# 500 kHz Recordings A9M



## Finbar O'Connor

The attached recording may be of interest to those who
spent many hours on watch on 500 kHz.
Most of my recordings were made at home using a
variety of mainly home made DC or Regenerative types.

This clip of A9M in the Persian Gulf, was rather battered
by the strong signal from TFA, but using filters I managed
to pull out A9M from the mess.

Much cleaner signals available from TAH, SUH, 4XO etc etc.

Regards
Finbar EJM ( Retired )


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## steve Coombs

Thanks, nice to hear this

Regards
Steve


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings*

Not often heard, but clear on this occasion,
Albanian ZAD working ESTS on 500 kHz.

Again, this recording was made here, near
Malin Head, at home.

Enjoy.
Regards
Finbar EJM (Retired)


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings*

Hi,
You posted

Finbar that must be one of the rarest 500 kc/s recordings ever. 
Keep them rolling.. TAH/Istanbul?

Please find attached a recording of TAH. One of the most
consistently strong signals from that part of the World, on
500 kHz.

Any other requests for specific station recordings and I will
try to find them in collection and post here.

Best regards
Finbar


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## sven-olof

Mr O,Connor interesting to hear that You have saved those recordings. As a shortwave listener during th 1970s I have also appreciated some of Your recordings from MF 2182. Heard them on some Malin Head coastalradio website. 
Do you have more MF-(phone) SSB recorded ?

regards from sweden


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings*

Hello Sven,

I have hours and hours of 500 kHz recordings, but not that
much of 2182 kHz. I will check and post a sample here.

The night that DAN closed on both 2182 and 500 I made
a full recording, in the mid 1990's.

Let me know what you have already, so I don't repeat what
you have.

Regards
Finbar


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## sven-olof

Finbar Ive looked it over and I only find one 2182 recording with a radiocheck to St Johns. The other recording was VHF. The are some few other from Oban radio (Richards)


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings*

Hello R651400 and Sven,

I have picked a 4 minute section of a much longer
recording of 2182 kHz, 12th October 1995.
This includes StonehavenRadio GND.

I will search on for GND on 500 khz however.

Best regards
Finbar


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## sven-olof

Very much thanks. Brings nostalgic memories from the years as a young boy listening all evening on you people at sea and at shore stations. It was very amazing to hear the occupied 2182. The comms and the "pulse" in messages are timeless and apeard nearly the same during the years from a beginning at late 60ts during 70ts.


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## King Ratt

Thanks Finbar. Nostalgic indeed. I used to love listening to 2182 on my Perdio transistor radio in the late 50s and early 60s. Then off to sea in 1963 to eventually work many of these stations.
73 de KR


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Spark Transmitter perhaps*

Glad to know people are enjoying the sounds of marine
radio recordings made here at Malin Head.

I will pick out some more 2182 khz recordings and
keep searching for a recording of GND on 500 khz.

The attached recording was made using a simple
Regenerative receiver. This one was made on the
7th of March 1994. Note the raspy, almost Spark like
sound from the Portugese Navy station CTS, calling
CTFU. Also note 9AR, from Croatia, IAR RomaRadio,
EAV, SPH, and EAS whose signal is so strong it is
almost overwhelming the receiver. Finally CTS calling
CTFU, who replies with a clean sounding CW signal.

The antenna was an Active type using a 6 foot whip.

Regards
Finbar


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings StonehavenRadio GND*

Hello R651400,

As you requested, here is a short recording of GND,
on 500 khz calling with tfc.

If I come across any other signals from GND I will
also post on here for you.

Regards
Finbar


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## R719220

R651400

I'm looking at a framed photograph of GTQG as I sit here. My very first ship, m/v Oremina. Ore Carriers Ltd (Houlder Bros).

Thanks Finbar, very evocative!


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## GW3OQK

Finbar, I had a QSO with you on 472.5 kcs 17/3/13. It was nostalgic to be on that band and hear EI0CF send QTH Malinhead.

I was using my T1154 as shown on my qrz page along with my 365A key.
73
Andrew


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings GKZ GND SAG*

Greetings,

The attached recording is from a training tape made
at the Aberdeen Technical College, for use as a training
aid for those on the Radio Officer course.

I do not know what year this was, but from other traffic
heard, it was made in the morning time. Also noted was
that PCH also signed as PCI when answering some of the
ships calling.

To GW3OQK, I was delighted to work you on 472 khz,
the old PortpatrickRadio/GPK working frequency. This is
the only band I am still active on, using a 66 foot tower
supported vertical with 6 top hat wires and an extensive
ground system of 40 radials and 10 earth rods. The
transmitters are all solid state, up to 300 watts output,
but also up to 500 watts with a grounded grid Linear Amp
using a pair of 4-400 valves. Summer time activity is very
low however. Winter brings good signals from mainland
Europe. The receive antenna is a 120 metre long Beverage.

Best regards
Finbar EI0CF GI4DPE EJM (retired)


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings More 2182 khz from 1996*

I did promise another 2182 khz recording. This time
from 1996.

Enjoy the memories.

Regards
Finbar


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## sven-olof

Thanks again Finbar. Before going to work today I listned trough this file. I dreamed back to 1970 evenings and bad weather. 13 years old sitting in a small wardrobe in my home and that my computer, now where the speach came from, was one of my old shortwave surplus receivers (with BFO) smelling old electronics, 12 warm tubes. ... and hoping this reception would last the whole night. 
I would say that 2182 was my hobby then and educated me a lot about geographics, languages, organized international structures, RO-works and of course the ruff work at sea. 
Now with this recordings I can explain for my children and they really are interested to hear.
All the best
Sven-Olof


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## Paul Braxton

Hi Finbar. So nice to be able to hear some of those recordings of yours. It brings back so many memories.

Wondering, do you have any general UK coast 500 kHz recordings? Just general working chatter and so forth, in particular for the Channel area: GNI/GLD etc.

Nice to go back in time again.

Best regards and thanks very much for your postings.

Paul


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## Finbar O'Connor

Hello Paul,

I have spent some time going over the Aberdeen
Technical College tape, which appears to have been
recorded pre 1979. I say this because, apparently
Antwerpen Radio OSA is heard answering a ship,
yet the station closed down in 1979.

Using Cool Edit Pro, I have cut out as much of the
useless, "in between" bits and concentrated on UK
coast stations, and / or ships calling. Nice to see
AngleseyRadio / GLV being heard at reasonable strength,
despite the signal being copied right across the country.
There was a much longer 19 minute recording I saved but
the file was too big for posting on here, so several
mainland European stations were cullled, to make the file
fit.
Enjoy.
Finbar


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## Finbar O'Connor

Hello Paul,

I have a full recording of a DDD SOS broadcast on
500 khz from GLD.

Would you like a copy of this posted here. I say this
because neither GNI or GLD appear on the recording
I have just uploaded.

Regards
Finbar


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## david.hopcroft

Hello Finbar

Tks for the memories. It could have been me and my bug key at GKZ.

David
+


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## Paul Braxton

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Hello Paul,
> 
> I have a full recording of a DDD SOS broadcast on
> 500 khz from GLD.
> 
> Would you like a copy of this posted here. I say this
> because neither GNI or GLD appear on the recording
> I have just uploaded.
> 
> Regards
> Finbar



Absolutely, Finbar. That would really rekindle some memories if you could. Thank you very much in anticipation.

Best regards, Paul


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## bobharrison2002

Music to my ears, I miss listening to 500. Thanks for the memories Finbar.


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings DDDSOSdeGLD 8TH March 1994*

Greetings again,

Please find attached another dose of Nostalgia
with this recording of LandsendRadio/GLD, with
a lovely sounding MCW transmitter on 500 khz.

From the DTG of the broadcast, ie 081229 utc,
this recording was made in daylight, yet shows the
range of reception SAG in the north, up to Wick,
yet also copying the ships answering GLD's broadcast,
being well south of my home QTH.

Note the resounding blast from GPK, thundering in to
my Regenerate receiver. Distance from here to GPK
being only 100 miles.

I still have SUH , 4XO recording waiting if anyone
wants them posted here.

Sit back and enjoy this recording from over 21 years
ago.

Regards
Finbar


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## Paul Braxton

Very many thanks, Finbar, for that piece of radio nostalgia. Can't help wondering why use of SOS instead of XXX. I had a man overboard once (in the Pacific) and used the urgency XXX which is what the book said if I remember it aright.

Thanks agn. and best regards. Paul


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## hawkey01

Was there not a proviso that if there was risk of an imminent life or death situation then it could be raised to a Distress. Seem to think this came up in a thread sometime ago. The quote below comes from a current web site for use of the Distress signal.

- The likely emergencies are man overboard, being holed or running aground, fire, and medical emergencies. 





Hawkey01


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## hawkey01

Malcolm,

the distress area is almost dead centre from both stations. I cannot now remember what our area was at GIL. 
What I would suggest is that this could have happened after the cessation of 500
at GIL and its closure. It was remote during the DOC system. The controlling 
station would have been GLD who still had WT.

Neville - Hawkey01


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings A9M sends HNY greetings*

Hi,

Regarding the DDDSOS de GLD, and the non use of
GIL, I had assumed that GIL had already closed on
500, at that stage, if my memory serves me well,
but stand to be corrected. Just not sure.

Attached is another long haul DX signal on 500 khz
from A9M, sending a Happy New Year greetings
message on 500 khz. This is followed by several
other stations, ship and shore, including an Italian
vessel sending a TR to TriesteRadio IQX. Both are
heard at reasonable strength.

I have found the recording of GNF close down, in
1992, but have yet to clean it up. The original
has lots of noise. With filtering this can be sorted.

Regards
Finbar EJM ( was GMH until 1950 )


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## trotterdotpom

Finbar, I see on your profile you're still working at Malin Head. Is Valentia still open too?

John T


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Malin Head and Valentia Radio*

Hello John,

You asked about Valentia Radio EJK. Yes it is still
operational.
Both stations EJM and EJK were given a huge
revamp over 2 years ago, particularly Malin Head,
where the operations room was transformed into
a much more space saving and effective set up. A
new purpose built command and control equipment
container was installed beside the original building
(built by the GPO in 1913 ). The stations transmitter
room was also re-wired as was the rest of the building.

Both stations use a pair of 150 foot towers, insulated,
and fed against a proper earth mat. Between these towers
is the original 500 / 421 khz Tee antenna. This is now used
for Navtex on 518 khz and 490 khz. The 490 khz
service is to provide the UK Coastguard weather broadcasts
for the North and West of Scotland.

Transmitter power is 1 kw on R/T and Navtex, but the
Navtex transmitter is reduced in power during night time
transmission slots, as per regulation.

I am now retired from EJM, my last watch, a night duty
was in March 2009. I served there for 34 years. I was
the guy who sent the last CQ de EJM close down, CW
transmission, on 500 khz, on the 31st December 1988.

Regards
Finbar


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## trotterdotpom

Thanks for the info, Finbar. I was on Valentia last year - it never have occurred to me that EJK was still going but I suppose modern security ideas wouldn't permit a visit.

John T


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## hawkey01

Malcolm,

truthfully I did not listen to it all too closely. Just thought there was typo in the QTH and just dropped a decimal point into it ie 06.26W hence me saying mid area. Put it off the north west coast of Devon or there abouts.
Had another listen and you are totally correct it does give the psn as 00626.50W but long way from Godalming. If you use 51.15N and 006.26W in Google maps it comes up as I said.

Neville - Hawkey01


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## hawkey01

If my memory serves me correctly if we received info from CG it was sent as received until we had QSO'd with them to correct said error. Also when everything went modern as we all know we seem to have ended up with deg,mins,secs, and something else tagged on.
Never thought of 00.6. Personally I would not have sent the info until it had been clarified. How times do change!

Neville.


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Malin Head CG Radio EJM MRSC*

Hello R651400

You ask a very interesting question regarding co-ordination of distress and rescue at Coast Radio Station in the UK and what the situation was and is at our Irish Coast Radio Stations.

With our history of being a UK coast radio station, GMH, up to the 31st of December 1949 and with the formation of the Irish Republic and the break with the British Commonwealth at midnight of that day, the station was from then fully run by the Irish Post Office, callsign EJM.

I can only comment on the proceedure for co-ordination during the 1960's onward, which was done by the Irish Navy, at their base at Haulbowline, in County Cork. Effectively the nations marine MRCC.
This was transferred to ATC at Shannon airport in the early 1970's
and remained like that until the coast radio stations were moved from Post and Telegraphs to the Department of Marine, in 1993 and we
got a new name for our service, IMES, Irish Marine Emergency Service. The MRCC function was moved from ATC Shannon to the new HQ, in Dublin. This was manned by marine Radio Officers and
the VHF coverage for Dublin and Wicklow, which had been controlled from Malin Head Radio was also transferred there.
In 2000 both Malin Head and Valentia also became MRSC's.
This is the current status for all 3 stations.

The operation of joint MRCC/MRSC/CoastRadio stations is a much
more efficient and effective situation and has worked very very well.

Might I add that we manage rescue for much more than the marine
area. This includes the Inland river and lake system ( with two VHF
stations, Lough Ree CG Radio, controlled from Malin Head, and
Lough Derg CG Radio, controlled from Valentia ). Island medical
evacuation to hospital. Mountain and Cave Rescue, plus hospital to
hospital helicopter transfers by our 4 dedicated helicopters. Cliff
rescue, lifeguard and missing persons search and rescue, is also
part of our remit.

Needless to say Weather broadcasts, Navigational warnings, taking
TR's ( from the many island ferries), Gale warnings and running the
Navtex system. We now cover the West Coast of Scotland on Navtex for UK Coastguard weather broadcasts, on 490 khz.

Sadly, a few years ago, we lost our Link Call service, though the
phone patch system is still used in medical emergencies to facilitate hospitals to talk directly to ships, via MF or VHF.

AIS is monitored and is available from all our sites.

Finally, I can confirm that, from my experience, coast radio stations work far better, when, with proper training, they co-ordinate their
own distress and rescue work. Might I also add that staffing stations with people who have worked and have experience of life at sea
is vital. The just KNOW what it is like out there...
Staff training is carried out every 3 to 4 years and entails 3 weeks
at the National Maritime College in Cork.

Best regards
Finbar EJM ( Retired)


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## hawkey01

Finbar,

many thanks for that post. Very interesting. 

Hawkey01


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings NorthforelandRadio GNF QRT 500*

Attached is a recording of the closure of Northforeland Radio GNF
on 500 khz, in 1992.

It is surprising that no other UK coast station calls or acknowledges
the broadcast from GNF.

The recording is longer than the actual broadcast from GNF, to
give athmosphere to the sounds of radio traffic on 500 khz at
that time.

Regards
Finbar EJM


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## trotterdotpom

"Agreed Neville but if that extra zero on the longitude was misconstrued to QTH 51.15N 00.626W my GPS registers it as nr Godalming."

Just as an aside, there is a memorial to Jack Phillips, the RO on Titanic, at Godalming, from whence he came. Spooky or what?

John T


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## Ron Stringer

Finbar O'Connor said:


> With our history of being a UK coast radio station, GMH, up to the 31st of December *1949* and with the formation of the Irish Republic and the break with the British Commonwealth at midnight of that day, the station was from then fully run by the Irish Post Office, callsign EJM.


Is that the correct year Finbar? Think it might have been somewhat earlier. (You may still be able to edit it).


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## jimg0nxx

Ron, I googled Malinhead Radio EJM and the following webpage gives the date of callsign change as 1951:-
http://www.maritimeradio.pro/ireland/ejm.htm


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## Ron Stringer

I stand corrected. Thanks for that.


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings GMH to EJM 1st January 1950*

Hello Ron and Jim,

I can confirm that both Malin Head Radio and Valentia Radio
used their respective British callsigns, ie GMH and GCK, until
the 31st December 1949.

There is clear notation of the callsigns used and the move,
in records of the period. Historical records can be examined at
Kew.

Jim, the website link you quote is wrong regarding the 
changeover year. Use of EJM and EJK started on the 1st 
January 1950.

I also note that the IOWT ( Inspector of Wireless Telegraphy)
writes, in May of 1949 that Oban Radio Station will open
at 0800 gmt May 16th, on a temporary experimental basis,
call sign being GNE. Watch on 1650 kc/s, Oban transmitting on
1650, 1841 and 2500 kc/s A3. Service for small craft only.

W/T sked times given ( several). Oban will call ships on 1605 kc/s
A2

Regards
Finbar EJM


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## jimg0nxx

Thanks Finbar, I knew the change was post war and just googled to confirm (the mighty google gets it wrong again).


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## Paul Braxton

Got to say a big thank you again, Finbar. That recording of GNF closedown and all the others was a really good thing for me to hear again. Any more would be greatly appreciated, especially from my time in the '70's.

Perhaps you could make some sort of archival recording of the whole, be a bit of history, that.

Best regards. Paul


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings AlexandriaRadio SUH on 500 khz*

Here is another recording on 500 khz, this time
the Egyptian station Alexandria Radio callsign SUH.

From my research this was one of 4 Egyptian 
coast radio stations on 500 khz, as follows :

Alexandria Radio SUH
Ismailia Radio SUQ
Tor Radio SUT
Qoseir Radio(Kosseir) SUK ( Pilgramage Season only ).

Again, this recording was made at my home near
Malin Head.

Regards
Finbar


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## trotterdotpom

You must have stayed up late to be recording such a nice clear SUH, Finbar. I notice their working frequency was 444 - could be mistaken but I think that was the same as DAN.

John T


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Palestine ZNL and 4XO*

Greetings,

SUH and his working frequency 444, was for a time the same as TAH.

Now another recording and a bit of history.

This recording is of Haifa Radio 4XO on 500 khz.

I have looked up my treasured 1950 and 51 copies of ALRS Vol 1
and found a lots of marine radio callsign history.

Here's some from the 1950 copy.

Bahrein Radio callsign GOU 500 and 478 kcs 1Kw

Ascension Island callsign ZBI 500 kcs 250 watts

Under the heading Palestine :

Jerusalem callsign ZNL 500 and 484 kcs 1 Kw
( station temporarily closed 1949 ).

ALRS Vol 1 1951.

Under the heading Palestine :

Haifa Radio callsign 4XO 500 and 484 1Kw.

This recording from the early 1990's shows they
were still using the original 484 khz working frequency.

Regards
Finbar


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Greenland and Cape Verde*

Here is another of my recordings of 500 khz.

This clip features Aasiaat Radio OYR 68 42 N 52 45 W
at the southern end of Disko Bay, on the West coast of
Greenland.

The other coast radio station is from a much warmer
climate, Cape Verde D4A.

Both stations are at quite a distance, but collectively show
the huge range this frequency is capable of being heard
at, when conditions are just right.

Receiver used was home made, the antenna a 10 foot
tuned helical. Recordings made at Malin Head.

Time of recording was 0130 UTC on the 6th January 1994.

Regards
Finbar EJM


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## Manchester

Thanks Finbar, never known 500Kcs so quiet! However where on earth was P3QO2 registered? (Calling FFB) sounds like the callsign of a lifeboat tx calling the mother ship - usually ended with mother ship callsign with a (2) after it.


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## jimg0nxx

P3 is a call sign issued by Cyprus.


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## Manchester

R651400 said:


> Issued to Cyprus by the ITU..
> Which begs the question they must've had a lot of ships to run out from P3AA to P3ZZ..


Another FOC no doubt!


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## trotterdotpom

R651400 said:


> What's not foc today?
> Hope it does the same for its present day 2015 employees as 1959 with a R/O pay scale beyond the dreams of avarice plus added bonus of no MN bullsh!t.


Unfortunately, I don't think it does, that's why the MN is the baileywick of former commies and other third worlders. 

Q: "Any Geordies aboard?" A: "Я не понима́ю." (Ya nyee paneemayou - or somat like that).

John T


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## Manchester

Which begs the question they must've had a lot of ships to run out from P3AA to P3ZZ..

The problem nowadays is that any pleasure craft fitted with VHF DSC etc needs a callsign. So they soon run out.


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Last QTC at EJM 421 khz Dec 1988*

I made the attached recording on the 31st Dec 1988, using a
radio/cassette machine perched on top of the 500 khz 
operating position rack. 
Being rostered for this duty entailed sending the final close down
broadcast for Malin Head Radio EJM , on 500 khz. (This
part of the recording is not included in this clip).

This recording gives the "feel" of a coast radio station, with
MF RT and VHF in the background, plus 500, and at the begining
425 khz and the Russian vessel sending me 2 QTC's, which
turned out to be the very last CW messages received at EJM.

The old typewriter clacking away as I typed his MSG's were soon
to be history. A year later we went to full computer logging and
the typewriters sat forlorn in storage in the emergency generator
building. 

Note GCC, GNF, GLD, plus DAO, CUL, FFM, 7TA and an Italian
ship calling IAR, on 500 khz. Still plenty of activity on MF
in December 1988.

During this period, Malin Head operated as a two man station,
dropping to one during meal breaks. That set up of an RT Link
Call by me, to Spain, indicates I was on my own with 500,
2182, and VHF 16 and working channels all on speakers. Getting
the levels right was a delicate balance between hearing or
audible mayhem. However, normally, 500 was always a headphone
watch, with a 2 hour changeover system between WT and RT
watch positions. The IF band CW service on 1615 khz / 1623 khz had closed in 1986. This was covered on the RT position and
had been a busy service in earlier years, for trawlers around Iceland,
the White Sea the west coast of Norway. Those trawler RO's were
great operators working with relatively low power and compromised antennas for MF CW. Wick, Oban and Cullercoats radio's provided
a similar service, with all of us using specific operating time slots.

I hope you have enjoyed some my recordings of Marine Radio,
which gives some idea of what was once a vibrant and important
method of communication for ships both for safety and commerce.

Thankfully Malin Head Radio still continues it's service on MF and VHF.

Best regards
Finbar MalinheadRadio/EJM


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## Ron Stringer

As you say, Finbar, plenty of activity. However I can't believe that when I was at sea in the early 1960s one would have been able to pick up some of the more distant stations in the same way. The level of activity on 500kHz was so much higher that anything more that a couple of hundred miles away was swamped by the numerous, nearer signals. Exceptions were DAN and PCH but stations such as FFM or 7TA would have been blotted out.

In the English Channel, it was often quite difficult to pick up UK coast stations, never mind the distant foreigners! Probably different in the middle of the night but I tended to keep normal watches i.e. 2-hourly segments between 0800Z and 2220Z.


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Traffic density and DX*

Hello Ron and Malcolm,

Yes, I agree, traffic density on 500 khz precluded hearing
long distant stations, certainly from this part of Europe, however
the Pacific seemed to be good for long haul reception on MF.

I searched for my little notebook of 500 khz loggings, made
from 1988, particularly at work, where I put up a spare RX on
5 Ton. Needless to say I can't find it just now, typical.

However, from memory, and noteworthy, ie two Chinese
coast stations, sending their CQ's, around 1920 utc.

