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

[Joshua Doremire]

Well I just heard an operator talking to Lee on 14290. There is no longer a "pileup" trying to call Lee. Since he is officially not on the island, the radio traffic has subsided greatly.

Bob

Looks like they need to ship Lee on shore with 100' of wire and take advantage of the Public Relations this is turning out to be. The difference and challenge between receiving a transmission from a water grounded ship and land is of clear value. 

Here we thought the ROV issues were Lee borrowing it's batteries to transmit from land...   ::)

[Thom Boughton]

I don't know.  Was this really meant to be a public relations activity...or is it a proof-of-concept lending credence to those who heard the distress calls in '37?

I'm sorry that the hams have gotten their knickers in a twist...but this wasn't really about them getting QSL postcards, was it?

[Monty Fowler]

I don't know.  Was this really meant to be a public relations activity...or is it a proof-of-concept lending credence to those who heard the distress calls in '37?

Good question, Thom. Since no details were released publicly about this part of the expedition until after it was underway, I suspect the answer will have to wait until the expedition gets back.

I would caution anyone against using this demonstration as definitive proof of anything. There are too many variables in the mix for TIGHAR to make any claims that this bolsters, or detracts, from the Nikumaroro hypothesis.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

[Bob Smith]

Well said!

[Randy Conrad]

Bob Harmon...Has anyone heard Lee tonight?

[Bob Harmon]

Hi Randy - I've been listening to 20m and 40m but haven't heard anything. I think Lee had the day off from diving, not sure if that impacted his radio efforts. Not much to listen to that I can tell.

[Randy Conrad]

Yeah! The only two people I hear are on 14295.

[Randy Conrad]

For all you history buffs out there...is it true that Amelia had the first radio in an aircraft? I read somewhere that she had it in the Vega...but didnt know how true that was?

[Bob Harmon]

A quick Google search found this:
In April 1915 Captain J.M. Furnival was the first person to hear a voice from the ground when Major Prince said "If you can hear me now it will be the first time speech has ever been communicated to an aeroplane in flight." In June 1915 the world's first air-to-ground voice transmission took place at Brooklands (England) over about 20miles (ground-to-air was initially by morse but it is believed 2-way voice communications was being achieved by July 1915). In early 1916 the Marconi Company (England) started production of air-to-ground radio transmitters/receivers which were used in the war over France.

[Bob Harmon]

Well I think it's about 6pm on the island now (midnight CDT) and I really hope we hear some good news on the ROV in tomorrow's daily. The team really deserves to have some good luck come their way, I'm sure they're exhausted.

[Thom Boughton]

I would caution anyone against using this demonstration as definitive proof of anything. There are too many variables in the mix for TIGHAR to make any claims that this bolsters, or detracts, from the Nikumaroro hypothesis.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

Well, that was actually kind of where I was heading....

Although my brother is a ham, I myself actually know precious little about it.  (Other than a brief dalliance over 40 years ago when CB went berserk. And comparing those is apples and oranges.)  However, I DO know that the propagation properties of a signal at 3105kc and one at 20-meter SSB are hugely different.

As such, I'm afraid we're not really proving very much, are we? (...sad as it is to say that.)

However, my brother and I have been tuning in these past few days and the whole thing is really quite a gas. (...still don't understand what any real difference there is between contacting someone on an island and someone on a boat moored offshore of that island.  After tens of thousands of miles....is the last 700 meters really that big a deal?)

[Bob Harmon]

This is from one of the rulebooks for collecting an award for contacting 100 different countries or places. It's called DXCC.
8.  All stations contacted must be "land stations." Contacts with ships and boats, anchored or underway, and airborne aircraft, cannot be counted.  Exception: Permanently docked exhibition ships, such as the Queen Mary and other historic ships will be considered land based.

[Thom Boughton]

Well then...there you go!!!

It wasn't that AE couldn't hear Itasca...she was just ignoring them because they weren't on the island!    ;D

[Bob Harmon]

I just sprayed my cheerios on the wall  ;D ;D

[Joshua Doremire]

I don't know.  Was this really meant to be a public relations activity...or is it a proof-of-concept lending credence to those who heard the distress calls in '37?

I'm sorry that the hams have gotten their knickers in a twist...but this wasn't really about them getting QSL postcards, was it?

Looks like it turned into Public Relations intended or not. I doubt rule 8 was thought about. IMO the plan would have been a way to bring the adventure into your home in realtime interactive HAM radio. Everyone who should get a postcard likely will have to tell TIGHAR's story of why there was someone on the island when they got the postcard. People who didn't get a postcard may wish to help fund the next trip so they may get a postcard. Sometimes you need to give the public what it wants. After all radio (or lack thereof) was a big part of the world flight and has made modern navigation possible. 

So 100' of wire for an antenna and make rule 8 apply with some shore leave!