02 february 1997

Vol. 16, No. 2 February 1997

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Vol. 16, No. 2 February 1997

Cover Story

An Ear to Indonesia By Arthur Cushen

Radio has bee n c ruc ial in ham-mering a nation out of the scattered islands of [ndonesia. Most of lndo-nesia is ei ther water or mounta ins : thus the importance of radio. Our cover photo (taken by Fred Moore : graphic treatment by John Bailey) depicts a typical , remote . mounta inside farm.

Arthur Cushen has been li sten-ing to lndonesia over its 60 year broadcasting history. This is his ac-count of monitoring both shortwave and mediumwave stations from his location in New Zealand. For moni-tors in North America, however, lndonesia poses a difficu It challenge . only surmountable during the win-ter months. It' s not too late: why no t try your luck w ith some freque nc ies that have a lready been logged this winter?

( . 0 N T E N T S

There's Something About a Train............................. 10 By Laura Ouarantiello

A mtrak . s Flex lin.:r train has bc1.:n tra veling arounu North Ame rica demonstrati ng it s innovative kallirl'.s to thl'. publi c. When it came through Ca li fornia last summe r. our author found it a gold 1.:n opportunity to get up to speed ll ll mo nito ring the raik The Flex line r winte red in Canada . but it returns to the U .S. in March. II' you' re new to railroad scanni ng. get a head start wi th Laura' s li st of freque nc ies.

Menwith Hill Station ............................................ 16 By l

Reviews:

~--=-------~=-~ Oii .J#' ""''""'"' _ .. ,,o r. U f Ill

~~ i - ~ . v l

Weighing in with typical Gcm1an excellence is the new Becker car radio model , the Mexico 2340. Sec Magnes rev iew of thi s shortwave radio that can turn your domestic travel into a global adventure (p. 92).

' 'We tested a PR0-2036 and its BC890XL T twin in June 95 and found their performance disappointing. It is with relief that we report thi s month on an improved replacement- the new PR0-2045." So begins Bob Parnass rev iew of the new scanner from Radio S hack on page 94.

If you' vc been curious about surfing the net via your TV screen. here s a look at one of the first available units-Magnavox s W cb TV. John Catalano has been us ing it for the past few months and shares hi s assessment of this latest techno logy on page 88.

DEPARTMENTS

Letters ....... ........... ...... ........................ 4 Communications ................................. 6 PCS front Line ................................... 28

Digital Modes Scanning Report ............................... 30

Trunking Scanners Debut Utility World ..................................... 34

Airline Company HF Freqs Global forum ................................... 38

RC/ Not Dead ... Again QSL Report ....................................... 42 English Lang SW Guide .......... ........... 43 Propogation Conditions ..................... 63 Beginner's Corner ............................. 64

Bells & Whistles Below 500 kHz ................................. 66

Resources for Natural Radio American Bandscan .......................... 68

The NewEAS Outer Limits ...................................... 70 On the Ham Bands ....... ........... .......... 72

DX for No Code Techs DeMaw' s Workbench ........................ 7 4

Home-Brewed PC Boards Plane Talk .. ...................................... 76

Collision Avoidance

Federal File ............. .......................... 78 Natl forests and porks; WHCA

Satellite TV ....................................... 80 State of TYRO

Experimenters Workshop .................. 82 Tools for the Info Age

Computers & Radio ........................... 84 DXtreme's SWL Log

Special Events/Club Circuit ................ 86 MT Review ....................................... 88

Magnavox Web-TV What's New ..................................... 89 Magne Tests ..................................... 92

Becker Mexico 2340 Scanning Equipment .......................... 94

Radio Shack PRO-2045 Ante~n~eT~~c~~A~.1~~~~? ................. 96 Radio Reflections ............................... 98

Trends in QSLing Ask Bob ......................................... 100

Improving Audio Stock Exchange ............... ............... 102 Closing Comments .......................... 104

Will Scanner Listening Take an Upturn?

MONITORING TIMES (ISSN: 08895341) is published monthly by Grove Enterprises, Inc., Brasstawn, North Carol ine , USA Copyright 1997. Periodicals postoge paid a t Brosstown, NC, ond additional moiling offices. Short excerpts may be reprinted with appropriate credit. Complete articles may not be reproduced without permission.

Subscription Rotes: S23. 95 in US; $48.50 Canada a ir; and $85.95 foreign ai r elsewhere, US funds. Lobel indicates lost issue of subscription. See page 103 for more information. Postmaster: Send address changes to Monitoring Times, P.O. Box 98, Brosstown, NC 289020098.

Telephone: Fox: Internet Address:

Owners Bob and Judy Grove

Publisher Bob Grove, WA4PYQ

Editor Rachel Baughn, KE40PD

Assistant Editor Larry Van Horn, N5FPW

Art Director John Bailey

Design Assistant Belinda McDonald Advertising Svcs.

Beth Leinbach (704) 389-4007

Business Manager Kelly Davis, KE4TAM

P.O. Box 98, 7540 Highway 64 West, Brosstown, NC 289020098 1704} 837-9200 1704) 837-2216 (24 hours} 1WW.grove.net (web) or [email protected] (e-mail} Editorial e-mail: [email protected]

Disclaimer: While Monitoring Times makes on effort to ensure the information it publ ishes is accura te , it cannot be held liable for the contents. The reader ossvmes any r isk for performing modificCJtion or com.trucrion proiects publ ished in Mon i toritlg Times. Opin ion or conclusions expressed cire not necessarily the view of Monitoring Times or Grove Enterprises. Unsolicited manuscrip ts ore accepted SASE if material is lo be returned.

Editorial Staff Frequency Manager ... Gayle Van Horn Frequency Monitors ... David Datko, Loyd Van Horn

Program Manager ... Jim Frimmel Beginner's Corner ... T.J. Arey, WB2GHA

K. 1.S. Radio ... Richard Arland, K7YHA Plane Talk ... Jean Baker, KIN9DD

Scanning Report ... Richard Barnett Computers and Radio ... John Catalano

Below 500 kHz ... Kevin Corey, WB2QMY Experimenter's Wkshp ... Bill Cheek

Propagation ... Jacques d' Avignon DeMaw's Workbench ... Doug DeMaw, Wl FB

Digital Digest ... Bob Evans Federal File ... John Fulford, WA4VPY

SW Broadcasting ... Glenn Hauser On the Ham Bonds ... Ike Kerschner, N31K

Mogne Tests ... Lawrence Mogne

Communications .... Lorry Miller What's New2 .... Larry Miller

Scanning Equipment .... Bob Parness, AJ9S Satellite TV .... Ken Reitz, KS4ZR

Antenna Topics .... W. Clem Small, KR6A American Bondscon .... Doug Smith, W9WI SW Broadcast Logs .... Gayle Van Horn

QSL Corner .... Gayle Van Horn Utility World .... Larry Von Horn, N5FPW

PCS Front Line .... Don Veeneman Outer Limits .... George Zeller

Correspondence to columnists should be moiled c/o Monitoring Times via e-mail {[email protected]) or via post office. Any request for a personal reply should be accompanied by on SASE.

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Operating in CUT Time? In December. Bob Grove threw out the

challenge to his readers to explain why Uni-versal Coordinated Time is abbreviated UTC and not UTC or CUT. He received several replies. Ozzie (Robert Osband) N4SCY pro-vided the official explanation from the web site of the National Institute for Science & Technology, "the people who bring you WWV." You can look up their answer al

Steve Green, of Santee, Cal ifornia, gave us the same information from a more personal point of view : "I started the radio hobby about 1970. It was sometime in the period from 1970- 1972 that the ITU met to revamp inter-national time standards.

"One of the decisions of the ITU when the UT I ti me standard was set, was to come up with an abbreviation that did not have any bias toward any nationality. So they chose the abbreviat ion UTC because NO language wou ld abbreviate Coordinated Universal Time that way. Hence, no perceived bias.

''So science gave way to pol itical correct-ness, and it wasn ' t even the e ighties yet 1 On .January I , 1973, at 00:00 UTC, WWV made the swi tch to UT I (from UT2) and UTC became the politically com:ct terminology for Greenwich Mean Time.

