July 2025

MRHS Newsletter No. 99

Dedicated to True Believers Afloat & Ashore

Photo Essay: Night of Nights XXV

Announcement: Night of Nights XXVI

Marconi T Antenna at RS Restored To Service

Announcement: Enigma Encrypted Broadcast Event

Heading for Gold: The Second Quarter Century ...



Photo Essay: Night of Nights XXV

The Silver Jubilee edition of the Night of Nights: Night of Nights XXV was another rousing success! In previous years "The Wireless Giant of the Pacific," KPH, was joined by other historic maritime radio coast stations from both the commercial world and the United States Coast Guard. KPH this year is the last station standing proud, keeping the "music of Morse" alive on the ether in this annual celebration of the noble history of maritime radio,

This year, once again, the staff of KPH were joined by the Maritime Radio Historical Society OFFICIAL Photographer, Ann Hermes, who attended the festivities at both the Bolinas Radio transmitter site (BL) and the Point Reyes receive site (RS).

We are honored to share her beautiful, artistic work with you again this year to document another successful operation.

As all "True Believers" know, Night of Nights is celebrated each year on July 13 (Greenwich Mean Time). The last American Morse maritime radio coast station ceased operations on 12 July 1999. But it was that sad event that inspired the founding of your Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS). Hence, each annual celebration of Night of Nights is a remembrance of what was and a celebration of what continues to be.

This year the staff at KPH were duly honored to be joined by one of the Co-Founders of the MRHS, Tom Horsfall, pictured above in the "Treasure Room" at RS. If it was not for the vision, persistence and hard work of Tom and his fellow Co-Founder, Richard Dillman, Night of Nights I would never have happened, much less still be happening a quarter of a century later.

Many thanks Tom for honoring us with your presence this year!

Crack Morse operator Mike Payne/MP presiding at the fabled "Position One" at RS, where the commercial service is controlled during operating hours. MP is a veteran, literally, operator with vast experience as a US Navy and US Coast Guard radioman.

The MRHS staff is blessed to have a small core group of dedicated volunteers who are local to KPH. But there are others, like Rob Harris (pictured above) who travel a long distance when they can to support the core team. We are grateful to Rob for making the journey from Southern California to sit the circuit at the "Wireless Giant of the Pacific."

Do you have a desire to assist the mission of the MRHS, but live at a distance from the Bay Area? Rob is a living example that maybe YOU can help the mission, too! Drop us an email ... just hit REPLY to this email and you will be directed to the right department.

Transmitter Department member Paul Shinn/PS made the fraught journey to the Bay Area from the radio ranch at Mount Shinn to assist the staff at the transmitter site at Bolinas Radio. Paul brings his extensive experience as a broadcast engineer to keep the classic transmitters at BL on the air. Thanks, PS!

One of the unsung heroes of the MRHS is Maintenance Supervisor Bill Ruck/RK. Bill is a Bay Area radio legend with decades of service in the broadcast industry. Bill brings those gifts to help keep KPH on the air ... especially in the middle of an operations day when critical hardware goes down for the count. In the finest traditions of the service Bill helps to keep the station on the air no matter what. It should also be noted that Bill is a gifted chef (his famed "Radioman's Stew" keeps the staff satisfied and nourished during the long hours of Night of Nights each year). Bill is also an excellent host to the countless visitors to KPH, sharing his vast knowledge of the history of the station and maritime radio.

Here we see Operations Department member Kevin McGrath/KM at the key at BL. By the clock on the wall we can tell it is late in the evening and the operations at RS have secured in preparation for the end of Night of Nights XXV. Kevin is also the KPH Cryptography Manager. He has an exciting announcement a little further along in this issue of your MRHS newsletter ... keep reading!

The most solemn moment of Night of Nights has arrived, the closing "Benediction," being sent this year by Roy Henrichs/RH, doing his usual masterful job at the key. When Night of Nights began our beloved Denice Stoops/DA composed a moving text to close the festivities. DA was one of the last operators at KPH before the station secured operation at Point Reyes. Her "Benediction" text is a tribute to the men and women who helped to protect the safety of life at sea and who provided vital communications services on a constant, never ending watch over the course of almost a century.

