Broadcast - 16 June 2024
This Friday at morning tea we were greeted by, not necessarily a familiar face but certainly a familiar name and call-sign, Jordan VK3ACU. Jordan is recognisable as he has been a regular, for a number of years, on Wednesday Nights TestNet and TechNet sessions hosted by Nic VK7WW, both on air and on Discord.
Jordan is only over for a few days but I believe he and Nic have managed to pack a lot in to the days. It was good that you could squeeze in a visit to the club room morning tea, have a drink and chat with some of the members. We all wish you have a calm trip back on the ferry.
While perusing the WIA web site I noted that congratulations are in order for one of our members. Peter VK7KPC, for his successful participation in the Harry Angel Memorial 80m Sprint. Peter obtained second place Australia and New Zealand wide in the CW section, well done. I assume the certificate is in the mail.
As a follow on from last week’s Technical Night when Peter VK7KPC, brought in a mystery device in a fiberglass bucket with a lid. It turns out that the bucket was in fact a flotation device as well as a protective container for the piece of maritime radio equipment it contained. On first inspection we thought it was a “Gibson Girl”, which basically was a “Survival Radio” and generally found in life-rafts during WW2. However this particular unit was a “Marinetta 2”, manufactured in Denmark by the “Electronik Devision of Dansk Industri Syndikat” or DISA for short.
Our confusion came about because both the Gibson Girl and the Marinetta had the same hour glass design shape, they are both coloured bright yellow and both have a crank handle that attaches to the top.
Peter after some research found out the very entrepreneurial reason behind the similarity.
It came from a research article written by Bent Mogensen, in July 2013. I will quote a couple of extracts:
"DISA got the idea of buying up the old WW2 emergency transmitters known as the Gibson Girl, which had been produced in huge numbers. To renovate and reuse the mechanics, they succeeded in producing a lifeboat system that met the technical requirements of the time at an absolutely competitive price. This gave Marinetta a very large market share worldwide.” “When it came to sourcing more, they developed the TRP1, electronic signaller to replace the old mechanical one, which was operated by the crank.”
Peter’s find certainly answered the question of similarity.
These emergency radios, operating on 500 and 2182 kHz, were in use until the late 1970’s when the implementation of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) was implemented. This was a worldwide system for automated emergency signal communication for ships at sea developed by the United Nations.
If you take a look at the photos you will see one of the designation is for a “Morse Key” however to be more accurate it is a Morse Push Button. Very logical to have a water proof button, considering the conditions it might be used in, but it was not mentally expected. I can’t wait to see how Peter goes sending Morse code on a Morse Push Button for a change. HiHi
A big thanks to 1st Tamar Sea Scouts for their donation of a piece of history that will be restored and preserved for the future.
As always, pictures will be available on the NTARC Web site under “Blogs” for this broadcast.
NTARC Blogs
UPCOMING EVENTS
TestNet and TechNet session - Every Wednesday, TestNet/CW course on 3.580MHz from 7 pm till 7.30 pm, then a TechNet on 3.567MHz from 7.30 pm till about 8.30 pm. Your host for the evening will be Nic VK7WW.
Coffee Morning - held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Time is from 10 am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. So why not pop in and join us for a cuppa, there is endless tea and coffee along with biscuits available for a donation.
Club Room Technical night session - The next session will be on Wednesday the 19th June and will commence at the usual time of 6.30 pm at the Club Room Archer Street, Rocherlea.
Finally - A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, no matter how trivial, then please email them to the Secretary at the following address news@ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5 pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
That’s all folks,
73, Stefan VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC Inc.