''And I was listening- on 10 MHz ...

Ham Radio: Point, Counter-Point The majority of Bob Grove's October "Closing Comments" addressed his assess-ment of the s trengths. weaknesses. and direc-tion of the radio hobby market. However. most reader responses were elicited by one paragraph in which Bob spoke about the "moribund state" of amateur radio, ci ti ng some of the contributing factors. One ham, Kent Price KF2AD, canceled his three-year subscription to MT, and suggested Bob give up his amateur standing for which he didn't seem to have any respect.

Bob's response to the latter is that. "Former reader Price's letter supports my case; while he asserts his viewpoints. he refuses to con-sider mine. Rather than deal wi th the prob-lems ham radio faces as brie fly mentioned in my C losing Comments, he irrationally can-cels his remaining three years' subscription to MT.

"Voluntarily tum in my license because he doesn't agree with my comments? I don't think so. I believe that everyone has a right, even a duty , to express his opinion on issues. I only wish Price felt the same way." Making the more eloquent case for ham radio was Bill Mayers. KG2DI-"RT, RN ,

4 MONITORING TIMES Febrvory 1997

LETTERS

member ARES, SATERN. IMRA, Official Emergency Station, Vice-president Madison/ Oneida Amateur Radio Club, proud father of three hams. and husband of another ... ..

"I regret that you denounced amateur ra-dio so succinctly in your column. In your unique position as a publisher. your words carry an impact far and wide. Because of this, you 're in a position to do much that is good, or much that is bad, for the electronics com-munications industry as well as communica-tions profess ionals and hobbyists. I fear that your remarks may be taken up by interests that would stand to profit handsomely were amateur radio frequency allocations to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

"Noting that you are a ham. and apparent ly have been one for some ti me. I will not bore you with rousi ng tales of amateur rad io 'com-ing through' in times of disaster. I will not auempl to el icit your tears through tales of families blessed by hearing theirchild's voice from a faraway military post via the MARS c ircuits . I won't repeal fur you the mul titude of innovations and advances in the electron-ics and communications arts that have come to us through the efforts of such hams as Grote Reber. or how ham rad io has e nhanced the li ves of even noted publ ic figures such as a cenai n retired senator from Arizona or a certain sightless country-western star. name of Ronnie Milsap. l won't. because as a ham. you know all this.

1 will ask you, in light of the above, what has happened to el icit such negati ve com-mentary from you'l You remark upon the content of amateur communications. Well , yes. we have some real bozos in our ranks. l' ve come across jerks on 75-meter phone bragging about their marital infidelity. I've encountered a cretin (whose call indicated he's been an Extra-c lass ham for some time) who wantonly disrupted communicat ions of othe rs for over an hour because he d decided one of the others whose communications he was disrupti ng was a black man. Is that it, Mr. Grove'l These folks exist in all walks of life. but we do not denigrate an entire hobby or profession because a few of them are meat heads.

"I ' vc also listened in complete boredom to a couple obviously older geezers who blath-ered on and on about their favorite brand of coffee. I' ve heard others go on and on about the re lative worth of each other's favorite household pet. and st ill others waste spec-trurn going on about whose stale has the preuiest sunsets. Is that it. Mr. Grove? Good heavens. s ir. it's a lro/J/J.".

''I'm also a vo lumeer examiner. My VE group holds exams monthly. and we've no shortage of people coming to us, eagerl y plunking clown the required IDs and paper-

work, and then sweating-and yes, I mean SWEATING- some not-so-easy written ex-ams as well as even harder code tests. If ours is a dying hobby. Mr. Grove. you couldn't prove it by me.

"Sure. it's changing. ll has to. or it will indeed die . The Internet and e-mail, and to an extent, Internet Phone, have made their im-pact upon communications. However, rather than decline, all forms of eommunication-ham radio included-have garnered more ad-herents, not fewer.

" I won't ask for an apology; you did noth-ing wrong. But I will ask you to reconsider your negative commellls in your magazine. Ham radio has given many of us great joy and also brought succor to many others in times of distress. It is unreasonable, in my humble opin ion, to assen that this great hobby is doomed, either by loss of interest or due to the impact of competing technology." To which Bob Grove replied, "Thank you for your excellelll commentary. I am pleased that my observations e licited defense from credible, aniculate members of the amateur fraterni ty of which I have been an active member for 45 years. I agree wi th all of your postural comments, just as you agree with mine. I'm sorry that you took th is singular set of three negative comments out of the context of strong support for ham radio I have pro-vided in the pages of Mo11iwri11g Times for its 15 years of publication.

"In any case, ham radio is not dying, but it is stagnant. Our numbers of new licensees are not sufficie ntly balancing the numbers of deaths, non-renewals. and d isenchanted aban-donments.

"The presence of offensive transmissions on 20. 40. and 75 meters is vastly greater and more vehement than in the days of W20Y's CQs ("No kids, no lids''). Vulgarity. bigotry, and rudeness are endemic.

'But l still have my rig. my call , and my pride. I am happy to insert the comment, Tm a ham' into any conversation that inv ites it. l taught school for 16 years. and am responsible for countless numbers of students getting their ham tickets, many of whom are now in the technical professions as a result of that early exposure to my ham radio c lasses.

"Several of my coworkers at Grove Enter-prises are now licensed because I took the time to conduct ham radio theory classes during the work day, giving them time off to study, and coaching them to be prepared for the exam. Far from denigrating ham radio, I am one of its biggest allies. But I believe in pointing out tarnish so it can be polished." Letters are edited for brevity and clarity by Rache l Baughn, KE40PD. Send your com-ments to P.O. Box 98, Brasstown, NC 28902 or [email protected].

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Lost? Please Pay Here. It" s pan ol"the search and resc ue bus iness.

A person who is in troub le will wait unt il the last possible

tion~ Agency (MECA) and asked them to program three high-tech radios so they could be used on the county wide emergency broad-cast network. When MECA director Linn Piper noticed that the radios were set to oper-ate on a Florida Fire Department's freque ncy. he checked the records and found the radios had been stolen from a Pompano Beach, Florida. fi re station.

" How did you get these radios'l" Piper asked the marshal !.

It turns out that he ordered the rad ios over the internet; all three for $ 1.700. The radios were returned to r lnrida where lawmen there decided to set up a sting.

Police in Marion County sent a mcs!>agc to the ~alcsman who called himsclfCaptain H.C.. He said that he ~till had a couple or these radios left. "Where arc you located? We'd like to meet you am.I pick these radios op in person," the police said. Captain 1-1 .C. agreed.

When the two met. the police "ere wear-ing body wires and Captain H.C. was talk-ati ve. saying that he could get more radios but that he had just sent three to Indiana. In fact. Captain H.C. said. the guy in Indiana had not paid hi m and he had reported the irll'.ident to police as a the ft.

Knowing that he was the guy who sent the s tolen radios to Indiana. the police arrested Captain H.C.. a.k.a. Joseph Penny. an 18 year o ld . Penny said that he sold the radios to pay off his credit canl debt. Police found 15 other high-tech walkie t alkie~ in his car and home. Hi s case is pending.

Pompano Beach offic ials say that each radio is worth 53.000. Twenty-nine of them were stolen from area fire departments in the last year.

Phone Violence Wireless Week says that not all cel l phones

arc weapons in the war against crime. Ac-cording to reporh.:r Monica Allcv..:n. they sometimes are us..:d as weapons. She cite;, the followi ng cases:

In Pittsburgh. a police olfo:ertestil'ied that he almost shot a motori st when he waved a flip phone at him. The officer thought the phone was a gun.

In Los Angeles. a detention center guard is going to trial after smuggling a eel l phone into former Rams de fensive back 0

An Ear to

1Nb0

Located on the other side of the globe, Indonesia poses North American monitors one of the most difficult of monitoring challenges. However, this nation of scattered islands and cultures makes widespread use of broad-casting to overcome its geo-graphic barriers, and reception is not impossible. Arthur Cushen has logged Indonesia throughout its 60 year hist01y of broadcast-ing. Lest you think he 's cheating from his New Zealand location, many of his catches were of mediumwave stations!

