Maritime Radio Historical Society
Preserving the traditions of maritime radio telegraphy
Visit Us
The KPH receive site is open for visitors every Saturday between 12:00pm and 4:00 pm. The site is located at 17400 Sir Francis Drake Blvd at the famous cypress tree tunnel in the Point Reyes National Seashore.
If you plan to visit with a group or wish to confirm that the site is open on a particular date please send an email to info@radiomarine.org
Anyone competent is Morse code may “sit the circuit” at KPH or K6KPH and have their licenses endorsed to that effect
We look forward to seeing you!
News & Information
MRHS Newsletter - Please note the form at the bottom of this page for signing up for our monthly Newsletter. We’ve had that form for a while but the big news is that the sign up process is now automatic. In the past it was a tedious manual process so there was a delay between signing up and getting the Newsletter. But now that’s a thing of the past.
Note: If you used your arrl.net email to sign up for the Newsletter but never received it please try again with a different email address. It seems that arrl.net may reject email messages like the Newsletter
Our Mission
The Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS) was formed on 12 July 1999, the date of the supposed last commercial Morse transmission in the US. On that day Tom Horsfall and Richard Dillman resolved that the tradition of commercial maritime Morse could not be relegated to the dustbin of history. With that in mind they visited the KPH transmit and receive sites in Bolinas and Point Reyes - closed for two years. They were amazed to find not the vandalized sites they expected but instead an intact radio time capsule - with the receivers still on, maintaining a watch on the Morse calling channels. Their mission became instantly clear: they should form an organization to repair, restore and operate KPH as a way to honor the men and women who for 100 years had made the profession of radiotelegrapher one of honor and skill. All they had to do was convince the National Park Service since the station sites are part of the Point Reyes National Seashore. With trust and vision that are still amazing to think about, the Park Service gave these two radio squirrels, previously unknown to them, the go-ahead. Since then the MRHS has succeeded beyond what Tom and Richard thought possible in their wildest dreams. Not only has KPH returned to the air but so has KSM, KFS and K6KPH. This has been possible only through the efforts of the dozen or more volunteers who make up the MRHS and who feel honored to contribute to our mission.
Help Support the MRHS
It once took a virtual army of managers, operators, riggers, transmitter engineers and clerical staff to keep KPH on the air. Now it’s up to the MRHS volunteers who often commute for hours to be at the station and do their part. It’s also up to the the True Believers who have made financial contributions over the years, contributions that we keep in careful reserve for major projects like antenna repair and transmitter restoration. Can you contribute to the cause? It’s easy. Just tap the link below. And thanks!
