[SixClub] (no subject)

[Greg Grambor]

ATTN: ALL HAMS IN THE TAMPA BAY AREA - JOIN THE AMERICAN VICTORY RADIO CLUB
Six meters will be a part of our station on board the ship/museum!

A new radio club is having it's first meeting on February 10, at 7:00 pm, on
a US Merchant Marine ship. During World War II the US built ships for the US
Merchant Marine Service in two sizes, the Liberty class and the Victory
class. The victory ship USS American Victory is moored at the dock behind
the Tampa Aquarium on Channelside Drive in Tampa. It was in service as a
military supply ship since it was built in WWII up to the Viet Nam era. It
was operated by crews of the US Merchant Marine Service and carried US Navy
personnel to man the guns fore and aft which are still intact on the ship.
It has carried everything from ammunition to fuel to weapons and armor, even
railroad engines lashed to the deck! It is now a permanent museum, and there
are a group of us who are organizing a club to be based on the ship. The
club is called the American Victory Amateur Radio Club and it has already
secured the call sign W4AVM (American Victory Museum). A small group of hams
has brought some of their own equipment on board and is operating from the
ship's radio room, and I am planning to bring one of my six meter rigs on
there as well. As the ship is restored bit by bit, some day the Viet Nam era
ITT Mackey commercial maritime equipment installed there will be restored to
operating condition. This rig has a 500 watt HF transmitter, so it can be
operated on the amateur bands. The museum's management is also working on
getting a permanent sailing Certificate of Inspection. Then it will be taken
out on cruises with Sea Scouts and other educational groups, as well as
fund-raising junkets, which will give club members plenty of opportunities
to operate /MM. This should be a really fun club. This first meeting is open
to all hams in the Tampa Bay area who think they might like to join up and
get involved with manning the ham station and helping out with the
restoration of the antique ITT Mackey maritime transceiver.

For details about the museum plus a map and driving directions please go to:

http://www.americanvictory.org/

If you have any questions e-mail me at wb2gmk at arrl.net. I hope to see you
there on February 10!

73,
Greg Grambor, WB2GMK
Brandon, FL