By Arthur Cushen Location photos by Fred Moore

... ._. ...... ROADCASTI NG IN INDONES IA. the former Dutch East Indies. has been controlled by the Dutch. Japanese. and now Indonesian authorities over the past 60 years. Happily, for radio lis teners. broadcasting now seems scllled into an

expansionist patte rn. Broadcasting in the former Dutch East Indies was under the Dutch

control in the late 1930s when the cou111ry was a Dutch colony. The broadcasting service was then known as NIROM : Netherland Indies Broadcasting Co Ltd. Stations were operated in the cap ital Ba1avia and other ci ties as the network expanded during Dutch rule.

In 1938 we were hearing stat ions such as Radio Batavia, located on Java (now renamed Jakarta). the capital of the Indonesian Republic. Batavia was pan of the NI ROM radio network: there were 26 NIROM stations on Java and small stations scattered on other is lands, as well as other private radio hroadcasters in Indonesia.

The Netherland Indies Broadcasting Company Ltd operated many pre-war stations using callsigns starti ng with YD. The PM call sign was used by other local radio stations, such as the Java Wire less station PMH at Bandoeng. Java. I received verification of a reception report from PM H after the Japanese entry into the Pacific war: the card was dated February 1942. Batavia, Bandocng. and Surabaya were among those stations heard at my listening post. most of which wen:: regional and used the 60 or 90 meter band.

II Japanese Control

By June 1942 the Japanese had over-run the former Dutch East Indies and taken control of rad io services. and so we began lo hear new voices on the band. Radio Batavia started to use the higher frequency bands and com-menced broadcasts in English, fu ll of propaganda of the Japanese war news. li sts of prisoners of war and civil ian internees. They had a special lunchtime broadcast (0 130 GMT) to Australia and New Zealand from Batavia using 18135 kH z.

Batavia became one of the main sources for news of the enemy advances. along with many other stations captured by the Japanese- Singapore. Penang,

Manila, Pa lau, Saigon, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and of course Tokyo. Batav ia continued for a short time in Dutch, but then Japanese and English were the main languages used. along with some Indonesian.

The Indonesian population under J apa-nese control was given some freedom ofbroa

By Laura Ouarantiello

There's just Something about a Train T he steel rails start a foot in front of my toes and run nil to my left into the distance. comerging to a sharp point foc used on infi ni ty . Standi ng there. perched just bchiml th..:

yellow 'stand back' line painted on the concrete at rai l ~idc. I ~quint and watch. And 1 wai t.

There can be a lot of waiting when it comes to trains. as I' m beginning to learn the hard way. Even though trains ru n on a pre-se t schedule. nothing is absolute and delays are not uncommon. I'm new at all this. but it's a beaut iful Southern Cali fornia day and I have my scanner with me. so I'm not too quick to complain . Bcsid..:~. I' m not alone here: there is a crowd of about one hundred gathered al the Oceanside station. milling around. leaning out to peer down the tracks. tapping thei r watches, waiting. We' re all here for the ~ame reason. because there's just something about a train.

10 MONITORING TIMES February 1997

Amtrak's New Flexliner is a Golden Opportunity To Go Scanning

.-

Zero to Sixty: Learning the Rails I had a grand total of two days-forty-

e ight precious hours- in whic h to bring my-self up to speed on monitoring trai ns before the Flexliner pulled into town. It may sound like all the time in the world. but when you re chas ing rndio s ignals- those e lusive and short-l ived phantoms of sound-every sec-ond counts. I snipped a newspaper art icle abou t the train ' s tour and studied it for clues.

Amtrak s Flex lineris a European-designed passenger tra in manufac tured by Adtranz. a 50/50 joint ventu re between transportation company A BB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd .. and Daimler- Benz. Bil led as Amtrak ' s vision of 2 1s t Century Americ an rail travel. the Flex lincroperates undere ithe re lectric (EMU) or diesl.!I (DMU) power and is self-prope lled, requiring no locomoti ve.

Stationed at each end o f the train are two engineer~ in control booths that l.!mulate a lot:0111oti ves operating panel. The train is bi -di rectiona l. and th roug h use o f an au tomated coupling connection system. individual trains can be joined and separated within minutes. even while underway. Each train consists o f two to four cars. and up to fi ve trains can be connected to comprise one trainset.

Des igned fo r q uick accl.!krat io n. the Flex liner can reach speeds of 11 2 miles pe r hour 0 11 ex isting rai ls. A true product of the age. the train is equipped with a computer-ized diagnostic system and features a rubber front and fold-back doors a llowing access between coupled trains . The coupling system a nd independent control booths allow one modu la r trainset to leave a station and sepa-rate. becoming several trains a ll headed in different directions.

The Flex liner was scheduled to start out the day in Escondido. a c ity nearl y thirty miles north of San Diego. board a load of V I P's and media types. and then chug down to the main station in Oceanside. California. It would use existing Atchison. Topeka. and Santa Fe rail road tracks for the trip and was due for arrival in the seaside city al 2 pm. So now I had background. location. and time. All I needed were frequencies .

I immediate ly went to my rac k of fre -quency books and pulled dow n one afte r the o the r, f'lick ing pages and checking fo r rail freque ncies. When you' re in a bind and look-ing for numbers. al way~ go to your frequency books. bl.!cause any and all information is he lpful to narrow down the search. even if they don' t provide the exact answer.

The rai I road sectio n o f the radio spectrum, I discove red, was neatl y fastened between a lower and upper limit o f 160. 2 15 MHz -

Tile passenger sections look normal enough, but one glimpse of either end sl10ws that this train is something different. 16 1.565 M Hz. Though l paged through many books. a ll I really needed was the spectru m allocation li sting. because it gave me a ta rget range. Luckily. most railroads use one or more frequencies within this particular range, so searching wouldn ' t turn out to be a whole day a ffair. My PR0-43 zips through the search in about li ve seconds . I loaded up this range into my search bank: it would be my backup in case any of the specific frequenc ies I would be mo nitoring didn't yield any communica-tions.

Whi le it' s true that rail roads use frequen-c ies in o the r bands. such as the 450. 460, and 470 MHz bands, the 97 AAR frequenc ies(see

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sidebar for conversion chart) are the most common. Most locomotives come fully equipped with radios that synthesize the ap-propriate frequencies just by setting the ap-propriate AAR channel identification number on the radio. A window on the radio displays the AAR channel number for transmitting and the AAR channel number for receiving. As an example, Amtrak often uses a road channel of 160.455 MHz. The window on the train radio would show 2323, depicting transmission on AAR channel 23 and receiving on channel 23.

By wiping out half of the entered frequen-cies in my PR0-43 and loading the AAR frequencies into the channels corresponding to their official numbers, I could have instant access to any rail freqs, simply by punching in the appropriate channel number. This may be an option for you if you scan the rai ls fre-quently and at different locations. For my hunt. it was enough to know that 160.560 (AAR Channel 30) was the frequency Amtrak trains tend 10 use on Santa Fe tracks.

Whenever you go scanning for a particular target, it's wise to empty out one bank of your scanner and load it backup wi th "possibles"-frequencies that may sec use by your target service. On my PR0-43. I use bank ten. j ust because it 's handy and easy to remember. I entered several likely frequencies, such as the Santa Fe Road channel. and locked out the rest of the channels in the bank. The unused channels would be available for any hot fre-quencies 1 might come up with while search-ing.

Researching your target before the actual day of monitori ng is always wise. I searched the Internet's World Wide Web. CompuServe's HamNet Forum, and any other resource 1 could fi nd that might have information on railroads. Needless to say, I discovered a great deal, much of it nearly useless errata that wouldn ' t help me when it came time to actually listen in. Nevertheless. I learned a great deal about railroads and trains.

