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Special Bulletin 2 ARLX002
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT February 3, 2021
To all radio amateurs
SB SPCL ARL ARLX002
ARLX002 MARS Announces Schedule of Dates for 60-Meter Interoperability
The Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) has announced dates in 2021 during which MARS members will operate on 60 meters for interoperability with the amateur radio community. Some dates coincide with quarterly Department of Defense Communications Exercises (COMEX).
All exercises will begin on channel 1 as the initial calling channel and move to other 60-meter working channels as may be appropriate.
“In addition to voice calls, I want to introduce passing ICS 213 messages in both voice and digital modes to enhance the overall interop experience,” said US Army MARS Chief Paul English, WD8DBY.
English continues, “Our exercises will yield the frequencies to other scheduled exercises or mission activations, which may be called by other agencies for interop support (e.g., hurricane, wildfire, etc). We regularly instruct MARS members to work cooperatively with the amateur radio community during the use of the 60-meter interop channels. We will continue to track our 60-meter usage and activities.”
English said he plans to provide a quarterly usage report of 60-meter interoperability activities.
The interoperability schedule is as follows:
March 1 – 7
Exercise: Interop Outreach
Location CONUS
April 3 – 10
Exercise: Interop Outreach
Location CONUS
April 30 – May 6
Exercise: DOD COMEX 21-2
May 7 – 8
Exercise: Armed Forces Day Crossband Test
Location: CONUS
June 1 – 6
Exercise: Interop Outreach
Location CONUS
July 5 – 10
Exercise: Interop Outreach
Location CONUS
July 20 – 22
Exercise: DOD COMEX 21-3
Location: CONUS
August 2 – 8
Exercise: Interop Outreach
Location CONUS
September 1 – 6
Exercise: Interop Outreach
Location CONUS
October 1 – 31
Exercise: DOD COMEX 21-4
Location: CONUS
NNNN
/EX
Plans to Retrieve Titanic Wireless Equipment Put on Indefinite Hold
02/02/2021
RMS Titanic, Inc., (RMST) the company that owns salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck, has indefinitely put off its plans to retrieve the vessel’s radio equipment for exhibition. The company cited the coronavirus pandemic for the delay, according to a court filing the company made on January 29. The Atlanta-based company said its plans have faced “increasing difficulty associated with international travel and logistics, and the associated health risks to the expedition team.” RMST’s primary source of revenue comes from its exhibits of its vast collection of Titanic relics, which have been closed or seen only limited attendance due to virus-related restrictions.
RMST — a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions and the “salvor-in-possession” of the Titanic wreck site — said its planned expedition to recover the ship’s wireless station equipment remains a top priority, however, and will “take place as soon as reasonably practicable.” The Marconi-equipped station transmitted the distress calls after the Titanic (on its maiden voyage) struck an iceberg some 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland in 1912 and began
sinking. The transmissions, heard by some nearby vessels, have been credited with helping rescue some 700 passengers in lifeboats deployed from the Titanic, but about 1,500 passengers were lost in the disaster. RMST has said the radio transmitter could unlock some of the secrets about a missed warning message and distress calls sent from the ship.
The coronavirus pandemic aside, RMST has been in an ongoing legal battle with the US government over whether the recovery operation would be legal. In May of 2020, a US federal judge in Virginia gave permission to retrieve the ill-fated ship’s wireless gear. The judge ruled that the radio gear has “significant historical, educational, scientific, and cultural value” and could soon be lost within the rapidly decaying wreck, and said the company would be permitted “minimally to cut into the wreck” to access the radio room.
RMST has said it would try to avoid cutting into the ship, noting that the radio room may be reachable via an already-open skylight. But, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has contended that the retrieval expedition is still prohibited under US law and under an international agreement between the US and the UK. NOAA has argued that any benefit to be realized from cutting into the vessel to recover the Marconi equipment would not be “worth the cost to the resource and not in the public interest.”
RMST sought permission to carry out what it called a “surgical removal and retrieval” of the Marconi radio equipment, which is in poor shape after more than a century under water. The undersea retrieval would mark the first time an artifact was collected from within the Titanic, which many believe should remain undisturbed as the final resting place of the victims of the maritime disaster. The wreck sits on the ocean floor some 2 1/2 miles beneath the surface and remained undiscovered until 1985.
RMST plans to use a manned submarine to reach the wreck and would then deploy a remotely controlled submarine to retrieve the radio equipment.
