Civilian Conservation Corps Amateur Radio Operations

The Civilian Conservation Corps came into being in the spring of 1933. It's goal was twofold: to provide needed economic relief to families suffering from the effects of the Great Depression and to protect and develop the natural resources of the United States. CCC Amateur Radio Ops strives to honor the contribution that "The Boys" of the corps made to our country and to our natural environment. As radio played a big part in how the camps communicated with each other, our goal is to put the sites of the CCC camps back on the air.

How can you participate? Easy, find the location of a CCC camp in your area or one of the many public works they constructed, set up a radio and start making contacts. We will be holding the annual CCC On-The-Air Weekend the second full weekend of August. We would love to have you join us but feel free to activate a CCC camp anytime. Be sure Join our Yahoo group and let us know what camp you are activating and the company number (ex, Camp Wolverine Co# 673).

Contact me, KG8JK ccc@ qsl.net for more information.

The CCC On-The-Air weekend is held the second full weekend in August each year. The event will start Saturday at 14:00z (10:00am EDT) and run until Sunday 21:00z (5:00 pm EDT).We would encourage you to activate the actual location of one of the camps however, if it is no longer accessible or you cannot get permission to set up on the site, you may operate from one of the project sites the camp worked on. Many state local parks have buildings that were constructed by the "CCC Boys" and would make a suitable place to not only honor them but also promote amateur radio at the same time.

Our goal is to make contacts between as many of the camps as possible and to contact as many amateur radio operators as possible. This is a work in progress so any ideas would be welcome. We would like to present certificates to all groups that activate a camp and possibly certificates for anyone contacting a certain number of camps. You may want to make a QSL card for the event showcasing the CCC company that you are representing. We will attempt to post a listing of all the participating camps so be sure to let us know which camp and Co# you wish to activate.

Be sure to Join our Yahoo group so you can let us know what camp you are activating. In order to help the camps find each other on the air, I suggest the following (thanks Michigan QSO party): Look for activity during the even-numbered hours on 10, 20 and 80 meters, and during the odd-numbered hours on 15 and 40 meters. Look for SSB activity on the hour and CW on the half hour. This may allow us to contact more CCC stations. Again, this is just a suggestion, no need to switch frequencies if you are having luck elsewhere.

These are the frequencies I would like to use for the the CCCOTA Weekend (and for any independent activations). We will try and focus our activity around these (keeping in mind any established band plans). If you are wanting to run VHF or UHF use the simplex calling frequencies. Run any digital modes (PSK31, SSTV, etc) according to the band plan established for those modes.

3.550
7.050
14.050
21.050
28.050

3.950
7.250
14.250
21.250
28.350

"My CCC and Telegraph Experiences" by Jim Farrior W4FOK (SK)

W4FOK (SK) - check out more of Jim's stories and pictures

The Mill - a program for learning American and International Morse Code - by W4FOK (SK)

Ron's Radio Heaven - the site of W4RON. Lot's of information on the radios used by the CCC and even some CCC qsl cards

Camp List - a list of camps by state, courtesy of CCC Legacy

Civilian Conservation Corps and the AARS - a nice article by AD7MI about the role of amateur radio in the CCC

Photos and Memories - send in your photos and CCC memories and we will try and post them here.

The Amplifier - a bulletin issued by the Net Control Station of District H, CCC - courtesy of W4FOK (SK). Lots of great information about the CCC radio Nets and even plans for the antenna many of the camps used