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Battleship |
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Battleship |
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| In July 2005 we had planned a trip to Hawaii. I had researched what it
would take to operate HF from Hawaii and everything I read warned against trying
to operate with 100w power and less-than-ideal antennas. It seems that
everything is at least 3000 miles away and many visitors have been disappointed
trying to operate from their motel rooms. Not long before the visit I had worked a couple of the Navy Museum Ships Radio Clubs during Museum Ships Weekend. I decided to see if it might be possible to visit and operate from the Battleship Missouri during our visit. I made contact thru the Battleship Missouri Radio Club website. Ned Conklin - KH7JJ was kind enough to return my emails and volunteer to show me around Radio Central on the Missouri and allow me to operate as a guest operator for an afternoon. We arrived at Pearl Harbor early enough to take the tour of Mighty Mo before meeting Ned for our afternoon appointment. The tour of the ship was awesome. The historical significance of the ship and its role at the end of WWII is quite impressive. You can learn more about if from the ships website : U.S.S. Missouri BB-63 Memorial. To watch to signing of the final surrender and end to WWII onboard Mighty Mo - Click Here Following are some pictures of the ship as well as Radio Central and myself operating the club station - KH6BB. What a thrill to operate the giant cage vertical with 600 watts sitting in the salt water and calling "CQ CQ from KH6BB - KH6BB - Battleship Missouri - Pearl Harbor - Honolulu Hawaii" I was able to make a number of contacts to the west coast of North America as well as Asia. Ultimately, there was quite a pile-up and picking up callsigns became a challenge and a thrill. If you're planning a trip to Oahu Hawaii, why not contact the Battleship Missouri Radio Club and see if you can make arrangements to tour the ship and operate KH6BB. For more info and great pictures, be sure to visit : 73 - Aloha!
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| Approaching Battleship Missouri | View down the Port side. Many of the original 5" guns were replaced with missile launchers for the 1st Gulf War | Those 16 inch guns could lob 3,500 lb shells 23 miles accurately. |
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| Plaque marking the exact place that the surrender was signed, ending WWII Click pic for larger view | WB9DLC At the helm | Ned, KH7JJ introduces me to rig operation and logging software. |
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Thursday, July 21,
2005 |
| "CQ, CQ from KH6BB - KH6 Bravo Bravo - Battleship Missouri - Pearl Harbor - Honolulu, Hawaii" | The DX pileup was getting bad. Closest station is 3000 mile away - they're all DX. | Actual entry in the KH6BB calendar for my operation. |
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| Be sure to visit the USS Bowfin Museum Submarine located nearby. Very interesting | The Bowfin is extremely well maintained. | At the stern of the Bowfin |
