tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post555905452579237411..comments2024-03-17T12:11:37.772-07:00Comments on Every Blade of Grass: US Navy/Marine Corps MARS Program To Enddrjimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-5015673833017119352017-08-31T11:43:22.555-07:002017-08-31T11:43:22.555-07:00Hi, Matt!
Thank you for your service. Most of the...Hi, Matt!<br /><br />Thank you for your service. Most of the comments I get on a two year old post are spam, so I'm glad I checked yours out before nuking it.<br /><br />Sounds like you had a great time there. I was never in MARS, but I used to run phone patches in the Chicago area for military folks back in the middle 1960's/early 1970's when I was WA9THB. My Mom griped about the toll charges, but my Dad, a former SeaBee, told her to be quiet and to let me do it. He thought that was one of the neatest things I could do with Amateur Radio.drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-22695661789162035672017-08-31T00:22:18.993-07:002017-08-31T00:22:18.993-07:00I was Navy/ Marine Corps MARS and loved it. I was ...I was Navy/ Marine Corps MARS and loved it. I was assigned as the NCOIC (Sergeant) of the MARS station at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center or MCB Twentynine Palms, CA back in early 1977. The call sign there was NNN0MTP / K6MCA.<br /><br />The building had been designated but no station existed. Myself and a few other Marines went over to Barstow and acquired just about everything we needed to get rolling.<br /><br />We were able to put together five (5) individual operating positions using Collins S-Line equipment along with phone patch and one RTTY position. (Boy, did we ever go through that old yellow tape.) We used some large cabinet-style amps in each position. Don't remember what brand they were right off the top of my head.<br /><br />With the help of the Engineers on base we were able to put up a 100-foot tower with a nice log periodic on top. My Gunny hated heights so I had the responsibility to do the PM on the thing. That was actually fun for me.<br /><br />We then made and installed a rhombic antenna with a long feed line that kept getting snapped into by the tankers on base with their vertical whip antennas. We repaired that thing many times but it worked like a champ.<br /><br />I left the Marine Corps in 1979 and went on to be commissioned in the US Army in 1983 as a Signal Officer.<br /><br />It was a great to work there and I really miss those days.<br /><br />73...de...WD7NAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-28156537408740108352015-05-17T14:41:17.418-07:002015-05-17T14:41:17.418-07:00Yes they did!
I was never in MARS, but ran a lot ...Yes they did!<br /><br />I was never in MARS, but ran a lot of phone patches in the Chicago area back in the middle/late 60's. Most of the military recreation Ham stations were pretty active, and that's who I'd run the patches for.<br /><br /><br />It looks like most of the Navy/Marine Corps people will go to the "new" Army/Air Force segment. Our MARS contact on the Iowa has already been issued his new callsign, and we're waiting to hear about new MARS callsigns for the ship.drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901205574058136834.post-76614597609521333012015-05-17T14:28:11.897-07:002015-05-17T14:28:11.897-07:00That is truly a shame... Those folks did a great j...That is truly a shame... Those folks did a great job for MANY years!!!Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.com