KFS from the west coast of the USA, again with his CQ, at
0830 utc, just as I was finishing a night duty. My best
and confirmed by the R/O on board, was a ship in the Pacific,
calling Callo, in Peru ( could not call him as EJM's transmitters
were already dismanted at that stage, in the 1990's).
I was so amazed I looked up the ships Sat Phone number and
rang the ship, to confirm he really was in the Pacific Ocean. Time
of reception 0210 utc, on a night duty at EJM.

I read with interest on a web site dedicated to Awuara Radio
on the south island of New Zealand, that they copied
Malin Head Radio , on 2182 khz. This was back in the early
1970's. The late, sadly missed, Graham Mercer of GPK, worked
loads of ships on MF RT, at huge distances. Perhaps someone
can remember some of these achievements, having availed of
a QRJ , link call, home , to the UK, at local rates. Happier days
indeed.

Best regards
Finbar EJM


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings GLD XXX Lucky rescue for crew*

The attached picture is a scan of two pages from
a Malin Head Radio EJM 500 kHz log from 20th June 1953.

The rescue of 5 men by the British ship Scholar / GDCC is
noteworthy and details how lucky the crew of the vessel
Krack were in being saved by the very alert crew of the
Scholar.

There are a number of interesting loggings on just these two
pages.

Note that PCH gives 135 kcs to a ship for a working frequency.
They were still using Longwave, as were a number of other
coast radio stations, at that time.

GBTT calling GBSS.

Plenty of reasonable distant signals despite being mid Summer.

I just could not squeeze in the times on the first page, the scanner
not being big enough to accomodate everything.

This is a handwritten log, before the typewriter and subsequent
computer logging that followed many years later.

Regards
Finbar Malin Head Radio EJM ( retired )


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## johnvvc

Interesting thread and great recordings from Finbar, keep ‘em coming!

I worked at AngleseyRadio/GLV for a while and have some good memories.

As has been mentioned working nights when most God fearing people were in bed meant 500 was relatively quiet and as Finbar’s tapes show, stations from far away could be heard quite regularly. The furthest one I heard from GLV was Bombay (VWB?) who just popped up out of the blue, perfectly readable then was gone. We used to work North American East coast stations on 500 regularly always with good reports both ways, we’d often call them around Xmas time to exchange greetings, I’d sometimes call a couple during the night if I was bored! There was one in the St Lawrence whose callsign I can’t remember, he was always strong with us. Anyone who has listened on the Medium Wave late at night/early morning will have heard North American broadcast stations coming through with good signals, VOCM in St. John’s NFD being a regular. Propagation is a wonderful thing!

I had a friend who worked at SAE on Gotland Island up in the Baltic and we used to have a chat on working frequencies in the wee small hours when it was quiet, no doubt the authorities would have taken a dim view if they knew! I’d met him when I was at sea years before.

Graham at GPK was mentioned earlier. I did hear a story about a five letter call (an aircraft) coming up on R/T calling Portpatrick for a report and Graham answered. Signals both ways were weak but copiable and when Graham asked for the plane’s location it turned out he was on the runway at Stanley down in the Falklands! Now I can’t vouch for that one, it may well be an urban myth but knowing Graham’s ability to winkle out the weak ones I can just believe it…

The only aircraft I worked on 2182 was MPUUC who I seem to remember used to occasionally come up for a radio check. 

Happy days.


----------



## King Ratt

Graham was a master of the amateur top band around 1800 Khz. He was adept at use of greyline comms and told me himself of amateur QSOs with extremely distant stations. He also mentioned working ships in the Indian ocean on GPKs working frequency of 1883 Khz also via greyline.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Night duty log and distant stations*

Glad you are finding the log book record from Malin Head Radio
interesting. I am enjoying the comments and replies concerning
fellow R/O's experiences.

It was mentioned earlier about traffic density preventing the
reception of stations further afield. True, but conditions also
played their part.

The attached page was chosen to show the range of stations
being heard in the early hours of the 6th of December 1961.

From Prins Christians Sund, in Greenland, to Odessa in Ukraine.

Noted are the following on 500 kHz.

FFY Le Havre Port

UDE Odessa in the Black Sea.

SPH Gydnia

SUH Alexandria in Egypt

OZN Prins Christians Sund Greenland

6VA Dakar Senegal calling EAO Palma de Mallorca (Soller)

VPT Malta ( St Georges )

TAH Istanbul Turkey

More daytime loggings are available and show a huge range,
mainly of UK ships working on 500, mainly to UK, Irish,
and near Continent coast stations. I can scan these if people
are interested.

Regards
Finbar


----------



## Troppo

Great work, Finbar. Many thanks.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings MV Aigeorgis 5B2165 Lisbon 1975*

Attached is a picture of my last ship, before going ashore.

It is the MV Aigeorgis callsign 5B2165 pictured alongside
at Lisbon. This ship was an MF only installation, with Reliance
transmitter and Mercury and Electra receivers. Tonnage
around 2000 tons only. We traded in the Meddy, sailing
from Avonmouth. I worked Niton Radio GNI in the early
hours of the morning to get traffic back to the UK, from the
Med. Ship owners were Kappa Maritime. A crew of 12
comprising of 7 nationalities.

I would be very interested to know of what consequently
happened to this ship, pictures and or history.

I also have a picture of the tiny radio room and gear, which
was straight off the bridge, just enough room to squeeze
in and sit down. The only RT was a simple VHF set on the
bridge.

Regards
Finbar


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings GNAR de EJM Ringtone*

Whilst still serving at Malin Head Radio EJM one of the guys at work
heard my mobile phone ringtone and mentioned that he would love to have one featuring his favourite ship when he was at sea. Callsign
GNAR. Can't member the name of the ship.

I offered to make a recording, which he now uses on his phone.
This is attached for use as a ringtone by anybody who would like to
use it, for the same purpose.

I added a bit of background to add to the feeling of a live transmission.

Regards
Finbar EJM ( Retired )


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Cyprus Radio 5BA*

Greetings,

Here is another of my 500 kHz recordings , this time in 1995.

This time it's Cyprus Radio 5BA. You can also hear the ship he is
working, though much weaker. As far as I can make out, the ship
gives 454 as a working frequency, when requested by 5BA.

This is a rare catch. I don't seem to remember hearing 5BA too
often, on 500.

Recording made at my home , near Malin Head.

Regards
Finbar ( EJM Retired )


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording 29th March 1994 GNI TAH SUH etc*

Greetings,

The attached recording was made in the early hours of the
29th March 1994.

Note the signals from GNI, struggling to get a ship to move
and be heard on his working frequency. SUH calling several
times with traffic. XXX from IPB. Traffic lists from SPH, TAH,
IAR, EAL, EAC, DAN, finishing up with a Nav wng announcement
from VON in Canada.

OST , TFA and OXZ also feature, as do others.

Recording was made from my home in Malin.

Enjoy.

Regards
Finbar ( EJM retired )


----------



## holland25

Its over 50 years since I last used Morse in anger and I haven't really kept up with it,but listening to that last clip did I detect that working frequencies on MF were being quoted with a decimal point?


----------



## Ron Stringer

I too was struck by how little was going on and was also shocked by the change in DAN - once an outstanding Morse station with immaculate sending. Those transmissions could have been from a first-tripper, not the much-respected German coast station of yore.


----------



## trotterdotpom

holland25 said:


> Its over 50 years since I last used Morse in anger and I haven't really kept up with it,but listening to that last clip did I detect that working frequencies on MF were being quoted with a decimal point?


Are you confusing an oblique stroke with a full stop, Holland? GNI directed some ship to use its working frequency by sending the ship frequency and the GNI frequency separated by a stroke. I didn't listen all the way through but I didn't hear any decimal points.

Ron, DAN sounded as though the operator was using an anal retentive bug key. Is it possible that they could be typing into a computer which translates it into morse? Not sure why they would do that though.

John T


----------



## holland25

trotterdotpom said:


> Are you confusing an oblique stroke with a full stop, Holland? GNI directed some ship to use its working frequency by sending the ship frequency and the GNI frequency separated by a stroke. I didn't listen all the way through but I didn't hear any decimal points.
> 
> Ron, DAN sounded as though the operator was using an anal retentive bug key. Is it possible that they could be typing into a computer which translates it into morse? Not sure why they would do that though.
> 
> John T


Probably, I have to admit that I have problems reading Morse, I thought I heard a sequence of numbers with an r in them which I thought was a short hand decimal. It seemed a lot quieter than in my day. (Old mans statement).


----------



## trotterdotpom

Could be, Holland. I also noticed EAL had trouble sending "tfc". They were always a bit rubbish but you could have a laugh in Las Palmas.

John T


----------



## LouisB

Coming in rather late on this thread. Memories of sitting in the wireless office of a UASC K class, listening on the traffic list from Portishead (I was the lecky) while the R.O was causing mayhem in the bar. A9M forever imprinted on my brain. Same as GGHA from my RFA days - for ever remembered. 


LouisB. (Scribe)


----------



## jimg0nxx

Holland you did hear r used as a decimal, XXX de IPB info nr 1 qsw 514r5.

EAL announced tfc list qsw 446.5 using full decimal in morse.


----------



## trotterdotpom

jimg0nxx said:


> Holland you did hear r used as a decimal, XXX de IPB info nr 1 qsw 514r5.
> 
> EAL announced tfc list qsw 446.5 using full decimal in morse.


Missed that - I'll have to have a listen right through. Seems a bit unnecessary doing the .5 kcs on medium wave.

John T


----------



## Tony Selman

Could it be that receivers had become so selective with dial up frequencies that even on M/F 0.5kcs out would affect reception? Hard to believe with some of the ancient kit I sailed with where you were up and down the band trying to find someone.


----------



## Varley

Had there been an ITU tightening of tolerances to allow more 'channels'?


----------



## jimg0nxx

Varley said:


> Had there been an ITU tightening of tolerances to allow more 'channels'?


That seems a reasonable assumption. In the sixties the only European station I recollect above 500 Kc/s was IAR on 516 Kc/s.


----------



## King Ratt

LouisB said:


> Coming in rather late on this thread. Memories of sitting in the wireless office of a UASC K class, listening on the traffic list from Portishead (I was the lecky) while the R.O was causing mayhem in the bar. A9M forever imprinted on my brain. Same as GGHA from my RFA days - for ever remembered.
> 
> 
> LouisB. (Scribe)


Did I ever sit in the bar on GGHA, LB? I do remember I used to copy Reuters and other teletype press and occasionally put in a spoof article. One I did was to say that the UK speed limit had been reduced to 60 mph because " you know it makes sense". This article really wound up the Second, who was an avid car buff. 



Best regards to you, LB. BTW I have just heard that another of your cloth, Barry Thomson, has passed away very suddenly. Very sad news.

(Aplogies for going off-thread)


----------



## Cunarder

Hello Finbar

Have just come across your thread and am eager to sample the recordings you have kindly posted. However, I can see the attachments as mp3 files but when I hover over them or try to download I get a file called attachment.php which I can do nothing with. Any clues as to the problem please?

Kind regards

Alan Marsden
Cunard-Brocklebank/GWZM/GTZC
1968-1981


----------



## LouisB

King Ratt said:


> Did I ever sit in the bar on GGHA, LB? I do remember I used to copy Reuters and other teletype press and occasionally put in a spoof article. One I did was to say that the UK speed limit had been reduced to 60 mph because " you know it makes sense". This article really wound up the Second, who was an avid car buff.
> 
> 
> 
> Best regards to you, LB. BTW I have just heard that another of your cloth, Barry Thomson, has passed away very suddenly. Very sad news.
> 
> (Aplogies for going off-thread)


Sitting in the bar, quaffing CSB? Never Rab - you were too conscientious. Yes, BT crossing the bar - an occurrence I notice more these days - all part of ageing unfortunately - still, v. sad all the same. Hope you and yours are keeping well up there.

Cheers

D. (Scribe)


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings File download*

Hello Alan,

Sorry to hear you are having problems with the MP3 recordings.

I am not exactly a whizz at PC software. Others may be able to
suggest a solution. Could you perhaps save one of the smallest
recordings of mine, as a test, then convert to an MP3, using
a recording programme like Audacity (which is a free download),
or use Cool Edit Pro (that will have to be paid for however).

Let me know here how you get on. 

Regards
Finbar


----------



## GW3OQK

I right-clicked the PHP file and renamed as "FINBAR1.MP3". Clicking on the MP3 made it play in a window at top left of screen. 

73, Andrew


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Includes GNI GCC GKZ GNF*

Greetings,

Another recording, this time made on board a ship,
quite close to Ostend Radio, judging by the sheer strength of OST.

AntwerpRadio OSA is also featured, so dates the recording back to
the 70's.

Several UK coast radio stations are heard and noted with
individual operating styles.... and some ships with less than
stable transmitters...

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired


----------



## Ron Stringer

Anyone know what ship had the callsign GVQH? I never heard a transmitter like that on a British flag vessel. And what happened to the beautiful Morse that I was familiar with from GNI in the 1960s? Hard to believe it was the same station.


----------



## david.hopcroft

'Unstability' notes were quite handy in that you could hear them better thru QRM. A regular visitor to Immingham was the Conoco Jet/5LCD. Absolutely unmistakable. GVQH is not listed in my 1963 dickey dapple.

David
+


----------



## King Ratt

These are great recordings, Finbar. It is good to hear 5 ton alive and busy in those years gone by. 
Many thanks and seasonal greetings to you.

KR


----------



## beedeesea

Ron Stringer said:


> Anyone know what ship had the callsign GVQH? I never heard a transmitter like that on a British flag vessel. And what happened to the beautiful Morse that I was familiar with from GNI in the 1960s? Hard to believe it was the same station.


Ron,
Here's s page purporting to give details of a Dutch vessel with a call sign GVQH, but nothing about it seems authentic:
https://www.fleetmon.com/vessels/y-0h-di_134319620_2146303/

Brian


----------



## Neil Purdon

GVQH - Wheelsman (ITU List of Call Signs 6th Edition, March 1972)

Is that perhaps the one?

Neil


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings American East Coast*

Greetings and another recording.

Took a left turn and headed to the East coast of the USA, for
a flavour of what was happening there.
This shows that somewhat unstable transmitters are not
confined to our neck of the woods.

Note several interesting callsigns, apart from the Big ones, like WCC,
including PJC , YVG , WAX, WMH, and what sounds like VGC.
Then the Cuban stations CLC, plus CLK calling CLM.

The US coastguard also make a showing.

Plenty of action.

Enjoy

Finbar EJM retired.


----------



## jimg0nxx

Finbar,
Thanks for these recordings, brings back memories.
I think VCG was Grindstone Island in the Gulf of St Lawrence. I once spent some time stuck in the ice near there, with a large hole in the bow. Ship was Irish Wasa/GFMH owned by Salen and managed by Souters.
Jim


----------



## Neil Purdon

*Jim* - VCG was Fox River (at Rivière-au-Renard) in the Gulf of St Lawrence. Grindstone was VCN

*Finbar* - from someone who was forever making a nuisance of himself in the radio rooms of the various ships I sailed on, I'm really enjoying this thread and was amazed to see in an earlier posting that you have some of the original Malin Head handwritten logs. My connection with Malin Head is that at 12:45z on 16th July 1917 my grandfather's ship, the Elder Dempster "Benguela" (HTFP) survived a U-boat attack NW of Ireland. His report of the incident to the Admiralty states that an SOS was sent out, and when acknowledged by Malin Head "gave ship's position and course steered". I don't suppose there's the remotest chance that you have access to that 1917 log ? 

Neil


----------



## jimg0nxx

Neil,
Thanks for the correction.
Jim


----------



## jimg0nxx

Think Halifax was VCS and VAR was St Johns Nfld, maybe Neil can confirm. Refernce the DX on 500 kHz, I used to hear all of those mentioned plus Europe and Middle East whilst on watch overnight on the Glasgow - Belfast ferry Royal Ulsterman.
Jim


----------



## Neil Purdon

Yes Jim, you are correct. All those years ago, the R/O thought I was mad retrieving redundant old lists of radio stations, call signs, ITU Regulations and even a GPO Handbook for Radio Operators that he was turfing out.
I dare say he was right, but I'm glad I did !

Neil


----------



## trotterdotpom

Don't think anyone has mentioned PJC - Curacao.

John T


----------



## jimg0nxx

Thanks Neil, wish I had kept some now.
Jim


----------



## Ron Stringer

trotterdotpom said:


> Don't think anyone has mentioned PJC - Curacao.
> 
> John T


Re-read post #106 John. Suggest you take it easier with the Bundaberg - it is affecting your eyesight (or your cognitive powers).


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings GMH. EJM WW1 records*

Hello Neil,

Very interesting about your family connection with
Malin Head, during WW1.

I am sorry to say that no records from circa 1914 to 1922
regarding specific casualty working, are known to exit, or 
their whereabouts, are known here. However we know that
the Royal Navy operated the station for some time prior to
the handing back of the station to civilian operation by the Post
Office, to what was then the newly established Irish Free State
( Irish Republic from 1st January 1950 ). 

The station operated under the IOWT (Inspector of Wireless
Telegraphy ), continuing to use it's UK callsign GMH, until
2359 GMT on the 31st of December 1949. Then EJM began
one minute later.

Might I suggest you make a query to the Royal Navy Historical
Records section, if one still exists. Another line is the UK
Coastguard, who do have records going way back, and were
operating here at Malin Head, during that period. Their line
of solidly built houses, overlooking the pier are now used as
holiday homes.

Sorry I can't be of any more help.
Regards
Finbar. EJM retired


----------



## trotterdotpom

Ron Stringer said:


> Re-read post #1 John. Suggest you take it easier with the Bundaberg - it is affecting your eyesight (or your cognitive powers).


Thanks, Ron, I rarely go back more than one page - it becomes a quagmire. Bleccccchhh - lips that touch Bunderberg shall never touch mine. Wonder if they do cheap a cheap Campari and Curacao in Bergen - I might get to check that out next year.

John T


----------



## Ron Stringer

trotterdotpom said:


> Thanks, Ron, I rarely go back more than one page - it becomes a quagmire. John T


Sorry, John - my bad (as they say on TV these days). It should have read "... post #106". Don't know what happened to the second two digits.


----------



## trotterdotpom

Back to #106 Ron - nobody identified PJC, he just gave the call sign.So I claim the Curacoa prize - hope it's not a bottle of blue ****e.

I've just listened to the tape on my steam computer - the link didn't work on iPad. I also heard WNU (Slidell, near New Orleans), KLC (Galveston), WSC (Tuckerton NJ), WAX (Miami), NMR (US Coast Guard, Puerto Rico) and a British ship GFLU being called by WCC (Chatham) - wonder whop she was.

What was apparent from the tape was a lot of crap morse and a lot of folk who were employed under false pretences. You wonder how some of them ever sent a telegram.

John T


----------



## Neil Purdon

GFLU - Shell Tanker VALVATA from 1965. Built 1960 as San Edwardo, sold to Shell and renamed Valvata in 1965, broken up in 1975


----------



## Neil Purdon

Thanks Finbar for the fascinating insight into the history of Malin Head and possible sources of further information. I realised it was more than a long shot asking about 1917 records. 

Another station listening to the SOS and subsequent exchange between the Benguela and Malin Head was the attacking U-boat. Its commander recorded in his War Diary that the “_Dampfer….. gibt F.T. Signale_” – steamer.... makes W.T. signals.

Keep the transmissions coming. 
Neil


----------



## Dave McGouldrick

Thanks for all the recordings Finbar.
Re #75. Can't help with the ship, but you're the first person I've come across on the site who mentions Kappa Maritime. I did a contract for them in 1975 on Atlantis/SYLI (ex German Unterweser Reederei).
Most of the Greek Officers were from Chios and related. We went across to Jamaica from Europe via the Azores with only the Chart Catalogue for navigating. The Old Man was calling up ships getting info on leading lights etc for Punt Delgada. Finally got charts in Kingston after getting a bit close to the airport runway. (Nobody ever did ask for a DF.......)


----------



## Ron Stringer

Neil Purdon said:


> GFLU - Shell Tanker VALVATA from 1965. Built 1960 as San Edwardo, sold to Shell and renamed Valvata in 1965, broken up in 1975


No, Neil. She was ordered by Eagle Oil from Furness Shipbuilding on the Tees, launched and fitted out in 1960 as the "_San Conrado/GFLU_" but was taken over by Shell, sailing under their house flag and keeping the same name until they renamed her "_Valvata/GFLU_" in 1965.


----------



## david.hopcroft

Back to #105, I think the Wheelsman is - was - one of Rowbotham's coastal tankers. They were mostly small, RT only, but they had some 1600+ vessels that carried an RO. Regular visitors to Immingham.

You must have had some late nights Finbar. The only time I heard Dx signals at GKZ was on nights when it got quieter. We could hear Canadian coast stations most times, especially on 2182. We had an excellent quiet RX aerial site at GKZ.

David
+


----------



## ex ro

was on the Pointsman c/s GZZL in the seventies as freelance R/O was built in 1970 with Oceanspan 7 and Atalanta believe Kelvin Hughes were the radio company for these vessels did a few weeks on the UK coast then went on its first trip deep sea up the med most of the hf calling and working freq xtals were missing as had been borrowed to supply other ships and not returned made for interesting QSO for QTCs with foreign stations and GKB was glad to get off her


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording American West Coast with UK ships*

Greetings,

This recording features a number of UK registered ships,
perhaps someone can work out the approximate year, from
the call signs.

Also note two Canadian coast radio stations.

Thank you for all your kind comments on my postings, much
appreciated.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Christmas
and best wishes for 2016.

Finbar EJM (retired)


----------



## Troppo

GHXR - what a horrible callsign for CW...


----------



## david.hopcroft

I have an October 1963 List of Call Signs. I noted a few ships call signs and every one of them were listed in this edition.
GHXR - Argyll
GNGR - Rustenburg Castle
FNLR - Lavoisier
GXGN - Crusader
PFYU - Merwe Lloyd
GGCH - Tetela
KAEO - J L Luckenbach
JDYO - Fuyo Maru

So looks like this is possibly early to mid 60's

David
+


Best Wishes to all for 2016 ++


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz recordings Ships names and year*

Hello David,
Thank you for looking up those call signs. This gives us a good
stab at the general period of this recording.

Best regards and seasons greetings.

Finbar EJM retired


----------



## Wismajorvik

Andes - GQCV in there


----------



## david.hopcroft

Ref the US West Coast recordings, it doesn't get us any nearer a date, but I looked up GHXR/Argyll.

It is a self unloading salt carrier, Cedros Island, Mexico to Vancouver built 1962 and around for some time after. It was managed by Huntings. In the gallery here, I found these, showing IMR gear.

David
+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Pacific DTG*

Hello David,

Thank you for the ships info and photos. This indicates the early
sixties to perhaps the mid 70's.

I am trying to locate another Pacific recording which includes
an exchange of signals between an Indian coast radio station and a ship. It is on one of my PC's.......but where......the search continues.