The day before the Flexliner's ar-rival, I punched the 160 MHz range into my PR0-2006's search bank and went hunting. I had never done too much listening to rail communications, happy enough in the knowledge of the fre-quency of the local line that runs through my city three times per week. Now. however. 1 became a railroad junkie: I wanted to grab and identify every active rai l frequency. I was on a mission. a crash course in railscanning.

With a frequency book. paper, and pen in hand, I worked the railroad range forward and backward. up and down,


noting every active frequency and who it belonged to. I used every spare minute I had to become familiar with that one megahertz swath of numbers. And in the end, the re-search all paid off.

I Trackside

I never dreamed that a new train would bring so many people out of the woodwork. There is media here and Amtrak officials, as well as representatives from Adtranz, the train 's manufac turer. And there are people ... lots of people. The Oceanside Transit Center, point of arrival and departure for Amtrak trains. as well as the Coaster commuter rail line and district buses, sits just minutes from the Pacific Ocean. It is a place of transition and that is reflected in the mi x of faces around me. Many have brought cameras. some have taken thei r children along. Some look bewil-dered. wondering what all the fuss is about.

I find a space away from the crowd. slip on a pairofheadphones. and switch on the PR0-43. The airwaves are dead and the scanner runs through the scan bank several times before 1 give up and punch in the search bank . Someone has to be talking, somewhere. Over my head. the public address system clicks on and a woman' s voice tells us that the Flexliner has been delayed but is expected to arrive within minutes. There wi ll be a short cer-emony and then we will allowed to board and explore the train.

I switch back to Bank I 0. where my best

bet frequencies are entered, and wander over to the tracks. Leaning out, I look down the long expanse of shiny straight metal. It's in this moment that I experience one of every scanner listener' s worst nightmares: what if I can't find the frequency? I' ve done my home-work, entered in all possible Amtrak frequen-cies for this area, as well as those in use by the AT&SF local line. But, what if they are on UHF? Not likely, but certainly possible. Do I have time to search the 450, 460, and 470 MHz ranges? One of those obscure rules of scanning runs through my head: stick with the plan.

Finally, way down in the distance, where the tracks merge into a single line, there is a light. Almost simultaneously, something breaks squelch on my handheld. I snatch it off my belt. but it' s too late, the scan cycle is continuing and I missed the frequency. The P.A. system comes on again and an announce-ment warns spectators of the train 's arrival. 1 m so close, I can taste the frequency. Staring at the scanner display, I wi ll someone to talk. Just once, j ust for a second. This is what it all comes down to, j ust me and the scanner and a voice I can't catch. All the homework in the world won't help if no one will speak.

I lean out over the yellow line on the concrete, watching the light coming down the tracks.

There ' s a slight rumble, a vibration of heavy metal. "Central, 7003 arriving Ocean-side."

Bingo! 160.560 MHz comes al ive and I jab the "manual'' button. After all that searching. all the possibilities. my first bet was the best one. The train has taken shape behind the light now, but there's something wrong. I' m no train experc, obviously. but this one has no engine. As a matterof fact, it's the strang-est-looking train I've ever seen. Slowing into the station , the front end of the Flexlineris a black puffy donut surround-ing a window with a single wiper on it. Close to the tracks is the familiar cow-catcher, but it 's recessed and painted with glaring black and yellow stripes.

The brakes roar and the train slows, inches forward. stops. The passenger sec-tions look normal enough. but one glimpse of eitherend shows that this train is some-thing different.

I AJI Aboard In the curiously small control booth,

the engineer is speaking. Standing by the open door of the compartment, I watch his lips move as hi s voice comes over the

scanner speaker. "Central. 7003. We 11 hold here fora few minutes and wait for the second trainset. Then wed like to recouple.""

"7003. roger. 7004 wil l be cleared into the west platform and then back onto the main track for recouple."

Somewhere back up the line, the Flexliner's second trainset had un-coupled and slowed down while the first sped ahead into the station, dem-onstrating the versatility of this mod-em machine. The crowd has migrated down to where I' m standing by the first trainset. Some stare expectant ly at the passenger doors. waiting for their chance to go aboard. They don "t know what I know. that it"ll be a few minutes before all is ready. The blue-coated conductor walk s down. handheld ready and I hear his voice on the radio.

"Where do you want to board from. John?"

"First doors on the second train set. once it gets here.'"

Ah-ha! While everyone is down here ex-pecting to board. I walk back up the tracks to the end of the train and wait for 7004 s arrival. There is more chatter on the scanner as the second trainset approaches the station. then the engineer"s chant of '"two cars. one car. that'll do" as the two trainsets couple. It's a fascinating evolut ion to watch and monitor. The Flexliner tour trainset is a diesel multiple unit (DMU) which includes two three-car Flex liner trains. Throughout the tour. Amtrak will demonstrate the unique coupling and bi-directional operation systems.

Up the tracks. at the other end of the train. the conductor is talking to the crowd and he's pointing in my direction. Suddenly. thcres a shift and everyone starts to move my way. I brace for impact as the crowd stampedes for the second trainset and before I know it. I'm no longer first in line for boarding. The con-ductor pushes to the front and stands by the closed doors. 'John. can we open the doors now?"

It takes three or four minutes and an eter-nity of standing shoulder to shoulder with the crowd before the engineer releases the doors. I'm fifth aboard and immediately seek a seat as everyone else streams down the aisle. In the relative comfort of the coach compartment. I watch the long line oll!side the panoramic window whi le listening to departure prepara-tions on the scanner.

Of course, passenger comfort is not sec-ondary on the Flex liner. The interior features

wide-aisled compa11ments and large windows. along with reclining scats. Audio systems. as well as outlets for laptop computers are avail-able at each seat. Electronic displays show train schedules and routes, andcc llularphones are available for passenger use. If the Flex liner catches on in America. rail travel wi ll never be the same. And for scanner listeners looking for a new scanning opportunity. well ... there's just something about a tra in.

.....

I Demonstration Information Currently, there arc approximately two

hundred Flexliner trains operating in Den-mark. Israe l. and Sweden. Spain is expected to begin using the Flex liner soon. Though the train operates up to 112 mph in European service. the touring trainset wi ll not exceed 90 mph due to track conditions. The Flexliner was unvei led to the public in Las Vegas. Nevada. on July 12. 1996. and the tour was

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offic ially launched in Los Angeles on July 16. The tra in operated in Cali fo rn ia foronc month with several special excursions. stationary equipment d isplays at various Amtrak sta-tions. and even pan ici pated in regularly sched-uled Amtrak San Dicgan service between Los Angeles and San Diego from July 2 1 through August I.

At the end or its Californ ia tou r, the Flex liner le ft fo r five months or demonstra-tions in Canada. returning to the United States in March 1997. The tour schedule is sti ll in development. but the train wi ll remain in North America for two years. Loca l. state and regional transportation officials interested in bringing the Flexlincr to their area are asked to contact Ron Hartman al (202) 906-2642. For inquiries about fu ture Flex liner tour loca-tions. contact Amtrak public relations.

