ARLA/CLUSTER: EUA: Military/Amateur Radio Crossband Communications Test

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

Military/Amateur Radio Crossband Communications Test

In celebration of the 63rd anniversary of Armed Forces Day (AFD), the
Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are co-sponsoring
the annual Military/Amateur Radio Crossband Communications Test.

Although Armed Forces Day is traditionally celebrated on the third
Saturday in May - May 18th - the AFD Military/Amateur Crossband
Communications Test will be conducted on May 11th to prevent conflict
with the Dayton Hamvention, scheduled for May 17-19th.

The annual celebration features traditional military-to-amateur
crossband communications SSB voice and Morse code tests. These tests
give Amateur Radio operators and short wave listeners an opportunity
to demonstrate their individual technical skills and to receive
recognition from the appropriate military radio station for their
proven expertise. QSL cards will be provided to stations making
contact with the military stations.

Military-to-amateur crossband operations will take place on the dates
and time in UTC on the frequencies listed for the Army, Air Force and
Navy/Marine Corps and Coast Guard MARS stations. Voice contacts will
include operations in single sideband voice (SSB); some stations will
use CW to provide the opportunity to check in by Morse code.

Depending on propagation and staffing, some stations may not operate
the entire period. Participating military stations will transmit on
selected
military MARS frequencies and listen for Amateur Radio stations in the
amateur bands. The military station operator will announce the specific
amateur band frequency being monitored. Duration of each voice contact
should be limited to 1-2 minutes.

The annual Secretary of Defense message will be transmitted via
digital modes, including RTTY, PACTOR, AMTOR, PSK-31, MFSK and MT63
from certain stations.

Check the MARS Armed Forces Crossband Test website for schedules and
frequencies of participating military stations, including a list of
stations that will be transmitting the annual Secretary of Defense
message at:
http://www.usarmymars.org/home/announcements
Instructions on how to copy and submit the message are also included.

Fonte: OPDX