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First licensed in 1965 as WA1DRS, upgraded to Amateur Extra in
1967 to avoid the necessity of relearning all the subdivisions,
obtained secondary call N1EA in 1978, and when FCC dropped
secondary call sign assignments, kept N1EA. I Hold FCC First
Class Radiotelegraph, and First Class Radio Telephone Licenses
and worked in broadcast and at Marine Coast Stations. Also hold
U.S. Coast Guard License as Radio Officer, and sailed from 1980
until 1993 on various ships.
In 1980 while serving on the USA flagged tanker
"WILLIAMSBURGH" Jim Pfister, NS1L and myself answered
the SOS from the passenger ship PRINSENDAM, a Holland-America
cruiser bound for the Orient which was burning out of control
south of Valdez, Alaska, in the Gulf of Alaska. All 535
Passengers and crewmenbers were rescued from lifeboats from the
chilling waters of the Gulf. These Morse signals were heard
throughout the Pacific Ocean - even as far away as New Zeland at
ZLB. A 35 year vetern at RCA's San Francisco Radio/KPH was kind
enough to comment that he had never heard such professional
communications in all his years. I am glad that Mr. Pfister and
myself held up the tradition of our many qualified Radio
Officers who have given their skills to save lives at sea. There
were over 300 logs kept by these Radio Officers who monitored
our communications and stood by to assist us in any way. To any
of them that read this I thank you.
The satelite communications on the Prinsendam failed during the
SOS and all communications was carried on by a 40 watt battery
transmitter and battery receiver. SSB and VHF-FM didn't attract
any ships to help either! The only thing that got help was 500
kHz CW! Once again Morse got through! Later, the Coast Guard
would try to say that the maximum distance that 500 kHz was 100
miles under any conditions. During the daylight hours, I passed
traffic with Seattle Radio/KLB on that night and stations as far
away as San Francisco copied our Distress traffic during the
day. Radio Officers could under good conditions work 1200
nautical miles ship-to-ship in daylight hours on 500 kHz, and
much longer at night. This was fascinating communication, one
that is both an art and a science.
In 1988 I and Jim Pfister, NS1L, were awarded the "Marconi
Gold Medal" for our work during this rescue.
I am interested in any recordings of Marine Stations for
inclusion in a CW CD for history. If you have any a copy would
be appreciated!
On 14 February 2003, I married the beautiful and talented,
KB0RQN, Cheryl W. Ring. (Yes, she can kiss in morse code!) She
has a web site here: http://www.qsl.net/kb0rqn
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