W3APL is the club station of the APL Amateur Radio Club. The club station and beacon transmitters are located on the campus of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

The club previously used the call sign W3VD for more than 30-years. W3VD has been reassigned to another amateur station in 2010.

The club operates the following radio beacon transmitters:

1296.060 MHz, 300 mW into an Alford slot at 125 ft

903.055 MHz, OUT OF SERVICE, was 7 Watts into a halo at 68 Ft.

432.312 MHz, 7 Watts into a crossed dipole at 68 ft,

144.296 MHz, 23 Watts into a halo @ 57 ft.; was 8 watts prior to 2013 (and out of service the second half of 2012).

50.064 MHz, 8 Watts into a halo at 53 ft.

28.296 MHz, 8 Watts into a dipole @ 55 Ft

QSL via E-Mail to: W3APL@jhuapl.edu

73,

Gary Letsch - AK3N,APL Amateur Radio Club President

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Historical background: W3VD was the APL Amateur Radio Club Call. APL is an abbreviation for The Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University. The beacon site is APL. Six simultaneous transmitters are keyed using a common keyer. Beacons are on 28.296 MHz, 50.064 MHz, 144.296 MHz, 432.317 MHz, 903.056 MHz and 1296.060 MHz.

The beacon concept was first started in Europe and Bill Tynan, W3KMV, now W3XO, requested permission for APL to test a beacon on 144 MHz. A STA was given for 1 year. The FCC determined that this beacon did not seem to cause a problem and thus has allowed them to this date.

As a matter of trivia, the 144 MHz beacon that is heard today is the same one started in either 1976 or 1978 (I can't remember).

This was written by retired club member, W3TMZ.