Regards
Finbar. EJM. retired


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Indian Coast Stations*

Greetings,

I mentioned in my last posting that buried in my PC
was a recording of an Indian coast radio station, on 500 khz.

Finally found it. It is not that long, but seems to indicate
VWA and VWP, though I have searched for VWP without
success in my list of coast radio stations.

There are also bits of an Egyptian callsign, a ships one it seems,
in the background, near the middle of this track, SU..

Enjoy.

Finbar EJM retired


----------



## trotterdotpom

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> 
> I mentioned in my last posting that buried in my PC
> was a recording of an Indian coast radio station, on 500 khz.
> 
> Finally found it. It is not that long, but seems to indicate
> VWA and VWP, though I have searched for VWP without
> success in my list of coast radio stations.
> 
> There are also bits of an Egyptian callsign, a ships one it seems,
> in the background, near the middle of this track, SU..
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> Finbar EJM retired


SUH was clearly there and was Alexandria Radio.

I'm sure I picked up VWY which was Paradip (east coast India).

John T


----------



## dmartinic

I was not a radioman but during my hitch in the U S Coast Guard my first duty station was a lifeboat station. Standing tower watches there I was monitoring 2670 and 2182 voice frequencies. After going to ET school I ended up on the weather cutter Matagorda, WAVP 373. Our radiomen all spent time on CW on frequencies between 300 - 500 khz. those old vacuum tube receivers and transmitters (from WWII) were the most reliable communication equipment on our ship. I remember we stocked tubes like 6L6's. They lasted much longer than the 12V tubes. Thanks for the memories.


----------



## Troppo

There was some serious DX around on 500 if you were in the right spot at the right time - i.e. greyline propagation.


----------



## G4UMW

Wasn't VWP the callsign for Port Blair in the Andaman/Nicobar Islands?


----------



## david.hopcroft

VWP is indeed Port Blair. SUWL is not listed in my 1963 book, but SXDZ is shown as Policos. 

I wondered if I heard VWPT in there which is listed as Mozaffari, shown below. This ship is mentioned in Vol 1 of The Long Silence falls by Keith Pearson as a sister to the Pilgrim ship he was on in mid-50's. He shows the Mozaffari call sign as MACV, which is not listed in my list of c/s.

David
+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording Indian Coast*

Greetings,

I was reluctant to suggest call signs, but I did suspect that VWP,
was indeed VWPT. He appears to be calling YPT. I could not find
this in either the 1950 or 1951 ALRS volumes. Anyone any ideas,
was it a temporary station for the Pilgrim season ??

At the start VWA is clearly heard calling UKVJ with QTC traffic.

SUH is indeed heard, and at the end SXDZ seems to be working
SBWI, but the second letter of that call is corrupted, maybe another
company ship for a sked call.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired


----------



## david.hopcroft

I have listened again, but nothing further heard. It did occur to me though that if indeed it is VWPT and not VWP, he works the Greek SXDZ, and maybe another. Is he doing some sort of guard ship port watch rather like that necessary up the creeks in Nigeria at Sapele. I did that for 12 days once whilst alongside the sawmill berth.

David
+


----------



## jimg0nxx

I vaguely recollect working pilot vessel/vessels on 500 on the Indian Coast.
Jim


----------



## Ian Hay

jimg0nxx said:


> Think Halifax was VCS and VAR was St Johns Nfld, maybe Neil can confirm. Refernce the DX on 500 kHz, I used to hear all of those mentioned plus Europe and Middle East whilst on watch overnight on the Glasgow - Belfast ferry Royal Ulsterman.
> Jim


Halifax was indeed VCS, St.Johns Newfie was VON


----------



## Ian Hay

david.hopcroft said:


> Ref the US West Coast recordings, it doesn't get us any nearer a date, but I looked up GHXR/Argyll.
> 
> It is a self unloading salt carrier, Cedros Island, Mexico to Vancouver built 1962 and around for some time after. It was managed by Huntings. In the gallery here, I found these, showing IMR gear.
> 
> David
> +


Looking at the main rx,she must have a refit of some of the radio gear possibly mid 70s. I cannot remember the main rx model type & sadly my notebooks disappeared years ago. 73s


----------



## trotterdotpom

I didn't notice VKVS, must have another listen. That is the call sign of Wyuna which was the Port Phillip Sea Pilots Cutter (Melbourne). She ceased service in about 1973 as far as I can gather from a quick Google, then from 1979 to 2004 she was the training ship for the Australian Maritime College in Launceston Tasmania. After that she was laid up but I just found that she is now to be a permanent museum ship and school camp in Melbourne.

The ship could be called by morse by ships giving eta's and whatnot but after finishing service with the pilots I don't think there was any W/T capability. So that should put some sort of date on this tape. Presumably Wyuna was trying contact GJXM with a "where the hell are you" message or something.

There is a fair bit of info about Wyuna on SN already.

John T


----------



## david.hopcroft

GJXM is not listed in Oct 1963 ITU list Ships c/s. VKVs is.

David
+


----------



## trotterdotpom

R651400 said:


> Apols if I mislead... Just a reminisce on pilot boats with W/T capability.. Ajax/GJXM de Wyuna/VKVS circa 1957..


OK. Here's me thinking I was making a contribution. I remember calling Wyuna too (early '70s).

John T


----------



## G4UMW

Ian Hay said:


> Looking at the main rx,she must have a refit of some of the radio gear possibly mid 70s. I cannot remember the main rx model type & sadly my notebooks disappeared years ago. 73s


If you mean the modern receiver, it looks like an ITT 3020. Tuning was accomplished via a row of decade switches in the top right-hand corner of the front panel.


----------



## david.hopcroft

John - You reminded me that I must have worked the Wyuna in August 1967 when I was on a big tanker going up to Williamstown.

Happy New Year to everyone.

David
+


----------



## Ian Hay

G4UMW said:


> If you mean the modern receiver, it looks like an ITT 3020. Tuning was accomplished via a row of decade switches in the top right-hand corner of the front panel.


Thanks Rob, yes that's the one,was a nice piece of kit if I remember correctly. (Thumb)


----------



## trotterdotpom

david.hopcroft said:


> John - You reminded me that I must have worked the Wyuna in August 1967 when I was on a big tanker going up to Williamstown.
> 
> Happy New Year to everyone.
> 
> David
> +


I'm sure you did, David. I bet that was one of those 20,000 ton supertankers they talk about on telly.

Happy New Year to you too.

John T


----------



## david.hopcroft

A bit bigger than that John. Nearer 90,000. It was only half full though, the first bit left in Port Stanvac shown below.

David
+


----------



## trotterdotpom

A biggie in those days, David. When "Mobil Australis" lost her engine in the Bass Strait the TV went into panic mode about the "super tanker" that was adrift and about to do all sorts of damage. She was about 25,000 tons I think. I sailed on her myself eventually and, for a "supertanker", she could roll about a bit!

John T


----------



## G4UMW

RS651400 said:


> I used the IMR style transmitter meter in 1958 on Glenbeg/GDJV MF only though I can't remember the IMR transmitter type.


I may well be wrong but the transmitters in the pictures of the Argyll's radio room look like the IMR 51 (MF)/53 (HF) combo. I sailed with these on my first trip as a solo R/O on the Wellington Star/GNPD. Teamed with a Redifon R50M main receiver, I managed to contact ZLB from the Western Approaches on the trip back from NZ.


----------



## david.hopcroft

John - this was the 'Astral' GMOH. The weather tended to go 'round' it. This was Cape Leeuwin heading back to the Gulf.

David

+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording with 7TO CUB FFM etc from 1994*

Greetings,

Another recording, this time from 1994, just imagine, all of
22 years ago.

I had to change my main PC, and using Windows 10 took a
little longer to become familiar with, in the process, and taking
the opportunity to back up hard drives to a new 4 g external
drive.

This recording includes 7TO CUB FFM and a number of
Baltic qso's.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired.


----------



## Troppo

trotterdotpom said:


> A biggie in those days, David. When "Mobil Australis" lost her engine in the Bass Strait the TV went into panic mode about the "super tanker" that was adrift and about to do all sorts of damage. She was about 25,000 tons I think. I sailed on her myself eventually and, for a "supertanker", she could roll about a bit!
> 
> John T


I received her SOS....interesting times....

(Thumb)


----------



## trotterdotpom

#165.

1994 and still going strong - all quiet round Australia for a couple of years by then.

Heard SAE - Tingstade on the Swedish island of Gothland. OHM - Helsinki. OXJ - Torshavn in the Faeroes.

The operator at FFB (Boulogne?) didn't seem to have control of his bug key.

GBLR sent a TR to Landsend Radio saying he was entering "PMB" - where is that, surely not Port Moresby?

John T


----------



## trotterdotpom

Troppo said:


> I received her SOS....interesting times....
> 
> (Thumb)


Yes, Troppo. Can't quite remember the outcome - think they must have got her going again, there would have been hell on if she'd got a tow! Whatever happened, all was well that ended well. Pretty sure the RO was a German bloke from Adelaide, struggling to recall the name.

She was a pretty good ship to sail on.

John T


----------



## hawkey01

JT,

Pmb - Pembroke Dock South Wales.

GBLR was one of the ferries Ireland/UK but cannot remember which one.

Yes FFB had the weights rather a longway down probably on the end of the arm. A lot of c--- morse around!

Bet the GPK op was Graham Mercer.

Neville


----------



## trotterdotpom

Thanks Neville. Hadn't thought of that one. Could it be that GBLR called Landsend because Ilfracombe was already defunct by 1994?

Heard the ship calling GPK with a TR advising sailing from Dublin. The callsign was, I think, ZCxx. Wondered if this could have been some sort of UK flag of convenience callsign - thinking along the lines of Gibraltar (Gib radio was ZDK)?

Good to hear Ostend blasting everybody out of the English Channel as usual - I bet their signals are still bouncing off the moon. Just cos' they invented chips they thought they could do anything they liked.

John T


----------



## trotterdotpom

Thanks, R65. Was that when Cyprus was still "in the family"? I found a site that said "ZC" were British letters.

VPS was Hong Kong radio so I expect you're righr about that ship callsign.

John T


----------



## Troppo

trotterdotpom said:


> Yes, Troppo. Can't quite remember the outcome - think they must have got her going again, there would have been hell on if she'd got a tow! Whatever happened, all was well that ended well. Pretty sure the RO was a German bloke from Adelaide, struggling to recall the name.
> 
> She was a pretty good ship to sail on.
> 
> John T


She got a tow from a rig boat, from memory....


----------



## hawkey01

Laterly we had HF ships reg in Cyprus with 5B2100 type of callsigns and P3.

JT,

By 94 DOC was in operation and GIL long closed.
The ZC callsign would again be one of the Irish/UK ferries.


Neville


----------



## trotterdotpom

Thanks, Neville. All just a matter of curiosity now.

John T


----------



## Ian Hay

trotterdotpom said:


> Thanks, R65. Was that when Cyprus was still "in the family"? I found a site that said "ZC" were British letters.
> 
> VPS was Hong Kong radio so I expect you're righr about that ship callsign.
> 
> John T


ZC** and VR** are British callsigns (Hong Kong). 
I sailed on Dart Canada(renamed Canadian Explorer) ZCKE also Dart Britain VRKC,both ships registered in Hong Kong. (Thumb)


----------



## trotterdotpom

Thanks Ian. Just remembered I sailed on the Hong Kong Reg. "Iron ***berland" and have a sneaking suspicion that she may have had a "Z" call sign too but I can't recall it.

John T


----------



## Bill.B

CP Ships Bermuda had Z call signs as well.


----------



## Mayday

trotterdotpom said:


> Thanks Ian. Just remembered I sailed on the Hong Kong Reg. "Iron ***berland" and have a sneaking suspicion that she may have had a "Z" call sign too but I can't recall it.
> 
> John T


Strathconon, registered in Hong Kong, was VRLE.


----------



## Ian Hay

Sorry if this thread has gone a bit off-topic,but it has certainly stirred a few grey cells amongs our membership! (Scribe)


----------



## J. Davies

useless information... I sailed on Swire's passenger vessel "Coral Princess" ZCSL, and a wonderful old cargo ship "Kweichow" VRQR, both Hong Kong flagged.


----------



## Troppo

ZCSL was the _Asian Jade_ - an E and A operated box boat, wasn't it?


----------



## J. Davies

Well I was on Coral Princess for seven months 1987-8 as senior R/O. She was ZCSL for sure. Funnily enough Asian Jade was also a Swire ship, a box boat. There have been two or three Asian Jades. Swire habitually use the same names for successive ships on the same trade routes. Perhaps another incarnation of Asian Jade took the old ZCSL call sign after Coral Princess was sold and re-flagged in the early 1990s.


----------



## Troppo

Fair enough....must be a very similar c/s, as I am talking 1980/81....


----------



## Troppo

I remember working her on the P and O inter-ship skeds...

Maybe she had the callsign before Coral Princess...


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording SOS at EAC 6th January 1994*

Greetings,

Some distress working, for an abandoned ship in distress.

Note the deep QSB on both EAC and ships stations, some
of which are quite weak, but are a considerable distance
from Malin Head, down near 34 North and 10 West.

Quite a collection of callsigns noted on this recording.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired.


----------



## CT1GZB

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Glad to know people are enjoying the sounds of marine
> radio recordings made here at Malin Head.
> 
> I will pick out some more 2182 khz recordings and
> keep searching for a recording of GND on 500 khz.
> 
> The attached recording was made using a simple
> Regenerative receiver. This one was made on the
> 7th of March 1994. Note the raspy, almost Spark like
> sound from the Portugese Navy station CTS, calling
> CTFU. Also note 9AR, from Croatia, IAR RomaRadio,
> EAV, SPH, and EAS whose signal is so strong it is
> almost overwhelming the receiver. Finally CTS calling
> CTFU, who replies with a clean sounding CW signal.
> 
> The antenna was an Active type using a 6 foot whip.
> 
> Regards
> Finbar


Thak you very much for this nice record from a Portuguese Station Sagres/CTS

Greetings from Portugal
73 de CT1GZB


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Portuguese Stations*

Greetings,
Glad you enjoyed hearing those Portuguese stations. Among my
Other recordings I have posted here is CUB. 
CUL was always a strong signal here at Malin Head.

Kind regards and thanks
Finbar EJM retired. EI0CF


----------



## CT1GZB

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> Glad you enjoyed hearing those Portuguese stations. Among my
> Other recordings I have posted here is CUB.
> CUL was always a strong signal here at Malin Head.
> 
> Kind regards and thanks
> Finbar EJM retired. EI0CF


My friend pleeeeeeese send this records (==D)

73 de CT1GZB


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings Portugal*

Greetings,

I will search my recordings and get as many
as I can including CUL CTV CTN CUB and CUG

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired. EI0CF


----------



## david.hopcroft

Finbar

I wonder if you have any recordings from the South African coast ?? Spent a couple of years in the mid 60's ?

David

+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recordings from South Africa*

Hello David,

Sorry to say, no marine radio recordings, but I do
have several recordings of the long departed L M radio,
recorded from their Short Wave transmissions plus one
on medium wave from their MW transmitter, whilst we were
alongside at LM, in 1973.

This was equivalent to Luxemburg type operations down there.

Not sure if anybody would be interested in them or indeed my
recordings of AFVN from Saigon, in 1971, and KSBK from
Naha, Okinawa, also 1971 / 1972 period. I also have FEN,
from Tokyo (Far East Network of American forces).
Lastly I have a band sweep of MW from Manila which starts with
an amazingly bad transmitter, sparking, terribly modulated,
from a local Chinese language station. Sounded like it was ready to
blow up on burn down, at any moment.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired. EI0CF


----------



## Moulder

Oh LM Radio - please!!

(Thumb)


----------



## Neil Purdon

Believe it or not, LM Radio was revived in 2010. Same brand, same jingles and pretty much same old music from the 60s to the 80s. It broadcasts on VHF from Maputo, satellite and live streaming on http://www.lmradio.net/streaming.html

Here's a link to their original signature: http://www.lmradio.org/Sounds/LM_stn_ID.mp3

Neil


----------



## Ian Hay

LM,FEN Tokyo etc would be of interest Finbar

Thanks


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Manila Medium Wave scan 1971*

Greetings,

Have got LM radio, but need to convert to MP3. Meanwhile
attached is a short scan of some of the Medium Wave band
in Manila, starting with the alarming sparking and distorted
audio of one transmitter and ending with the best example
of a reasonably well modulated AM transmitter of DZMB.

Note the use of record disc's to play out the advert's.
This seemed to be a common practice during this period,
some of the disc's were obviously well worn out. The
sparking of that first transmitter heard on this recording seems
to match the audio peaks. An insulator or capacitor flashing over
in the transmitter or out at the ATU , or on the tower, perhaps.

This recording, like many others made good use of the radio
room Marconi Atlanta receiver and my AKAI reel to reel tape
recorder, bought in Singapore, earlier in the trip.

Enjoy
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Moulder

Thanks Neil.

(Thumb)


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings LM Radio 31st December 1972*

Greetings,

Attached , as promised is a recording of LM Radio recorded on
the local MF transmitter whilst alongside at LM.

The Short Wave and this local MF service was for a South African
audience essentially.

Enjoy. Comments welcome.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Moulder

Many thanks Fins.

(Thumb)


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

To CT1GZB

I finally found CUB buried in a sub section of other items.

There are two recordings, one is the original, the other
has been lowered in pitch and given a 3 db boost.

I am including both.

If you check the other recordings I have posted here,
you will get CTV CTN and CUL. I can not remember
which ones they are, you will have to play out these
500 khz audio files from this web site, in this section.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Neil Purdon

Thanks Finbar. That LM Radio recording was certainly a blast from the past although I had left SA to join B&C by then.


Neil


----------



## johnvvc

*LM Radio Museum and Sound Archive*

LM Radio Museum and Sound Archive:-

http://www.lmradio.org/

Lots of jingles some of you may remember.


----------



## Old Ginger

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> 
> Attached , as promised is a recording of LM Radio recorded on
> the local MF transmitter whilst alongside at LM.
> 
> The Short Wave and this local MF service was for a South African
> audience essentially.
> 
> Enjoy. Comments welcome.
> 
> Regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


Blast from the past ... Happy Day Radio ~ MW picked up on St Helena Island most evenings 1974-6 ~ of course just a touch of fade though! Thanks for all your recordings Finbar - regards


----------



## CT1GZB

Finbar O'Connor said:


> To CT1GZB
> 
> I finally found CUB buried in a sub section of other items.
> 
> There are two recordings, one is the original, the other
> has been lowered in pitch and given a 3 db boost.
> 
> I am including both.
> 
> If you check the other recordings I have posted here,
> you will get CTV CTN and CUL. I can not remember
> which ones they are, you will have to play out these
> 500 khz audio files from this web site, in this section.
> 
> Best regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


Dr OM Finbar thank you very much for this nice records.

If you have more records from CTV i apreciated. 
Thanks again.
73 de CT1GZB di dit


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording CTV CTS*

Hello CT1GZB,

Another recording for you, this time CTV calling CTS.

CTS is weak and has a raspy note on his transmitter

This was recorded on the 6th of January 1994.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## CT1GZB

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Hello CT1GZB,
> 
> Another recording for you, this time CTV calling CTS.
> 
> CTS is weak and has a raspy note on his transmitter
> 
> This was recorded on the 6th of January 1994.
> 
> Regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


Thank you very much DR OM Finbar.

We want more, we want more, we want more (Applause)

73 de CT1GZB TU di dit


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500khz Recording CTV calling CTFD*

Hello Jose Luis CT1GZB

Here is another recording of CTV calling CTFD on 500 khz.

Recording was made using a Regenerative home made 
receiver on the 17th of October 1995.

Still looking for a recording of CUL for you.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

Hello Jose Luis,

I finally found CUL, but the start of his call is buried under
Valentia Radio EJK, the rest is clear.

Followed by Wick Radio GKR

Recorded on a home made Regenerative receiver.

At the very begining can be heard medium wave broadcast
breakthrough of music, which was caused by insufficient
filtering. The receiver, however was very sensitive.

Enjoy
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## CT1GZB

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Hello Jose Luis,
> 
> I finally found CUL, but the start of his call is buried under
> Valentia Radio EJK, the rest is clear.
> 
> Followed by Wick Radio GKR
> 
> Recorded on a home made Regenerative receiver.
> 
> At the very begining can be heard medium wave broadcast
> breakthrough of music, which was caused by insufficient
> filtering. The receiver, however was very sensitive.
> 
> Enjoy
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


Thanks again (==D)


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings ALRS Vol 1 Corrections 3rd Feb 1968*

Greetings,

Thought a scan of these two pages of the ALRS Vol 1 Weekly
Editions 3rd Feb 1968 might bring back memories of all those
corrections we did, pasted onto the releveant pages of those
ALRS books.

Interesting entry for Muscat and Oman and the callsign GMW.

Only running 100 watts on 500 khz.

The entries for the Philippines begs the question about those
low powered coast stations not mentioned. Does anybody recall
working these tiny stations. Apparently some were temporary
set ups on small island, for the purpose of occasional cargo
handling for trading ships. Sounds facinating.

Regards
Finbar EJM Retired EI0CF


----------



## Wismajorvik

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> 
> Thought a scan of these two pages of the ALRS Vol 1 Weekly
> Editions 3rd Feb 1968 might bring back memories of all those
> corrections we did, pasted onto the releveant pages of those
> ALRS books.
> 
> Interesting entry for Muscat and Oman and the callsign GMW.
> 
> Only running 100 watts on 500 khz.
> 
> The entries for the Philippines begs the question about those
> low powered coast stations not mentioned. Does anybody recall
> working these tiny stations. Apparently some were temporary
> set ups on small island, for the purpose of occasional cargo
> handling for trading ships. Sounds facinating.
> 
> Regards
> Finbar EJM Retired EI0CF


I worked a station in Davao which had one frequency, International ship to ship simplex 12421Khz. At times he operated RTTY and handled link calls on this frequency! The station was set up to support an offshore drilling company in Eastern Indonesia who crew changed via Davao.


----------



## trotterdotpom

#213.

Thanks for that Finbar. A lot of ROs hated doing those corrections but I quite enjoyed it ... They were a trip down Memory Lane.

John T


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings AFVN Saigon 1971*

Greetings,

As promised, here is another trip down memory lane,
this time a recording I made whilst we sailed north for Japan
from Singapore and off the coast of Vietnam.

AFVN had some powerful transmitters on medium wave,
despite that one can hear the static bursts. At other times
the the Chinese MF stations could be heard in the background,
particularly when listening to KSBK from Naha, Okinawa.

I read recently that both the above named station closed
about 3 years later from the time of this recording.

Enjoy.

Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings GPK ticks off GQAL during Distress 500 khz*

Greetings,

This brief recording is an example of a coast radio station
maintaining proper proceedure during distress working on
500 khz.

