1st expedition only communication from the island back to the U.S. was ham radio

[Joshua Doremire]

From the news post. "Remembering the first Earhart Project expedition ... the only communication from the island back to the U.S. was ham radio. Now we can just pick up the satellite telephone system."

With the interest of HAM radio: Any planned HAM radio transmissions or is the only communication going to be satellite telephone during Niku VIII?

[Krystal McGinty-Carter]

I would think that the SAT phone would be much more reliable than a HAM radio so I don't think it would be worth the space and weight to bring, buut... I haven't seen the equipment list so I'm only speculating. Sounds like someone wants to take a listen. :)  I don't blame you!

[Joshua Doremire]

"During the Niku VIII expedition we will broadcast simulations of some of the reported distress calls..."

Looks like something like this is in the works. I hope more specific details are provided like broadcast time and frequencies. Point me in the direction if I overlooked where this was posted please.

Stuff like this makes it fun for all of us!

[Jim M Sivright]

Greetings all,
On the June 10th daily report, it says that calls will be made on shortwave to simulate the post-loss distress calls. Does anyone know if a website exists to listen in to shortwave messages? I realize it would not be the same as having an actual radio, but if possible, it would be fun to listen.

Jim S

[Harbert William Davenport]

Many communities have clubs of radio amateurs, 'hams,' whose members have good shortwave receivers and antennas.  I wd encourage all TIGHAR Forum members to contact a local ham or club, to see whether they might be interested in accepting the challenge of picking up the TIGHAR signal from Niku.  Even if they have no prior knowledge of the TIGHAR hypothesis etc, they might find this experiment in shortwave communication intriguing and worth some time.

[Monty Fowler]

Excellent suggestion, Harbert! The more, the merrier, and the more and better data we can collect.

I'm a little surprised that this effort wasn't discussed more prior to Niku VIII's departure - anything that generates interst and excitement, from whatever quarter, is a good thing.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

[Matt Revington]

There are online shortwave receivers that those of us who don't have short wave radios could use , this link  has several:

http://websdr.org

[John B. Shattuck]

I googled "Ham radio clubs in (name of town)" and found a club in my area.  I've initiated email contact and will see what comes of it.

JB

[Greg Daspit]

Regarding frequencies and newcomers who may be checking the forum: These links may be helpful since signals were heard very far away on harmonics of the frequencies that they had planned on using and that were heard by people in the Pacific area. 
Harmony and Power
Catalog and Analysis of Radio Signals During The Search for Amelia Earhart in July 1937

[Bill Richards]

There are online shortwave receivers that those of us who don't have short wave radios could use , this link  has several:

http://websdr.org

Not being well versed in radio frequencies I believe that from the Nai'a radio setup they will be transmitting on 3105kHz and 6210kHz.  So how can these online receivers be used?  Most if not all indicate frequencies coverages in MHz. For example a site in Sedona, AZ lists 7.109 - 7.301 MHz, 3.858 - 3.954 MHz and 1.804 - 1.996 MHz.  Please excuse me for being a "radio dummy" 0:-)

[Clarence Carlson]

I've been a ham radio op for a long time and realize that other (read "normal") people may not understand some of the radio information being presented. So I thought maybe a brief summary might help some who don't know about these things.

According to the latest update the expected radio transmissions will be made using an amateur radio callsign issued by the government of Kiribati: T31LP. That's what you will listen for. The time will be 0400 GMT, you will have to calculate your local time based on your timezone. The radio frequency listed is in a range of 14.280-14.310 mHz. This is in the middle of what hams call the 20 meter "phone" band. In plain language this means that nearly all of the hams will be using single side band (SSB) to communicate by voice. However I notice that this is also the small corner of the band where some operators still use a.m. telephony to communicate and I think it's possible that our folks may be intending to do this. Using a.m. would present a more authentic operation since that's what the Electra's radio used. About the frequency selection: the fifth harmonic of Amelia's night time frequency, 3.105 mHz is 15.525 mHz. This is pretty close to the frequency listed above in terms of propagation.

I hope this helps other members. I'd be happy to answer questions and I know there are other TIGHAR members who are hams who will help.

[Randy Conrad]

With the excitement of doing a short wave radio test on the island in the coming days....Wanting to know if any of you radio buffs out there know if this is a short wave radio or not. A friends wife gave this to me after he had passed away. Its a 1937 model. It does work...needs a new cord...bout blew the breaker when I turned it on and it "does" have an awesome speaker . I found that the dials were very interesting and was wondering how many people had heard Amelia with a radio of this magnitude? Let me know...thanks!!!

[Matt Revington]

Randy, the original ad for the radio state that it can pick up ships, foreign stations, etc so it must get shortwave
http://www.tuberadioland.com/zenith10s130_main.html

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/zenith_10s130_10_s_130_ch1004.html

[Friend Weller]

If they're doing AM and not SSB, then I'm hoping to hear something!

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

If their doing AM and not SSB, then I'm hoping to hear something!

This reminds me a lot of the loopholes in Amelia's own planning for the second world attempt.

I don't see a systematic calendar of WHAT DAYS they will transmit.

The 12 June daily report gives this table:

Call Sign T31LP Frequencies to listen on 14.280 MHz 14.310 MHz Time 0400GMT Local time GMT + 12 Is that 4:00 GMT every day?  Just twice, once on arrival and once with a jerry-rigged V-antenna?  Did we miss it already? Life with people!   ::)