THE            ISSUE 4, APRIL 2003

NEWSLETTER OF THE QIN AND ICN INDIANA CW TRAFFIC NETS

NET SCHEDULES:

QIN - meets on 3.656 Mhz at 0000 UTC and 1430 UTC daily

ICN - meets on 3.705 Mhz at 2315 UTC daily

QIN NCS Schedule

- QIN MARCH 2003 STATS -

* All station locations are in Indiana unless otherwise specified.

QIN Manager's Comments for March 2003

The morning net, 1430Z, is still experiencing some tough conditions, so please bear with us. Net Control stations should take advantage of 40 meters if the conditions are better there to run the net, and to pass traffic.

There were 17 different stations QNI in the month of March, and 174 pieces of traffic passed, 81 during the early net, and 93 during the late net. Average time per session for the early net was 18 minutes, and 22.6 minutes for the late net. The (1430z) late net reported 31 sessions for a 100% participation, and the (0000z) early net 30 sessions for 97%. QNI's for the morning (Late) session were 141 total, and the evening (Early) session, 107 total.

Outstanding QNI's were Jim/ K9ZBM-25, Mark/W9PC-25, Gary/KB9TUI-30, Andy/KC9BZL-30, and Dick/K9PUI-55.

NCS stations were Brent/N9HZ-3, Mark/W9PC-3, Andy/KC9BZL-6, Kirk/KO9D-6, John/WB9OFG-13, Dick/K9PUI-14, and Gary/KB9TUI-16. THANKS BRENT, MARK, ANDY, KIRK, JOHN, and GARY for being there and running things.

W3GQJ, John, is our newcomer for the month, and is from Granger. Be sure to welcome him if you get a chance, and put him on your net station list. Welcome JOHN and hope you can check in often.

W9PC, Mark, is now our regular NCS on Sunday evening. Please give Mark your cooperation and support in helping him back in the NCS slots, and we welcome him back.

Also thank you for your outstanding contribution to the Newsletter with the "Signalman" article. Thank you MARK.

QIN exceeded last months traffic handled by 16, which is about a 10% increase.

Message handling efficiency was improved on again, which is always good news.

We are just about into the spring/summer slump due to vacations and other activities. Maybe with a little bit of luck we can keep things on an even keel this year.

Thank you all for your participation and support of the net.

73, Dick/K9PUI

-ICN-

*Webmaster's note: Sorry.....ICN Individual station stats and ICN Net Manager's Comments unavailable for March.

~ THE SIGNALMAN ~ PART II

by Mark Phillips, W9PC

We assured Joe that we would take it easy with him, and we headed back to Hornet. We were overjoyed to find that the light had been restored to operating condition only minutes before we returned. Dad immediately seized the lamp, and switched it on. A 12-inch diameter signal lamp functions by staying on constantly while in use, with the signalman opening and closing shutters using a handle. A polished stainless steel mirror at the back of the fixture enhances the light intensity. The sheet metal lamp housing gets extremely hot and will burn one's arm if you are not very careful.

I laid my video camera on the deck, and grabbed my notepad and pen. Open house was in progress, and a large number of visitors and volunteers crowded around us on the signal bridge, somewhat inhibiting our operation, but we wanted to share the moment as much as possible. Dad aimed the light at Carl Vinson and sent "AA", the naval equivalent of CQ. I studied the signal bridge on Carl Vinson through my binoculars. A sailor immediately moved across the bridge and went through a hatch, into the compartment where we had met Joe. Two sailors came back onto the bridge and sent "K". Dad sent "are you Joe K". The reply from Carl Vinson started back "Can". Then, there was a pause, then another "Can". What in the world is this, some kind of Navy slang, "Can Can"? Then suddenly I knew from my recollection of reading a Navy training manual that each word must be acknowledged by sending a "T" before the sender will advance to the next word. The sender will continue to repeat the same word until he sees a “T”. Dad was unfamiliar with this technique because they used to just hold the light shutter open while successfully copying the transmission, and closed the shutter when they needed a repeat or a fill. Sounds like a superior technique similar to full break in QSK, doesn't it? The Navy uses WA, WB and so on very similarly to what we do to ask for “word after and “word before”. I yelled, "Send a T". Dad wondered why, so I had to very quickly tell him, while a third "Can" started up. The "T" dad sent cut off the transmission of the third "Can" and the sender advanced to the next word "You". I was greatly relieved. I ordered dad to send another "T", which he did promptly. Things were starting to go smoothly now, and I was getting encouraged. "Send" was the next word we received, so I correctly predicted that the next word would be "Slower". I told dad the sailor on Carl Vinson could not copy at this speed, and we would have to slow down. I knew that Navy signal lights are constructed so that 15 words per minute cannot be exceeded. That is the maximum speed our eyes can distinguish individual flashes. A higher speed causes us to see a continuous light. I estimated that dad was sending at 15WPM. Dad said, "This is the way we used to send, and it's how I know how to send". In other words, forget about slowing down. He sent "R", and we continued our QSO. The signalman on Carl Vinson appeared to get stuck on a "W", and just could not figure it out. Dad moved around the Flag Bag (a big box that held signal pennants) so as to get to an unobstructed spot to send by semaphore. The Navy man copied dad's semaphore easily. I instructed dad to tell the Navy man to send to us using only the light. Now we had a cross mode technique going that really worked well and suited both ship's personnel. We sent semaphore and received flashing light while Carl Vinson's signalmen did the opposite.

