Radioman 

STATION DE RADIOAMATEUR VA2GNQ

Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père s'est porté acquéreur du sous-marin canadien NCSM Onondaga qui est maintenant devenu un sous-marin musée à la Pointe-au-Père près de Rimouski, Québec, Canada. L'ouverture officielle du sous-marin musée eut lieu le 12 juin 2009.

Club radioamateur du Saint-Laurent VE2CSL a restauré la salle de radio à bord de l'Onondaga et le sous-marin est maintenant sur les ondes. En mémoire de l'ancien indicatif d'appel de l'Onondaga, soit le CGNQ, les communications se déroulent dans les bandes de la radioamateur sous l'indicatif d'appel VA2GNQ. Le sous-marin Onondaga s'est joint à d'autres sous-marins musées et autres navires musées "sur les airs" partout dans le monde.

Photo ci-dessus - La station de radioamateur VA2GNQ fut opérée comme station d'évènement spécial avec l'indicatif d'appel spécial VA2CGNQ contenant un suffixe de 4 lettres durant l'ouverture officielle du sous-marin musée les 13 et 14 juin 2009. De gauche à droite: Loïc Cavarroc VA2GHA, Jocelyn Pineault VE2ACU et Timo Rissanen VE2TDR du Club radioamateur du Saint-Laurent VE2CSL.

Photo ci-dessus - Loïc Cavarroc VA2GHA, Jocelyn Pineault VE2ACU and Timo Rissanen VE2TDR recherche d'autres contacts durant l'évènement spécial du 13 et 14 juin 2009. Le QRN local était élevé, ce qui rendait les communications radio difficiles sur certaines bandes HF. On ne savait pas durant l'évènement si la source du bruit électrique provenait de l'intérieur ou de l'extérieur du sous-marin, mais on soupçonnait l'équipement utilisé afin de convertir l'électricité d'Hydro-Québec pour utilisation à bord.

Loïc Cavarroc VA2GHA et Jocelyn Pineault VE2ACU s'occupant du log alors que Timo Rissanen VE2TDR est occupé au microphone.

J'ai passé plusieurs années comme Radioman à bord des sous-marins canadiens NCSM Onondaga, NCSM Okanagan et NCSM Ojibwa. Les 8 photos suivantes furent prises dans mon petit domaine à bord du NCSM Onondaga. Ce petit domaine était connu sous le nom de " Radio Shack", "Radio Room", "Wireless Office", ou "W/T Office".

Donald Courcy, VE2CW

(à traduire en français) Photo above - The access door to the Radio Shack. It was a restricted area. The little domain of the Radiomen, also known as Sparkers. This is the place where I spent most of my time in submarines. Top Secret security clearance was required to enter. In addition to Radio Sparkers, people who were allowed to enter were the Captain, the Communications Officer and the P.O. Tel (also known as POTS). The P.O. Tel (Petty Officer Telecommunication) was the Radio Sparkers's immediate boss.  Note CGNQ on the door. It was ONONDAGA's call sign when using morse code. The call sign for voice transmission was " Voyage Pride ". Shipmates who had business with Sparkers knocked on the door and waited. Messages (and hot coffee) were passed on to the sparkers through the little door.

(à traduire en français) Photo above - Another view of the access door to the Radio Shack. Ship-to-shore radio messages were sent and received on the surface or at periscope depth by raising the communications mast. Radio Sparkers were the only ones onboard in contact with the outside world. So when we came up to copy our radio schedules, we also copied radioteletype news services when we had the time. A good time for this was when we snorkeled and recharged the batteries. The communications mast was raised most of that time when at periscope depth and we caught up on the news for the crew onboard. Of special interest were hockey scores, especially during the playoffs. Whenever we could, a news bulletin was printed in multiple copies using baudot tapes from the teletype machine and was distributed throughout the submarine. But all of this was impossible whenever we stayed submerged for long periods of time. We had limited VLF receiving capabilities when submerged and HF reception as well as ship-to-shore radio communications were impossible. Unless we were on a special stealth or spy mission, a submarine check report had to be sent every 72 hours to advise HQ that we were OK. On many occasions, the Captain would bring the submarine to periscope depth and would order that the communications mast be raised quickly and the check report be sent as quickly as possible. Once the message was acknowledged by the shore station, the submarine quickly went back to the deep to continue its mission.

(à traduire en français) Photo above - The access door to the Radio Shack is now open and I am looking into the Wireless Office while standing in the gangway with the heads (washroom) in my back.

(à traduire en français) Photo above - I have now entered the Radio Shack and I have turned around to look at the Heads across the gangway. Being so close to the Heads had some good and bad points. It was good because if you had to go urgently and there was nobody to replace you, all you had to do is keep both doors open and do "your thing" while keeping an eye on the Radio Shack. The bad thing happened once a day. Being on a submarine, human waste was kept into a tank and had to be emptied daily. The process included shutting some valves, equalizing the pressure, opening other valves, blowing the waste out, and reversing the process. The problem was the venting of the tank at the end of the process. The aroma which was released inside the submarine sometimes reached the Radio Shack due to its proximity. There was also another problem which affected the users of the Heads when venting was not done properly at the end of the process. There was a flap valve inside the toilet bowl which was open with your foot after you had done your business so you could flush the waste into the tank using a manual hose. Imagine someone opening the valve with his foot when high pressure is still in the tank. You can imagine the results. Not a pleasant experience. It was a good thing that the access door to the Radio Shack was kept shut at all times.

(à traduire en français) Photo above - I am now standing inside the Radio Shack with the access door on my right and looking aft. A lot of the radio equipment is gone but some is still there. This equipment is from the 1990s and completely different from what I was using in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Morse code and teletype were the two main modes of ship-to-shore radio communications back then. The world of satellite communications had not yet arrived.

(à traduire en français) Photo above - Same view as before but looking down at the operating desk. This is where I sat with a tape recorder between my legs to record morse code transmissions at 100 words per minute. It would allow us to quickly copy our schedule and return to the deep where the tape was slowed down so I could copy the morse code at 25 words per minute. The safe containing secret documents was located in the same spot as the safe in this photo. The equipment rack to the right of the safe was not there in my days. This is the spot where the cryptographic equipment was located to decode morse code messages. Decoding morse code messages was basically the same process as used by Germans during World War II with their enigma machines. There was no need to decode teletype messages since it was transmitted in a secure mode with decoding devices incorporated in the receiving equipment. Above my head, to the left, was the control for the Collins ARC-552 UHF transceiver used to communicate with aircrafts and ships. This transceiver was mostly used by the Captain and Officers in the Control Room or on the bridge via remote sets. Above my head to the right was the control for the Collins MF/HF 618-T Transceiver. This transceiver was used mostly for morse code ship-to-shore radio communications and SSB communications with surface ships and other submarines.

(à traduire en français) Photo above - Another view of the equipment rack, aft of the operating desk, where the cryptographic equipment was located in the 1960s and 1970s.

(à traduire en français) Photo above - I have now turned around and I am looking forward. The operating desk is on my right and the access door on my left. Going back to the 1960s and 1970s, the Model 28 teletype equipment and the shredder was located to the right as well as an intercom system for the submarine. Being in control of the music onboard was not always pleasant. I was accused at one time of playing The Beatles too often. The equipment racks to the left contained the Collins URC-32 HF transceiver used mainly for teletype radio communications, but also used for morse code and SSB transmissions. There was also an equipment rack on the left, closer to the operating desk, which had two Racal RA-17 VLF/LF/MF/HF receivers as well as radioteletype and facsimile equipment, additional crypto gear, and direction finding equipment.

Fin de la série sur le Projet Onondaga