Portpatrick Radio GPK was our flank station here at
Malin Head Radio EJM and being only about 100 miles
east of us, put in a very strong signal at this location.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings 1997 9HD SUH 5BA UGE GLD FFM etc*

Greetings,

This recording is from 1997, in the final few years of 500 khz operations.

The receiver is a Lowe HF225 combined with an active antenna.
With a bit more filtering the occasional underlying hum noted could
be elimated.

Malta Radio 9HD who always had a weak signal here is all but
buried on his CQ announcement, whereas 5BA is loud and clear,
as is SUH. FFM is also nicely heard. 

In short, despite the end being in sight for CW on 500 khz, there is
a surprising amount of activity.

Enjoy another bit of marine radio history.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Paul Braxton

Interesting recording. Is it me or did the standard of operating, morse, the whole shebang go downhill just a tad by '97? When you listen to this particular recording you realise how things seemed to have changed and not for the better.

The Russian calling GLD near the end, for instance. An open-ended call like that would probably not have been even answered in my day. Or if it was, then there would have been a bollocking contained within the reply from that venerable coast station!


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings GFWR sends TR to GNI*

Greetings,

Here is a short recording of GFWR sending his TR to
GNI on 500 kHz.

Dated 29th March 1994

Enjoy

Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## trotterdotpom

#221. Assume GFWR was a Harwich ferry - did Northforeland close down and have its bailiwick taken over by Niton? The absence of a destination would indicate that it was too obvious to be necessary. Good job the 500 kcs clamour of yesteryear was over - calling GNI would have been a waste of time then. I sailed from the Hoek many times and always sent "QTO PCH" or "QTO Rdam".

John T


----------



## hawkey01

JT,

As the recording was 1994 it would have been into the DOC era when stations were either manned on a temporary basis or not manned at all. Therefore controlled by one of the other stations. For the southern sector it would most likely have been GLD operating as GNI. I cannot remember who had staff and who did not by that time. Some were totally unmanned and controlled by GLD or GND which were the main control stations. I know GIL had gone then as I left in 1986 and others relocated to GKA long before 1994.
Ref the ferries. TR's usually only consisted of the departure point as we were well aware of were they were bound and names etc. Every station had their local ferry routes. At GIL we had the Pembroke, Fishguard - Irish ferries and also the likes of St Patrick and St Killian when on the Ireland- France legs.
Making my grey cells work on a Sunday.

Neville


----------



## trotterdotpom

Thanks Neville - I didn't notice the date. Downunder, ROs had already been gone for two years by then.

John T


----------



## jimg0nxx

I sailed in two ships with GF callsigns Colina/GFXA of Donaldsons built 1960 and Irish Wasa/GFMH former Sheaf Wear of Salens/Souters built I believe 1959. Both had long become razor blades by the 1994, therefore the callsign GFWR could have been only recently reallocated at that date.


----------



## MikeGDH

R651400 said:


> Only two ships in '50's I know that had vowels or the letter H.. Both Union Castle.. Edinburgh Castle/GOHN and Pretoria Castle/GOAE or vice versa..
> Sounds like that wee man deep in the dungeons of the GPO/Post Master General call sign allocation was beginning to flap his wings!


Asiatic Steam's 'SUBADAR' was MADK. Sailed on her from '59 - '60 (mainly on the Calcutta - Rangoon coal run).
Mike


----------



## MikeGDH

OK R651400.....all good!
I, too, rely on memory - don't usually even notice my own discrepancies!
BTW. I was R599059, so guess we are of similar vintage.
Keep Well & all the best from here.
Mike.


----------



## Bill Greig

R651400 said:


> Agree there were vowels in the M series calls in the 50's RFA Fort Beauharnois/MAAR and P&O Orcades/MABA and one of their cargo vessels whose name escapes me MAEM..
> I just found it unusual that GFWR was around in the mid 90's unless they had doubled up on a no longer used ncall of the 20/30's..
> The only re-allocation of a call I remember was P&O Himalaya/GBDK from it's original issue as it was too far down the alphabet/tfc lists for a H24 ship..
> nb Am quoting these calls from memory so there may be some discrepancies..


P&O GCD (ex NZSCo) MV Sussex/MAEF, we usually had about 20 mins wait on Portishead traffic list to get to the M's.
Bill


----------



## beedeesea

R651400 said:


> Assuming this was a TR from GFWR QTO HK ie the Hook of Holland this must have been late days..
> Nice morse from the ship...


Cerdic Ferry, anyone?
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=2237361

Brian


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings MV Newfoundland GFPG 1968*

Greetings,

Following my recording of the TR sent to NitonRadio GNI,
I noted the comments on callsigns. This prompted me to
look up my old diary from the late 60's.

My very first ship was out of Liverpool, the MV Newfoundland
callsign GFPG, Furness Withy, northabout from the Irish Sea
and into a North Atlantic of stormy weather. Not very nice,
the weather I mean. The ship was fine.

Sending my very first "real" message, and OBS's, to one of 
the weather ships was done by timely nudges from my
Senior R/O, Les, otherwise I would have been lost in the
Mayhem of signals and the weather ship clipping away
at a speed beyond my then experience. "We" made it though,
in the end.

First port was Boston, then Halifax and St John's, then back to
Liverpool. 

The next training ship was MV Tabor MNBM, a
complete contrast, trading into the Med with general cargo and
returning with Citrus fruits, from Israel. A very happy ship indeed.
I still exchange Christmas cards with my Senior R/O from that
ship. Fond memories, from all those years ago.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## GBXZ

Hello Finbar
A long and informative thread many thanks. Your last entry was the most interesting to me. My first ship with Mimco Liverpool was also the Moss Hutchinson's MV Tabor, six weeks Liverpool to Med ports and back to Liverpool, like you said a very happy ship, curry for breakfast ! 
The Chief RO was Des W, knowledgable, trusting a great teacher. The same person ?

Kind Regards


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording MV Tabor MNBM*

Greetings GBXZ,

Really nice to hear from a fellow member of the radio room of
the MV Tabor, from all those years ago.

Glad you can confirm how happy a ship it was, including all
departments. It just seemed to work so well. I ended up
doing more than the usual 6 months training, it was too good
to leave.

Were they still playing Mah Jong, the Chinese board game,
when you sailed on her. This was mainly organised by the
Chief Engineer and went on for ages and ages, someone 
going on watch would hand over to someone coming off watch.

Having, it seems now, on reflection, an somewhat older aged
crew, one was " looked after" by those more experienced,
including of course, our Chief R/O Des Walsh. He did some
lovely wood carvings which he entered ito the Ships Arts
competitions.

This extended to the Purser getting the galley to make up
a sandwich and some fruit and being encouraged to go ashore
and see the relevant historical sites in, say, Greece, Israel,
Cyprus etc etc, heading off for the day with my pride and joy
secondhand Pentax S1A camera. What a great chance for a
young lad who hardy knew what a Curry was before all that.

Valetta used to be a frequent stopping off point, remember
those colourful rickety old buses, with all manner of bits and
pieces of ribbons and banners, remember going down the
Gut...............maybe the less said the better.

Famagusta was another port, friendly and pleasant, Des
taking me up town for a beer with those salted nuts on the
counter, creating the urge for yet another ice cold beer. Aahh !

The picture attached I took at Valetta harbour of the Tabor,
this would have been in 1969.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Last SOS LandsendRadio GLD*

Greetings,

Yet another historic recording, this time an SOS 
involving GLD and EJK. I believe this to be the
last SOS handled by LandsendRadio.

The haunting, warbling sound of the automatic
transmission of SOS from the ship and the
subsequent slow hesitant hand sent morse from the
RO giving out their position 53 North 25 West is
chilling to listen to. 

Note Greenland coaststation OXF calling Valentia EJK
to confirm the ships position, who OXF then calls.

There is more of this recording, but there is a restriction
on the length of attachments on SN.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired  EI0CF


----------



## trotterdotpom

Thanks for that Finbar. Signal strength reduced in second transmission of distress call compared with the first - maybe emergency battery running out of juice. Do you know the outcome of the incident?

John T


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

Hello John,.

Sorry but not sure what the outcome was of that
incident. Perhaps someone can check the ships name
from the call sign and we can try to trace back from
that.

I meant to mention that GLD's transmissions, as
indeed EJK, were distorted, because of overloading
of my Regenerative receiver front end. Still readable,
just not a true reflection of their respective transmitters.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## trotterdotpom

Thanks Finbar. Yes, GLD sounded positively Iberian.

John T


----------



## Wismajorvik

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Hello John,.
> 
> Sorry but not sure what the outcome was of that
> incident. Perhaps someone can check the ships name
> from the call sign and we can try to trace back from
> that.
> 
> I meant to mention that GLD's transmissions, as
> indeed EJK, were distorted, because of overloading
> of my Regenerative receiver front end. Still readable,
> just not a true reflection of their respective transmitters.
> 
> Kind regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


MV Oak


----------



## trotterdotpom

Wow, I didn't realise it was the last SOS sent! 800 miles west of Ireland is a pretty desolate place - let's hope they all made it.

John T


----------



## Varley

Something wrong with the date. The report is a year before last outfitting date for GMDSS isn't it?


----------



## Troppo

Hadn't R/O skills fallen off by then! 

He had to use the AKD to send the SOS....hopeless.


----------



## J. Davies

Maybe he was busy. Perhaps helping with musters etc. I know from experience that your sending goes all to pot in a rescue situation in any case.


----------



## trotterdotpom

Troppo said:


> Hadn't R/O skills fallen off by then!
> 
> He had to use the AKD to send the SOS....hopeless.


What's wrong with using the AKD? Gives you a chance to get your lifejacket on if nothing else.

I didn't think his morse was that bad, especially as he was probably sending it with his sphinctre muscle.

John T


----------



## Troppo

He didn't send the AA signal....


----------



## trotterdotpom

Troppo said:


> He didn't send the AA signal....


Admit it Troppo ... you just remembered that.

John T


----------



## Troppo

Ha! No, the W/T distress procedure is still ingrained into my brain...


----------



## trotterdotpom

Maybe whoever made the recording was prompted by the auto alarm signal.

John T


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

Hello John,

I made the recording, prompted bythe auto keyer signal,
but also knowing that these were the last hours of
watch for UK coast radio stations on 500 khz.

The importance of recording these and other signals
seemed to me to be worthwhile. Looking back now
I am really glad I did.

We will never have activity in commercial maritime
radio like we did back then.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## trotterdotpom

It probably means nothing to the stargazers and the black hand gang but us key bashers are glad that you did too, Finbar.

Thanks for posting the recordings too.

John T


----------



## Troppo

Yes, indeed!

Thanks.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*Recordings 2182 khz StonehavenRadio GND Open Mic*

Greetings,

Uncovered this recording of 2182 khz from 1996.

Notice, near the begining that StonehavenRadio GND seems
to have a problem with his 2182 khz transmitter keying, latching
in the ON position. It only un-keys when he answers another
ship, which you can hear calling him on the coast stations own
speaker, and back out on 2182 khz, or so it seems.

Nice reception from St Mary's Lifeboat calling and working
Falmouth CG.

Recorded using a Lowe HF225 receiver and inverted L 
antenna, at home near Malin Head.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## david.hopcroft

Also Nx's announced at the same time, so one broadcast of all navs by the GND Op. 

Twenty years after the BT Coast Stations were centralised the same system is now used by HMCG from their National Maritime Operations Centre in Hampshire. 

David
+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Fiji SuvaRadio 3DP XXX announcement*

Greetings,

Attached recording is of Suva Radio on 500 kHz with an
announcement of an XXX broadcast to be sent on 521 kHz.

I note from the ALRS Vol 1 Part 2, that their power on
500 and 521 is 1 Kw.

On HF they are noted on 8690 and 12700 khz with
500 watts.

I had the happy occasion to visit Fiji, on the MT Stonegate
GHHR in the early 1970's, calling at Suva and Lautoka.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## CT1GZB

Dear Finbar thank you very much for another historic record.
Do you have more records from Portugal (CTV, CTS, CUL etc)?


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Portugese Coast Stations*

Hello Jose,

Regarding my recordings of CUL, CTV, CTN etc etc,
I have already posted on here for you what I have found
in my collection of these stations on 500 kHz.

The only other possible recording I may have is of
Lisboa Radio CUL on HF. I made several long recordings
of 4, 8, 12 and 16 mhz, scans of these bands.

If I find CUL on them I will post them here, but this
might take a while to check them all.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## trotterdotpom

#259. Suva for labour then round to Lautoka to load sugar by bleeding sacks into the hold, Finbar? A great time had by all.

I remember Mr Palethorpe, a lecturer at Bridlington Wireless School, raving on about Fiji ... it turned out to be all true.

Sadly, I heard they spoiled it by getting a sugar loader.

John T


----------



## CT1GZB

Dear friend Finbar, i have your records religiously saved ;-)

If you found more records please let us now.

Thank you very much. 



Finbar O'Connor said:


> Hello Jose,
> 
> Regarding my recordings of CUL, CTV, CTN etc etc,
> I have already posted on here for you what I have found
> in my collection of these stations on 500 kHz.
> 
> The only other possible recording I may have is of
> Lisboa Radio CUL on HF. I made several long recordings
> of 4, 8, 12 and 16 mhz, scans of these bands.
> 
> If I find CUL on them I will post them here, but this
> might take a while to check them all.
> 
> Regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings HF Markers SVB4 XVS CLA CTP and more*

Greetings,

Jose , I am unable to find CUL on my log sheets of my recordings
on HF, however I found CTP, which, despite a search in ALRS volume
I can not find any reference to. Perhaps you can tell me who or what
was CTP.

The recording was made on 12 and 8 mHz with SVB4, XVS, UDK2,
CLA, and HZG on 12 mHz , with the rest on 8 mHz.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## King Ratt

Hello Finbar.
CTP is Oieras Naval Radio in Portugal according to my Ferrell's Confidential Frequency List 9th Edition. CTP on 3782 Khz Cw and 4734 Khz USB.
Also operated in 6 8 12 and 16 Mhz bands.
Many thanks for your inputs. They are indeed nostalgic.

73

KR


----------



## beedeesea

Finbar,
Don't know about times past, but I see it listed as NATO Joint Allied Command, Lisbon.
http://qrg.globaltuners.com/?q=Lisboa/Lisbon,+Portugal

Brian


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

Hello KR and Brian,

Thank you for solving that mystery regarding CTP.

I checked my logbook of signals heard on the several
cassette tapes of HF and noticed straight away that
CUL did not appear. Glad I was able to give Jose another
Portugese station for his collection, in the shape of CTP.

On the cassette tape I took this latest recording from, I
heard VRX3, and 9VG, plus 5BA and XSQ, all on 8 mHz.

VRX3 was quite weak and subject to deep QSB, though in
ALRS Volume 1, it is listed with 6 Kw on 8 mHz. Likewise
Singapore 9VG was also weak. 

Regards 
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## CT1GZB

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> 
> Jose , I am unable to find CUL on my log sheets of my recordings
> on HF, however I found CTP, which, despite a search in ALRS volume
> I can not find any reference to. Perhaps you can tell me who or what
> was CTP.
> 
> The recording was made on 12 and 8 mHz with SVB4, XVS, UDK2,
> CLA, and HZG on 12 mHz , with the rest on 8 mHz.
> 
> Kind regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


My dear friend Finbar thanks again for make audio history from Portuguese Radio Stations.

I have this calsigns (i hope its right):

CTN - Apúlia 
CTI - Boa Nova (Leça da Palmeira) 
CTV - Algés (Monsanto)
CTC - Cascais
CTS - Sagres 
CTQ - Porto Santo 
CTD - Ponta Delgada 
CTH - Horta 
CTB - Angra do Heroísmo 
CTF - Santa Cruz das Flores 
CTK - VILA DO PORTO
CTM
CTG – ESQ
CTJ – EX-RADIONAVAL DO MONTIJO.
CTR – CC PONTA DELGADA AZORES 
CTW – ALGÉS/MONSANTO. 
CTZ - COLECTIVO DE CTV E CTD.
CTC – CASCAIS
CTE – BASE AÉREA 4 ESQUADRILHA DE SUBMARINOS
CTT - FARO 
CTU - ALGÉS/MONSANTO. 
CTP – OEIRAS
CQM - São Tome
XXV (Luanda) 
CRX (Lourenço Marques) 
XXL e XXT (Macau e Timor)
XXU - S. Vicente (Cabo Verde)
525, 468 CW CTV Algés Radionaval Portugal
525, 480 CW CTV Algés Radionaval Portugal
525, 512 CW CTV Algés Radionaval Portugal
421 CW CUG São Miguel Azores
437, 468 CW CTQ Porto Santo Radionaval Madeira
437, 480 CW CTQ Porto Santo Radionaval Madeira
512, 512 CW CUB Madeira Radio Madeira
512 CW CUG Sao Miguel The Azores
CUL – LISBOA RADIO


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Portugese Coast Station Call sign list*

Hello Jose,

Thank you for the full list of Portugese Coast Radio station
call signs. I have printed out the list and added it to my
files.

Very best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## CT1GZB

Dear Finbar this Station are before de independence :

CQM - São Tome
XXV (Luanda)
CRX (Lourenço Marques)
XXL e XXT (Macau e Timor)
XXU - S. Vicente (Cabo Verde)

Al the others Stations unfortunately are gone...its history now :-(


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording Novorossiisk UDN Russia Black Sea*

Greetings,

I found this section of my 500 khz recordings with GZOM
calling Niton Radio GNI, who does not reply, for whatever reason.
GZOM then gets a QSL for his TR, from Ostend. Behind all this
is a station tuning up, which turns out to be TCUT, who then goes
on to call UDN which is Novorossiisk on the Russian Black Sea Coast,
in position 44.42 North 37.44 East. UDN then sends him up to
522 / 468 khz.

This recording was made at approx 2235 UTC on the 15th October 
1995, using a home built DC receiver. The antenna was a home 
made Active antenna at about 15 feet.

The distance from Malin to Novorossiisk is several thousand miles,
mainly over the bulk of the European mainland. The ships signal was quite reasonable, but the transmitter sounded unstable, perhaps a free running oscillator and not Xtal controlled. It would be interesting to check the actual distance in Miles or Kilometers.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## johnvvc

Another interesting recording, thanks Finbar.

The distance 'tween Malin and Novorossiisk is apparently 2666 miles so UDN should qualify as rare dx!

https://www.freemaptools.com/how-far-is-it-between.htm

73's


----------



## johnvvc

johnvvc said:


> Another interesting recording, thanks Finbar.
> 
> The distance 'tween Malin and Novorossiisk is apparently 2666 miles so UDN should qualify as rare dx!
> 
> https://www.freemaptools.com/how-far-is-it-between.htm
> 
> 73's


Oooooops - that should be 2086 miles - still a good haul...
(the 2666 was if UDN's signal was coming across by car rather than taking the direct route !!!)


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording Novorossiisk UDN Russia Black Sea*

Hello R651400 and John,

Thanks for the comments and info on distance between
Malin and the Russian Black Sea port.

After posting the recording I checked with the Locator
LOC programme based on Google maps and it came out
as 2068 miles or 3328.614 Km. A nice bit of DX indeed.

Yes, 500 ton had become quite quiet by the mid 1990's.

What did strike me, and which is quite obvious was the
Universality of MF, or indeed HF marine radio comms, when
I heard UDN sending the Turkish ship up to 522/468. No
need for language translation. Even receiving an MSG on
the key was straightforward despite being sent in a different
and unknown language, but achievable, using Morse code.

It really was quite a beautiful "system" which was shunted
off into a radio siding and left to whimper into oblivium.
A sad end to a great service.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## J. Davies

Hello Finbar

I too am enjoying your recordings. Your comment about languages is well noted.

I remember in the early 80's relaying (QSP) a lot of messages for a Brazilian ship in the south Atlantic which had lost its main transmitter and only had a squeaky low power MF reserve TX. Some very long QTCs in Portuguese were sent and received through Rio Radio on their behalf. 

About a month later our two vessels were both alongside in Santos and I was wined and dined by the R/O and shown all the unsavoury bars around the town. It was great having a "local" guide. Very memorable. 

There is still some CW camaraderie left in small pockets in the amateur radio fraternity, but even that is dying out now with CW becoming another digital mode, sent and received by PC. The human element is fast disappearing. 

Please post any new recordings which come your way.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording Niton GNI Italy Turkey Egypt Saudi Arabia*

Hello to J. Davies,

I much enjoyed your comments and experiences, confirming
the unique and special place for morse and marine communications.

Whilst at work at Malin Head Radio EJM, many years ago, on watch on 500 khz, I received an XXX right in the middle of the Silence Period,
from a Chinese ship, way out in the Atlantic. Their first officer, whilst
disposing of flares, had his hand blown off. All our comms were on
500 khz, using Q codes. We had a helicopter from Prestwick fly out,
to meet the ship, who had turned around and headed at full speed,
back towards us. They winched the casualty off and then taken back
to Scotland. The ships RO spoke no English and I certainly did not
speak Chinese, yet it all came together with the essential aid of morse code and our common training in marine communications.

Once again I have run through another cassette recording of 500 khz from, this time, March 1994. As others have noted, much of the
bedlam of 500 khz had gone by this stage, so I have spent some time cutting out the in-between bits and in one case, ie the short
" de HZG " , given that bit a 6 db boost. The end runs out with
the start of a broadcast from Newfoundland's VON St John's, again
showing the vast range of 500 khz when conditions are good.

One last comment, regarding Niton Radio GNI, I have wondered why he did not just work that ship with, say 468 / 500, to give what would probably be just a QSL ur MSG TU GN. Job done. The ship obviously had a receiver problem. Perhaps with the then integrated operating system at UK coast stations, it just was not possible to key 500 and listen on a WT working frequency. Maybe others might like
to comment. 

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Troppo

Another great one, thanks....made me feel like I was back on watch.

5 ton got awfully quiet on the Oz coast in the last couple of years I was at sea...lots of "no sigs" entries in the log book between the SPs....


----------



## trotterdotpom

Wow, pretty good coverage there - Alexandria (SUH), Las Palmas (EAL?) to Newfoundland (VON).... I think. 

When did they start adding decimal points to frequencies on MF?

Maybe GNI could have used a little less English jargon - if I was a Filipino RO on P3HK2 I might have wondered WTF "Sri" and other stuff meant.

Apart from that, great listening to it all. I put my feet up on the desk to make it realistic.

Thanks.

John T


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Niton Radio GNI Summer evening*

Hello Troppo and Trotterdotpom,

Glad you both enjoyed the latest recording. 

Even the noise of static gives a nostalgic "feel" to these
snatches from times gone by. Feet on the desk...excellent idea.

I went off searching for more recordings I have saved and
in the process found the attached picture of Niton Radio GNI.

It has the appearance of a Summer's evening, the view out
the windows reminds me of our ( Malin Head Radio ) aspect
looking down on the bay below us. The speakers and headphones
are buzzing with WT and RT signals. Someone has brewed up
a fresh pot of tea, the telex starts up with, perhaps, the next
weather forecast for broadcast later, on sked. A CR/T message
pad is taken down from the slot above the main receiver, the
morse key gripped in that familiar way and a QRV given to
the next ship waiting on 425 ( in our case) / 421 khz.