Overseeing the operation are David Mortimer/DV and Transmitter Supervisor Steve Hawes/SH. Steve and David do yeoman work each year preparing for Night of Nights and then keeping all the classic transmitters on the air through a grueling day and night.

With a long day's work now complete the entire staff gathers for a commemorative picture. Well done to all for making Night of Nights XXV another great success!

The reward for all of their efforts is the traditional Night of Nights cake, which was enjoyed once again by all before the long ride home and a well-deserved rest, with dreams and plans for Night of Nights XXVI!

Speaking of which ....

Announcement: Night of Nights XXVI

July 12, 1999.

A dark day in the history of wireless communications.

For a century ships at sea were never alone. Despite distance and tempests the miracle of wireless telegraphy kept mariners in contact with shore. Twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, three hundred and sixty five days per year, the limits of time and space were overcome by wireless. What made this form of communications special was that it was always undertaken in the form of a Morse code "conversation" between two operators, two living human beings: one at sea, the other ashore.

But, seemingly, the conversation came to an end in the United States of America at the end of the Greenwich Mean Time day of 12 July 1999 at Half Moon Bay, California. A century of communication reduced to silence.

However, as all True Believers know the radio silence of 13 July 1999 inspired the founding of your Maritime Radio Historical Society. In short order the silence was ended as the facilities of maritime radio coast station KPH were restored and the fabled music of Morse was revived. Despite technical challenges, weather induced damage, and a global pandemic, the silence continues to be overcome by "The Wireless Giant of the Pacific."

Each year the renewal of maritime Morse wireless is celebrated on the anniversary of the founding of the Maritime Radio Historical Society with an event called "Night of Nights." This year marks the twenty-sixth anniversary of the founding of the MRHS.

We invite all True Believers to join in the celebration once again by tuning into the transmissions of maritime radio coast stations KPH and KFS, beginning at 0001 GMT, 13 July 2025 (5:01pm PDT, 12 July 2025).

Reception Report and QSL Information: Please send reception reports for KPH and KFS and QSLs for K6KPH to the Maritime Radio Historical Society at Post Office Box 392, Point Reyes Station, CA 84856 USA. Please include a self addressed stamped envelope for an expedited reply, including covetted KPH/KFS/K6KPH QSL cards.

N.B. Due to the challenges presented by logistics and crowd control Night of Nights XXVI will be a non-public event. We regret that this is the case but we invite you to join us on the air at the frequencies listed below.

Here is the transmitter, antenna and frequency information for Night of Nights XXVI:

FREQUENCY                  TRANSMITTER          ANTENNA

KPH CW

500/426                             HENRY MF5000D        MARCONI T

(PARTLY DOWN)

4247.0                               OFF THE AIR ANTENNA DOWN

6477.5                               RCA K SET 251            DOUBLE EXTENDED ZEPP

                                          HENRY HF5000D B2

8642.0                           RCA L SET 303B3       DOUBLE EXTENDED ZEPP

                                          HENRY HF5000D B3

12808.5                             RCA L SET 304              H OVER 2

                               HENRY HF5000D B4

17016.8                              RCA L SET 305              H OVER 2

                                      HENRY HF5000D B6

 22477.5                             RCA H SET 298             H OVER 2

                                           HENRY HF5000D D3    ANTENNA DAMAGED

KPH RTTY

6342.5                               HENRY HF5000D A2   DOUBLE EXTENDED ZEPP

8427.0                               HENRY HF5000D A3    END-FED WIRE ANT

12585.5                             HENRY HF5000D A4    H OVER 2

K6KPH CW

3550                                   HENRY HF5000D A1   END-FED WIRE

7050                                   RCA L SET 271            DOUBLE EXTENDED ZEPP

                                           HENRY HF5000D D2

14050                                HENRY HF5000D D1

18097.5                             HENRY HF5000D B5     ANTENNA DAMAGED

21050                                HENRY HF5000D D4     ANTENNA DAMAGED

KFS CW

12695.5                             PW-15 12B                        H OVER 2

We will have a complete report about this years "Night of Nights" in our next newsletter. We would be delighted to receive pictures and videos from your own station showing how you participated in "Night of Nights." To forward your contributions, just hit REPLY to this newsletter email and send them along!