AMTRAK SAN DIEGO AREA FREQUENCIES

160.560 Amtrak Son Diego Rood Channel 161 .550 Amtrak Los Angeles Rood Channel 161 .055 Amtrak Administration and Police 160.455 Amtrak Train End to End 160.455 Amtrak Yard Channel

AAR RADIO CHANNEL NUMBERING

02 159.810 03 159.930 04 160.050 05 160.185 06 160.200 07 160.215 08 160.230 09 160.245 10 160.260 11 160.275 12 160.290 13 160.305 14 160.320 15 160.335 16 160.350 17 160.365 18 160.380 19 160.395 20 160.410 21 160.425 22 160440 23 160.455 24 160.470 25 160.485 26 160.500 27 160.515 28 160.530 29 160.545 30 160.560 31 160.575 32 160.590 33 160.605

34 160.620 35 160.635 36 160.650 37 160.665 38 160.680 39 160.695 40 160.710 41 160.725 42 160.740 43 160.755 44 160.770 45 160.785 46 160.800 47 160.815 48 160.830 49 160.845 50 160.860 51 160.875 52 160.890 53 160.905 54 160.920 55 160.935 56 160.950 57 160.965 58 160.980 59 160.995 60 161.010 61 161.025 62 16 1.040 63 161.055 64 161.070 65 161.085


66 161.100 67 161.115 68 161 .130 69 161.145 70 161.160 71161.175 72 161.190 73 161.205 74 161.220 75 161 .235 76 16 1.250 77 161.265 78 161.280 79 161.295 80 161.310 81 161.325 82 161.340 83 161.355 84 161.370 85 161.385 86 161.400 87 161.415 88 161.430 89 161.445 90 161.460 91 161.475 92 161.490 93 161.505 94 161.520 95 161.535 96 161.550 97 161.565

AMTRAK POLICE RADIO CODES

1 0-00 .. ....... Emergency Broadcast all units standby 10-01 .. ....... Receiving poorly 1 0-02 .... .. ... Receiving well 1 0-03 ...... .. . Priority Service 1 0-04 ... ...... Acknowledgment 10-05 .. .. ..... Repeat message 10-06 ......... Busy, unless urgent l 0-07 .. .. .. .. . Out of service (location) 10-08 .... .... . In service (location) 10-10 ......... Vehicle/Person Check (location/description of vehicle/occupants} l 0-11 .. .... .. . Request additional APD units (routine assistance} 10 -l 2 ......... Request Supervisor (location) 10-1 3 .. .... .. . Request Local/State Police (location} 10-14 ......... Request ambulance/ rescue squad 10-15 ......... Request fire apparatus l 0-16 ......... Prisoner(s) in custody (mileage start/ stop) l 0-17 ......... Check wonts/warrants (NCIC} 1 0- 1 8 ......... Request lo HQ 10-19 ......... Call HQ by land line l 0-20 ........ . Location 10-21 .... ..... Coll. .. 1 0-22 ........ . Di sregord 10-24 .. ....... Alarm sounding (location) l 0-26 ......... Prepare lo copy 10-33 ......... Does not conform to regulations/unnecessary use of radio 10-36 ........ . Time check 10-41 .... .... . Begin tour of duty 10-45 ......... Accident (specify outo/train, etc.) 10-46 ......... Train in Emergency 10-47 .... . .... Train protection (non-emergency) 10-48 ......... Stoning/ shooting/vandalism 10-49 .. ....... Passenger/patron assist l 0-50 ......... Disorderly crowd/person/disturbance 10-77 .. .. .. .. . E.T.A. 10-82 ........ . Hostage situation 10-88 .. ....... Bomb threat 10-90 .. ....... Arrived at scene 10-95 .. ....... Enroute lo . .. 10-99 .... ..... Assist officer

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Menwith Hill Station OLD FARM HOUSE (BOY SCOUT MTGS.)

INFIRMARY

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A Case Study in Signal Intelligence Gathering during the Cold War 16 MONITORING TIMES February 1991

By Kenneth L. Bird, N9JLW

'

he monitoring of communication signals has long been performed by agencies of world governments since the first signal s were sent out on spark gap transmi tters at the turn of this century. As technology advanced. so did the techniques and methods

of gathering information by e lec: ronic means. The Second World War saw an explosion in electronic intell igence technology appl ication. which became even more important in the cold war years that fo llowed. The fo llowing is a thumbnail history of the prime Uni ted Stales agencies involved in monitoring electronic communications and one major location where it continues today.

The Origin On November4. 1952. President Harry S. Truman. signed a uirecti ve creating a super-secret

government agency known as the Nat ional Security Agency ( 1SAl. which. according to Mr. Truman. ""would perform highly specialized technical and coordinating functions relating to the nat ional security ... The NSA (or.. o Such Agency"" to i t ~ member~). was lo become a powerfu l weapon at the height of the cold war.

Two years later. in 1954. the Bri ti sh War Department approached a Mr. S. Robinson to purchase his 246 acre ""Ness fie ld Farm ."" situated in the York~hi n.: Dales near the spa town of Harrogate. The land. described as a ""strip of barren. marshy. wintb wcpl waste land which is of little value for anythi ng except for graz ing a hardy breed of sheep."" was known as Menwilh Hill , or "stoney field"" in 14th century English.

The original 246 acres of Menwith Hill were soon increased to a total of 562 and quietly leased to the U.S. Department of De-fen se. Soon workmen began survey ing the area for what would be the 13th US ASA (U.S. Army Security Agency) fi eld station.

II The U.S. Army Security Agency

T he U.S. Army Security Agency was an expansion of the early U.S. military involve-ment in communications security (COMSEC). s ig nal s intel li ge nce , (S IGI NT ), a nd cryptanalys is- the coding and decoding o f communications. T he value of li stening to messages se nt via radio had been seen in World War I, w here both the Army and Navy practiced the interception of continuous wave (CW or Morse) coded signals trans mitted by the Kaiser's military units.

The peri od between the World Wars saw great developments in radio communications and its employment by governments and the military. In the U.S., however, s ignals inte lli -gence had languished and was only kept ali ve by the efforts of a few dedicated individua ls in both the military and State Department. In response to growing threats in the I 930s, the U.S. Army established a separate organiza-tion known as the Signals Intelligence Ser-vice or SIS.

The general mission of the S IS was stated in a memorandum dated Apri l 22. I 930, as :

"The preparation of oil codes, ciphers, and other means of secret communicotions to be employed by the a rmy in peace and war. In time of wor, the interception of enemy communications by electrical means, the location of enemy transmitters by goniometric (electronic detection finding) means, and in peacetime, the necessary organization and training of personnel and the development of equipment to render the service capable of immediate operation in time of war."

At the outbreak of World War II, the SIS was expanded and the military designation was changed six times during the war years until on September 15, 1945, the U.S. Army Security Agency was the final name selected. The USASA was headquartered at a former girls school in Arl ington, Virginia, known as Arlington Ha ll ; a location near Warrenton. Virginia, known as Vi nt Hill Farm. was used as a primary monitoring and training post. With the end of that war, the USAS A mission was reduced and the Agency was almost di s-banded. But then came the "cold war," and the USASA regained its role as the main army signals inte llige nce organizat ion.

As the cold war grew in intens ity. the need for a broader inte lligence gathering role fo r

Menwith Hill Station still listens 011 HF, but totlay 's signal intelligence gathering is focused toward satellites.

the mjlitary resulted in the creation of NSA. This agency re lied on the s ignal and commu-nications gathe ring capabili ty of the ASA and o ther mil itary security services. using the ir resources on sea, air. and land. Members of the Army Set.:urity Agency were selected from the top ten percent o f those who scored high on the army profi le tests given at induc tion or en li stment. Candidates were g iven indepth background checks and would be granted the highest security clearances. Most US AS A members received training up to a full year at the ' 'Inte lligence Univers ity"" which was lo-cated at Fort Devens, Massachusett s.

Iii Construction and Operation

The U.S . Army was in the forefront in the search fo r improved s igna ls intellige nce ca-pability . Construction at Menwith Hill com-menced in April of 1956. The workmen at

Mcnwith Hill w e re soon joined by four USASA officers and three enl isted men.

Due to problems with soil and weather condit ions. it took four years to complete the facility. The cost of construction was billed at $6 ,800.000 plus anothe r $ 1,200,000 for de-pendent housing. The faci li ty underwent sev-eral name changes: Originally des ignated Field Station 861 3. the site was formally named 13th US ASA fie ld station on January I , 1957. In January 1959 it was named Menwith Hill Station. It became operational in June o f 1959 w ith the arrival 32 USASA troops. which by 1960 had increased to 450. The unit was assigned to ASA Headquarters in Frankfort, West Ge rmany, and attached to the third A ir Force United Kingdom, for logistic purposes.

The Station cons isted of a headquarters and service company, which provided logisti-ca l and technica l support , and an operations company, whose members performed the ac-

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ANnNNA FARM AND OPERATIONS BUILDING (UNDERGOING EXPANSION)

tual missions as designated by NSA and the mi litary. The major fac ilities con~isted of an operations build ing. located in the huge an-te nna fie ld one mile from the main post area. This building was self-contained. with an emergency power plant and double chain link security fence.