We continued our QSO for about an hour, during which time the Hornet's bullhorn announced to the thousands of volunteers and visitors all over the ship "Now hear this: Hornet and USS Carl Vinson now exchanging visual signals!" What a proud moment that was, highlighted by my dad looking as if he was 50 years younger as he was when he was in the Navy. He looked like he could easily take over signalman duties on a current Navy ship, and maybe teach their signal gang a few tricks. The only down side to the whole day was that dad had to remove his Pentax camera belt pack in order to have freedom of movement to send semaphore. He laid the camera and pack on
the deck. Apparently, a visitor brazenly stole it while we were concentrating heavily on signaling. He must have left the bridge so close behind me that he might have actually brushed against me in the process. The Shore Patrol was alerted, but of course the camera was gone for good. Fortunately, even though I was extremely busy I managed to shoot a small quantity of videotape of our operation.

We secured our operation and got ready for the big Navy ball that night in one of the gigantic hangers at Alameda NAS. The Navy dance band from San Diego provided our favorite style of music, Big Band. Dad and I both play trumpet in a 15-piece big band in Indianapolis. We play the classic swing numbers from the 40's, as well as some of the more recent big band tunes. Dad and I were a big hit at the ball that night. News of our successful signaling operation was all over the base. The base CO, Capt. Dodge personally congratulated us on "blowing away" the duty signal crew on Carl Vinson. He was just as pleased and proud about that as we were!

Today, Naval Air Station Alameda is permanently closed due to budget cuts, except for a small Coast Guard operation. No more planes will ever operate from Nimitz Field, the base airfield. It is closed for ever due to do gooders, environmentalists, worries about noise (it was OK for 50 years), concern for a bird, and so on. Fortunately, Hornet lives on as a museum ship at Alameda. Make sure to visit it if you are in the San Francisco Bay area. Go to the starboard signal bridge and just hang around for a while. See if you get the feeling I had, of being surrounded by the sprit of the many sailors who crewed this mighty ship. It's not a feeling of spooky "ghosts", but more of a feeling of history, strength of purpose, and resolve to do a job. You will gain an appreciation of how it was to live and work in a difficult and crowded environment where even the most simple and most detailed tasks collectively resulted in the successful operation of a very large and complicated piece of machinery, and an even larger fleet. You will probably not be able to operate the signal light because the crew removes the valuable bulb dad got from the destroyer and keeps it locked up somewhere for future use.

Additional note: You can take a virtual tour of Hornet at their website http://www.uss-hornet.org./ Click on “Explore the Ship” in the left margin, then scroll down to Island Structure. Select “Flag Signal Platform”, and you will see a good picture on the port side signal bridge. The signal light in the picture is identical to the one we used, except that this one has no power cord and is therefore inoperative. The power outlet and on-off switch is below and to the right of the light. Note that there is a brass telegraph key mounted on the bulkhead just to the right of the power outlet. This key operated light bulbs up on the yardarms high above. In the background just beyond the key is the “Flag Bag”. The starboard side signal bridge dad and I operated from is virtually identical to the port side one shown in the picture.

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