Hey All,

Both myself and a ham friend attended the Titanic 100 th anniversary events on Cape Cod on Sat 14 APR.

We saw a large old rotary spark transmitter in operation and a smaller one on display (non working) near the original Marconi site in Wellfleet ,MA .

We toured the Marconi /WCC Museum in Chatham, MA ( a GREAT time !). The KM1CC station at the museum was in operation observing the 100th anniversary.

We also attended the memorial ceremony AT the Marconi site. There was a wreath laying in the water by the USGC, speeches about the value of radio during the disaster, etc.

I also got to work special event station K1T at the Marconi site on 40 M CW from my portable QRP rig . I received QSL #1 from K1T while on site.

We also worked my 10 M mobile from the site, contacting some S. Americans (Argentina,Brazil ,etc. S Africa and Chile were copied, but too much QRM to get in
) .

A really FUN day of radio .

de N1NQC

I would really like to go to that Marconi site some day. Just to be there, soak up the history. You are lucky to be able to get there.
Mark D.

Hey Mark,

Yes, it's a great place. Not only is there model of the station on display there , there is still a fair amount of debris from the station at the location.

The site itself is a gem. There is NO noise (since there is NO power out there).

My last big trip out there solely for radio listening netted some transatlantic stations on the AM b'cast band.

VLF listening HAD been an issue when the Nantucket LORAN station was operational.But it's off air now (LOVIN ' IT!)

Transatlantic LW b'cast stations from there are usually "easy".

I also have worked some seriously low power on the VHF 2 meter ham band back to my buddies S. of Boston.

Boston proper is just below a slight rise to the NW . So even the tops of the tallest buildings are not visible above the water.Some of the Boston V/UHF repeaters are hit or miss on a walkie talkie.

The area itself is gorgeous, huge sand cliffs, dunes, a cedar swamp, etc.

The astronomy I have done there was VERY good, with only some sky glow below maybe 20 degrees to the W and especially NW toward Boston.

The only down side is it's a bit of a ride: maybe an hour and a half to an hour and forty five minutes depending on traffic.Traffic in the summer is often glacial in pace, so I avoid going out there during the warm months.

K

Hi N1NQC - Boy, I would love to take a trip down to WCC/Chatham-

It's been 60 years since I made my first contact with WCC on 500khz

I was 18 years old, first trip as a "Sparks" sailing out of NS to Philly, hoping the Capt
didn't have too many messages to send!!! A British registered ship with Marconi equipment.
Just off Maine, monitoring the 500 calling freq, I heard WCC sending out his list of ships that he had traffic for, and sure enough, GNCK (my ships call sign) came up with QTC1 ( one msg for me).
I timidly answered and the big signal MCW signal came back saying "down"??
It took me a bit to realize that ,of course, I had to move down to 486 to where he would send my
message.
He must have realized that I was a green operator so he slowed down to about 15wpm and I copied my first traffic and send him a "r"

About a day later, just off the coast from NYC,I had the "cans" on (earphones) listening to the various ships calling in of 500. all of a sudden my ears were blasted by a extremely loud MCW signal with the Call sign GBTT- It turned out to be the Queen Mary which must have been close by. hi

Wish I kew I would have gone O we;ll

I hope to meet you at Nearfest in 2 weeks


NEAR-Fest XI

Friday May 4th and Saturday May 5th 2012
0900 Friday through 1500 Saturday Deerfield Fairgrounds - Deerfield NH, USA

Hey Guys,

NS : there are fair remnants of the antennas at the WCC RECEIVE site/Museum ( old towers, etc .Some ham antennas up too. The rx site was also used for WW II ELINT ). We did not go to the tx site this time but I am know all the antennas are long gone from there, dunno what they did with the tx bldg. I got to see the tx site once, YEARS ago,just before the ants were removed.This was my first time to the rx site ( now museum)I just wish we had more time IN the museum , but we had to get back to Wellfleet. Good you noted the 486 Kc frq. I heard WCC CW there only ONCE before they went QRT but could not recall the exact frq.

When I lived In Germany 'CC was the only regular MA station I could get. So I'd listen to 5 or 10 min of QRA just to sample the path and to have SOME type of "pipeline" home.

Buff: Yup, I'll be here. I think we tried meeting up before, but looking for a specific car up there is a bit tough.Any other way to hook up ?

K