BNJARS - 2003 Actifvities

Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station (BNJARS)

2003 ACTIVITY PAGE

Kids Day - Jan 4, 2003


This was a spur of the moment participation but it worked well. We had several visitors stop in and the kids seemed to have a good time talking to other stations.

Fists CW Sprint - Feb 2003

Harry, AA2WN, organized the participation in the FISTS CW Sprint between 1200 - 1600 EST. We had two stations on the air for the full 4-hour period and made a total of 84 contacts. These contacts included working over 2 dozen different states as well as a couple European FISTS members. Our total score was just under 11,000, which placed us well in the Club entry category. Special thanks to our outstanding operators: Chris WK2W, Dave K2UDA, Wayne WA2VOY.

Memorial Day - May 2003

A big THANK YOU to all who participated, and to our hosts the HPA, in supporting our 60th Anniversary Special Event operation. Those who requested a certifcate received one with a picture of the original radio room crew and the signature of an original Plank Owner and radioman - Bob Westcott, W2MAS. At times we had 3 HF and 1 VHF station on the air simultaneously.

Total of 467 Contacts: SSB 346 CW 33 FM: 88 Countries Contacted: 24 - Most distant was Sydney Australia. US States and Canadian Provinces: 47	W2MAS as he signs the special certificates.

Museum Ship Weekend - July 2003

Well, Museum Ships Weekend is behind us now. What a great weekend it was. We had a total of 30 operators manning the various stations. We were "spotted" on the worldwide packet cluster at least 18 times and the pile-ups were continuous in spite of the relatively poor band conditions.

Of the 1004 contacts we made using 8 different modes, here is a breakdown of what we worked:

SSB
730

CW
200

FM
41

PSK31
13

APRS
14

IRLP
1

RTTY
4

AM
1

Using all Navy equipment we contacted:

One AM station using RBC receiver and AN/URT-23.

18 CW stations using the AN/URT-23 & Harris Receiver.

We worked 1 SSB station using all Navy equipment - using R-390 & AN/URT-23.

Among the military participants worked during this time was COMLANTFLT HQ in Norfolk VA, making it an all Navy contact.

FISTS Club to Club Event - Sept 14, 2003

The Battleship New Jersey ARS signed up to participate in the FISTS International Morse Preservation Society's "Club to Club" Contest which was held from 0000z - 2359z Sept 14 2003. Our FIST number is 9262.

Our score for this event was 261.

Jamboree on the Air (JOTA)- Oct 2003

The Scouting Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) event was a success. Thanks to Doug Gehring, WA2NPD, for running the event, all who supported it. We had 37 Scouts and Scouters (including six Girl Scouts) participate representing seven units in the immediate southern NJ area. Everyone successfully talked to at least one other participating JOTA radio station somewhere in the world and the Battleship provided many Scouts at the other stations the thrill of talking with someone aboard the "Big J."
	Especially exciting was the time spent in the Battleship TV Studio, thanks to Ebe Helm and the Sea Cadets. The cadets went a little further and conducted a short interview with our very own Bob Westcott, W2MAS, who is a 1943 plank owner. At least two units also took the regular tour afterwards. Many photographs were taken to commemorate the day.
The ship's radio equipment (thanks to Harry and Dave) performed flawlessly and we had more than sufficient operators to handle the control operator chores. Margaret prepared Battleship JOTA Participation cards, and all participants received their completed cards. JOTA patches will be presented to each participant as soon as they arrive.
	On Sunday we had several girl scouts arrive to participate in JOTA. Harry, AA2WN and Dave, WA2TVS, were there to help the girls make several contacts. Even the scout leaders joined in and all had a great time and plan to come back next year.

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