Page 31 May June 2014 TCA

The ship was in the Inactive VE3GO, KI4YSY, KX2H and
reserve Fleet at Bayonne, New WD4OIN in Radio Room 2.
Jersey until 1958. When the
scrapping announcement was put on the air. I hope I can
made, a state-wide campaign get my hands on the
was launched by the citizens Morse Code key when
of North Carolina to bring the they are back on the air.
ship back home. The Save Our The generators were used
Ship (SOS) campaign saved to produce the 3,000 volts
the vessel and on October 2, which was needed on the
1961 she was taken to her plate of the 861 transmitting
present berth in Wilmington. tubes. As far as they know,
The ship was dedicated on this is the only museum
April 29, 1962 as North ship to use the original
Carolina’s memorial to its transmitters on the air.
World War II veterans and the I met several members of
10,000 residents of North the club but mainly spoke
Carolina who died in the war. to Allan Pellnat, KX2H,
MUSEUM Jack Jacobs, WD4OIN
Many people have donated time and and Norman Clements, KI4KSY. They
The ship is a self-sustaining museum and money to keep this ship in superb shape. have quite the story to relate about the
receives no tax money. Their multimillion You have to congratulate all the people restoration of the radio rooms on the ship.
dollar a year budget is all raised by the who work behind the scenes.
staff of the memorial. The majority of this The club originally had an R-7 vertical on
comes from the more than 200,000 RADIO OPERATIONS the stack and operated special events
visitors who cross her gangplank from the bridge area. Since this was part
every year. The number of volunteers who help this of the public tour, Kim Robertson Sincox
ship is amazing. For example, one group suggested they might want to restore the
Having had a chance to talk to Kim that has contributed greatly to the ship is actual radio rooms. The club took on the
Robinson Sincox (Director of Museum the Azalea Coast Amateur Radio Club. challenge and they tried to activate the
Services) and Heather Loftin (Promotions Their members have restored the radio original antennas.
Director), I am impressed by the effort rooms and much of the equipment to the
that goes into fnancing this well state they were in when the ship went into Trying to connect to 60-year-old wiring
maintained memorial. They run many service. What they refer to as Radio 1 was quite a challenge. There is a huge
extra tours that illustrate the frepower, was where the banks of receivers were. patch board that would allow any antenna
power plants and damage control aboard Radio traffc was heard here and passed to be connected to any of the radio
the ship. Twice a year they conduct the on to the cryptographic room which is centres on the ship. Although there are
“Hidden Battleship” tour in which visitors right next door. Several restored original two main setups, there were others
can see parts of the ship not open to the receivers (such as the RBC receiver throughout the ship in case the main
public. This includes the radio rooms shown below) can be seen as you tour centres got damaged so that
where members of the Azalea Coast the ship. communications could be maintained.
Amateur Radio Club explain the workings For some reason, many of the
of the radio equipment. transmission cables were cut
If anyone is interested in donating to the off at the smoke stacks so a lot
hull restoration of the vessel, you may of tracking had to be done.
make a donation through the Friends of As Allan said, they have no idea
the Battleship North Carolina organization. of the impedance of these old
All donations are tax deductible as lines but they do work well. The
allowed by law. Their mailing address is coaxial cable used is different
PO Box 480 Wilmington, NC 28401. You from today’s RG-2123 etc. The
can phone 910-251-5797 extension 2045 dielectric is not solid but is
or you can donate online at actually bakelite beads. They
http://battleshipncfriends.org/Friends- had quite a time getting
Donation-P24.aspx. If you particularly connectors on the cables.
want the donation to go to radio
restoration you can indicate this when
you make your donation. Each desk has a switch and a Morse key Their latest project, according to Norm, is
which were used to activate the to connect across two feedlines so a long
As an example, the Forestry Minister of transmitters which were kept in what is wire can be brought into use. The modern
Mynamar (Burma) visited the ship and, referred to as Radio 2. Transmitters lined transceivers work well on the old antennas
seeing its importance, arranged a both sides of this room when the ship was as you will see later in this article.
donation of two tractor-trailer loads of the operational. The club has restored
fnest teak as well as eight trailer loads at several transmitters along one wall. The Jack, along with Carl Filipiak, started
a low price to restore the decks of the transmitters were powered by their own the work and Allan, Norm and the late
ship. A local company, Dean Hardwoods, generators which are in a room nearby. Bill Usher joined them. The TBM4
dried and prepared the wood for the Again these have been and are being transmitter was the frst item they
operation. restored so the original equipment can be undertook to restore.

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