VA3VGC Amateur Radio Station
Radio Aboard the S.S. Keewatin
Radio aboard a Historic Vessel
By 1911, SS Keewatin had Marconi wireless radio onboard, operating under her original call sign VGC, which later became VGMC. While on display as a museum ship at her home base in Port McNicholl, an amateur radio station was established and operated under the call sigh VA3VGC. The folks at Port McNicholl have kindly granted continued use of that call sign for SS Keewatin at her new retirement home here in Kingston. Current custodian of the VA3VGC call sign is Ron Walsh VE3GO. Additional photos of the setup and installation can be found here!
Equipment for establishment of the current VA3VGC radio station onboard SS Keewatin has been graciously donated by Pieter Johannes Kooiman, VE3NXE
For guest operators to VA3VGC, the link to the left provides a PDF document outlining a basic overview of the station setup
Updates - Keep track of all the updates for Rick and the S.S. Keewatin radio station here!
11 Oct 2024
Made an FT8 (Joe Taylor’s weak signal data mode) contact with 3D2V, the DXpedition currently in progress on Rotuma Island (South Pacific, Polynesia).
This contact made at 14:41 UTC (10:41 EDT) from ‘SS Keewatin’ using our TS-590SG HF radio on the 17 meter Amateur band, and the 135 foot OCF (Off Center Fed) wire antenna between the ship’s funnel and the forward mast.
Both this contact and the previously mentioned St Paul Island contact have been confirmed by members of these expeditions. I have applied to receive their commemorative QSL
(confirmation) cards from both. Once received, I will post them here, and the cards will be on display in Keewatin’s radio shack
31 Aug 2024
FT8 ‘SuperFox’ mode made contacts with the Amateur Radio Expedition CY9C currently underway on St.Paul Island. Contacts with CY9C made on both the 20 meter and 30 meter Amateur bands using this latest weak signal data mode.