The crisp QSL NR 1 QRU........R TU SU .. sent, then reaching
out for that cup of tea, now just the right temperature. AhhH, nice.

For whatever technical reason, station location on excellent
highly conductive ground, or a good take off out over the nearby
sea, Niton Radio always put out a great signal. I worked him
several times from the Meddy, on an MF only fitted ship, clearing
traffic on MF W/T with ease.

I am not sure who took the picture, the file size is not huge,
but still gives a flavour of the those times.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## G4UMW

Looks like he's using an ITT Marine key...


----------



## david.hopcroft

#279

Like this you mean John !!

David
+


----------



## GW3OQK

Finbar, my friend Richard Smyth and wife visited your island recently, met a 90 year old lady amongst other characters. He was told a story about an old Telegraphist of some repute and I wondered if you know what he did. I assume its not you!
73, Andrew


----------



## trotterdotpom

david.hopcroft said:


> #279
> 
> Like this you mean John !!
> 
> David
> +


I'm invoking the 5th Amendment on that one David. I was on Mobil Australis but not Mobil Astral.

John T


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording CLK NMA and WJGH with AMVER*

Greetings again,

The recording this time comes from the East Coast of the
USA.

Note the signal from CLK the Cuban station with less than
stable CW signal, but very very distinctive.

Then an US ship, callsign WJGH, passes an AMVER message
to US coastguard station NMA, who continues to fail to properly
copy the ships callsign and leads to the RO getting increasingly
frustrated and ratty with NMA.

The actual AMVER message is interesting in as much as it
shows the format used for these signals.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Troppo

Thanks. The ship didn't send the AMVER on 500, did he?


----------



## trotterdotpom

Not surprised NMA got the ship's callsign wrong - he sent it about 5 different ways! Not sure if he was sending it on w/t or whistling into a microphone. By the way, there are a couple of photos of "Stella Lykes" in the SN Gallery. 

John T

PS which coast guard station was NMA? I know the callsign but foreget which one it was.


----------



## trotterdotpom

That's a peculiar way of writing the longitude but it looks like the ship was in between Florida and the Bahamas ... oh no, she was just inside the Bermuda Triangle, no wonder the transmission was so high pitched. 

John T


----------



## slick

Hello All,
Listening to the radio yesterday and I heard Morse loud and clear on a Kraftwerk(e) track, any enlightenment please.

Yours aye,

slick


----------



## Ron Stringer

NMA/Miami was a US Coastguard station and was the lucky recipient of just about all the OBS and AMVER messages that I sent whilst in the Caribbean. The nearest USCG station was San Juan, Puerto Rico, but it was never as quick off the mark as NMA (or even Norfolk/NMN).

Since the Bridge seemed to prefer submitting OBS messages right at the end of my radio watches, I was always keen to clear them as quickly as possible - hence my preference for the 'first responder'.


----------



## Ron Stringer

R651400 said:


> #289.. If it is 07.09.7W would that not be would that not be something like approx 500 nautical miles West of the Greenwich meridian?


Since latitude could not exceed 90° it could be expressed in degrees and minutes by 4 digits (3 for degrees, 2 for minutes). Longitude could be up to 180° so required an extra digit (3 for degrees, 2 for minutes). Hence the leading 0 when the longitude was less than 100°, East or West.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording Miami NMA working WJGH*

Greetings,

Regarding WJGH working NMA, and passing his AMVER
message, I suspect that the recording was made on their
working frequencies, ie MNA on 440 khz and WJGH on
454 khz, giving the high pitch of WJGH, and the receiver
used with a wide bandwidth, to catch both of them.

Miami NMA is listed as using 2 Kw, on 500 and 440 khz.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Dave McGouldrick

290

Kraftwerk album 'Radioactivity' (showing my age)


----------



## slick

Dave,
Thank you.
Yours aye,
slick


----------



## johnvvc

*Some New Zealand signals...*

So many interesting recordings, thanks Finbar.

Here's a link to some recordings done on the other side of the world. 500 is fairly quiet as these were apparently made when it was all coming to an end. Also an emotional R/T closure message from Wellington Radio.

http://users.iconz.co.nz/rwincer/radiowav.htm


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings from New Zealand*

Hello John,

Thank you for posting the link to those recordings from New
Zealand. I have the recordings here, but had lost the link, so good
to have that.

The Auckland Radio station museum web site is well worth a visit,
with lots of photo's, including a circuit diagram for a small
500 khz transmitter they used for test and backup purposes, running
about 50 watts. The output stage uses the good old 807 valve.

The main page link is here 

http://musickpointradio.org/musick-memorial-radio-station-today/ground-floor/radio-museum/

The circuit for the PUP 50 watt transmitter is here :

http://musickpointradio.org/auckland-radio-zld/500-kcs-technical-notes/500-kcs-pup-transmitter/

It comes under Technical Notes.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## sven-olof

Dear Finbar Thanks again for Your efforts to save those relics to future. Its was realy impressive in the 1970s to hear all ROs getting those telegrams trough.

But I Want more 2182 ! If you have


----------



## trotterdotpom

#229. Thanks for the info about Auckland Radio. Sent my last radiotelegram, possibly the last from an Australian ship, through ZLD (a Radio Pratique message) in 1992.

John T


----------



## trotterdotpom

Just on the off chance, I Googled "GYSA" and it turns out to be the call sign of the OCL container ship "Flinders Bay". SWeveral photos of her in the SN Gallery.

John T


----------



## johnvvc

*Flinders Bay final voyage...*



R651400 said:


> Did the same here before posting and drew a blank.. Can you post your link that came up with "Flinders Bay?"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddjEr4ihMKM


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings from New Zealand ZLW ZLD 2182 kHz*

Greetings,

This 2182 khz recording of Wellington Radio ZLW, which includes Auckland Radio ZLD, heard on the speaker at ZLW, shortly after their
final close down transmission, was sent to me in 2003 by
David Smith, in New Zealand, who hoped that it would reach a
wider audience.

The background voices indicate that for this historic occasion,
there are probably family and friends of the staff in the operations
room, at the time.

A sad end to marine coast radio station service in New Zealand,
which occured in the early part of 1993.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Troppo

NZ closed its coast radio service in direct contravention of the SOLAS Convention....

6 years too early.


----------



## CT1GZB

Hello again DR Finbar, do you have any record from the Portuguese "White Fleet"?


----------



## Ron Stringer

Troppo said:


> NZ closed its coast radio service in direct contravention of the SOLAS Convention....
> 
> 6 years too early.


Are you sure? Whilst it was compulsory under SOLAS for _*ships *_to be equipped with appropriate radio facilities for distress and safety communications, as far as I know it contained no requirements for the provision of such facilities at shore stations in any country. It was an entirely up to each country to decide what, if any, provision it made for communication with ships along its coastline. Hence even prior to GMDSS there were 'third world' countries that had no coast stations and kept no 500kHz or 2182kHz watches equivalent to those mandated for the ships passing along their coastlines.

GMDSS was introduced in 1992, so thereafter any country could choose to provide appropriate 500/2182kHz GMDSS shore distress and safety facilities, pre-GMDSS distress and safety facilities or none at all. All three options (or any mix of the three) were equally legal under SOLAS. New Zealand's decision was in compliance with its undertakings under the SOLAS treaty.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording 2182 khz from 31st December 1996*

Greetings,

Here is a cleaned up part of a recording I made on the 31st December 1996. Starts at 2135 UTC.

Several signals from the eastern Meddy, plus a number of UK
coast stations and North Sea supply vessels.

Enjoy

Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Troppo

Au contraire, Ron.

We have had this debate before.

GMDSS was not compulsory until Feb 1, 1999.

Until that date, ships could merrily (and legally) sail about with a W/T installation.

Administrations had an obligation to maintain compatible infrastructure until that date. 

To extend your argument - everyone could have turned off the coast station 5 ton watch in 1992......

As I said to the NZ delegation that visited us (I worked for the Aussie Gov't..) to trumpet their idiotic decision - "what about if a W/T ship was sinking off the NZ coast".... 

They looked blankly at me...

Australia maintained our 500 watch until 010001Z FEB 99.


----------



## trotterdotpom

#312. Dunno whether it was legal or not but, according to the above final transmissions from NZ, something was said about ships requiring WT or RT services using Australian CRS. 

Australia to the rescue! Was this an agreement between the two countries or just a suggested alternative by NZ authorities?

John T


----------



## Troppo

There was no agreement, John. Just disdain.


----------



## Ron Stringer

Prior to 1992, the existing distress and safety system (as introduced following the loss of the Titanic in 1912) was a ship-to-ship alerting system. Therefore it was never intended that there should be coast radio stations within the range of every ship - the technology then available would not enable that. It was decided that the operational requirement was that a vessel needing assistance would seek it from nearby vessels. Accordingly ships were mandated to carry appropriate medium-range communications equipment so that in emergency, they were able to alert other ships. All ships were required to maintain manual or automatic watches on the emergency alerting channels.

Over the years, stations were established on land to accept and deliver commercial communications between ships and the shore, over short, medium or long distances as appropriate to their commercial needs. In time some (not all) of those coast stations had their radio facilities incorporated into whatever emergency services were provided by the countries in which the stations were located. Some countries provided no such coast stations, some had only commercial stations, others had commercial stations that also participated fully in the emergency watch-keeping and response services and some even provided full coverage of their coastline with both commercial and separate, dedicated, emergency response radio services. Basically though, when a ship got into trouble and broadcast a call for assistance, the first responder was intended to be another ship.

The GMDSS was introduced in 1992 to change that approach completely - to substitute it with one providing a co-ordinated network of shore facilities, available to be alerted round-the-clock, from anywhere in the world. This network would have the ability to contact appropriately-equipped ships in any part of the world. To this end, ships were mandated to carry suitable equipment such that, in whatever part of the world they sailed, they could alert the shore network, could monitor the emergency communication channels automatically and could also communicate with nearby ships (to enable on-scene communications during any rescue activity). So if the ship travelled only short distances from shore stations, it need only carry short range equipment, regardless of the overall length of the voyage. However even if the voyage was only short, if there was no nearby shore station providing radio coverage of the route, then the ship had to be equipped with longer range facilities capable of alerting a more distant station. 

The 1982 establishment of an international alerting system (COSPAS-SARSAT) using polar orbiting satellites capable of picking up emergency alerts from low-power beacons, meant that it became possible to alert a ground station from anywhere in the world (at sea or ashore). The creation in the same year of an international supplier of satellite communications services (INMARSAT) provided a long-range voice and printed text communications medium, available to ships anywhere in the world outside the polar regions. 

So 10 years before the GMDSS started, all the necessary tools were in place and by 1992 the equipment was available to ship-owners, at a price below that needed for the 1912 system. It did not need a specialist crew member to operate it. And it was available round-the-clock for commercial communications, not just when a specialist was on watch. It does not seem unreasonable that most shipowners during the 1980s and onwards opted to equip for GMDSS and were keen to get started. The official commencement of the GMDSS in 1992 opened the flood-gates.

Bearing in mind that under SOLAS a country was not required to provide _*any *_radio communication facilities for ships, the rapid re-equipment of the international merchant shipping fleet to meet the new regulations posed those countries operating coast stations with a difficult decision - whether or not to retain those elements of the old system that would not be utilised under GMDSS. Could they justify sending their taxpayers money on redundant facilities for the benefit of (largely) foreign shipowners? Some countries decided to keep those old elements until the final implementation deadline of 1999, some terminated them at once. The rest chose a date between the two extremes that met their local constraints and demands - a sort of 'random distribution', as you would expect in a voluntary system. All those options were legal and valid. 

The GMDSS was a massive transformation of the emergency communication provisions for seafarers and eventually affected every ship sailing on international voyages. It was carried out in a relatively short time (by the standards of international treaties) and with relatively little disruption. The only real casualties of the entire exercise were those people whose skills were not required by the new system, namely the operating staff at the radio stations both aboard ship and ashore. The provisions made for retraining and redeploying those people affected varied widely from country to country so the impact on them was equally variable. The number of operating staff declined over the 6-year implementation period, with some seeking other career opportunities early on, others taking voluntary redundancy, and some hanging on until the shipowners who employed them opted into the new system. Relatively few seagoing R/Os remained to the very end - MIMCo only had about a dozen still in employment; at coast stations there were probably almost as many as there were at still sea.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording Portuguese "White Fleet"? + 2182 khz*

Hello Jose Luis and Sven - olof.

Thank you for your query. I do not understand about the
Portuguese "White Fleet"?. Can you explain ?

I have now added another recording of activity on 2182 khz,
particularly for Sven - olof who has asked for more

I hope you can both enjoy this recording on RT 2182 khz.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## trotterdotpom

The "White Fleet" was the Portuguese fishing fleet which spent months on the Grand Banks. 

John T


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording Portuguese "White Fleet"*

Hello John T,

Thanks for clearning up that query on the Portuguese White Fleet.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Malin Head Radio GMH EJM Picture Info request*

Greetings,

Having followed the comments started by David Hopcroft re RT
coast station services, including great images.

I have a picture of Malin Head Radio, which was then GMH, though if later than the 31st of December 1949, would be EJM, what year or period this was taken. The image provided by David shows a DF
receiver with a clock on top, so similar to that in my picture.

The unit to the rear is, I believe the start up and control panel for the main transmitter. 

The suits worn by the two staff would suggest the 1940's, but it may be earlier or later.

Equipment for Malin Head Radio was supplied by the IOWT ( Inspector of Wireless Telegraphy) in London, until, I presume, the station was fully handed over to the Irish Republic when we left the Commonwealth and became a Republic. The equipment type would bear out, as shown by David's images.

Any information would be of great interest and assistance.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM GMH EI0CF


----------



## david.hopcroft

In Finbars 2182 recording, only two voices heard from different UK coast stations. That would be one at GLD and the other at GND keeping the 2182 watch for the UK coast. This is only 4 years before the end, so does bear out Ron in #315 that only the staff were impacted on. Manual systems required people and they were getting expensive............the rest is not rocket science. I took my money and ran in 1995.

David
+


----------



## sven-olof

Thanks. Quite heavy intensity new years eve.
A question about 2182 -How was the last years ? (I was a little bit busy and didnt watch as I did during 1970-1993 cirka) 
When I came back to the rig some 10 years after it was all quiet.
Just wonder and assuming that the shipping continued to raise the last years. - But how was the occupation on 2182 and manners, dicipline etc 
Would it even have been possible to keep on and without DSC GMDSS


----------



## david.hopcroft

2182 went from not knowing which way was up, to sat watching a screen which said 'Do Something or You Will Be Logged off' because you hadn't for 30 minutes !

David
+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Burnham-on-Sea GRL ALRS Vol 1 1950 listing*

Greetings,

I note that David Hopcroft is looking for Burnham-on-Sea details.

Looking at both my ALRS Vol 1 from 1950 and 1951, it is listed
with all the details, also note part of the GKA information of the
period.

Hope this clears up the specific information on it's frequencies,
including 1616 khz.

A scan of the page is attached.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## david.hopcroft

Thank You Finbar
On an MF only fitted ship of 1912grt with a T10A & G12/13 Rx, 1612khz was much easier as you didn't have to change from one Rx to another. 

David
+


----------



## Wismajorvik

Before my time but interesting that Portishead using A2 on hf and no watch on 22Mhz, (my first ship not fitted with 22Mhz either).


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz East Pacific ALRS Vol 1 from 1951*

Greetings,

It may be the 1st of December. Officially it's Winter. Let's
use ALRS Volume 1, of 1951, to whizz off to the Eastern
Pacific. A warmer place and a far different time, back then.

That ALRS listing of coast radio stations and their callsigns, of
that time, is like a history lesson. So much has changed.

Particularly in the Middle East and Far East, it was hard to
deceide what page to scan. Almost every one of them had an
interesting entry.

Regards
Finbar EJM Retired EI0CF


----------



## CT1GZB

I DR Finbar, do you have the same information of ARLS from Portuguese Stations?
Greetings from Portugal


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Portugese Coast Stations and Nav Warnings ALRS*

Hello Joe Luis,

I have scanned 3 pages of ALRS Volume 1 and 5 from 1950
and 1956.

These show the coast radio station entries and also the
Portugese Navy stations broadcasting Weather and Navigational
warnings during that period.

I hope this is of help to your in your search for historical information
on these stations.

Kind regards from Ireland.

Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## CT1GZB

Thank you again DR Finbar.

New up date of callsign Old Portugueses Radio Satations:

CTN - Apúlia 
CTI - Boa Nova (Leça da Palmeira) 
CTV - Algés (Monsanto, Lisbon)
CTC - Cascais
CTS - Sagres 
CTQ - Porto Santo 
CTD - Ponta Delgada 
CTH - Horta 
CTB - Angra do Heroísmo 
CTF - Santa Cruz das Flores 
CTK - VILA DO PORTO
CTM - ESCOLA DE COMUNICAÇÕES
CTG - ESTAÇÃO RADIONAVAL DA ESQUADRILHA DE SUBMARINOS
CTJ – EX-RADIONAVAL DO MONTIJO.
CTR – CC PONTA DELGADA AÇORES 
CTW – ALGÉS/MONSANTO. 
CTZ - COLECTIVO DE CTV E CTD.
CTC – CASCAIS
CTE – BASE AÉREA 4 ESQUADRILHA DE SUBMARINOS
CTT - FARO 
CTU - ALGÉS/MONSANTO. 
CTP – OEIRAS
CTO - CENTRO DE COMUNICAÇÕES DO ALFEITE
CUL - LISBOA RÁDIO
CUB - MADEIRA RÁDIO 
CUG - SÃO MIGUEL RÁDIO
CQM - São Tome
XXV (Luanda) 
CQJ - Bissau
CRX (Lourenço Marques) 
XXL e XXT (Macau e Timor)
XXU - S. Vicente (Cabo Verde)

Every thing you have about this, please let em now


----------



## Rvator

Hello Finbar

May I add my thanks to you for your posts. I hung my headphones up at the end of 1986 and I am amazed that after all the intervening years I can download your recordings and slip straight into the past as though I was back on watch.

Rgds
Rvator


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz recordings Memory Lane*

Hello Bob,

Thank you for your nice comments. Glad you are enjoying the
recordings.

I have sent you a private message on the Ships Nostalgia system.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Wismajorvik

I too appreciate your posts and thank you. Myself I was perhaps too concerned about the 1884 Post Office Protection act to make any recordings! 
Alan+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Nothing to worry about.....much*

Hello Alan,

Glad you are also enjoying the recordings. 

I have a very long recording of Channel Chatter, but it is 
far too big a file for here ( not allowed ).

This really does give the feel of the bedlam of 500 khz during it's
hayday.

As someone else noted on here, one plonks ones feet up on the
desk, leans back, closes ones eyes, or glances out an imaginary
porthole, the gentle roll and ever present rumble from the
engine room and we are back again, on our best ship yet.
Next port, our favourite one. Happy days indeed.

If there was some way of posting that long recording I would do
so, unless one of the Senior members or moderators has a suggestion on how to overcome this issue. That would be nice.

Take care
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## bobharrison2002

Do you have a Dropbox account or similar (one drive, google etc) that could be used? The chatter on 500 is music to my ears and thanks for the snippets you have posted - they have brought back many happy memories

Bob


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz and Dropbox*

Hello Bob,

Yes I do have Dropbox............somewhere, ie, I have not used
it in quite some time, so would have to find it on my PC ( this PC
is the latest in a line of desktop models, which have succeeded in
dying on me. Once I had to change from XP to 7, then Windows
10, it has been all downhill. I find myself using the PC less and less.
The Xyl's Ipad is just so much more convenient and instant.

The problem with the Dropbox option is that there would be little or no feedback, as there is on here, which I must say I very much 
enjoy.............and very informative too.

Again, thanks for the suggestion and kind comments on those
recordings.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## hawkey01

Finbar,

Ref the file size. Have you any idea how large it is? The attachment limit for MP3
files is 9.72Mb. You could I suppose try and post it in sections - if that is possible.

Neville - Hawkey01


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording TAH A9M YLQ SPE CNP CNW TFA etc etc*

Greetings and a Happy Christmas,

Another 500 khz recording, this time from March 1996, just a few
years to go before the final close down of the CW distress frequency.

I have tidied up this recording, ie deleted the sections with no signals, or signals that are far too weak to make out, though, with DSP filtering one could perhaps pull them out of the noise.

Featured are signals from TAH and A9M, a long haul from my
home QTH, here in Malin. I note the receiver used was a home made
direct conversion set. Listen for the Italian ferry ( I presume) calling
IPA. There is still some traffic being handled, particularly from
Russian ships, plus EAF calling with QRJ traffic.

I hope you enjoy this MF CW recording.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all, best wishes for 2017

Kind regards
Finbar EJM (retired) EI0CF


----------



## King Ratt

All the Best Wishes to you too, Finbar. Mni tks fer yr MP3 postings. They bring back many memories of my seafaring days.

73 de KR


----------



## Dave McGouldrick

Season's greetings to you Finbar, and all the best.
This is without doubt my favourite thread on the site.
Cheers
Dave


----------



## Troppo

Another great one, Finbar.

TU SEEU


----------



## tonypad

Thankyou for one of the most interesting and absorbing thread on this site. Not an RO, but always interested in marine radio I recall my first introduction to the "trawler" band and the UK coast radio network using an R 1155 rx. Also enjoyed LM radio.. was in Beira in1962 and always thought LM was one of the best radio station around, sailing between Beira and Colombo for a few months found LM and AIR English service as well as Radio Ceylon good listening. The loss of HF and MF marine radio turned listening into a waste land, so thanks to all who gave such great service over many years both asore and afloat.


----------



## J. Davies

Finbar many thanks. I only sailed in EU waters once, the rest of the time was mainly in the Far East, but the atmosphere of 500 shines through on your recordings. Each coast station has it's on special tone and signature.
All the best for 2017.


----------



## trotterdotpom

Wow, Lyngby, Stockholm, Ostend, Coruna, Reykjavik, Casablanca, Bahrain, Las Palmas, Riga ... a trip down memory lane.

I think there are quite a few Russian ships around because they kept ROs on longer than everyone else- maybe paranoid about US control of satelite communications?

John T


----------



## Troppo

No, the Russians took marine comms seriously....


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Walvis Bay ZSV view*

Greetings,

Attached is a picture I took, from the bridge of the
MV Anthony Two / 6ZFU, whilst we were alongside at
Walvis Bay. This was in 1973.

I visited the radio station and not alone was giving 
a warm welcome, but the station manager invited me
to a trip out to their newly built radio station, about
5 miles out of town, and to be shortly occupied from the
original radio station. 

Some of the gear was already operational, from remote
control from the existing station you can see it in my photograph.
Still in the era of AM modulation on 2182 khz, in the new 
stations transmitter room one could easily listen to the audio
modulation, rattling in the laminations of the Modulation transformer.