The main post had the headquarters build-ings. barracks. and a large dependent housing area. along with necessary support buildings such as mess hall. chapel. mov ie theate r. base store (PX), and the ever-popular officers and enli sted personne l clubs. Three earth-covered bunkers he ld ammunition and Thermite charges for the des truction of class i lied equip-ment, should the post ever be overrun by the enemy. By 1963. over fi ve hundred USASA troops were in residence al Menwi th Hill.

Menwith Hill proved to be an ideal loca-tion for s ignals intell igence gathering. with its low radio frequency (RF) noise location and proximity to the northern sectors of Western and Eastern Europe. The large antenna field conta ined huge directional rombic antennas that could scoop up high frequem:y (HFJ s ignals worldwide: even high allilllde missile test information was read by the Men wi th Hill operators. The obvious targe ts of 1111.: day were Warsaw Pact mi litary units and the Soviet Union. Other miss ions involved rriendly .. NATO nations and their organi1.ation!>. Many or the mission-specific target~ or lhe 1960 decade remain c lassified to this day.

Menwi lh Hill was viewed by the local Bri tish residen ts as just another United Staes military base- one of many that dotted the Engl ish and Scotli sh landscape in the afte r-math of World War 11. There had bei.:n a large


c.:untingent of Yank s al an Army ho!>pital in the near by lmrn of I I arrogate during that war. and many of the locals had pleasant remem-brances of the Gls. Menwith Hill was viewed as an asset that employed many or the ir rela-tives and fri ends.

The post was generally a n open fac il ity wi th gate security supplied by a U.S .Army mi I itary pol ice (M P) detachment and the Brit-ish Air Minis try Police. The curiou~ did con-sti tute a prob lem for the base security onicer. and Soviet and Easte rn block operati vi.:s made many trips to Harrogate on 'holiday: Also there wa~ a barber ~hop in the nearby to\\n of I !arrogate that had a mo'1 inc.1ui~i ti \c barber. and G l"s wen.: warned lo avoid the location and advised to get a haircut elst.:where. with-out the inquisition.

Despite the potential for security breach the base never suffered a mission compro-mi se. although there were events ~uc h as an 1 RA .. ra id on the ammunition bunki.:r~ and an occasional workman who strayed into the ope rations bui lding. much to hi~ displeasure and that of the pmt commander. During the 1970s and 80~ many Ban The Bomb dem-onstrations " erted me n' s (l :MJ dub. When she asked what the sa ilor~ wi.:re doing there. an Engli~h kmal buildi ng by the mo~tly vacuum tube type or equipmcnt then in use.)

.. Cover"' music was played constantly both in the rooms and in the perimeter area of the build ing- mostly rock music from then-op-erati ng shipboard pirate radio station Radio Caroline! ASA personne l would periodically sweep .. the building for possible .. hugs .. and to check the overa ll security of the facility.

Every conceivable form of RF signal within lh

collected at Mcnwith Hill was sent encrypted by land line under the sea to NSA at Ft. Meade, Mary land. for linal processing.

The communications center was fed sig-nal intelligence provided by the finest hollow state HF rece iver ever conceived. the Collins R390A. Menwith Hill had over two hundred of these radios. and they were kept in excel-lent condition by a radio repair lab located within the building . The radio fea tured a me-chanical .. digital" readout and a dynamic range rivaled by few of our present-day micropro-cessor-controlled radios. The gear train that indicated the frequencies is s till a marve l of mechanical engineering. and many monitor-ing hobbyists s till seek out these fine ma-chines at swap meets and hamfcsts.

The R390A radios were fed RF signals from a large patch panel consisting of hun-dreds o r jacks that terminated the coaxia l cables from the antenna farm. Signals could be manual ly patched from this panel to any position in the various equipment rooms. A ll signals were received live; it was never dreamed that it would be possib le to record and play back the desired portions of the RF spec trum and the n search for a signa l a t w ill. as is done w ith today 's techno logy.

Most acti vity in the ope rations bui lding was routi ne and even tedious. Copy ing li ve code fo r e ight hours was not always fun. Tending the vari ous recording devices and finding new mission frequencies on the R390A were the main diversions from the norm. At times, alerts were called and the operators practiced equipment destruc tion proced ures. The rmite charges capable of me lting down radios and crypto machines were o n hand in case World War Ill broke out and Soviet troops were to arri ve at the station gates. While M-14 ri fl es were available in the ba~e armory. Mcnwith Hill depended primaril y on Her Majesty's Royal Regiments to defend it against any invaders.

II/I Civilian Takeover and Expansion

Menwi th H ill was under the command of the USASA for only six years when it was taken over entire ly by NSA c ivilians. On August I . I 966. NSA assumed cont rol o f the faci lity. replac ing the commanding o fficer wi th a c ivilian sta tio n chief." The remaining

USASA operational

staff were transferred to other locations. Many were destined for Southeast As ia to join ASA operatiom1l units a lready in place, and the peaceful damp cold of Yorkshire was re-placed by the dangerous steaming j ungles of Vietnam and Laos.

The main reason for the NSA takeover was the evolving techno logy of the digital com-puter. coupled with space-based Signals In-tel ligence Gathering. USASA personnel en-lis ted fo r re latively short te rms, and there was not a sufficient number of qualified career members. The new techno logy req uired the expe rti se of highly trained civilian techni-cians and e ngineers provided by NSA and its various contractors. such as Lockheed and Ford Aerospace. and IBM, w ho were building the new computers and satellite systems.

The technology of the 1970's and 80's brought many changes to the fac ility. Many new buildings were erected on the base, the operations bu ilding was en larged , and huge white radomcs hid the many satell ite collec-tion and transmission dishes that were now in use. The HF antenna masts are still in use, however. As one passes the base on the A 7 road bet ween the towns S ki pt on and Harrogate the radomes look like giant golf balls with the tall masts mark ing the putting green in the background. S igns warn of trespassing being subject to the " National Secrets Act," and photography is frowned upon by the local po lice.

The mission ofMenwith Hill may be chang-ing once again. for in 1995 the U.S. Army lnt c lli gcncc a nd Security Command (INSCOM ). which replaced the Army Secu-rity Agency in I 972, again took command of the station. O ne can only speculate on w hy the NSA gave Mcnwith Hill back to the Army. According to an unnamed source at INSCOM , the break-up of the Soviet Empire c reated more potentia l "bad guys" that the U.S . intel-li gence community mus t keep up w ith. Menwith Hil l sti ll plays a large part in the in fo rmat io n collection necessary to thwart the such enemies. a role which may seem bette r suited to the mi li tary.

Monitoring hobbyists and inte lligence buffs who might be tempted to visit Menwith Hill while on vacation in the United Kingdom are advised not to try to do so. It is still a very secure facility and visitors without official busi ness arc not admitted. Any type of tres-

A home page for those who served al the 13th USA SA station.

passi ng may get you sente nced to a not-so-co m fo rt able U K prison. Just enjoy the drive around the base o n the public roads and the n go find a nice

pub in the area and enjoy the hospi tal ity of Yorkshi re-leave Mcnw ith H ill S tation to the professionals.

For thirty-six years, Menwi th Hill Station has been a premier e lectronic intelligence gathering location for the U.S. Army and the National Security Agency. T he information gathered by Menwith Hill no doubt influ-enced the Berlin crisis. the Cuban missi le crisis, the space race, the Vie tnam war, the break-up of the Sovie t Union. and the Gulf War. Even as thi s is w ritten, the huge radomes at Menwith Hill gather information that con-tinues to affect the U.S. response in hot spots around the world today. Perhaps someday, as with "ULTRA" or the ' 'Manhattan Project," the detailed story of Menwith Hill wi ll be revealed. Until that time, the major contribu-tion made to our nation's security by those who have served, and continue to serve there will remain largely unknown.

On cold winter evenings, the writer enjoys sitting in front of his R390A basking in the glow of the vacuum tubes, and at times, in the noise of the headphones he th inks he can hear signals from T ashkent, or rocket a launch from T yurata rn, or the taut " list" o f an East German command post-all ''cold war" ghost signals from the past o f Menw ith Hill Stat ion.

