Titanic: Amateur radio operator heard SOS in Welsh town 2,000 miles away

The BBC published an interesting article on Sunday about Arthur Moore who heard the CQD call from the Titanic at his homemade station in south Wales in the United Kingdom. The article is a tie in to the new digital scans of the Titanic, resting on the ocean floor that were released last week. Moore would go on the pioneer in sonar technology, the very technology that would lead to the discovery of the Titanic’s resting place. Take a moment to read the article about Moore, his station, and a few other interesting situations Moore found himself in here https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-65398807

National Hurricane Center Amateur Radio Station Annual Test

The below article was taken from the ARRL website.

The amateur radio station of the National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC (NHC), located on the campus of Florida International University in Miami, will conduct their on-the-air Annual Communications Test on Saturday, May 27, 2023, from 9 AM – 5 PM EDT (1300z- 2100z).

This is the NHC’s 43rd year of public service. NHC Amateur Radio Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R/WX4NHC, reports that the purpose of this event is to test amateur radio equipment and antennas at the NHC as well as operators’ home equipment, antennas, and computers prior to this year’s hurricane season. The 2023 hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through November 30.

This event is good practice for amateur radio operators worldwide to practice amateur radio communications during times of severe weather.

Ripoll said WX4NHC will be on HF, VHF, UHF, 2- and 30-meter APRS, and Winlink, To contact the NHC’s amateur radio station send an email to wx****@wi*****.org . The subject of the email must contain //WL2K.

WX4NHC will try to stay on the Hurricane Watch Net frequency, 14.325 MHz, for most of the time, as well as 7.268 MHz depending on propagation. They may also change frequencies due to potential QRM.

You may be able to find WX4NHC on HF by using one of the DX spotting networks, such as the DX Summit website at http://www.dxsummit.fi.

The VoIP Hurricane Net will also be active from 4 PM – 5 PM EDT (2000-2100z), RLP node 9219/EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203. Visit their website for more information.

WX4NHC will also make a few contacts on local VHF and UHF repeaters, as well as the Florida Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet) system to test station equipment.

QSL cards are available via WD4R with a self-addressed stamped envelope. More information about the NHC is available at their website.

Kenwood announce new Tri Band (144/220/440) Handheld Transciever at Hamvention.

Released specs are:

• 144/220/430MHz TRIBANDER
• APRS Protocol Compliant – To exchange GPS location data and messages in real-time.
• D-STAR with Simultaneous Reception on DV mode – Compatible for transferring voice and digital data over D-STAR networks.
• Reflector Terminal mode to access D-STAR Reflectors
• USB Type-C for Data Transfer and Charging
• Built-in Digipeater station to transmit received data
• Built-in GPS Unit
• Easy-to-Read Transflective Color TFT Display
• Call Sign Readout
• Tough & Robust – meets IP54/55 Standards
• Wide-band and multi-mode reception
• Built-in IF Filter for comfortable reception (SSB/CW)
• DSP-based Voice Processing and Reputable KENWOOD Custom tuned Sound Quality
• Bluetooth, microSD/SDHC Memory Card Slot for Flexible link with a PC