Armed Forces Day 2016 Communication Test to Include Direct Military-Ham Contact

[Fansome]

Armed Forces Day 2016 Communication Test to Include Direct Military-Ham Contact on 60 Meters:

This year's Armed Forces Day Crossband Communication Test on Saturday, May 14, will include a significant new wrinkle: Select military stations will be using 60 meter interoperability channels to communicate directly with Amateur Radio stations on the band. Back this year, select military stations will use crossband Automatic Link Establishment (2G ALE) communication as well as MIL-STD Serial PSK to send the Secretary of Defense Armed Forces Day message. Armed Forces Day 2016 is Saturday, May 21, but the radio event is held earlier to avoid conflicting with Dayton Hamvention http://www.hamvention.org, May 20-22.

The annual Armed Forces Day Communication Test is an opportunity to exercise two-way communication capability between Amateur Radio and military stations using a variety of modes, including SSB and CW as well as digital modes. The annual event gives participants -- including shortwave listeners (SWLs) -- an opportunity to demonstrate their technical skills, and to receive recognition from the appropriate military radio station.

The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard cosponsor the joint military/Amateur Radio, with military stations transmitting on military frequencies and listening on Amateur Radio bands.

Amateur Radio stations and shortwave listeners interested in trying the MIL-STD Serial PSK mode can download http://www.n2ckh.com/MARS_ALE_FORUM/MSDMT.html the software program, MS-DMT.

Full details about this year's Armed Forces Day radio will be posted http://www.usarmymars.org/home/announcements by April 12 and will also appear on the US Army MARS Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HQArmyMARS.

Source:

The ARRL Letter