POSTSCRIPTS: In I 990, a few veterans of the 13th US Army

Security Agency Field Stat ion formed an asso-ciation. The group meets every two years and has located over 500 fo rmer USASA members who served at Menwith Hill. The association can be contacted at : I 3 USASA Field Station Association. P.O. Box 585, Fayetteville, NC 28302-0585 Internet Page: http./www.greywolf.com

The writer is indebted to Mr. James Gi lbert. the command histo rian of lhe U.S. Army Intel -ligence and Security Command. for supplying information on the origins of the site of Men wi th Hill and the early days of construction.

The wri ter served at Menwilh Hill Station from 1963 to I 966. This art icle is based partly on that experience and informat ion from 1he fol-lowing sources.

Bramford. Peter, 171e P11::.z./e Palace. Penguin Books

Campbell, Duncan. The UminkableAirCraftCar-rier. Micahel Joseph (United Kingdom)

Brownell, George. Origin and Development of The NSA, Aegean Park Press

Editors, Origins and Development ofThe USA SA. Aegean Park Press

Finnegan,John P.,Military lntellige11ce, a Pi cw re History, US Government Printing Office

Editor's note: Readers may also be inlercsted in The Codebreaker.1 by David Kahn. reviewed this month in "What's New?"


By Leon Fletcher

"CQ, CQ, CQ-THIS IS VR6 ... " Hearing that call is one of the biggest thrill s ever fo r many radio enthusiasts.

It 's signi_fi cant 1_or two rea_sons. First, CQ (call ing any station) from VR6 usuall y attracts 11nmecl1ate attent ion from numerous shortwave listeners. The second reason hearing that call is a thrill: the call VR6 comes from one of the most intriguing spots in the world-Pitcairn Island . (Pronounced Peet-kern by resi-dents.)

Often that ca ll comes from VR6TC-Tom Chri sti an. sixth generation di rect descendent of muti ny lcackr Fletcher Christ ian of His Majesty '.1 Ship 8011111y.

T om is not the only amateur radio operator on the island these days. The / 111em a1io11al Cal/book lists 12 hams li censed to operate from Pitcairn . Seven of those operators live on Pitcairn. (Sec ~ i debar li s ting Pitcairn 's hams.) The other live were. generally. on 1he


Left: Tom Christian operating the gover11m e11t radio station 011 Pitcairn. (Photo by Spencer M urray, Bounty Sagas.)

Above: This replica of HMS Bounty was built for the 1980s film with M el Gib.w n. (Photo courtesy of Bounty Sagas, p hotographer 1111k 11ow11. )

is land only occasionally. usua lly brieOy, as special guests, usua ll y on DXpeditions-spe-c ial trips to operate from distant locations.

I Listening For Pitcairn

One place to hear amateur rad io transmis-sions from Pitca irn is around the midband of ham frequencies on 15 meters (2 1.200 -21,450 kHz) and 20 meters ( 14. 150 - 14.350) on Tuesdays. Thu rsdays, and Fridays at 0000 UTC (Universal Coordinated T ime)- 1900 EST (Eastern Standard Ti me): 1800 CST (Cen-tral Standard Time): 1700 MST (Mountain Standard Time): and 1600 PST (Pacific Stan-dard T ime). Those frequencies are for voice transmissions; Pi tcairn operators seldom op-erate CW (code).

To hear Pi tcairn's official radio stat ion. tune to 2. 182 kHz. where every morn ing Pi tcairn announces it is listening for any pos-sible commercial messages. But times vary, and the call is usually quite brief.

As this is being wri llen (fall J 996) propa-gation- the travell ing of radio signals through space- is very poor. Thus it is quite d ifficult to hear stations from distant locations. But Pitcairn was heard during the 1996 summer in Californ ia. at least, and your chances of hear-ing the is land operators are expected to in-crease significantly in the coming months as propagation improves.

I Early Days of Pitcairn's Radio Communications from Pitcairn began in

1921, when the master of the New Zealand ship Ri111111aka gave Fred Christian, then Mag-istrale for Pitcairn Island. a card showing Morse code. Islanders practiced the code, using a Oashlighl. and finally developed enough ski ll to signal passing ships. Thal milestone caught the altention of the Marconi Company. which, in 1922. sent to the island a small crystal receiver with dry baueries.

However. no instructions were sent with the gear and the islanders did not know how lo ground it. Eventually the radio operator from another New Zealand ship. the Re111e11ra, vis-ited the island and quickly solved the prob-lem. Some time later. the islanders made their first radio contact with a ship, the Corimhic.

I The Islanders

Tom Christian. VR6TC, has been the island s commercial radio operator and a very active ham for many years. He's 6 ft. 2 in. tall. handsome. well-tanned. trim. quiet-spoken-a young- looking gentleman in his fifties. He greets people with a firm yet soft handshake.

A few years ago I mel Tom when he was making a tour of the United States. He told me, " I enjoy living on Pitcairn. I also I ike gelling off-island now and then to see what's going on in other places. But I al-ways look forward to return-ing to our island:

Tom' s wife. Belly,

Pitcairn Hams wedding, soon, of one of our daughters."

On Pitcairn, Tom and the some SO other cur-rent residents visit such intri gu in g ly-named places as Hill of Diffi-culty, Bang on Iron, Goat House. Down Under Johnnie Fall , No

Listed below are the amateur radio operators reported as now operating from the island. The other hams listed in some sources generally have been on Pitcairn for only brief visits as special guests, usually on DXpeditions (excur-sions to operate from distant locations). Island operators do QSL (confirm by mail) reception reports from shortwave listeners.

~ VR6DR

QSLRoute Dennis Christion Via NZ9E, David Miller, 7 462 Lowler Ave., Niles, ll 60648

Gut s Captain. and Where Minnie Off. According to Roy P. Clark. an outsider who moved onto the island in 1909. author of many articles about Pitcairn. such unusual names are "a sort of living record of past happenings."

VR61D

VR6MW VR6TC

Inna Christion Via NZ9E, address as above

Meroldo Warren POB 27, Pitcairn Island Tom Christion Via W6HS, Charles M.

Moser, 10861 Lcnsdon Ave., Mission Hills, CA 91345

I The Origins VR6Yl Betty Christion Via W6HS, address as above

The story of how Pitcairn was seuled is of course well -known. In 1790 the island was selected by wandering mu ti nee rs 10 be their home. They were aboard the I-IMS Bounty as it sailed from England lo Tahiti. Their mission: to barter for breadfruit trees, then de liver the trees lo British colonies in the West Indies, lo provide food for slaves.

Their ship was a I 00 foot, three-masted, armed merchantship. Their captain, Wi ll iam Bligh, reportedly "was an unusually harsh leader ... overbearing and tyrannical." In Apri l. 1787. Fletcher Christian. the master's male. organized a mutiny. Reportedly he stated, "'I' ve been in hell for this fortnight past. and am determined to bear it no longer!"

Christian and the mutineers forced Cap-tain Bligh and 18 of his loyal crew into the ship' s small. open boat. It was set adrift.

But Bligh was a skilled seaman. With few provisions and without a chart, he sai led that

tiny boat 3,600 miles lo Timar, Java. During that two month voyage he charted part of the northeast coast of New Holland- now known as Australia.

Eventually he returned lo England and later commanded other ships with distinction in al least two batl les. In 1805 he was ap-pointed governor of New South Wales, Aus-tral ia. There he was again accused of being a cruel leader and again endured a mutiny-hi s deputy arrested him and threw him in jail. Later. Bligh was returned lo England as a prisoner. He was cleared of charges. pro-moted to Rear Admiral and then lo the still higher rank of Vice Admiral.

