Museum Ships On-the-Air Weekend

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Museum Ships On-the-Air Weekend

If you like ships and are an amateur radio operator, 100 ships will be on the air from 3-4 June 2023 for the annual Museum Ships Weekend event.

Organizers stress that this is not a contest, but a fun event that begins at 0000Z on 3 June 2023, and runs through 2359Z on 4th June 2023.

While operation on any amateur frequency is allowed, most ships will be operating in the general portion of the bands. Other possible modes and frequencies include:

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UK Coronation Call Signs

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Individual callsigns

Ofcom has kindly agreed that UK and Crown Dependency radio amateurs may use the “R” prefix in their callsigns during May and June 2023. A Notice of Variation (NoV) will be required and you can apply via the RSGB website.

Short contest calls may also use this prefix, providing the parent callsign holds the requisite NoV.

We intend to make a special members QSL card template available for download, details to follow.

Those who do not wish to apply for a NoV can use the suffix “/23C” on the end of their callsigns throughout May and June 2023, but please note this will not work with FT8/4 and similar modes.

Special Event Stations

After discussion with Ofcom, we suggest that for Special Event Stations (SES) radio amateurs use callsigns GB0Rxx or GB4Rxx (where xx are any letters).

A group in each of the Nations with Regional Secondary Locators (RSL’s), and the Crown Dependencies, may like to use GB3KCx where x is their normal RSL. This has been done by Jersey already and is their suggestion.

You can apply for these SES callsigns via the Ofcom portal in the usual way.

Flagship Special Event Station Callsign GB23C

On 10th May the callsign GB23C will be made available for individuals and clubs to use, until the end of June 2023. Application details to follow.

Annual Armed Forces Day Crossband Test

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Annual Armed Forces Day Crossband Test

The US Department of Defense (DoD) will host this year's Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test on 13th May 2023. This annual event is open to all licensed amateur radio operators and will not impact any public or private communications. For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have taken part in this event.

The AFD Crossband Test is a unique opportunity to test two-way communications between military communicators and radio stations in the Amateur Radio Service (ARS), as authorized in 47 CFR 97.111. These tests provide opportunities and challenges for radio operators to demonstrate individual technical skills in a tightly controlled exercise scenario.

Military stations will transmit on selected frequencies and will announce the specific ARS frequencies monitored. All of the times are Zulu (Z), and all frequencies are Upper Side Band (USB) unless otherwise noted. The frequencies used for the test will not stray outside the confines of the exercise.

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