Marconi T Antenna at RS Restored to Service

Maritime Radio Coast stations were able to provide coverage to ships in all the oceans and seas of the world twenty-four hours a day because the service used frequency allocations in various parts of the radio spectrum, If a ship could not get their message to a coast station on one frequency they could try another frequency at a very different wavelength in order to get the message through to its destination. As the Night of Nights announcement above indicates, KPH currently operates on five frequencies in what are commonly referred to as the "short wave" bands.

However, historically, when maritime radio began in the age of Marconi, and right up to the seeming end of the Morse maritime radio service (c. 1999), the main distress and calling frequency was in the "Medium Frequency" spectrum, at a wavelength of 600m, or 500 kilocycles (kc). There were/are also working channels "above" the distress and calling channel, in terms of wavelength. Following the loss of RMS TITANIC/MGY in 1912 all ships at sea, and most coast stations, were required to maintain a continuous watch on 500 kc. Twice an hour, from 15 - 18 minutes past the hour, and 45 - 48 minutes past the hour, all station observed a "Silent Period" on 500 kc so that ships in distress, who perhaps were operating under reduced power, could be heard through the constant cacophony of the massive amounts of radio traffic that was present on that channel. Every ship and coast station listened carefully at those times, and then made a notation in the official radio log for that station that the "Silent Period" was observed and that (hopefully) nothing was heard. Even today the operators at KPH observe the Silent Period and make a notation in the log indicating that nothing was heard ("SP OBSERVED -- NILL").

For reasons beyond the scope of this presentation transmitters and receivers on 600m needed very large "vertical" antennas. On a ship at sea it was impossible to install an antenna that was of the proper length that would have been efficient at this long wavelength. But a compromise could be created by using a "short" vertical wire that was attached to a long horizontal wire ... perhaps between a fore and aft mast on a ship at sea. This type of antenna is called a "Marconi T".

While at one time KPH had a huge transmitting tower for 600m, it eventually became unsafe and was taken down and replaced by a "Marconi T" for transmitting at BOLINAS RADIO. This is the style of antenna that was used at the time the station closed in 1997 and is still in service today.

A "Marconi T" is also used at the receive site at Point Reyes. The antenna is relatively simple: an incredibly long horizontal wire, suspended between two very high poles, and a vertical wire coming down from the center of the horizontal wire that serves as the active element of this receiving antenna.

Regular readers of these newsletters will know that "incredibly long horizontal wires" and the sometimes ferocious weather at Point Reyes do not always make a good match. Wires corrode and part. Poles fall over in the wind. It is not unusual for bad things to happen. But as you can see from the above, maintaining a good receiving antenna on 600m was a mission critical requirement. However, the MRHS does not enjoy the benefit of a full-time staff of brave riggers who can climb poles in a storm, or the deep pockets of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in its heyday. When one more bad Winter took down the "Marconi T" at Point Reyes the service was severely impacted.

However, the overall steward of the facilities at KPH, the US National Park Service, on behalf of the tax payers of the United States were able to provide funding to restore the wrecked "Marconi T". Our good friend and MRHS True Believer Adam McLaughlin and his team were contracted to restore the antenna in the Autumn of 2024.

The first task was simply to create access to the site through the overgrown flora ...

Then the work of restoring the poles and the infrastructure that supports the actual antenna could be accomplished.

A new antenna was created and prepared for installation ...

Here you can see the new vertical element securely attached to the new horizontal element.

Then the new antenna was restored to the poles ...

Then the vertical wire was reattached to the feed point which connects the antenna to the transmission line that carries the received signals into the building where they are distributed to the receivers.

