W8USR - Special Events
World War I Centennial – WW1USA Official Museum Activation
About the Special Event
On July 6, 2019, station W8USR logged an exceptional historical milestone by contacting special event station WW1USA, operating as the official amateur radio voice of the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. This specialized deployment was organized to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the conclusion of World War I. Operating across a grueling 31-hour broadcast window, the museum station successfully managed massive global pile-ups, logging conversations with dedicated operators across all 50 states and over 130 countries.
Multi-Band Infrastructure & Operating Modes
The WW1USA team maintained a highly structured, simultaneous multi-mode presence across the High Frequency (HF) bands to maximize international outreach:
- Single Sideband Voice (SSB): Actively running high-power phone stations targeting 21.250 MHz on 15 meters, 14.250 MHz on 20 meters, and 7.200 MHz on 40 meters.
- Continuous Wave (CW): Maintaining traditional Morse code operations targeting 21.057 MHz on 15 meters, 14.057 MHz on 20 meters, and 7.057 MHz on 40 meters.
- Digital Deployments: Utilizing highly efficient FT8 digital configurations to capture weak-signal openings on 14.074 MHz (20 meters) and 7.074 MHz (40 meters).
History of the World War I Centennial Subject
World War I officially came to an emotional close on November 11, 1918, when Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allied powers inside a formal Allied railroad car in Compiègne, France. Facing imminent military collapse, widespread domestic revolution, and catastrophic economic exhaustion, Germany agreed to immediately cease all hostilities. This historic ceasefire went into effect at the legendary "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month," bringing a long-awaited pause to more than four years of brutal, devastating trench warfare across the Western Front.
However, the 1918 armistice only brought a halt to the active battlefield fighting; finalizing a formal, legal end to the global conflict required many more months of intense diplomatic negotiations. Allied leaders convened at the Paris Peace Conference to extensively rewrite global borders and dictate strict terms of peace, culminating in the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919 — exactly five years to the day after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand originally sparked the war. Additional separate peace treaties were negotiated and signed with Germany's allies throughout late 1919 and 1920, permanently closing the chapter on the Great War and completely reshaping the geopolitical map of Europe and the Middle East.
Station Log: Contact History
| Special Event Call | Station Logged | Date Logged | Time Logged | Frequency | Frequency Band | Operation Mode | Signal Report | On-Board Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WW1USA | W8USR | July 6, 2019 | 22:49 UTC | 7.200 MHz | 40 Meters | SSB Phone | 58 | Museum Volunteer |