[Elecraft] Mars Frequencies

[Mike Morrow]

rckchp at comcast.net wrote:

>...I wasn't even asking about using my K2 (which
> I want to keep in qrp version......I was willing to get 
> a Yaecomwood for MARS use.

Even there, you'd have to select the Yaecomwood rig carefully.

FWIW, the K2 does *not* come near meeting the NTIA frequency stability specs to which, say, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has committed, and to which MARS no doubt will eventually.  See the CAP's official HF equipment compliance list at:

https://ntc.cap.af.mil/comm/equipment/hf_equipment.cfm

The info on this web site is interesting.  Many Japanese amateur rigs meet NTIS specs if they have a TXCO reference oscillator (usually an expensive option) installed.  Even my 12 year old TS-50S!  But some rigs, like even most late model Yaesu gear, do not.

The K2 is quoted as having a 3 ppm frequency stability spec, but the NTIA limit is 0.67 ppm.  Also, CAP and many USAF MARS frequencies are near the K2 IF frequency.

The most common MARS/CAP rigs of 35 years ago, the Heathkit HW-18 and Collins KWM-2A (AN/FRC-93) also fail current specs by wide margin.

Thom wrote:

>Oh NAVY MARS was a lot of help.....their comment was that a
>QRP rig would simply not work, and that I should avoid kits, 

IMHO, they have a good point.  The main thrust of current MARS activity is training for emergency communications.  Even if operation is planned using battery power, a 100-watt HF rig is essential unless one is mainly interested in casual "no-never-mind-if-it-doesn't-work" emergency communications.

>since NAVY MARS was moving towards digital communications.

That's the NTIA compliance spec coming down the pike!

>And so, I await to hear from Air Force MARS...

USAF MARS frequencies, unlike those of Army or USN/USMC MARS, will generally be well outside the ham bands.  Can the K2 function at a typical USAF MARS frequency of 4832 kHz?

Keep in mind that MARS or CAP or USCG Auxillary operation is not intended to be an extension of ham radio.  In fact, conducting MARS/CAP/USCG AUX business on ham bands is equivalent to conducting a business activity on the ham bands, and is forbidden by the FCC.  Many of our hobby rigs, for all their merits for ham operations, don't cut it for use outside the ham bands. 

I was a member of Navy/Marine Corps MARS from 1968 to 1981 (N0LTD), and Army MARS (AAT6UI) from 1981 to 1986.  During the Vietnam war we handled a lot of serviceman voice and written traffic, as well as recruit depot notifications.  That sort of traffic is all pretty much a thing of the past, so the emergency communications game is about all that's left now.

There's a lot of good people on the MARS circuits.  However, I decided not to re-affiliate with any MARS system after the use of Morse in any capacity, even on training nets and in MARS repeater IDs, was **banned** in the 1990s.

73,
Mike / KK5F