The drive out to that new set up was, more or less through an
area of sand, very dry and dusty.

Back at the station in town, no wonder the building had high
ceilings and large, slow turning fans, considering the heat.
The lady on watch on 2182 khz was answering the odd call
and doing her knitting, to pass the remaining time.

I found ZSV, on 500 khz, to have a good signal and was one
to watch out for as one headed down the west coast of Africa
from Europe. 
This was a nice opportunity to chat to the operational staff and
see what gear they were using.

Best regards
Finbar EJM (retired) EI0CF


----------



## Troppo

I have also been to ZSV, Finbar. A fascinating place. Thanks.

Now V5W.


----------



## trotterdotpom

Does Namibia still use South African call letters or was that when it was Southwest Africa?

John T


----------



## Troppo

No mate - V5W


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings MV Aigeorgis 5B2165 Radio Room 1975*

Greetings,

As I mentioned previously, the last ship I sailed on, in 1975, was
a tiny 2000 ton vessel. Radio equipment, Marconi gear , was MF
CW only. There was a basic VHF set on the bridge.

MV. Aigeorgis Callsign 5B2165

The radio room was tiny, just being big enough for me to squeeze in,
the door opened out onto the bridge. The attached photo shows me
looking out the door, my hand poised over the morse key. Behind
are the receivers, an Electra and Mercury, one on top of the other.
The transmitter is the Reliance.
Having no HF and sailing in the Meddy ( out of Bristol ), I would
clear traffic via Nition Radio GNI, staying up late, between 1 and
2 am and calling him on 500 khz. Worked every time.

Of eleven crew, there was 7 nationalities, quite a mix. The
Nigerian cook did a great job, basic edible food. He had a cabin
full of photographic equipment and he was setting himself up for
returning home to set up a photographic studio business.

Needless to say this was a freelancing job. I started with Marconi,
they did a stint with Royal Fleet Auxiliary, then on to a trip with
Niarcos, finally freelancing on two more ships, before coming 
ashore to work at the coast radio station , at Malin Head EJM.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## david.hopcroft

I visited ZSV in early 1966. I don't remember so many buildings around it, but I do remember the high ceilings and two big Marconi transmitters in the same room as the operating position. ZSV was ideal to clear OBS and as you said Finbar was useful for messages to S.Af. I was on a Fruit Reefer - c/s ZSHI with AEI gear - but we did general cargo in the off season. One day a couple of wagons rolled up and we loaded two big pallets of silver bullion ingots. The safest place they could think of was the tally clerks office down after and then welded up the doors !

Finbar, at GKZ the western Med was favourite to work MF RT only coasters. I pinched a few on nights who were having no success rousing anyone.

David


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Pinching a few*

Hello David,

Nice to get your experiences of Walvis Bay and also working
into the Meddy from GKZ.

We did our own pinching, mostly from GKR, on the trawler skeds,
on 1618 khz, ships on 1623 khz etc CW.

Portpatrick GPK and ourselves, EJM, pinched whatever we could,
if either of us were a bit slow in an initial reply to a ship. Having said all that, can you imagine the pain it was, for both stations, when,
our Telex line went down and GPK would have to send our copy of the
weather to us on 472 khz ( us on 421 khz).
We would sent a Service Message ( SVC ) , to Portpatrick Radio,
requesting a copy of our specific weather message , covering our
sea areas. I can just imagine the groan when they got that. 
Needless to say the SVC message had to be sent on 421 khz.

Same thing would happen when our sister station, Valentia Radio EJK,
hand a landline problem and/or transmitter failure, requesting us
to pass traffic on our respective working frequencies or cover for
them on 2182 or 500 khz.

Today, both stations no longer work ships with commercial traffic,
effectively ending when our national Telecoms Company would no
longer handle the accounts. By contrast with the somewhat
spartan landline of way back then, our stations have multible
back up's to back up's, of landlines, microwave links, transmitters
and receivers, etc etc etc.

I have a picture of the main street of Walvis Bay. Must see if I can
find it and jog a few memories.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## david.hopcroft

I just had a look on Google maps, but street mapping doesn't seem to have reached there yet !

David
+


----------



## Troppo

Walvis Bay Radio operating room.


----------



## 5TT

Nice hand bag Troppo.


----------



## Troppo

Divine!

One of the ops...


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Wireless Station GB and Ireland 1920*

Greetings,

Attached is an interesting do***ent from 1920, quite a while
ago and showing Wireless Telegraph Stations, Great Britain
and Ireland.

The location and callsigns are quite clearly displayed. Our own
station, at Malin Head is there with it's GMH callsign, well
before it changed to EJM on the 1st of January 1950.

Several of those stations are unknown to me, some may be
of the type run by cross channel ferries, like GUR. Also I note
that Portpatrick Radio is BYS. Was Portpatrick operated by the
Navy, before becoming a coast radio station.

Note also the names and callsigns of station located inland.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Troppo

Thanks Finbar.

Some fascinating stations there. 

Cleethorpes was a RN high power LF station.

Cranwell is/was the RAF officer training and staff college. Grimsby was eventually a beam wireless station (late 20's). Of course, Poldhu and the Lizard are famous.

Amazed to see a station GDX at the Isle of Man...not to mention Whitehall and the Air Ministry...


----------



## beedeesea

Larne seems to have drifted a bit on that map, Finbar.

Brian


----------



## trotterdotpom

Cleethorpes is a long way from Grimsby on that map too.

John T


----------



## david.hopcroft

Grimsby - BYV was the Admiralty Station set up in WW1 on the west pier, known as HMS Pekin and manned by RNVR personnel. It was handed over to the GPO in 1920 and became GKZ in 1923. It moved south to Trusthorpe between Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea (google on LN12 2PH)

There was a MoD LF station at Waltham, just south of Grimsby, and there was a GPO Beam Station at Tetney, just further south of that. 

This was BYV...

David
+


----------



## johnvvc

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> 
> Attached is an interesting do***ent from 1920, quite a while
> ago and showing Wireless Telegraph Stations, Great Britain
> and Ireland.
> 
> The location and callsigns are quite clearly displayed. Our own
> station, at Malin Head is there with it's GMH callsign, well
> before it changed to EJM on the 1st of January 1950.
> 
> Several of those stations are unknown to me, some may be
> of the type run by cross channel ferries, like GUR. Also I note
> that Portpatrick Radio is BYS. Was Portpatrick operated by the
> Navy, before becoming a coast radio station.
> 
> Note also the names and callsigns of station located inland.
> 
> Kind regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


MUU shown as being Caernarfon was actually at Waunfawr, not all that far away but higher up in the hills. It operated on long wave and was a transmitting site only. It was from here that the first UK - Australia wireless contact was made. Our local ham radio club operate a special event station from there every year using the callsign GB2VK, GB to VK... The station at the other end was at Wahroonga. MUU's receiving half was at Towyn, some miles away from where MUU's transmitters were keyed. 

An interesting bit of information to those R/O's who studied at the Wireless Academy in Colwyn Bay. Tubby Nelson who was the morse instructor at the Bay apparently was one of the operators at MUU before moving to the College.

http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/4...awr-transmitting-station-plas-y-celyn-cefn-du

https://geotopoi.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/marconi-long-wave-transmitting-station-cefn-du-waunfawr/

The old station buildings are shown in the second link, looking over onto Anglesey.

After it ceased operations the old station buildings were used for a variety of purposes, one being the infamous Marconi Club where intoxicating drinks were served and ladies of questionable virtue removed their garments.... Unfortunately I only found out after it had closed down !!!


----------



## Troppo

johnvvc said:


> MUU shown as being Caernarfon was actually at Waunfawr, not all that far away but higher up in the hills. It operated on long wave and was a transmitting site only. It was from here that the first UK - Australia wireless contact was made. Our local ham radio club operate a special event station from there every year using the callsign GB2VK, GB to VK... The station at the other end was at Wahroonga. MUU's receiving half was at Towyn, some miles away from where MUU's transmitters were keyed.


The text of the message was framed and displayed in the office of AWA at Leichhardt in Sydney. I remember seeing it when I used to go in with the accounts after a voyage.

There is a memorial/plaque outside Fisk's house where the message was rx'ed in Sydney.


----------



## trotterdotpom

#367 .

That's a strange memorial - looks like an imitation Piccadilly Circus with Mercury instead of Eros (which apparently is really his brother). 

I never saw that framed message at Leichhardt - can you remember what it said? Wonder what happened to it? Probably the same as the giant bust of Marconi that was outside Brisbane Radio (VIB) for yonks and has now disappeared.

Who exactly was Fisk? Did he have any other claim to fame?

John T

PS Whoops, just remembered the lions are at Trafalgar Square, not Piccadilly Circus. A monumental mistake.


----------



## Troppo

It was the text of the two QTCs from that ***** Billy Hughes, in which he called for more Australians to feed the meat grinder of the Somme....

1 1.15pm Sydney time.
"I have just returned from a visit to the battlefields where the glorious valour and dash of the Australian troops saved Amiens and forced back the legions of the enemy, filled with greater admiration than ever for these glorious men and more convinced than ever that it is the duty of their fellow-citizens to keep these magnificent battalions up to their full strength. W.M. Hughes, Prime Minister."

2 1.25pm Sydney time.
"Royal Australian Navy is magnificently bearing its part in the great struggle. Spirit of sailors and soldiers alike is beyond praise. Recent hard fighting brilliantly successful but makes reinforcements imperative. Australia hardly realises the wonderful reputation which our men have won. Every effort being constantly made here to dispose of Australia's surplus products. Joseph Cook, Minister for Navy."


----------



## Troppo

Fisk was an RO, who eventually rose to be Managing Director of AWA, complete with Knighthood.


----------



## trotterdotpom

What was Fisk's response to the *****?

Must have been good if he got a knighthood. All that time on the black and tan run never got me anything (even after sending four OBS a day). Sniff.

John T


----------



## Varley

If I'd thought it would have led to a dubbing I would have been more enthusiastic about sending the weather.


----------



## trotterdotpom

Sir Obsalot sounds good David, if only you'd known.

John T


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Malin Head Radio GMH in October 1913*

Greetings,

Thanks to all for your comments on the 1920 radio station map I
posted. 
David, I found your picture of Grimsby BYV very interesting,
the multiwire top hat for the antenna and the multible insulators
on the stay wires for the wooden masts are quite visible. Being
so close to the sea must have given the station a good range,
hopefully they used a good connection to the seawater.

Attached is another historical picture, this time from October
1913, as you can see from the wall calendar above the large
morse key and Induction coil for the Spark transmitter. This
is one of very few pictures of the early years of Malin Head
Radio EJM.

Also note the tin of Lyle's Golden Syrup, someone's pipe 
balanced on the window frame and a pair of scissors. 

Not long after this photograph was taken, the station moved
about 3 miles to it's present location, one of several,
including Landsend Radio which were built by the Post Office,
as part of a refurbishment of the UK's coast radio station
service. The only difference between Malin Head and
Landsend Radio, the buildings are exactly the same design
(Landsend building now in private ownership) was that
Landsend was fitted with two masts, whilst Malin Head had
one.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## david.hopcroft

Finbar. This is the staff who were there in 1920, and I suspect it was taken at the time of the handover to the GPO, hence some in uniform, some in civvies. The nature of the building is shown a bit more, but it was in fact three railway carriages joined end-to-end on the pier.

The current GKZ building is in a sad state of neglect (put LN12 2NE into Google Maps) awaiting a developer to turn it into a caravan site !! The owner is looking for £1.2m so it is likely to remain thus for some time. 

David
+


----------



## freddythefrog

*Seaforth Radio Station GLV*

Hello Finbar
Ref your map of 1920 with Seaforth Radio GLV shows as being
just around the corner from the Seaforth container terminal only a few yards from the dock fence.
Have been down there today to visit the site and managed to take a few photos of the memorial plaque that was erected some years ago by the Radio Officers Association as a reminder to people what once stood on this site as the Seaforth Radio Station and training centre for Marconi ships R/O.s between 1903 and 1911.
You can see some of the radio station buildings and aerial mast
from this era, even see some of the radio students looking very smart!
It is actually sited in Cambridge Road Waterloo, Liverpool approx half a mile from the Seamans mission which is on the corner of the road.
The Station was eventually moved/taken over and together with the GLV callsign transferred to Anglesey Radio
Keep up the good work with your saved echoes of the W/T and R/T
from bygone days, great stuf! and it lets us reminice of our days
long past. Cheers 73's de FTF. (John from ex GB4FPR)

PS Sorry about water ingress on photo.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Seaforth Radio GLV*

Hello John,

Thanks for the pictures of GLV in the early days and your
detective work, on the ground, checking out it's former
location.

I have a few more early years of Malin Head Radio GMH,
which I will upload to here, shortly.

I still have some more recordings, but finding the time to
pick out the best bits is time consuming. Glad you like
them. Good to have as a reminder of real marine radio
communication of our era.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Malin Head Radio GMH 1922*

Greetings,

Attached is a lively picture from an interesting period for our
radio station.

In 1922, Ireland , ie 26 counties of the 32, achieved independence
from the UK, although it still remained a member of the
British Commonwealth, until December 1949. So this picture
was taken, perhaps shortly after independence. The records show
that the coast station regained control from the Royal Navy, in
May of that year. The guy on the roof of the radio station is holding
aloft the Tricolour Flag Green, White and Orange. The other guys
are obviously enjoying the set up. Note the multi- wire vertical
section of the 600 m antenna ( 500 kcs) running up to the 
steel sectionalised pole, all 180 feet of it. 
On the extreme left of the picture on the roof can be seen
the ventilation windows, which still existed when I joined the
station back in the 1970's, but removed shortly after that.
This construction was to allow the escape of Ozone, etc etc from
the Spark transmitters, generated during transmissions,
located in the High Tension room ( transmitter room).

The guys in the picture look stylishly dressed and quite smart.

The other pictures of that period that I have here seem to
convey an atmosphere of them all having a great time
and enjoying the experience of working at the radio station.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Troppo

Great pic, thanks.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Norddeich Radio DAN QRT 500 31Dec1995*

Greetings,

Here is my recording of the close down on 500 khz of Norddeich Radio DAN on the 31st December 1995.

This was recorded at home on a home made DC receiver.

Norddeich's signal on 500 khz was very very strong that night,
I care to imagine that the technical staff turned up the wick
on the transmitter to give it maximum output. If they did, it
certainly worked. Note VON , in Canada, calling, but his
signal was mostly likely drowned out by closer stations, but
quite clear copy here, at Malin Head, a direct sea path.

OXZ sounded like they were keying at least two rigs ( they
had up to three 500 khz transmitter locations, if I recall
correctly )

Recording finishes with 9HD at Valetta , in Malta sending
greetings and then his traffic list, with a rapid QSB just
as he sent his working frequency.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Marconi 500 and 2182 Distress gear*

Greetings,

Attached are two pictures of MIMCO Marconi distress frequency
receivers.
One picture shows a 500 khz receiver NS101, and alongside it
is a 2182 khz distress alarm generator.

The second picture is a badge on the side of the 2182 khz
alarm generator showing the types of equipment suitable for use
with this equipment. The badge, in itself is an interesting display
of the names of the many pieces of gear built by the Marconi
company and history thereof.

I wonder was the ND101 an earlier version of the well known
ALERT 500 khz receiver.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Ron Stringer

Both Marconi Marine products - the infamous '_Alert_' MF W/T emergency receiver and the 2-tone alarm signal generator used to alert ships on the 2182kHz radio-telephony distress and calling frequency.

The '_Alert_' couldn't receive CW signals because the then Chief Engineer at MIMCo believed that ships' R/Os would observe the change in the regulations that forbade the use of CW on the 500kHz MF distress and calling frequency. 

The Alarm Signal Generator has a cradle on which the handset of the ship's MF radiotelephone equipment was placed, carefully positioned with its microphone over the small telephone earpiece that can be seen in the front panel of the device. When activated, the 2-tone alarm signal came out of that earpiece and was picked up by the microphone of the handset. Technically I suppose the signal was 'audio-coupled' rather than electronically or electrically connected to the R/T transmitter.


----------



## david.hopcroft

Can any of you remember the standby two-tone generator at Coast stations being a candlestick microphone and a bosun's whistle ?

David
+


----------



## Ron Stringer

R651400 said:


> Always wondered how ships fitted with R/T generated the Mayday alarm as I don't recall any tone generator on the two ships I had with R/T.


The ASGD was almost a 'standard fit' on fishing vessels and other small boats that carried MF radiotelephone transceivers which did not include that facility as part of their design. Later designs of R/T sets incorporated a 2-tone alarm generator but MIMCo retro-fitted a lot of older designs of equipment with the device shown in the photo.

However I never saw one on a larger, W/T-equipped vessel which is understandable - what R/O would choose to send his distress message on the 2182kHz radiotelephone distress frequency rather than on 500kHz?


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Mystery Morse Machine*

Greetings,

Thanks to Ron and R651400 for their comments and information
on the Alert receiver and R/T Alarm generator.

Attached is another picture of a piece of equipment.

I've labelled it a "Mystery Morse Machine" and pose the
question, do people know what it is and what it was used for ?

I do know the answer, exactly and hope there is enough detail
in the photo to provide the clues, to solve the mystery.

What I do not know is, how many might have been made and
who made them.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## G4UMW

Ron Stringer said:


> However I never saw one on a larger, W/T-equipped vessel which is understandable - what R/O would choose to send his distress message on the 2182kHz radiotelephone distress frequency rather than on 500kHz?


The ITT Marine ST1600 main transmitters that I sailed with all had a two-tone alarm generator built-in as standard.


----------



## Ron Stringer

G4UMW said:


> The ITT Marine ST1600 main transmitters that I sailed with all had a two-tone alarm generator built-in as standard.


Although the Marconi ASGD device shown was approved to work with several W/T transmitters (see Finbar's 2nd photo), I never saw it connected to any Oceanspans - but then I never worked in Hull or Grimsby where distant-water trawlers fitted W/T but were dependent on other trawlers for assistance in emergency. Hence their provision for 2182 alerting. Of course the ASGD itself and the transmitters with which it was used were all 1940s/50s designs. 

By the time the later W/T main transmitters came into service, installations of W/T on UK distant-water trawlers (and even the trawlers themselves) were a declining breed, soon to become extinct. Higher power, self-tuning R/T transceivers became the norm, and of course those equipments incorporated the facility to generate and transmit R/T alarm signals. 

The surviving UK fishing vessels relied almost exclusively on R/T alerting for several years, until the arrival of Satcoms and GMDSS.


----------



## jimg0nxx

Must have worked Tom Christian(Pitcairn R/O) many times whilst he was using that transmitter. I think he called every ship that was passing asking for a bag of flour, usually as a pretext to get ships to call in so the islanders could flog souvenirs.


----------



## Papa Bear

Sailed one trip on Ceramic and on the leg from Panama to Wellington we had on board Tom and his wife returning to Pitcairn. Needless to say he spent time in the Radio Room and I also must have worked that transmitter. Brings back memories. john L.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Oceanspan 7e Specs*

Greetings,

First off, thanks to R651400 for the very prompt and correct
answer to my photo "Mystery Morse Machine", which is indeed
a manual generator of dashes for activating Auto Alarm receivers
on 500 kHz.

The comments concerning the 2182 kHz AA generator and reference
to the Transarctic transmitter used on Pitcairn island prompted me
to fish out my Marconi manual for the Oceanspan 7 transmitter.

Much quoted as having an output of 100 watts on MF, I knew that
was somewhat in error, as according to the manual it only produced
65 watts on CW and 72 watts with MCW. Which makes me wonder
what the range of the Transarctic transmitter was on Pitcairn island
and if anybody managed to work the station whilst in the Pacific.
The Transarctic looks very like an Oceanspan. 
Perhaps Ron is familiar or has some ideas re same.

My attached picture is from the Oceanspan 7e manual, with several
interesting technical specs included, including the commonly
expected antennas, capacitance and resistive loads and subsequent
antenna current, to be expected.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## jimg0nxx

I can only recollect working ZBP on MF i.e. calling on 500 Khz and changing to his and ship working frequencies. I think there was point to point working from Pitcairn(probably to NZ) and assume using the same Tx.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Transarctic transmitter*

Greetings to R651400,

Thanks for the full specs on the Transarctic transmitter, which
covered both MF and HF.

I also note that there has been some upset to the postings on
this section of the Forum, with recent contributions being erased
or deleted and moved around, not just my section, but several others. Strange.

Last Saturday I noted that there were 39678 views at noon,
now is it down to just over 32000. I wonder what is going on.
A system glitch perhaps ? Not sure who the moderator is or how
to report this mix up.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## ei6jf

Following on from the discussion on RT Alarms, I don't suppose anybody has a recording of same? From what I recall, I reckon it would make a good phone ringtone.

Mark


----------



## sven-olof

On this hompage from a RO, there is some recordings from 2182.

http://www.family-richards.org.uk/bryans_world/ships_radio.htm

First open the link Oban radio. Then there is some recordings. One of them is a mayday relay from Landsend radio with the AA.
Eventually there is some error so all of the recordings opens at the same time?


----------



## ei6jf

Tks. Will have a look.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Final UK coast stations Transmission*

Greetings,

The attached recording was made at Malin Head, at 1203 utc
30th June 2000 

It is the final transmission from the UK coast radio station service,
made from Stonehaven Radio.

Note that Malin Head Radio EJM was the only station to reply
to this broadcast, the recording was left running for some time
but no one else tried to contact Stonehaven, or indeed did 
Stonehaven reply to anyone. 

A very sad end to a great service to the Maritime community over so
many years.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Troppo

Many thanks for that. A sad end to a proud service.

Replaced by 250w Skantis and an 8m whip....shameful.


----------



## J. Davies

Sad indeed... but thanks for posting it Finbar


----------



## Varley

Well, it might be comforting to think we were the best source of succour at sea can anyone point to an incident where W/T and a distant RCC and/or MF to local prospects would have had a better outcome than a GMDSS performance?


----------



## david.hopcroft

Thanks for that Finbar. Well remembered times.

I 'took my money and ran' back in 1995, but on the Monday after that sad day, along with fellow RO Andy Whetton, I went in to GKZ and together we actually 'turned the lights off'.................... Then retired to the pub just along the road to celebrate.

David
+


----------



## Troppo

Varley said:


> Well, it might be comforting to think we were the best source of succour at sea can anyone point to an incident where W/T and a distant RCC and/or MF to local prospects would have had a better outcome than a GMDSS performance?


Not so much the technology (which is excellent), but the lack of a dedicated communicator.

The old man and the mates are far too busy fighting the fires/loading the lifeboats/stopping the flooding to mess about with comms to the RCC.

I've seen this many times in accident reports and been told about it first hand.

The R/O should have been retained, retrained as an EO, with his/her emergency station the comms gear.

IMO have lost the plot - if they ever had it.


----------



## Varley

I don't disagree with that as opinion (and not so much keeping the body for operating but for working towards a certificated competency for electrical skill-user).

