On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 04:48:20 GMT, Mel A. Nomah wrote:

The FCC has granted a license for a new, common carrier, class 1A CW coast
station, callsign KSM. This is the first time in many years that the FCC has
granted a new license for this service. The hours of operation for the
station have not yet been determined, but the call is KSM and frequencies of
operation will be 426, 500, 6474 and 12993 kHz with an authorized output of
5kW on all frequencies.

Note that the licensee is the Maritime Radio Historical Society,
which has been restoring the original Morse stations on several
WW-II-era vessels used as floating museums in the San Francisco Bay
and other West Coast areas and has made restoration of the coast
station (site and equipment owned by the Golden Gate National
Seashore) a prime goal in the last five years or so.

The site of KSM (and its equipment) is the old RCA marine coast
station KPH, transmitters in Bolinas, CA and receivers/control point
in Point Reyes, CA. The same station is used for the annual "KPH"
fire-up on July 12, the anniversary of the last commercial Morse
traffic in the US, and for frequent operation of the power-lowered
transmitters on the ham bands as K6KPH. Everyone concerned is a
volunteer.

I've done some work with them but I'm too far from San Francisco to
be one of the "regulars".

--
73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane