11/03/2023
Special event stations will offer many opportunities for amateur radio operators to honor Veterans and make contacts for Veterans Day.
The K1USN Radio Club will be on the air on Saturday, November 11, 2023, to show their appreciation for those who have served in the military. The club station is located at 85 Quincy Avenue in Braintree, Massachusetts. K1USN will be on the HF bands on SSB, CW, and FT8, and they will begin operating at 1300 UTC and run until 2100 UTC. K1USN QSL cards will be available for all who contact the station.
The American Legion Post 111 Amateur Radio Club, KA4TAL, in South Carolina will also operate on November 11 from 10 AM to 3 PM ET on 14.255, 7.264, 14.275, and 7.185 MHz. Email talarc.ka4tal@gmail.com for electronic contact certificates.
On the same day, the Liberty ship S.S. John W. Brown, K8JWB, will hold National Liberty Ship Day. The event honors those who served in the military and operated, protected, and built all 2,710 World War II Liberty ships, including the Merchant Marines, the Navy Armed Guard, and the female shipyard workers recruited during the war. Operations will be on 14.250, 7.225, and 21.300 MHz, from 0200Z – 0800Z. QSL cards will be available by mail from Project Liberty Ship PO Box 25846 in Baltimore, Maryland.
In Ohio, the Central Ohio Radio Club will hold their third annual Veterans Day Check-in Net on November 11, beginning at 11 AM ET. They will use their main VHF repeater, W8AIC, on 146.76 MHz (PL tone 123.0 MHz). All amateurs can check in and share stories about their own military experience, or information about family and friends who have served. A special QSL card will be mailed to each ham who contacts the station.
The Charles County Amateur Radio Club in Maryland will host their special event, The Ghost Fleet at Mallows Bay, on November 11 from 1400Z – 2100Z. Mallows Bay is the site of more than 100 shipwrecks and is now the Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary, the first national marine sanctuary in the state of Maryland. K3SMD will operate on 40 (7.270 Mhz), 20, and 15 meters on phone and FT8. QSL cards will be mailed to those who contact the station by Michelle Sack, N3YRZ, at PO Box 1182 in Waldorf, Maryland.
Also on November 11, the United States Marine Corps will celebrate its 248th anniversary (it was officially formed on 11/10/1775) and Veterans Day. The USS Midway CV-41 COMEDTRA amateur radio station, NI6IW, will be on the air from 1700Z – 2359Z on 14.320, 7.250, and 14.070 MHz. The station will use PSK31, D-STAR, the PAPA System repeaters, and a wide-area amateur radio network of 57 additional repeaters on 19 hilltops. These will provide extensive coverage of the Southern California region and beyond. A QSL card will be available for every operator who contacts NI6IW.
A complete list of special event stations, including Veterans Day stations, is available at www.arrl.org/special-event-stations. Type “Veterans” in the keyword search bar to find the stations.
Source: ARRL https://www.arrl.org/news/veterans-day-2023-special-events