Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO
Amateur radio operators from the 13 original U.S. colonies will be joined by members of the Holmesburg Amateur Radio Club and other Philadelphia area radio clubs to celebrate Independence Day from the city where independence was declared, Philadelphia, PA. The 13 Colonies Special Event takes place July 1-7.
The event allows amateur radio operators around the world to learn about the original 13 colonies and the city where independence began. This will be the event’s 15th year. Joining HARC will be members of the Philmont Mobile Radio Club, Villanova University Amateur Radio Club and the Philadelphia Digital Radio Association. Many other operators across Pennsylvania will be keeping WM3PEN (representing Philadelphia) or K2M (representing Pennsylvania) on the air. The stations representing each of the of the 13 Colonies will have the callsign K2A through K2M.
The theme for the 2023 event is “Signers of the Declaration of Independence.” WM3PEN will offer a special QSL featuring Ben Franklin. During the event WM3PEN will be considered a bonus station. There will be two additional bonus stations. Great Britain will be represented by GB13COL and France will be represented by TM13COL. GB13COL’s QSL card will feature Lord North and TM13COL’s QSL card will feature Marquis de Lafayette. Both men were key figures during the colonial period.
HARC Coordinator and WM3PEN trustee Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, states we are fortunate to have a wide range of clubs in the Philadelphia region with various areas of interest. On HF, operations will take place on SSB, CW, digital modes, SSTV, satellites and D-STAR. Watch the DX spotting websites for HF operations.
Many operators will work all 16 stations in 24 hours. Others will make the clean sweep during the event. Some will try to work all stations on all modes. QSL info for all of the special event stations can be found at www.13colonies.us. Besides handling the QSL duties for WM3PEN, stations working GB13COL can send their QSL card requests to HARC member K3UJ who is handling U.S. amateur requests.
The event has grown over the years. Last year over a quarter million QSOs were logged by the special event stations,
Join in and celebrate our independence during the 13 Colonies Special Event, July 1-7.