I read the MAIB reports sporadically (trying to catch up using the digest index) and have seen no evidence that we are right.

My most informed complaint about IMO is that the refuse to accept 80% of a solution which is usually manageable but 100% or nothing. One cannot always hog the cream the milk has to be consumed as well. They also dabble ion politics (downward pressure on crew competences to enable tree shaking recruiting practices, mandating S band radar in an era of adequate rain performance with X band techniques only in order to prevent ITU re-allocating the band).

Studying the transcripts of Estonia it was quite heart warming to note that all those that could have effectively helped had altered towards her before the MRCC had been woken to the emergency (which was alerted not by GMDSS but by a mobile phone call).


----------



## J. Davies

Varley said:


> Well, it might be comforting to think we were the best source of succour at sea can anyone point to an incident where W/T and a distant RCC and/or MF to local prospects would have had a better outcome than a GMDSS performance?


There are lots of grumpy old men on various internet groups advocating the return of the R/O. I don't think it can ever be proved one way or another which is safer; R/O or GMDSS. There are countless scenarios. You have Derbyshire which apparently broke in half suddenly with total loss of life within minutes. R/O or GMDSS would have made no difference. On occasions where there is time to man the lifeboats or call a doctor for a medic, the navigators would probably have stopped panicking enough to remember their GMDSS routines. And so the arguments continue. 

In the end it's probably just better to fondly remember the old times and accept the new.


----------



## Ron Stringer

J. Davies said:


> You have Derbyshire which apparently broke in half suddenly with total loss of life within minutes. R/O or GMDSS would have made no difference.


The float-free EPIRB required under GMDSS might have alerted the authorities to the catastrophe and identified the location of the disaster. Unlikely that would have saved any lives but the authorities would have had more information.



J. Davies said:


> In the end it's probably just better to fondly remember the old times and accept the new.


I fully agree with that position.


----------



## sparks69

Every time I make a phone call and a girl's voice doesn't ask me for "Number please" I think mmmmmmmmm that's progress !
There are many jobs that don't exist any more because of technology.
I [WE ?) had a good time whilst it lasted though


----------



## Troppo

The GMDSS is good technology, implemented very poorly.

Deck Officers are not communicators.

BUT, if IMO had allowed the system to mature and adopt current technology......of course, that will never happen....all too expensive, don't you know.

I have been to many IMO meetings...the incompetence on display is truly breathtaking.

Why has Iridium taken so long to be integrated into the GMDSS?

The much vaunted GMDSS review has achieved exactly SFA.

The comms, SAR and Nav sub committees have now been squashed together into one 5 day meeting, with the result that there is never time to discuss anything in detail. 

Oh well, at least the view from the balcony outside the cafe is nice...and the prices are cheap.


----------



## Troppo

My wife is often at me to go on a cruise.

Absolutely. No. Way.......a disaster waiting to happen.


----------



## expats

Troppo said:


> My wife is often on at me to go on a cruise.
> 
> Absolutely. No. Way.......


No way I'd bother....

Mind you, I love the TV adverts for the cruises; I'm amazed, that with all that accommodation, the man, his wife and two friends can have the ship just about to themselves....


----------



## Varley

Troppo said:


> The GMDSS is good technology, implemented very poorly.
> 
> Deck Officers are not communicators.
> 
> BUT, if IMO had allowed the system to mature and adopt current technology......of course, that will never happen....all too expensive, don't you know.
> 
> I have been to many IMO meetings...the incompetence on display is truly breathtaking.
> 
> Why has Iridium taken so long to be integrated into the GMDSS?
> 
> The much vaunted GMDSS review has achieved exactly SFA.
> 
> The comms, SAR and Nav sub committees have now been squashed together into one 5 day meeting, with the result that there is never time to discuss anything in detail.
> 
> Oh well, at least the view from the balcony outside the cafe is nice...and the prices are cheap.


I have only got to the British negotiators courtesy of the GCBS never the IMO (and then rather a long time ago now).I can opine on Iridium however. Schulte (IoM) had already adopted Iridium when they rescued me from even earlier redundancy. Certainly then a system usually not even reliable enough for commercial usage (I do not mean public correspondence but doing ships business cheaply), quite a bane with continuous complaints from seastaff rightly expecting kit fit for the purposes we dictated.

The system itself was a commercial failure in bankruptcy protection from 1999 till 2008 and might have folded if not rescued. Rescuers gambling on US government usage.

I am sure the system has improved and whilst the old wording is still there that nothing should prevent the raising of alarm by any method available to incorporate such system where they may be accepted as primary kit would certainly have been chancing it in 2011 when I last had experience of it.

You will recall the earliest IMO claims that Inmarsat A would be accepted in the GMDSS which guided many owners' purchasing decisions for them to be disappointed/disadvantaged when it clearly could not meet the 'cream' level of the first operational performance specification (an honourable mention for Liberia, here, the only administration to say "Sorry. We told you A would be OK so if that's what you've got already we will accept it". Iridium would have been a lower cost mistake but clearly risked being a repeat.


----------



## sven-olof

As the terrible disaster Estonia was mentioned in this thread. Ill put a link from Youtube with the communications. Finnish/English/Swedish. With translations.


----------



## Varley

There was an R/O wasn't there, she was W/T ship? A case where reliance on a single expert communicator would have failed (I think he was trapped and then lost). However, like you, I don't think he would have made any difference had he got to his key.

Perhaps R/T procedure was not followed precisely but Silja Europa gets my vote for having done a magnificent job. Very impressive and more 'atmospheric' hearing these recordings than dry reading of the transcript.


----------



## BobClay

Quite heart breaking to listen to the death of a ship and think of all those aboard who lost their lives. :-(


----------



## Manchester

As Varley says RT procedure wasn't followed. I.e using PAN PAN from the coast station when "Estonia" had sent a Mayday. Not knowing their position was more worrying. No GPS?


----------



## Troppo

That coast station op should have been sacked. Hopeless.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings QRD Snohomish book by Conrad Burns*

Greetings,

There are not too many books written by RO's, but this one,
about an old Tug boat and it's journey from Seattle to Buenos Aires,
in Artentina, towing 6 vessels is well worth a read. It is a true story,
the book includes several photographs and the text is laced with
lots of Q code and descriptions of the quite basic radio equipment
the author had to contend with on that long trip south.

Due to the low power of his transmitter he had to make use of
QSP from/to other vessel within range.

I attach two pictures, one of the cover, the other 2 pages of
the book.

The book was published in 1954, the trip took place in 1948.
The publisher was Pageant Press New York.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Wismajorvik

Some pix here:- http://www.nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Snohomish.php


----------



## Troppo

Fascinating. Thanks.


----------



## PeterY

Another one you can add to the list:

The Seawatchers - the Story of Australia's Coast Radio Service
By Lawrence Durrant
Published by Angus and Robertson Publishers

The book covers the story of the history of maritime communications from 1911 to until the late 1980's.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Why UK and Irish Coast Stations got out so well*

Greetings,

For those who worked at British and Irish Coast radio stations, we knew why our respective signals got out so well. The people who planned and selected the station sites did a really good job. 

Attached is a picture I took whilst aloft in the Irish Army Air Corps
DH247 rescue helo. This shows just how close our station is to the wide sweep of the Atlantic Ocean, just a few fields away.

Malin Head Radio moved to it's present site in 1913, from the Lloyd's
signal tower, about 2 miles away.

Our sister station on Valentia island, Valentia Radio, has a dramatic
location perched at the top of a sheer cliff face that drops alarmingly to the ocean below.

Both stations continue being manned and operational.

Hard to beat a well engineered transmitting and receiving station.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Troppo

When there were proper coast stations.....


----------



## balbec123

*Memories*

Hi Finbar
As an ex R/O these postings have brought back so many memories(mostly good) for me. Didn't know this site existed and was so lucky to find it. Still remember the times listening to 500 and trying to send MSGs with an Oceanspan from the middle of the Pacific. Keep up the good work.
John Howard 
Limerick


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings Remembering the good and bad times*

Hello John,

Glad you found this section of Ships Nostalgia.  Plenty of marine
radio recordings for you to delve into and hopefully enjoy.

I also remember strugging with an Oceanspan on HF, but also
the MF only Reliance transmitter and an IMR transmitter, of what type I don't know. Must put up a picture of me in the radio room of that particular ship, so someone might be able to tell me the transmitter type.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Radio Room picture MV Anthony 2 callsign 6ZFU*

Greetings,

Attached is a picture of me in the radio room of the general cargo
ship MV Anthony 2 , callsign 6zfu.

I would like to know what transmitter I am tuning up.

The main receiver, to my left was really useless, I had to use
the emergency receiver, the one in front of my operating position.

The key is the famous Amplidan model, a really lovely key to send on.

Anyone able to explain the various pieces of gear in my radio room of that time ( 1973 ). I appear to have forgotten all that information,
for some reason, unknown.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## BobClay

I think the main receiver you refer to on the left is a Redifon R50M, and yes, that was a very poor receiver. For your reference here's a pix of the one I sailed with:


----------



## MikeGDH

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Hello John,
> 
> Glad you found this section of Ships Nostalgia. Plenty of marine
> radio recordings for you to delve into and hopefully enjoy.
> 
> I also remember strugging with an Oceanspan on HF, but also
> the MF only Reliance transmitter and an IMR transmitter, of what type I don't know. Must put up a picture of me in the radio room of that particular ship, so someone might be able to tell me the transmitter type.
> 
> Kind regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF



Hello Finbar (& anyone else who is interested...)
Can't help with IMR Tx info, but do remember that Marconi had an MF-only O'span-look-alike TX named 'TRADER', I sailed on a ship with the old O'span (the tall one), on which the front cover plate had been replaced at some time by one bearing the 'Trader' name, with the usual Marconi insignia.
Like most of us, I do wish I'd taken/kept a lot more 'photos!
Thanks for all your postings, all enjoyable.
Mike.
BTW. Has anybody come across any pics of Park-type ship's radio rooms with the original Canadian Marconi LTT4 and STT4 Txs?


----------



## david.hopcroft

Bob - That main Tx looks like an AEI T80, that I sailed with and always reckoned to be ok - except it fed into a D & K, the top whip of which bent over in a gale rendering 500 fairly useless !! On joining the main Rx was an AEI G4. After much complaint, I got an R50M which to me was 100% better. The G4 apparently was a 'new' development. 

David
+


----------



## BobClay

David I'm assuming you're referring to my picture and not Finbar's. The only piece of kit I recognize in his pix is the R50M. In my pix (the shack of the La Estancia) I had no problems with that main tx, but I'm afraid I didn't have much time for the R50M. Might have been good during the Area Scheme days but worldwide working with GKA ? ... not really up to it.
Having said that when I sailed on that ship I'd previously done a trip on brand new VLCC Hudson Friendship with a fully synthesised Star Trek station !! I'd probably been spoiled.


----------



## Tony Selman

It wasn't much good during the area scheme either Bob. I am surprised it was still going into the 70's. It was the receiver on my first two trips to sea on Matra/GZYJ. If there was a receiver that had worse drift on HF I have never heard of it.


----------



## BobClay

Yes that's how I remember it, and the tuning selectivity was poor too. I have to compare it with the Atalanta in terms of the valve receivers I sailed with and the Marconi receiver was far superior.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted but what I remember about the Atalanta is that it had a fairly ingenious mechanical tuning engager that gave you a spread out frequency display on the relevant marine bands (I'm struggling to remember how it worked but I'm sure it was primarily mechanical.) The thing was that the Atalanta was nice and stable, so your logging numbers taken off the dial and written faithfully into the old ALRS Coast Stations book were always reliable.

I can distinctly remember my first trip as a junior sparky on the Bendearg asking my senior what all those little pencilled in numbers were in the book and him telling me I'd find out on our first foray onto HF.

I actually bought an Atalanta second hand and used it for browsing up and down for several years before donating it to the science dept of a college I worked in as they had a keen Radio Hams club. It might still be there for all I know.


----------



## gwzm

I'll second the R50M drift problems. Sometimes it was so far off I had to use the BC221 heterodyne frequency meter (a standard item on most of the older Brocklebank ships) to find the right frequency in the first place then once it was tuned in you usually had to follow tune with your left hand while trying to copy traffic. 
The Malakand/GOFP had a WWII surplus Marconi B28/CR100 as the "standby" receiver and that's what got used for most of the traffic.
The Atalanta and Mercury receivers were pretty good as regards drift and the logging scale numbers changed very little for the stations you had noted.
Happy days,
gwzm


----------



## MikeGDH

Tony Selman said:


> It wasn't much good during the area scheme either Bob. I am surprised it was still going into the 70's. It was the receiver on my first two trips to sea on Matra/GZYJ. If there was a receiver that had worse drift on HF I have never heard of it.


The old CR300 was pretty crook for drift also....
Mike


----------



## Tony Selman

Mike, I only ever sailed with one of the CR series once and I can't remember which model it was. It must have been on one of the older Brocklebank ships but can't remember the ship either. I don't recall drift being too much of a problem but seeing as I am not sure which receiver, nor which ship, there is strong evidence this might be a memory problem! (MAD)


----------



## david.hopcroft

Bob - Yes, I was referring to the R50M. I must have been lucky with the two I sailed with in the mid-60's. I used to tune the area scheme traffic list at the end of a watch, put it on stby and there it was ready for the next list. This one in the pic did have the advantage of a long, long wire aerial though.

The T80MH Main Tx certainly was a vast improvement on the Siemens SB186x that I had the trip before ! 

David

+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz 6ZFU Standby receiver*

Greetings,

Thanks to all for the information on my picture of the radio room
of the MV Anthony 2 callsign 6ZFU.

I have several pictures taken, of better quality, the one attached,
shows the standby receiver, which I ended up using instead of the
R50. Again, I don't recall the type number of this receiver either.

The main problem with that particular set was the mechanical
drift on HF when we were light ship in rough seas, the juddering
of the bridge accomodation mean it had to fix my fingers on the tuning dial to prevent movement of the ( I presume ) variable tuning
capacitor. Luckily most of the traffic on that freelancing trip was
on MF rather than HF. Getting the Propo football results for the
Greek crew was much much more important than anything else,
including the Captain.

Did I mention that the ship went to the scrapyard soon after
my trip on her.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## gwzm

Hi Finbar,

That standby receiver was, ISTR, the IMR60 and it was pretty good. It usually ran off the ships mains. If you lost the mains, you just lifted the lid slightly and it transferred to the emergency battery. I sailed on the Makrana/GWWV with that receiver and the IMR54 (re-badged Eddystone) as the main receiver. Both were rock solid and never gave any bother.
Happy days,
gwzm


----------



## BobClay

It's a peculiar thing when you look back how the kit could change from one ship to another. My first deep sea trip on my own as a sparky was on the Weybank with a standard Marconi Atalanta/Oceanspan station and Mk IV radar.

The next trip was with a fully synthesised ITT Mackay station on the Hudson Friendship with a Norcontrol anti-collision plotting radar, a Phillips Video Cassette in the bar (which used actual plug film cassettes !!) Pretty far out stuff for 1972 (if you'll excuse the expression.) Like jumping out of the Moonlander and onto the Starship Enterprise :sweat:

The next trip the R50M and the station you see above. What a decade that was !!(EEK)


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz 6ZFU Emergency transmitter and Antenna board*

Greetings,

Thanks for the contributions. Facinating comments and information.

Attached is another picture from the MV Anthony 2 6ZFU.
It shows the Emergency transmitter and and above it the
antenna switching and isolating board.

Has anybody got the type number / name fro the rig ?

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Wismajorvik

gwzm said:


> Hi Finbar,
> 
> That standby receiver was, ISTR, the IMR60
> and it was pretty good. It usually ran off the ships mains. If you lost the mains, you just lifted the lid slightly and it transferred to the emergency battery. I sailed on the Makrana/GWWV with that receiver and the IMR54 (re-badged Eddystone) as the main receiver. Both were rock solid and never gave any bother.
> Happy days,
> gwzm


I believe the IMR54 was a rebadged Eddystone. 
Several times I thought the stand by rx was getting too hot and lifted the lid for cooling at which time the built in rotary converter would noisily burst into life. It was a good receiver, stand by or not.


----------



## Paul Braxton

Hi Bob. Ref your post 442: lovely to see an old photo of a decent radio room. I wish I had taken a few, plus some audio recordings. I loved that bottle of 'Gloy' paper glue next to the morse key. Brings back more happy memories of doing ALRS corrections.
Your 436: yep, Atalanta does have an ingenious bandspread control mech. My set here (still working) hasn't suffered too much over its (unknown) past. The control and general tuning mechanics haven't broken down yet. The bandspread was engaged after you had tuned in (on the 'cal' switch) to the 700 khz oscillator tones, one in each HF shipping band. You then moved the bandspread pointer to the vertical calibration black line on the bandspread scale and pushed the bandspread knob in to engage. After that, the gearing took over and you had a surprisingly accurate means of reading frequency off the lower scale. As you say, the thing worked really well and the logging scale, although very simple, worked as well also.
I still use my RX, every few days. QSX to some hams on 7 and 14MHz, plus still get the WWVH time signal. Happy memories, brought back to life, courtesy of those MIMCO design boys, whose machines were certainly built to last.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz SDJ Swedish Final transmission on 500 kHz*

Greetings,

Attached is a recording of Stockholm Radio SDJ, sending their
final broadcast on 500 kHz.

No electronic keyer, just a straight key, nicely paced to reflect
the sad nature of the message and occasion.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## 5TT

Thanks Finbar.


----------



## BobClay

I've heard a few of these now and I must be getting old and sentimental because they always choke me up a bit. The end of a truly incredible era.


----------



## david.hopcroft

50 years is not a long period of time in history, but we should remember that 50 years ago, we bashed two bits of brass together to convey important messages !!!

David
+


----------



## freddythefrog

Nice to hear SDJ again after so many years Finbar.
Great stuff!
cheers 73.s de ftf


----------



## Troppo

BobClay said:


> It's a peculiar thing when you look back how the kit could change from one ship to another. My first deep sea trip on my own as a sparky was on the Weybank with a standard Marconi Atalanta/Oceanspan station and Mk IV radar.
> 
> The next trip was with a fully synthesised ITT Mackay station on the Hudson Friendship with a Norcontrol anti-collision plotting radar, a Phillips Video Cassette in the bar (which used actual plug film cassettes !!) Pretty far out stuff for 1972 (if you'll excuse the expression.) Like jumping out of the Moonlander and onto the Starship Enterprise :sweat:
> 
> The next trip the R50M and the station you see above. What a decade that was !!(EEK)


Exactly!

My first trip in 1980 was this magnificent white P and O box boat, with two (yes *TWO*) STR16000 main tx'ers and two beautiful synthesised Collins rx'ers...passengers, uniform of the day, all the P and O palava...we were on a liner service Australia-Japan....4 very nice ports in Japan (Yokichi, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya)...then Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane...

My first ship by myself was a heap of ****, stinking old bulkie with a decrepit Marconi station...trading to awful iron ore ports on the Australian coast....(EEK)

Bit of a come down...


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*5680 kHz Nimrod Rescue 12 works Malin Head Radio on HF*

Greetings,

Attached recording from several years ago, before the RAF
Nimrods where broken up and destroyed, sadly.

Malin Head Radio has the full use of Short wave transmitter at both
Malin Head and also the remote MF HF and VHF site at Belmullet,
County Mayo, in the west of Ireland.

I am working Rescue 12 on 5680 khz, whose mission on the day
was to provide Top Cover , to a rescue helicopter we had operational.

Both Belmullet and Malin Head, use 750 watt Skanti transceivers,
to "Tee" type top loaded vertical antenna. In the case of Malin Head,
the Skanti is only used as a standby transmitter, if required on
MF and HF, as the main transceivers are now German built
R and S 1 KW rigs, working into the 150 foot towers.

These days, top cover is normally provided by Irish Air Corps
Spanish built, Casa fixed wing aircraft, or in some cases by
a second Irish Coastguard rescue Helicopter.

This recording is of the Belmullet transmitter on 5680 khz, keyed
from Malin Head Radio

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 kHz Recording Antwerp Radio OSA on 500*

Greetings,

Attached is a recording of Antwerp Radio OSA , on 500 kHz.

I have checked the list of recordings I have posted here and can not
see it. Sorry if this is a repeat.

Antwerp Radio was one of the early closures on 500 kHz.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## BobClay

Unmistakable sound of a Russian key basher calling him.


----------



## david.hopcroft

At GKZ, if during a quiet spot, you went out on 500 with 'did di dah dah dit it (?) GKZ, it was almost guaranteed a Russian would come back with an OBS msg in exactly that style. 

David
+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording PortpatrickRadio GPK sounding good*

Greetings,

Attached is a recording of ZCAO sending a TR, QTO Dublin.

I suspect the guy on the key at Portpatrick Radio was the late
Graham Mercer ( SK). Lovely crisp morse, no messing around
and a great signal. Mind you GPK is only 100 miles east of
Malin Head, where I made the recording.

The ferry from Dublin is a weaker signal, mostly over land,
and particularly the last bit on the Inishowen Peninsula, with a
range of mountains, south and east of Malin.

Enjoy
Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Ron Stringer

Thank you for that Finbar. As you say, lovely morse from GPK, I would have loved to reach such a standard but sadly, always struggled to develop a decent rhythm, even after several years at sea.


----------



## BobClay

Listening to that I wonder if any other sparkies tried for 'the last dit' (who gets to send that last dit at the end of a QSO.)

There was someone at GKA who often played that game. I waited about 20 seconds once after he'd sent his last dit, then just tapped the key, and he came back straight away with his dit. I knew then I wasn't going to win this game. (?HUH)


----------



## trotterdotpom

BobClay said:


> Listening to that I wonder if any other sparkies tried for 'the last dit' (who gets to send that last dit at the end of a QSO.)
> 
> There was someone at GKA who often played that game. I waited about 20 seconds once after he'd sent his last dit, then just tapped the key, and he came back straight away with his dit. I knew then I wasn't going to win this game. (?HUH)


.... meanwhile I was QRY 273!

John T


----------



## BobClay

Had I known that I'd have kept on ditting ....


----------



## trotterdotpom

You're a bad man Bob! I liked it when they did a "shave and a haircut" and left the last two dots to you.

John T


----------



## Troppo

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> 
> Attached is a recording of ZCAO sending a TR, QTO Dublin.
> 
> I suspect the guy on the key at Portpatrick Radio was the late
> Graham Mercer ( SK). Lovely crisp morse, no messing around
> and a great signal. Mind you GPK is only 100 miles east of
> Malin Head, where I made the recording.
> 
> The ferry from Dublin is a weaker signal, mostly over land,
> and particularly the last bit on the Inishowen Peninsula, with a
> range of mountains, south and east of Malin.
> 
> Enjoy
> Regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


Lovely, thanks.


----------



## BobClay

I'm still working on my ETM4C squeeze keyer. I've got it all working but there's an annoying half second delay on the dash paddle which has so far got me baffled, but I'll plug away at it. 

