

Dear Pete,
I am not surprised that the ARRL rejected your
application for DXCC based on your contact with
Johnston Island on 25/05/03. After all, the last
"Official DXpedition" to Johnston Island, the AH3D
dxpedition, was fully sanctioned by the ARRL. (Please
see: 
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/01/27/100/?nc=1)
The AH3D dxpedition on Johnston Island went from
approximately Jan 27, 2003 to Feb 4, 2003. I was on
Johnston Island from Feb 12, 2003 to June 4, 2003. I
went there on very short notice to work as an
Environmental Chemist for the Army's Johnston Atoll
Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS). I started
going through the legal channels to operate ham radio
from Johnston Atoll, writing letters to the base
commander, requesting permission to operate ham radio
from my dorm room while working on the island. After a
month of the bureaucratic run-around, I was so eager
to get on the air that I mail ordered a rig, risked my
neck (literally) and my job just to get an antenna up
and get on the air so I could give the KH3 contact to
the Ham Radio DX community. I wrote an e-mail to Wayne
Mills (ARRL) while I was on Johnston Island stating my
temporary KH3 operational status. Perhaps I was a
thorn in the side of the AH3D group as well as the
ARRL while I was operating out there. They went to
great effort and expense for their dxpedition and had
made great fanfare of the fact that they were "the
last DXpedition to Johnston Island for a long time."
While operating from Johnston, I had the full sanction
of the U.S. magistrate (also a ham) on the island. The
base commander, while not giving official permission
to operate from my dorm room, was well aware of my
outdoor station and chose to ignore my use of the old
KJ6BZ club station beam.

Perhaps the ARRL does not acknowledge my operation
from Johnston Island for their award system, but in
the end I was a U.S. licensed ham radio operator
exercising his legal right to operate from a U.S.
protectorate under the joint jurisdiction of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Air Force. I am
not terribly concerned by not receiving official ARRL
endorsement for my operation. After all, I made over
1400 hams worldwide quite happy with a contact and/or
QSO with a ham operator on Johnston Atoll.
73s de John, kt6e  
 


> 

-- 
__________________________________________________________________________                       
                                     Alan Zack
                     Amateur Radio Station K7ACZ
                         Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
          Quality Engineer, The Boeing Company, Retired
  Aviation Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, Retired
        U.S. Coast Guard, Always Ready, Always There
Every hour, Every day, Around the Clock and Around the World
                               SEMPER PARATUS