So, how well does this restored antenna work?

Adjacent to the 600m maritime radio band there is an allocation of frequencies in the amateur radio service, This is a very difficult band for amateur radio operators to use because of the very long wavelength, However, some stalwart experimenters, using very low levels of effective radiated power (less than 5 watts!) transmit beacons which are monitored by other stations and are then posted to a web site. One of the Software Defined Radios at KPH monitors these amateur transmissions and posts the data to the internet. Here is a sample of what the new antenna received one night last winter,

Here you can see that KPH heard a signal on the newly restored antenna as far away as Vermont! Remember, this station is transmitting with barely enough power to illuminate a flashlight bulb!

Well done Adam, and team! And thanks to the US National Parks Service, the tax payers of the USA, and True Believers everywhere who made this project a reality!

Announcement: Enigma Encrypted Broadcast Event

ATTENTION ALL INTERCEPT OPERATORS!

Upcoming KPH Crypto Event

On Saturday August 30th 2025, KPH will transmit a coded message in 5-letter groups. The message will be encrypted using the famous ENIGMA German code machine.

All KPH listeners are invited to try their hand at receiving and decrypting the message. Certificates will be awarded for proof of successful decode, first to decode and for use of original or replica hardware.

You say your Enigma machine is a bit rusty? Perhaps it has slipped a cog? No problem, a Google search will turn up several software simulations for the Enigma code machine. 

The crypto broadcast will commence at 2000 GMT (1300 Pacific) on 30 August 2025 on all KPH CW and RTTY frequencies. 

More details to follow in the next newsletter. Stay tuned!

Heading for Gold: The Second Quarter Century

Okay ... maybe we are a bit premature here ...

But the Maritime Radio Historical Society has come about around the "Silver Anniversary" mark and with Night of Nights XXVI we are headed to the next waypoint on the voyage of the history of maritime radio. Given that the first heat in this historical voyage lasted almost a century ... up to that fateful day in 1999 when the Morse service of KPH/KFS went seemingly silent forever ... this next leg of the journey has really only just begun.

With a quarter century of experience behind us we can rightly celebrate the almost miraculous level of restoration and preservation of maritime radio that has been accomplished under the stewardship of OUR Maritime Radio Historical Society. The accomplishments of this past twenty-five years should give us all encouragement and hope that in twenty four years there will be an MRHS newsletter announcing Night of Nights L.

So how do we get there???

Almost certainly that MRHS newsletter of the future will contain pictures of few of the people who are depicted in this issue.

But the faithful staff of "The Wireless Giant of the Pacific" today are looking for that next generation who will take up the key and the soldering iron and lead the MRHS into the next quarter century. SO, especially if you are younger than the folks in the pictures, please ask yourself: "How can I help?" And then get involved! All the people depicted in this issue, once upon a time, wandered in the door with wonder and goodwill and found a niche ... and kept coming back. Even those who eventually had serious health issues or who had to move away left their heart in SANFRANCISCORADIO/KPH/KFS ....

SO, if you are inspired by the dedication of the people you see in this newsletter, we encourage you to follow their good example ... and wander in the door ... either literally or virtually. Stop by or drop us an email and simply say: "How can I help?"

The amazing images of the restoration of the massive Marconi T antenna at the Point Reyes receive site reminds us that we need not only work, but the resources to do the work, And this is where all of us can help. You know what is coming ...

We are SO grateful for the generosity of True Believers everywhere who have made generous gifts, large and small, that have made it possible for OUR MRHS to do the amazing things that have been accomplished; namely preserving the last historic maritime radio coast station in the world. Your gifts make this possible.

So, once again, we ask you to consider making a gift to the MRHS so that there will be a Night of Nights L in 2049. Making a gift is easy ... Just smash that yellow DONATE button you see below ...

All of us today have hope that wherever we are we will be bathed in the "music of Morse" at 0001 GMT 13 July 2049 ... That is our gift to the future ...

Until next time, Fair Winds and Following Seas ...