On 30 September 1996, Amateur Radio Station K3NAL was officially decommissioned in its previous location at the site of the former Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD), Warminster, Pennsylvania.  For many years, K3NAL had a long, proud history serving the amateurs who worked at the home of the Navy's Research & Development Laboratory in this northeast Philadelphia community.   Before NAWC-AD, the laboratory complex was known as the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) and before that, it was the site of the old Brewster Aircraft Factory during World War II.  When the government decided to close the facility as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, it was thought that this would be the end of the K3NAL era.  Although the decision had been made to close NAWC-AD Warminster, the Navy still had a need for portions of the engineering processes.  These processes were transferred to brand new complexes that were constructed at the Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division primary site located in Patuxent River, Maryland (about 60 miles south of Washington, D.C. in southern Maryland adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay)

  During the several year close-out and move period, Pete Butt (WA3UMY) who was the station custodian at Patuxent River, met several times with Doug Crompton, WA3DSP, the K3NAL station custodian.  It was decided to transfer the K3NAL call sign down to Patuxent River at the same time that the laboratory assets were being transferred.  This page is dedicated to the past history of K3NAL, the folks who ran it at Warminster, and some of their accomplishments.  For a look at some of the earlier years at K3NAL prior to the move, please click [ here ] to see Doug's nostalgic look at the station.

  For almost forty years, the amateur radio station at Patuxent River used the callsign W3PQT.  A decision was made in 2005 to officially 'retire' that callsign and only use K3NAL for the club station call.  That is the callsign that we use today for all operations from the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River.

  Here are several posters and QSL cards that we have issued for various events in the last few years: