OM's and YL's,

I have received a heads up via the Worldwide Utility News reflector on
oth.net that historic commercial Morse radio station KPH will return
to the air for the fifth annual "Night Of Noghts" commemoration of the
last commercial Morse message sent in the United States.

According to an announcement posted to the WUN list, KPH, the ex-RCA
coast station located north of San Francisco, will return to the air
for commemorative broadcasts on 12 July at 1701 PDT (13 July at 0001
UTC), 5 years and one minute after the last commercial Morse
transmission in the US. This on-the-air event is intended to honor the
men and women who followed the radiotelegraph trade on ships and at
coast stations around the world and made it one of honor and skill.

Transmissions are expected to continue until at least midnight PDT, or
0700 UTC.

According to Richard Dillman, W6AWO, a member of the Maritime Radio
Historical Society, work is now under way to repair an antenna so that
one frequency for station KFS might also possibly be activated.
Dillman indicated that veteran Morse operators, including former KPH
staff members, will be on duty at the receiving station at Point
Reyes, CA listening for calls from ships and sending messages just as
they did for so many years before Morse operations were shut down.

For those interested in listening for KPH/KFS, the transmitters are
located 18 miles south of Point Reyes in Bolinas, CA at the
transmitting station established in 1913 by the American Marconi Co.
The original KPH transmitters, receivers and antennas will be used to
activate frequencies in all the commercial maritime HF bands and on MF
as well.

KPH will transmit on 4247.0, 6477.5, 8642.0, 12808.5, 17016.8 and
22477.5kc on HF and 500 and 426kc on MF. If KFS is activated,
transmissions will be on 12695.5kc. These frequencies have been made
available through the cooperation of Globe Wireless, the current owner
of the KPH and KFS station licenses.

Dillman notes that many of the transmitters will be 50s vintage RCA
sets. Power output will be 4 to 5kW. The transmitting antennas
include a Marconi T for MF, double extended Zepps for 4, 6 and 8Mc and
H over 2s for 12, 16m and 22Mc.

Operators will listen for calls from ships on 4184.0, 6276.0, 8368.0,
12552.0, 16736.0 and 22280.5kc on HF and 500kc on MF.

KPH, and KFS if activated, will send traffic lists, weather and press
broadcasts as well as special commemorative messages, many of which
will be sent by hand. At other times the KPH and KFS "wheel" will be
sent to mark the transmitting frequencies.

Reception reports may be sent to:

Ms. DA Stoops
P.O. Box 381
Bolinas CA 94924-0381
USA

Ms. Stoops is a former KPH operator and was the first female
telegrapher hired at the station.

Members of the public are invited to visit the receiving station for
this event. The station will be open to visitors beginning at 1500PDT
(3:00pm). The station is located at 17400 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. and
is on the route to the Point Reyes lighthouse. Watch for a cypress
lined driveway on the right about a mile past the entry to Coast Guard
station NMC.

KPH is operated by the Maritime Radio Historical Society in
cooperation with the Point Reyes National Seashore, part of the
National Park Service.

Further information may be found on the Maritime Radio Historical
Society Web site at http://www.radiomarine.org or by contacting
Richard Dillman at +1 415-990-7090 (email: ) or Tom
Horsfall at +1 510-237-9535 (email: ).

73 DE John D. Kasupski
Tonawanda, New York, USA
Amateur Radio (KC2HMZ), HF/VHF/UHF Monitoring (KNY2VS)
Member ARRL, ARATS, ARES, RACES, WUN