Historic Maritime Morse Code Station KPH on Shortwave - 10 August 2024

Taking a tour around the shortwave radio spectrum, to catch exotic radio signals from around the world. Right at the start, we are tuned to 22477.6 kHz with the transceiver, and Icom IC-7610, set to the CW mode to monitor the infamous maritime station, KPH, transmitting from Point Reyes, California in Morse code. The keying is done by hand, just as was done historically. The antenna used to receive this is a 160-meter doublet up at about 80 feet.

KPH - https://www.radiomarine.org/
The Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS) was formed on 12 July 1999, the date of the supposed last commercial Morse transmission in the US. On that day Tom Horsfall and Richard Dillman resolved that the tradition of commercial maritime Morse could not be relegated to the dustbin of history. With that in mind they visited the KPH transmit and receive sites in Bolinas and Point Reyes - closed for two years. They were amazed to find not the vandalized sites they expected but instead an intact radio time capsule - with the receivers still on, maintaining a watch on the Morse calling channels. Their mission became instantly clear: they should form an organization to repair, restore and operate KPH as a way to honor the men and women who for 100 years had made the profession of radiotelegrapher one of honor and skill. All they had to do was convince the National Park Service since the station sites are part of the Point Reyes National Seashore. With trust and vision that are still amazing to think about, the Park Service gave these two radio squirrels, previously unknown to them, the go-ahead. Since then the MRHS has succeeded beyond what Tom and Richard thought possible in their wildest dreams. Not only has KPH returned to the air but so has KSM, KFS and K6KPH. This has been possible only through the efforts of the dozen or more volunteers who make up the MRHS and who feel honored to contribute to our mission.

Decoding software is MSRP40 -- MRP40 is a powerful and highly effective ham radio software program that decodes received audio Morse-Code signal that has been fed to a computer's sound card. The decoded text is displayed on the computer's monitor. For transmitting CW, the program encodes keystrokes from the computer's keyboard. Hams use MRP40 to send and read QRQ (high-speed) CW. It reads weak DX signals and decodes with excellent accuracy. It makes you score in CW contest. Link: https://www.polar-electric.com/Morse/MRP40-EN/

Reference for KPH on this frequency, also here:
https://www.dxinfocentre.com/maritimesafetyinfo.htm

What was decoded during this live stream, from KPH:

... PANAMA CANAL TUGBOAT CAPTAINS ARE WORKING DANGEROUSLY LONG DAYS WITHOUT RELIEF, A SITUATIC THAT POSES GRAVE RISKS FOR TUG CREWS, CANAL OPERATIONI AND THE SECURITY OF THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CE TIN. MM AT GS PTNAMA AFFILIATE TM UNIN DE CAPITANES Y OFICIALES DE CUBIERTA knUCOB U, REPRESENTS PANAMA CANAL TUG CAPTAINS AND ASSOCIATED VESSEL PERSONNEL. UCMTC PRESIDENT DANIEL CAMAZON HAS REACHED OUT TO ARE ENIO DOMINGUEZ, SECRETARY- GENERAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGARIZATION, ASKING THAT HE URGE THE PANAMA CANAL ADMINISTRATION TO BRING WORKING CONDITIONS ON THE CANAL INTO COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNTTIONAL MINIMUM HOURS OF REST REQUIREM T E. TUGBOAT RAPTAINS ON THE CANAL ARE NOT ALLOWED THE MINIMUM HOURS OF REST REQUIRED BY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION RUA ES TUR PANAMAS NATIONAL REGULATIO ES, CAMAZON WROTE IN AN AUG. 2 LETTER THAT WAS ALSO SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENTI OF MM AND P AND NAUTILUS INTERNATIONAL. TH I IS ENARTICULAA T DANGEROUS IN THE NEW CANAL WHERE TUGS WORK DIRECTLNM UNDER TH S MWS AND ON THE STERNS OF TEOPANAMAX VESSELS WITH NO MARGIN IIOR ERRTMR, PROTETRTING THE CANAL LOCK TIATES FROM EOTENTIAL DISASTER. THE HAZARDS STEM MOSTLY FROM THE POOR DESIGN OF THE EXPANDED CANAL, WHICH HAS GIVEN RISE TO A MUCH MORE LABOR- INTENSIVE PRO/ESS OF VESSEL TRI EIT. IN THE TALD LOCKS, ELECTRICEVR OWERED LOCOMOTIITE MULES RUN ON TRACKS ALONG THE SIDEWALLS, USING MOORING WIRES AND TENSION WINCHES TO MAINTAIN THE POSITION OF TRANSITING SHIPS. IN THE NEW LOCKS, TUGBOATS ARE REQUIRED TO CONTINUOUSLY POSITION VESSELS IN TRANSIT, WHICH MEANS TUG CAPTAINS MUST BE AT THE CONTROLS THE ENTIRE TIME. THE RECENT EXAMPLES OF THE MV EVER GIVEN IN THE SUEZ CANAL AND THE MV DALI IN BALTIMORE HARBOR MAKE THE POTENTIAL FOR DISE STER ALL TOO CLEAR, THE UNION PRESIDENTS WROTE. WE DO NOT ASK YOU TO INTERVENE IN THE POLITICAL OR LABOR RELATIONS PROCESSES OF PANAMA THAT HAVE LED TO THIS DANGEROUS SITUATION. WHAT WE SEEK IS YOUR ASSISTANCE IN POINTING OUT TO THE PANAMA CANAL ADMINISTRATION THAT ALTHOUGH THE CANAL DOES NOT FALL UNDER THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE MLC, STCW OR SOLAS, THE REPUTATION OF PANAMA AS A MARITIME INDUSTRY LEADER, AS WELL AS COMMON SENSE, DICTATE THAT THESE STANDARDS SHOULD BE READILY AND AMICABLY COMPLIED WITH. = VVV VVV VVV DE KPH KPH KPH SAN FRANCISCO RADIO MMP FREE PRESS