In the meantime I've come by a vibroplex bug key but while the dits aren't a problem, the dashes keep fooling me because I've been so used to the squeeze keyer for so long. I need to slow it down a bit so I can practice but that's not easily done with this key.

I'm resorting to rods and tubes same as this guy on Youtube.

https://youtu.be/8oZv9mVhBG4


----------



## Troppo

R651400 said:


> Tks agn Finbar.. Any ZC call in the old days would be a UK dependency. Anyone have any idea what QRA/flag ZCAO3 was?


Honkers?


----------



## trotterdotpom

Probably Bermuda - it was a popular flag for a while.

John T


----------



## BobClay

I sailed on a Bermudan registered product tanker for CP Ships and if memory still works the callsign was ZCAN.

I occasionally had to work Bermuda for various company messages and I'm trying hard to remember the callsign ... VRT ? VRN ? .... (bloody neurons have gone to sleep.) (EEK)


----------



## david.hopcroft

They need more lubrication..........VRT is right. VRN is listed as Sai Kung wherever that may be .

David
+


----------



## BobClay

Thanks David .. will get some more lubrication out of the fridge. (Gleam)

Yes VRT, it ran off the key nicely now I think back:

ditditditdah ditdahdit dah (==D)

CP had an office there on the island. (Although what they did is beyond me ... ) Quite a bit of their fleet was registered under that flag.


----------



## Troppo

VPS was a beautiful station. I got a very detailed tour in 1999 - you could literally eat your dinner off the tx hall floor....

All gone with GMDSS now, alas...


----------



## BobClay

When I was doing morse training for 'you know who' occasionally they used to play a 'wobbly morse' tape.

I'm sure many here will remember the 'wobbly morse' from stations up the Gulf, particularly Iran. Perfectly readable once you got the hang of it. During the training most of the students were ex-services and they had quite a bit of trouble with it. The only reason I could read it was because I did a lot of tanker time up the Gulf so I'd got a lot of practice.

We were never examined on it, it was just thrown in for a laugh.


----------



## Troppo

Yes, XSG was great as well. Halls full of JRC tx'ers...


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording WickRadio GKR TTT announcement*

Greetings,

The recording attached is of WickRadio GKR on 500 kHz,
with an TTT announcement on the 29th March 1994.

Enjoy.

Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## BobClay

He sounds like he's coming to the end of a long night shift ... :sweat:


----------



## Ron Stringer

Although I never reached the standard of keying of the guy at GPK (#464 this thread), I was never as bad as that guy at GKR!

Never heard keying like that from a GPO operator in my time at sea. Now, where is that Curmudgeon thread?


----------



## hawkey01

Certainly not up to standard.

Neville


----------



## david.hopcroft

The date is post DOC, so would have been someone at GND.

David
+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording FFB working 7TGW 31st Dec 1994*

Greetings,

Attached is a recording of FFB at speed, on 500 kHz, working
7TGW.

Interesting keying from FFB, a Vibroplex or electronic keyer ?
Not sure, to be honest.

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## BobClay

It sounds more vibroplexy to me. The dot dash ratio on an electronic keyer is fixed and sounds more machine like.


----------



## Ron Stringer

Rapid but rubbish morse.


----------



## BobClay

Still very readable though Ron. 

I remember when I finally mastered my Spacemark ETM keyer we came out of the Red Sea bound for Perth (VIP I think) and after I'd sent a bunch of messages he complemented me on my morse. But the fact is, on an electronic keyer like the ETM it is perfect morse, dot dash ratio exactly as prescribed, and once you master it and avoid errors it is literally spot on and that really isn't so much down to the operator, albeit you have to practice, and practice, and practice, but that's nothing new to a keybasher.

(Of course the SOE types would be appalled at this because recognising the 'fist' of an operator would often tell you where it was coming from.)

I've always considered the choice of a morse operator is purely down to personal ideas, if it works for you ... good enough as long as the one at the other end is happy. I'm trying to master a Vibroplex now, with some degree of difficulty I might add not because I was trained on an up and downer, but because I used the old ETM for so many years, which, like and automatic gearbox on a car ... makes you seriously lazy. (Gleam)


----------



## Troppo

Ron Stringer said:


> Rapid but rubbish morse.


Exactly. Awful.


----------



## J. Davies

Dreadful


----------



## jimg0nxx

Over many years I have used side swipers, bugs and electronic keys. I would say both stations were using bugs or possibly side swipers, definitely not electronic. Agree both ops were sending rubbish morse especially FFB.


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz GBLR sending a TR to GLD*

Greetings,

A short recording of GBLR sending his TR to LandsendRadio GLD
on the 31st December 1994.

Enjoy

Regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## CT1GZB

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> 
> A short recording of GBLR sending his TR to LandsendRadio GLD
> on the 31st December 1994.
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> Regards
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


Another beautiful record TNX
Do you have more records from Portuguese stations?


----------



## trotterdotpom

Been trying to work out where "PMB" might be.

John T


----------



## hawkey01

TJ,

Pembroke - Could be the South Wales to Ireland ferry. I don't recognise the c/s. 

Neville


----------



## trotterdotpom

hawkey01 said:


> TJ,
> 
> Pembroke - Could be the South Wales to Ireland ferry. I don't recognise the c/s.
> 
> Neville


Thanks Neville. Thought that too but then thought he'd be sending to Ilfracombe but then thought, hello 1994, maybe GIL was a goner. No wonder it was quiet!

John T


----------



## david.hopcroft

The 1963 list shows GBLR as ATHELDUKE. So looks like calls signs were re-issued. 

David
+


----------



## DaveMore

*Hi I was a Radio Officer at GKR from 77 until it closed.*



Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> 
> The recording attached is of WickRadio GKR on 500 kHz,
> with an TTT announcement on the 29th March 1994.
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


I was on watch in 88 when the Piper Alpha went up, there was 3 of us handling that case and there is only 2 of us left. I went back to sea with Cunard until I retired in 2000.


----------



## Troppo

trotterdotpom said:


> Thanks Neville. Thought that too but then thought he'd be sending to Ilfracombe but then thought, hello 1994, maybe GIL was a goner. No wonder it was quiet!
> 
> John T


I came ashore in 91...by 1990 the Aussie coast was very quiet on 5 ton.


----------



## BobClay

I remember when I first got an ICOM PCR1000 receiver well over 10 years ago and went looking for what GKA frequencies I could remember, which were (I think) 8546/12822/17908 KHz (please correct if I'm wrong.)

I couldn't understand why there was no signal ! Which shows how out of touch I was with marine comms !! :sweat:

The station was long gone by then.


----------



## trotterdotpom

Troppo said:


> I came ashore in 91...by 1990 the Aussie coast was very quiet on 5 ton.


Think the UK stations lasted a bit longer than that, Troppo. Some anyway.

I often pass the old Brisbane Radio (VIB) and it is now something to do with Telstra. The large marble bust of Marconi which stood outside has vanished. Wonder who scored that?

John T


----------



## Troppo

trotterdotpom said:


> Think the UK stations lasted a bit longer than that, Troppo. Some anyway.
> 
> I often pass the old Brisbane Radio (VIB) and it is now something to do with Telstra. The large marble bust of Marconi which stood outside has vanished. Wonder who scored that?
> 
> John T


VIB is still used for aircraft HF comms - Virgin and Deathstar.


----------



## trotterdotpom

Troppo said:


> VIB is still used for aircraft HF comms - Virgin and Deathstar.


Maybe they've put Marconi on the roof and we can't see it from the road anymore.

John T

PS Just occurred to me, why do planes need HF comms in this day and age?


----------



## hawkey01

JT,

Back when they first installed Sat on aircraft there were occasions when the
a/c changed direction they would loose the sat signals. It required more aerials around the hull to eliminate that problem. However there are still areas were
the good old HF is king. Arctic regions used to be a problem and also I would imagine that the dark continent has enough financial problems without having to install all the equipment. I am sure that those who are more up to date than me will give you a better answer. AC do have on board systems - used to be called ACARS - which gave continuous readouts of on board systems, so their ops could monitor everything. Nothing like a good bit of paper and HF comms though.

Quote from the WWW -ACARS an acronym for aircraft communications addressing and reporting system) is a digital datalink system for transmission of short messages between aircraft and ground stations via airband radio or satellite. The protocol was designed by ARINC and deployed in 1978, using the Telex format.




Neville


----------



## trotterdotpom

Thanks Neville. That makes me more comfortable about flying next week.

John T


----------



## bbyrne98

hawkey01 said:


> JT,
> 
> Back when they first installed Sat on aircraft there were occasions when the
> a/c changed direction they would loose the sat signals. It required more aerials around the hull to eliminate that problem. However there are still areas were
> the good old HF is king. Arctic regions used to be a problem and also I would imagine that _*the dark continent*_ has enough financial problems without having to install all the equipment. I am sure that those who are more up to date than me will give you a better answer. AC do have on board systems - used to be called ACARS - which gave continuous readouts of on board systems, so their ops could monitor everything. Nothing like a good bit of paper and HF comms though.
> 
> Quote from the WWW -ACARS an acronym for aircraft communications addressing and reporting system) is a digital datalink system for transmission of short messages between aircraft and ground stations via airband radio or satellite. The protocol was designed by ARINC and deployed in 1978, using the Telex format.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Neville


The 'dark continent'?


----------



## trotterdotpom

bbyrne98 said:


> The 'dark continent'?


Antarctica in the winter.

John T


----------



## bbyrne98

trotterdotpom said:


> Antarctica in the winter.
> 
> John T


That explains at least half of it. Are you his agent per chance?


----------



## hawkey01

That was the terminology in the past for AFRICA. Supposedly a humourous comment not for the PC brigade to get hot under the collar. 

Neville


----------



## trotterdotpom

#515 . I knew that Neville. Nothing PC about this Oyibo. 

John T


----------



## bbyrne98

hawkey01 said:


> That was the terminology in the past for AFRICA. Supposedly a humourous comment not for the PC brigade to get hot under the collar.
> 
> Neville


Neville,

Thanks for your honesty (unlike your oppo who seems to think it is Antarctica). It was indeed terminology in the past when ironically, we knew a great deal about that Continent.

I just wonder if your comment is consistent with a position as 'Super Moderator', whatever that is? Just a thought and thanks for the put down. It must be hard for you living in the 21st Century but I'm happy to help you if you want. 

73s, 

Barry


----------



## trotterdotpom

bbyrne98 said:


> Neville,
> 
> Thanks for your honesty (unlike your oppo who seems to think it is Antarctica). It was indeed terminology in the past when ironically, we knew a great deal about that Continent.
> 
> I just wonder if your comment is consistent with a position as 'Super Moderator', whatever that is? Just a thought and thanks for the put down. It must be hard for you living in the 21st Century but I'm happy to help you if you want.
> 
> 73s,
> 
> Barry


Do you ever think you're wasted round here, Nev?

John T


----------



## bbyrne98

trotterdotpom said:


> Do you ever think you're wasted round here, Nev?
> 
> John T


'wasted' .. 

I rest my case.


----------



## BobClay

Rested on a bed of sand by the look of it.


----------



## Naytikos

A certain play by the Bard comes to mind…..


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*2182 kHz Valentia and Malin Head 2182 khz Nav Wngs 1677*

Greetings and a Happy New Year,

Attached is a recording of, 2182 khz and 1677 khz. Starts with
Valentia Radio EJK, then Malin Head Radio EJM, then tuned down
to 1677 khz for the Navigational Warning broadcast.

I retired about 4 months later, in March 2009.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## ewerboot

hello finbar
just came over the A9M sigs i often worked during my years as r/o with esso tankers.
to yr info; you can obtain a great cd of "radio telegraphy worldwide" fm my
friend sylvester föcking ex r/o hansa-ine. 
have look at our homepage seefunkkameradschaft bremen/german
best 73 
peter (ewerboot) ex r/o esso tankers.
hamradio c/s dl7lph+sk


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz recordings World Map of Coast Radio Stations*

Hello Peter,

Glad you had a chance to check my A9M recordings, there are many more amongst my postings.

As far as I remember, I have the CD from Sylvester, but I will check and make sure I have it. I will also check the Link you have given.

I also given, by another German Radio Officer, a World Map of Coast Radio stations, produced, I believe, as a training aid for those studying for their Marine Radio Officer exams. It is very comprehensive, listing the many many large and tiny coast radio stations. The map is about 1.5 metres square, so not easy to copy,
etc etc.

Kind regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording SSB signal across the Pond on 500 kHz*

Greetings,

Perhaps some of you will be interested in my recording of WE2XGR6
on 510 kHz using SSB , I was transmitting on 501.3 kHz. You can hear Bob describe the problem he was having with ice on his antenna wires. We worked one another at 0104 on the 1st of December 2008.

Bob is located in Penn Yan, in New York State, southeast of Rochester.
Rochester is on the shore of Lake Ontario. Penn Yan is located, between Lake Kenuka and Lake Seneca, at approx 42 39 36 North 
77 3 20 West.

A very rough distance to my QTH was 5180 km.

As far as I know, this was the first contact across the Atlantic using voice to a fellow radio experimenter. My transmitter was a solid state rig, driving a valve Linear amp using a pair of 4-400 valves in grounded grip configuration. Bob's rig was a big valve transmitter,
running 900 watts input and estimated to give about 500 watts output, but the de-tuning effect of the ice on the antenna did not help with the efficiencey that night, he explained.

The 500 kHz band is no longer available to radio amateurs, we have moved to the new allocation of 472 to 479 kHz.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF / GI4DPE


----------



## djringjr

A9M was a great station. I also liked SUP Port Said, and I am the guilty party who couldn't send my ship's callsign, WJGH to NMA USCG Miami.


----------



## trotterdotpom

#527 . Yes A9M (Bahrain) was an OK station. Sorry you had trouble with sending WJGH, Dj, but I'm sure NMA were quite patient. All those USCG stations were pretty good and often didn't mind a bit of a joke.

John T


----------



## majoco

Very interesting posts on this forum - thanks guys. Unfortunately the local QRM here precludes any proper LF DX but this little tale might amuse. 
July 1967 leaving the Perishin' Gulf for Adelaide on the Naess Sovereign C/S eludes me. Very early morning through the Straits of Hormuz, the Old Man gave me the departure message the day before but HF conditions were terrible so I gave it a try first thing. Looking for GKA I hear Niton calling with his traffic list on the other receiver - followed him down to 464kHz and tuned the Globespan on 468 - as soon as he finished his list - no traffic so I gave him a quick call - blow me down he answered! Sent my MSG and a couple of others - then he asked for a TR as I wasn't on his list - I had to confirm that I meant what I said before he believed me! Went back to 500 and it sounded like I was back on the Geordie colliers! 10 minutes later and they were all gone - must have been what we now know as the 'Grey Line' but was just a fluke then. 
Since then I have used the Grey Line to get into Europe and worked a couple of French stations from NZ on the bottom of 80m from where I used to live on a perfect launch site looking down a hill to the Northwest sea - unfortunately a pipedream from my new QTH.
Best regards - Martin ZL2MC


----------



## david.hopcroft

Hello Martin - GHFJ is what you were trying to think of. I was there in 1963 - joined in Rotterdam when the T50MH was fitted.

David

+


----------



## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings MV Tabor radio room*

Hello Mike,

Thanks for you message which I received today. You have prompted me to search my picture library and found a shot of the radio room of the MV Tabor, which both of us sailed on as juniors, way back in the early 1970's.

The picture shows my Chief RO, Des Walsh, who still lives, up the coast from Liverpool.

You will spot the Oceanspan transmitter and Reliant emergency transmitter, a Mercury or Electra receiver ( not sure which one it is)
and the Marconi morse key.

What a great ship and crew, lots of interesting ports in the Meddy,
out with general cargo, then finally Haifa or Ashdod , to load
Citrus fruits for the UK. Wisely, every member of the crew got a
crate of oranges ( to stop pilfering I expect). The hatch boars were
lifted at the ends, to aid airflow. The fruit came on quite green and
matured on our way back home.

Best regards
Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


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## fonito

Thanks to everyone who posted so beautifull sounds.
FBM retired w.o.


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## Harry Nicholson

majoco said:


> Very interesting posts on this forum - thanks guys. Unfortunately the local QRM here precludes any proper LF DX but this little tale might amuse.
> July 1967 leaving the Perishin' Gulf for Adelaide on the Naess Sovereign C/S eludes me. Very early morning through the Straits of Hormuz, the Old Man gave me the departure message the day before but HF conditions were terrible so I gave it a try first thing. Looking for GKA I hear Niton calling with his traffic list on the other receiver - followed him down to 464kHz and tuned the Globespan on 468 - as soon as he finished his list - no traffic so I gave him a quick call - blow me down he answered! Sent my MSG and a couple of others - then he asked for a TR as I wasn't on his list - I had to confirm that I meant what I said before he believed me! Went back to 500 and it sounded like I was back on the Geordie colliers! 10 minutes later and they were all gone - must have been what we now know as the 'Grey Line' but was just a fluke then.
> Since then I have used the Grey Line to get into Europe and worked a couple of French stations from NZ on the bottom of 80m from where I used to live on a perfect launch site looking down a hill to the Northwest sea - unfortunately a pipedream from my new QTH.
> Best regards - Martin ZL2MC


That's astonishing, Martin. I was r/o in the 50/60s, but Grey Line is a term I don't know. Can you explain what sort of phenomena it is?
regards
Harry


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## Wismajorvik

I do not recollect Grey Line when at sea but working point to point on HF it was very noticeable as a circuit would slowly fade out towards the evening then suddenly peak for about half an hour , often a stronger signal than during the day. However, after that half hour the signal would disappear completely.


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## majoco

The grey line is that line around the globe where the sun is just setting or rising - what we would call 'dusk'. The low D layer has not yet been energized on the sunrise side, and is rapidly dissipating on the sunset side, resulting in low absorption. The net result: For a period ranging from a few minutes at low and high frequencies to one or two hours at intermediate frequencies, with suitable ionospheric conditions, stations in the twilight zone can communicate with any other stations in the twilight zone. It's like reflecting your signal off the sloping side of the ionosphere. As I said, I have worked, often only for a few seconds, stations along the Mediterranean coast from NZ on the CW portion of the 80m ham band and then the signal fades and I get someone else further along to the west as the twilight line passes along. 

My 'antipode' is just west of Madrid, just about where Radio Exterior d'Espana has his transmitters. Listening on his old 6MHz frequency the signal would build up to 20dB over s9 for about 5 minutes then slowly fade away to almost nothing, this was followed by the RAF Volmet from Northolt on 5450kHz peaking up and down, then Shannon Volmet on 5505kHz, then.... nothing!


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## majoco

Bit off topic but going back to "VIB now an HF aircraft station". 

The use of aircraft using HF radio is actually quite busy, even though "CPDLC" (Controller–pilot data link communications) is becoming more common in newer aircraft. It is still quite a slow method of communication via a satellite - it doesn't have the instant response you get from actually talking to the Air Traffic Controller, although you are often hearing only the radio operator, the man with his plotter who knows where all the aircraft are (or thinks he does....) is down the other end of a telephone or teleprinter. Australia still uses HF radio internally too, distances are too vast to cover with VHF radio. For the South Pacific zone, try listening on 13261 or 8867 kHz USB, for all the world's zones and frequencies click on the link below to download this magnificent chart...

https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=h...KHUt5DsYQ9QEwAHoECAUQBA#imgrc=KIk3Ta_qqgYbKM:


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## trotterdotpom

#461 . "Bit off topic but going back to "VIB now an HF aircraft station". 

Thanks for that, Majoco. I often drive past the station and wonder what goes on in there now. I also wonder what happened to the white marble bust of Marconi that used to stand in front of the building.

John T


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## Troppo2

Finbar O'Connor said:


> Greetings,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The 500 kHz band is no longer available to radio amateurs, we have moved to the new allocation of 472 to 479 kHz.


Yes, amateurs were kicked off 5 ton by maritime regulators at ITU. 5 ton is supposed to be used for a new high speed version of NAVTEX called NAVDAT.

To date, nothing has happened.... (Jester)


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## Harry Nicholson

majoco said:


> The grey line is that line around the globe where the sun is just setting or rising - what we would call 'dusk'. The low D layer has not yet been energized on the sunrise side, and is rapidly dissipating on the sunset side, resulting in low absorption. The net result: For a period ranging from a few minutes at low and high frequencies to one or two hours at intermediate frequencies, with suitable ionospheric conditions, stations in the twilight zone can communicate with any other stations in the twilight zone. It's like reflecting your signal off the sloping side of the ionosphere. As I said, I have worked, often only for a few seconds, stations along the Mediterranean coast from NZ on the CW portion of the 80m ham band and then the signal fades and I get someone else further along to the west as the twilight line passes along.
> 
> My 'antipode' is just west of Madrid, just about where Radio Exterior d'Espana has his transmitters. Listening on his old 6MHz frequency the signal would build up to 20dB over s9 for about 5 minutes then slowly fade away to almost nothing, this was followed by the RAF Volmet from Northolt on 5450kHz peaking up and down, then Shannon Volmet on 5505kHz, then.... nothing!


Thanks, Martin. That is clear. Also, just looked it up on the web for extra info. The Terminator moves at 1,000km/hr, so you have to catch it on the move. I do recall odd long distance hops, but I was not aware of the cause at the time.
Harry


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## King Ratt

The late Graham Mercer whilst at GPK occasionally worked ships in the Pacific via Greyline. Very short QSOs conducted on 1883 kkz from GPK and an IF frequency from the ship.


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## jimg0nxx

When I was into Amateur Radio worked all round the world on Top Band (around 1830KHz) using Greyline. The furthest I worked was Auckland Island, SSW of New Zealand which is about as close to my Antipode as possible. When conditions were good I worked Alaska and California which were particularly difficult. Japan and Australia could be worked most evenings.


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recording Anglesey Radio GLV*

Greetings,

Attached is a recording of Anglesey Radio GLV.

Very few recordings of this station, that I know of, from this
coast radio station, which closed on the 19th December 1986.

Regards
Finbar EI0CF EJM retired


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## Finbar O'Connor

*500 khz Recordings PJC*

Greetings,

Here is a short recording of PJC, well known station from Curacao, in the Caribbean.

Enjoy.

Finbar EJM retired EI0CF


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## sparks69

I remember in the 60's another R/O called me up and informed me "The skips are in !!!!!"
I spent an interesting half hour QSX to various stns.
Happy daze


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## david.hopcroft

Worked PJC a few times on the Bitumen run. This was leaving the berth and starting to head out passed the pontoon bridge. There is some sort of aerial system visible on the left, so wonder if that was PJC ??

David
+


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## RHP

Fascinating thread gents, congratulations. I listened to many of the recordings but being a member of the great unwashed, they meant nothing to me. What content were these signals generally carrying?


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## Varley

In Finbar's latest it is just PJC announcing that he is listening on 6 and 8 MHz.


(CQ DE PJC QSX 6/8 MHZ)


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