There have been several changes in the DoD MARS ALE nets of note including the Navy MARS folks using a new ALE Address format. But first these official annoucements from the MARS folks and comments from the blog editor:
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RR NOALL
DE NNN0ASA 048
R 231500Z MAY 2007
FM CHNAVMARCORMARS WILLIAMSBURG VA
TO ALNAVMARCORMARS
INFO ZEN/CHIEF ARMY MARS FT HUACHUCA AZ
ZEN/CHIEF AF MARS SCOTT AFB IL
BT
UNCLAS
SUBJ: CHNAVMARCORMARS BCST 05-07 - TRI-SERVICE ALE FREQUENCIES
A. CHNAVMARCORMARS 021800Z AUG 2006
1. AS A RESULT OF DECISIONS MADE AT THE DAYTON HAMVENTION, ARMY MARS HAS WITHDRAWN THEIR THREE FREQUENCIES (KHB, KMH AND KSM) FROM THE TRI-SERVICE ALE NETWORK. (SEE REF A.)
2. AFTER DISCUSSION WITH CHIEF AIR FORCE MARS, FIVE FREQUENCIES EACH FROM AIR FORCE AND NAVY-MARINE CORPS MARS WILL CONSTITUTE THE TRI-SERVICE ALE NETWORK AS FOLLOWS:
AIR FORCE MARS: TAA, TAD, TAE, TAH AND TAI
NAVMARCORMARS: NAD, NBH, NDE, NGB AND NMA
ALL FREQUENCIES ARE USB AND THIS CHANGE IS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.
3. ALL THREE SERVICES ARE ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE AS THE MARS-ALE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAM REFINES THE PROGRAM FOR FUTURE USE WITH OUR CUSTOMERS THAT UTILIZE ALE.
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Blog editor comment: Surprise, surprise. The US Army MARS doesn't want to play nice in the tri-service MARS neighborhood? This is nothing new and just shows that the turf wars continue between the three MARS services.
There is NO legitimate reason in this day and age to have three separate MARS services - none. The only thing this does is waste taxpayer money and gobble up precious RF spectrum space. And for what? Nets and members talking about growing tomatoes in their gardens or their latest surgery or ailment? Hey, don't take my word for it. You listen and see if you hear anything if value being passed.
All three MARS services failed in their missions during 9/11, they failed during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and their is no reasons to believe that they and their big brother SHARES won't failed in the next emergency. The golden fleece award goes to the three MARS services and SHARES for this waste taxpayers money and precious RF radio spectum space.
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RR NOALL
DE NNN0ASA 035
R 031400Z APR 2004
FM CHNAVMARCORMARS WILLIAMSBURG VA
TO ALNAVMARCORMARS
INFO ZEN/CHIEF ARMY MARS FT HUACHUCA AZ
ZEN/CHIEF AIR FORCE MARS SCOTT AFB IL
BT
UNCLAS
SUBJ: CHNAVMARCORMARS BCST 03-07 - ALE ADDRESSES
A. FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS RECOMMENDATION (FTR) 1047/3-1998 NOTAL
(Note: http://www.ncs.gov/library/fed_rec/FTR%201047-1998.pdf)
1. THE SHARES PROJECT OFFICE IS RESPONSIBLE UNDER THE NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN THE MASTER LISTING OF ALL FEDERAL ALE ADDRESSES. AT THE LAST SHARES HF INTEROPERABILITY WORKING GROUP MEETING, REF A WAS ADOPTED AS THE STANDARD FOR ADDRESSING STATIONS IN ALE OPERATIONS. (REF A IS POSTED ON NAVYMARS.ORG UNDER THE ALE
INFORMATION TAB.)
2. THIS OFFICE HAS REGISTERED 'NNN' AS THE UNIQUE IDENTIFIER ADDRESS (UIA) FOR NAVY MARINE CORPS MARS. SINCE REF A RECOMMENDS A CALL SIGN WITH THE STATION UNIQUE IDENTIFIER AS THE FIRST THREE CHARACTERS OF THE ALE CALL SIGN AND THE UIA AS THE SECOND THREE CHARACTERS, THE CALL SIGN BLOCK 'AAANNN' THROUGH 'ZZZNNN' HAS BEEN REGISTERED WITH SHARES FOR ALL NAVY-MARINE CORPS MARS STATIONS. INDIVIDUAL CALL SIGNS
NA1NNN, NA3NNN, NA4NNN AND NA5NNN HAVE BEEN REGISTERED FOR NAV1, NAV3, NAV4 AND NAV5 RESPECTIVELY.
3. THIS CHANGE WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE FOR ALL ALE OPERATIONS (WITHIN NAVMARCORMARS, ALL MARS AND WHEN INTEROPERATING WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES) AT A FUTURE DATE AS ANNOUNCED BY THE SHARES PROJECT OFFICE. THIS OFFICE WILL ANNOUNCE THIS EFFECTIVE DATE SO ALL NAVMARCORMARS STATIONS CURRENTLY OPERATING WITH ALE WILL SHIFT ON THE SAME DATE AS THE OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.
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And from my weekend monitoring:
BQGNNN Adel, IA
EXBNNN Connecticut
KBPNNN Indiana
WKCNNN Illinois
WWLNNN Unknown
YXPNNN Washington
Frequencies monitored: 3349.0 4765.0 7642.0 11098.5 kHz ALE/USB
More soon as I continue to explore these services.