In the meantime, the rebels sailed the Bo1111tyback lo Tahiti lo continue the fabu lous partying they'd started there earlier. Soon they realized lhal mutineers were looked upon as unwanted folks. and that British warships might well be coming to capture them. So they got the Bounty underway. searched for

V R6 Y L. ii. also on the air of-ten. Despite the remoteness of their li ves, they face many of the same experiences as most of us. Betty told me. "Whi le I"m having a great time here in the Un ited States, I am look-ing forward to getting home-( must fi nish the plans for the

As the Bounty's mutineers approached Pitcairn, it was a view such as this-a small, remote, difficult to access island-that led them to decide to make it their home. (Photo courtesy of Pitcairn Islands Study Center, Pacific Union College, Angwin, CA; copyrighted by Dennis Fahringer 1991.)


'~-re po rtedly see n o n several occasio ns af-ter 1808.".

The labor of moving supplies from the Pitcairn landing up several hundred feet to the residential area has been eased now that there are several a/I-terrain vehicles ashore, delivered by air-drop from helicopters. (Photo courtesy of Pitcairn Islands Study Center, copyrighted by Dennis Fahringer 1991.

Indeed. there arc many e rrors in that Brando film. and in the 1935 versio n sta r-ing Clark Gable and C har les Lau ghto n, and the 1984 re make. Neverthe less, many of today's residents of Pitcairn . accord ing to Ia n M . Ball"s Pircaim: Childrm of Mu rinv. 'accept (those faulty fil ms) as gospe 1.

an island that might be a sale h ideout. Aboard were 28 souls-nine mutineers. s ix Tahiti an men, 12 Tahiti an wome n. and an infant g irl.

They wande red for two months. fina ll y se lected Pitcairn Is la nd- one of the worse

spot ~ in the South Pac ific fo r such a n esca-pade. It son ly abou t two mi les long. one m i le wide. It covers approx ima te ly 1.1 20 acres-less territory than the Rm:k of Gibraltar. Ac-cording to a governme nt bookle t a bout Pitt:a irn . the mu tineers t:hose that island '"a l-most in desperation."

Twenty-three year~ earl ier Engl is h Cap-tain Phill ip Carteret. in com mand of HMS Sim/loll'. sailed dose to Pitt:ai rn. but didn 1 land. He wrote in h is sh ip"s log. The surf broke upon (the island) wi th g reat vin lcnt:e."

Despite that hazard a nd the severe limi ta-tions of the is land w hid1 the mut ineers must have been ab le lo ~ee from their ship. they struggled ashore at the only possible access to the island-a boulde r-strewn t:ove pounded w ith hea vy scus almusl t:ont inu-a lly. The rest o f the is land is ri mmcd with cl iffs 300 feet high.

Myths

Pitcairn Stamps Honor Hams Ma ny radio e nthus iasts-philate lists

o r not-were interested in Lhe announce-me nt by the Pitcairn Is land Postal Ad-minis tration that on Septe mber 4, 1996. it would issue a series of special sta mps honoring the role o f amateur radio op-erato rs in the beue rmelll o f the isla nd.

The re were to be four new s tamps-one al 20 cen ts, one for $2.50, and a two-part $ 1.50 s tam p for $3.00.

To o rder the special amateur rad io stamps. or for more information, con-tact:

The O ffice o f the Governme nt o f Pitcairn

Postal Administration British Consulate-General P1ivate Bag 92014 Auc kla nd. New Zeala nd

There is no pit:lllresque ~andy hcad1 such as the one Marlon Brando was shown dying on in the 1962 fi lm. M111i11_1 1111 rite !l1111111y. Many hi storians agree that the rea l T om C hristian was

~hot to death in a fi eld of ya ms by oppressed Tahitian men. But the America On line vt: r~ion of the Co11cise Co/11111/Jia Uectm11ic L11crclo11edia says. '" It i~ like ly that (Chris ti an) managed to re-turn to Eng land. whe re he was

Th e Pitcairn Island amateur radio station of VR6MW, Meralda Warren, being operated by VR6/D, Irma Christian, photographed by Mavis Warren, mother of Mera Ida. (Photo by Mavis Warren, Pitcairn Islander.)


Amenities To get on a nd offthe island. the sett lers built

d is tinctive 36 foot longboats. Oars were used to guide the boats as they set to sea: the n sail was raised. Today. the boats have moto rs. but oars are st i II needed 10 control the boats through the fie rce cross-curren ts and rough passage. To make hoat-handling easier and safe r, the British Navy built a concrete j etty for the islanders in the mid 1970s.

There is no a irfie ld. Build ing one has been d iscussed fo r decades, but has been judged to be too costly and quite d ifficu lt.

Occasionally helicopters based on mil i-tary ships drop supplies, but most incoming s to res arc labori ously fe rried by the islande rs working thei r long boats alongside passing ships. And many supply ships simply throw deliveries overboard. leaving them to d ri ft ashore.

There is no TV on the island, but the resi-dents have a fa ir t:ollection of videotapes and gear 10 play them on. The re are no roads as such, no cars, but a few o ff-road vehicles. Electric ity is provided by a generator that is run a few hours a day.

Achievements In 1838 the Pitcairners wrote the ir own

constillltion: it seems to be the first in his to ry to give women equal vote w ith men.

Un ti I 1926. lcuers from the island were sent out 11 ith this notice on the e nvelopes: " Posted on Pitcairn Is land: no stamps available ." T he tellers were delivered throughout the world wi thout charge.

But in 1940. the is landers realized that by issui ng thei r own sta mps they could make money. Soon stam p collectors around the world placed h igh values on sta mps from Pitcai rn .

The population of the island peaked in 1937 al 223 res idents . Today, the number is about 50. As an artidc in Nario11al Geographic pointed out. "I f on ly a few more (res ide nts) leave Pitcai rn , it may no t be possible 10 man the longboats and make contract w ith the few passing ships."

Long ago Pitcairn is landers established the tradition of si ng ing their own farewell song to v isitors leaving the is land. T he residents con-sider thei r s ing ing of that song to be one o f the h ighest honors they can bestow. The late acto r and author S terling Hayden said. " Whe n you hear the Pi tcai rncrs sing the ir good-bye song, everyone cries: The fi na l li nes of the song :

T hanks fo r your love and constant care, And ki nd ness that we kindly share. We part bu t ho pe LO meel again-Goodbyc. goodbye, goodbye."

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f/b(,V Tb ;GuitA A 1

I What To Build

After some research (my thanks to Doug DeMaw and the straightforward descriptions in hi s books) I decided to try a regenerati ve receiver kit.

Rcgenerati ve radios go back to the 1920s and were the next step after c rystal sets. Their advantage was to permit the li stener to hear weaker or more di stant sigmils than the crystal sets allowed. Although the technology quickly jumped to the supcrhcterodyne radio (which. in refined form. is what we use today) regen-eration continued to be a mainstay of kit building for decades.

A regenerati ve receiver takes the rad io signal. which can be very weak. and repeat-edly feeds it back th rough an ampliliercircuit. This can increase the signal strength hundreds of times. The regeneration cont rol determi nes the ex tent to which the signal is strengthened and keeps the signal from becoming too strong for the components to handle. This process allows a relatively simple. inex pensive radio to detect more than only strong local stations.

The --Genny" met my own criteria of sim-plicity and lack of expense. It also requires a ham.ls-on approach to tuning in stations and I wanted to try that. Several manufacturer~ offer such kits. I ordered the Ten-Tee model I 054, 4-band shortwave receiver from their T- Kit di vision. I was willing to ri sk $24.95 on this venture.

I Preparation

While waiting forthc ki t to arrive I tackled that soldering bogeyman. The written instruc-tions I've come across simply don t work for former English majors. I could proofread the directions but not translate them into action. Finally. I talked to some older members of my ham radio club. This was how I learned about the best wattage for the iron. the type and size of solder to use. ti ming. and how to hold the iron ti p and solder to get the proper flow.

After a brief demonstration I practiced soldering some lengths ofbel I wire. In half an hour I was gelling good mechanical and e lec-trical connec tions. Twist the wires togethe r. hold the tip of the iron (actually a 30 watt soldering pencil) against the point where the wires joined for about 3 seconds and apply the solder 10 the joint directly opposite the tip.

Holy cow, it worked 1 I repeated the pro-cess a dozen times to be sure

02 february 1997

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