An historic radio exchange took place Tuesday afternoon between the Battleship North Carolina and the new submarine USS North Carolina. Capt. Mark Davis and ham operator Bill Morine communicated with the Battleship from atop the submarine. "When the Battleship was decommissioned in 1961 the radio equipment aboard was taken off the vessel," Morine said. "Since 1997 local ham radio operators have restored the equipment and brought it back up to speed. The only way for the two vessels to communicate was via voice communications through amateur radio." The windy conditions Tuesday made the communication a bit difficult. But overall the historic exchange with Battleship director Dave Scheu up the river was deemed a success. "It's a thrill," Ed Redington of the Azalea Coast Radio Club said. "This is a big part of my life being able to come down and being able to be on the submarine." This is the first known conveyance of radio greetings between two namesake military vessels since the cold war era. This weekend the ham radio station aboard the Battleship will be activated sending greetings to hams around the world.
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Sub, Battleship share historic radio callSubmitted by WWAY on 30 April 2008 - 9:00am.READ MORE: News | New Hanover County News | Submarine Commissioning | USS North Carolina
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 » add new comment | e-mail this page | printer-friendly versionHam radio benefitsSubmitted by Nate (not verified) on 1 May 2008 - 10:13am.
Some people here may not have realized that ham radio provides emergency communications from any location that can be reached by man. In a place where cellphones don't work there are little other means to get an important message. Although this event is a momentary thrill for the radio guys in a unique situation, you can at least appreciate what is happening in the background. For more information about ham radio check out: www.arrl.org The USS North CarolinaSubmitted by Guesswho (not verified) on 1 May 2008 - 9:53am.
What do you mean it is only for politicians and the like. This submarine could single-handedly take out every bad mofo on earth if we knew their exact position. Being that there are 3 or 4 of these things going around in the near future, I think the world is a much safer place! Viva la nuclear deterrent! It's an attack submarine, Admiral NimitzSubmitted by MCPO (not verified) on 2 May 2008 - 7:25am.
It's NOT a ballistic missile submarine, and has absolutely nothing to do with our nuclear deterrence. Very Upset about SubSubmitted by Guest7571 (not verified) on 1 May 2008 - 12:00am.
I was quite excited when I first heard about a sub being commissioned here. I have never seen one in person and thought it would be great for my children to see it as well. I was shocked and upset to find out I will not even get to see the thing. In all the time it was being reported initially, this little detail was left out. This is ashame that the very people that are paying for it can't see it. It was made out to be great for the City of Wilmington, when in truth it is only a great thing for the privileged few. Or maybe the publics invites got lost in the mail. Shame shame shame. Thanks, we all pay for this.Submitted by Guest Joe Public (not verified) on 30 April 2008 - 10:40pm.
Thanks to all that pay for this event. Each and every taxpaying, contributing, working citizen I appreciate. Thanks that I can get on here and vent, right to express my free speech and bad mouth everyone that has a hand in this that I cannot even hope to comprehend their role. Thanks for all those on this sub, for all you do, to protect my right to do what I do. Live Free. Who Cares! The sub is only for the politicians and country clubSubmitted by Guest4345 (not verified) on 30 April 2008 - 5:39pm.
Who Cares! The sub is only for the politicians and country club high rollers in our area... We know this was a hugeSubmitted by Guest 120 (not verified) on 30 April 2008 - 2:12pm.
We know this was a huge thrill for Ed Reddington!!!! Yeah for Ed ThanksSubmitted by guesty on 30 April 2008 - 9:14am.
Thanks for having an event that the general public can't attend but we are forced to pay for through taxes. Wasted money.Submitted by Guest4572 (not verified) on 1 May 2008 - 5:37am.
When I heard of the plan to bring the sub here, my first thought was, "how in the world are they gonna get that big fish into downtown, and where can they dock it? That would have been cool to have a sub parked on the riverwalk, but I knew it couldn't be done, so I figured, I'd go see it at the port, or take the boat out and see it from the river. Turns out I can't do either, so now I'm wondering whose private party I'm paying for. Our elected officials need to quit spending my money like drunken sailors. I'm sure we could have built some fine boat ramps with the money they just threw away. N.C. HeadlinesN.C. Sports |
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The article would make one think that a communication had taken place between the restored WW2 radio gear and the new sub. I don't think that was the case. My apologies if I am incorrect but it would be nice to get a clarification. Vintage WW2 battleship radio gear was able to broadcast morse code (CW) and amplitude modulation (AM) on shortwave frequencies. From what I know about modern day subs, their communication would be on VLF (Very Low Frequencies) and satellite. Somehow, I think this was more of a staged communication on VHF with ham radio handhelds. Hats off anyway to those who had restored the vintage battleship gear as I'm sure that was done without spending a dime of our tax money. Sorry, but I'm just not into dog and pony shows.