Gosh, all the years that I worked ships from around the Pacific
nightly on 500 kc (with ship working frequencies of 425, 454, 468,
480, and 512 kc), I never thought the 600M band would have hams using
it. It's wonderful that the band will be alive again with CW.
I was stationed at US Coast Guard Radio Station NMO in Wahiawa on the
island of Oahu in Hawaii in the 1970s. All maritime traffic was passed
by CW back then.
The propagation on that band was such that the entire Pacific would
open after sundown: from New Zealand to Alaska and from China to the
West Coast.
All ships and shore stations monitored the international calling and
distress frequency of 500 kc which sounded like a circus at times.
Look for my seven part series on 500 kc on many web sites (here's one:
http://jproc.ca/radiostor/cw500pt1.html). The series ended up being
published in books, magazines, radio journals, ham club newsletters,
etc.
73, Jeff KH6O
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