Tuesday, July 12, 2011

It's Night of Nights Time!

It seems like a long time ago that commercial Morse code vanished in the United States, but even so I can't believe that this is the 11th one of these. Yes, Night of Nights XI is here.

Night of Nights came from the original defiance of a group of skilled Morse telegraphers and maritime radio people who decided they'd be damned before the most perfect communication system ever invented was going to vanish with all the other forgotten technologies. And now it's #11.

It seems almost beyond belief that the grand-daddy of West Coast stations, RCA's KPH, is back on the air, even one night a year. It is now part of the Pt. Reyes National Seashore, and the incredible dedication of these people have made its window-rattling Morse code audible again. (The rest of the year, the call belongs to Globe Wireless at another site, where the only on-air ID is a distinct hex code that can only be copied with special software.)

Every ham dreams of suddenly getting access to a rhombic farm and receive site with miles of antennas. Here is a group that actually did it.

MRHS:

Each year on 12 July the MRHS holds its Night of Nights event on the anniversary of the supposed last commercial Morse message sent in the US. On that night historic stations KPH and KFS return to the air along with our own KSM. Listen on the air or join us at the receive site in Point Reyes, CA.

While MRHS station KSM is on the air every Saturday, on Night of Nights we originate stations KPH and KFS in addition to KSM. We will joined on the air by KLB, WLO and KKUI. See below [next post -Hugh] for details.

You can participate by listening or by visiting the ex-RCA receive site to see the action in person. If you'd like to operate K6KPH just bring your key. No license required!

Here are the details of the event:

Date: 12 July 2011 Pacific time, 13 July gmt
Doors open: 3:00pm Pacific time
On air time: 5:01pm Pacific time, 0001 gmt

Freqs & QSL info in the next post!