When using this system, soldiers were required to follow a certain protocol. Once the charge was accepted and the family member was on the line, the operator would instruct the family member that only one person could talk at a time and they had to say “over” when they were finished talking and not start talking until after the service member said “over.” Then the operator would call Vietnam for the service member to come on line. The only cost was a collect call charge the family had to accept from the ham’s location. The HAM operator in the states would then get a telephone company operator on their home phone line and have the collect call placed. Then a MARS operator would call the MARS station in Vietnam for a “Listing” of service members who wanted to make a call, to whom and what phone number. First the band would have to be open to patch quality conditions. One of the operators explains the process in making a patch. A ham could apply for MARS membership and help service members call home. This follows the Cuban Missile Crisis and President Kennedy’s concern for viable and extended communications capabilities. Each military service had it own MARS program, networks, frequencies, operators and stations. The Navy-Marine Corps MARS program was established officially on 17 August 1962, and began operations on 1 January 1963.
#What is a phone patch ham radio free#
MARS stations would allow each soldier a free 5-minute personal radio telephone call home to the United States. The MARS system offered soldiers and sailors a way to personally communicate with loved ones back home via the use of a “phone-patch” telephone connection over short-wave radio. To address this, United States MARS (Military Affiliate Radio Service) stations from all branches of the service, Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, were deployed throughout Vietnam. During the Vietnam conflict, there were no individual personal cellular or landline telephones available for soldiers or sailors to use for calling family members back home.
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