Frederick Butts, NG1A, issues USS Salem Radioman's cards to Scouts who demonstrated sending their names in Morse code.
Frederick Butts, NG1A, issues USS Salem Radioman's cards to Scouts who demonstrated sending their names in Morse code. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 8, 2002--The retired heavy cruiser USS Salem (CA-139), now a museum ship, has become ham radio headquarters for Scout groups. Tied up at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, the cruiser is home to K1USN, the USS Salem Radio Club.
From September
to December 2001, more than 600 Scouts visited K1USN, and the club expects to
welcome another 400 in January, Harold "Pi" Pugh, K1RV, reports. In general, at
least four club members are onboard each Saturday afternoon to greet visitors.
Scouts arrive in groups of varying numbers and spend at least 30 minutes in
Radio Room 5 until the next group arrives. The first group then moves on to the
other radio rooms and a tour of the ship. The ship boasts five radio rooms.
 Scout (and ARRL member) Colin McCabe, W1CJM, operates the 10-meter rig aboard the USS Salem. |
Typically, one
or two HF stations are in operation, and Scouts are encouraged to get on the
air. Pugh--who is K1USN trustee--says some visitors are very relaxed, while
others are mike shy. Radio Room 5 also has two Morse code practice oscillators
that were donated to the club.
 K1USN club members (back row, L-R) Fred Butts, NG1A; Bruce Beaman, K1HTN; and Jeff Lehmann, N1ZZN, and visitors (front row, L-R) Alex Howell, KB1GGW, and Dave Hammond, N1LQ, crowd into one of the five radio rooms of the USS Salem. |
"The kids absolutely love sending their names in Morse code," Pugh said. "After they finish sending their names, they are presented with an official USS Salem Radioman's ID card, showing their name on one side and a copy of the Morse code and several Web addresses--including ARRL's--on the other side. They also receive ARRL literature and member-supplied issues of QST."
 A visiting Scout taps out his name in Morse code to earn his USS Salem Radioman certificate. |
A VHF station installed at the far end of Radio Room 5 has generated lots of interest. It's connected to the local Internet Radio Linking Project node on the Scituate, Massachusetts, W1QWT 145.390-MHz repeater. The Scouts have talked to hams--via IRLP--to McMurdo Sound, Antarctica; Honolulu, Hawaii; Melbourne, Australia; and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The club plans to obtain a dual-band 2-meter/70-cm transceiver to replace its 2-meter rig and set up the new unit as a remote base, so that hams can use a small H-T from just about anywhere onboard the ship to access the local IRLP node.
 K1USN earned this Official Observer QSL card for its good operating practice. [Photos courtesy Pi Pugh, K1RV] |
In November, Scouts worked W5LEX onboard the museum ship USS Lexington--a retired aircraft carrier in Corpus Christi, Texas. That museum ship has an overnight Scouting program, which K1USN has adopted. Pugh says that K1USN extends an invitation to Scout groups throughout New England to visit USS Salem and even stay overnight. Scout Troops from as far as New Jersey have taken advantage of this unique opportunity to experience "life at sea"--in a manner of speaking. Contact Pi Pugh, K1RV, for more information.
The USS Salem
Radio Club has sponsored the Museum Ships Weekend Event for the past five
years. The sixth annual event is scheduled for the weekend of July 20-21. More
than 75 museum ships from around the world are expected to participate. A list
of participating vessels is available on the K1USN Web page.
 Previous: FCC May Be Able to Resume Vanity Processing Soon |  Next: In Brief |