EXERCISE BLUE HAM

Engaging with the amateur radio community on the UK MOD 5MHz (Shared) Band.

Blue Ham is back with ‘Exercise Hermia’ over the weekend 21-22 June 2025.

Blue Ham exercises provide a platform to further develop Cadet radio operator skill and confidence by engaging with the Amateur radio community via the MOD 5MHz (Shared) Band.

Cadet radio operators under supervision will exchange radio messages with Amateur radio operators in the UK and Europe.

Blue Ham Exercise Hermia 21-22 June, will provide an opportunity for Cadet radio operators to experience distinctive styles of radio operating,

Qualified RAFAC CFAV radio operators supporting Exercise Hermia may use their Unit callsign to exchange ‘Service’ messages only.

CCF (ARMY), ACF and SCC may also participate in Exercise Hermia.

OPERATING TECHNIQUE

Cadet stations use standard ICAO – NATO radio procedures. To provide the opportunity for Cadet operators to interact with different operating techniques. It is requested that Amateur radio operators do not adopt the ‘Cadets’ radio procedure but maintain their own personal amateur radio style of operating.

Contact the Blue Ham Team at: blueham at alphacharlie dot org dot uk

OPERATING

Phase One

Initial contact will be the customary exchange of the following information.

It is required for the station Blue Ham contact log.

* Time (Zulu)

* Frequency in use

* Contact Callsign

* Radio Check results

* Contact Location (Maidenhead Locator)

* Contact Transmitter Power

* Contact Antenna Type

* Contact Antenna Direction

Others information is optional like equipment Make and Model, operator name, location, local weather conditions, will also be logged by the Cadet operator.

In the interest of Safety, Cadet operators will maintain the formality of RAFAC radio procedure, no operator names, personal amateur callsigns or unit locations will be given.

Cadet units will use the Maidenhead Locator square to give a 6-character reference of the Unit location.

OPTIONAL – Phase Two

Ice Breaker

The repeating of the initial contact information listed at Phase One in second or subsequent contacts with a Callsign already contacted may become boring for both the Cadet and Amateur operator.

An OPTIONAL extension to the exercise has been included.

The Amateur station may be asked if they are willing or able to participate in Phase two, ‘Ice Breaker.’ Which is the exchange of an 8 or 10 character Maidenhead locator used to identify a feature of location of interest.

Participation in Ice Breaker

The following information is required for the Contact Log.

* Time (Zulu)

* Frequency in use

* Contact Callsign

* Radio Check results

If conditions are favourable and the other station is prepared to participate in Ice Breaker, the exchange of the message and reply can take place.

Using RAF Cranwell as an example, the Maidenhead Locator square 6-character reference for RAFAC HQ at RAF Cranwell is: IO93RA, an identifiable feature is located at IO93RA88OS.

The simple message would be what is located at,

IO93RA88OS.

The reply would be the Lord Trenchard statue (RAF Cranwell).

Or if the Maidenhead locator was given as IO91XM01TU

the reply would be the Ravens Enclosure (Tower of London).

Maidenhead Locator Links
Create a message.
Use HA8TKS to find a feature and generate the 8- or 10-character Maidenhead Locator for the feature of interest. https://dxcluster.ha8tks.hu/hamgeocoding/
Decode a message.
HAMNUT – Enter the 8- or 10-Character Maidenhead locator in the search box to locate the feature of interest. https://hamnut.com/geocode/locator
HAMNUT test locators.
IO93RA88OS Lord Trenchard statue (RAF Cranwell).
IO91XM01TU the Ravens Enclosure (Tower of London).

Obviously, it will take time to locate the feature or location of interest from the Maidenhead locator given. The call may be terminated with ‘Wait Out’ or ‘Out’ to give the callsign time to identify the location.

To maintain the flow of radio traffic, the actual reply to the question may be deferred to a subsequent contact with the originating callsign.

EXERCISE FREQUENCIES

RAFAC stations should change (QSY) to a new exercise frequency every 20 minutes.

Note If operating on SUNDAY, RAFAC stations will vacate 5.398.5 kHz from 15:00 to 1530 UTC. The frequency will be used by the GB2RS News Broadcast

RAFAC SPOT FREQUENCIES IN THE MOD 5MHz (Shared) BAND


Frequency	Blue Ham Channel	Assignment – Use
5278.5 kHz	1
5298.5 kHz	2
5301.0 kHz	3
5304.0 kHz	4
5320.0 kHz	5
5335.0 kHz	6
5354.0 kHz	7	WRC-15 Allocation, available to European radio amateurs
5363.0 kHz	8	WRC-15 Allocation, available to European radio amateurs
5365.0 kHz	9
5366.5 kHz	10	Not in use for Exercise Hermia
5369.0 kHz	11
5371.5 kHz	12
5379.0 kHz	13
5395.0 kHz	14
5398.5 kHz	15	Not to be used 1500-1530 UTC on Sunday
5403.5 kHz	16	Available in the US and Canada

Exercise Blue Ham

EXERCISE BLUE HAM

Engaging with the amateur radio community on the UK MOD 5MHz (Shared) Band.

Blue Ham is back with ‘Exercise Hermia’ over the weekend 21-22 June 2025.

Blue Ham exercises provide a platform to further develop Cadet radio operator skill and confidence by engaging with the Amateur radio community via the MOD 5MHz (Shared) Band.

Cadet radio operators under supervision will exchange radio messages with Amateur radio operators in the UK and Europe.

Blue Ham Exercise Hermia 21-22 June, will provide an opportunity for Cadet radio operators to experience distinctive styles of radio operating,

Qualified RAFAC CFAV radio operators supporting Exercise Hermia may use their Unit callsign to exchange ‘Service’ messages only.

CCF (ARMY), ACF and SCC may also participate in Exercise Hermia.

OPERATING TECHNIQUE

Contact the Blue Ham Team at: blueham at alphacharlie dot org dot uk

OPERATING

Phase One

Initial contact will be the customary exchange of the following information.

It is required for the station Blue Ham contact log.

* Time (Zulu)

* Frequency in use

* Contact Callsign

* Radio Check results

* Contact Location (Maidenhead Locator)

* Contact Transmitter Power

* Contact Antenna Type

* Contact Antenna Direction

Others information is optional like equipment Make and Model, operator name, location, local weather conditions, will also be logged by the Cadet operator.

In the interest of Safety, Cadet operators will maintain the formality of RAFAC radio procedure, no operator names, personal amateur callsigns or unit locations will be given.

Cadet units will use the Maidenhead Locator square to give a 6-character reference of the Unit location.

OPTIONAL – Phase Two

Ice Breaker

The repeating of the initial contact information listed at Phase One in second or subsequent contacts with a Callsign already contacted may become boring for both the Cadet and Amateur operator.

An OPTIONAL extension to the exercise has been included.

The Amateur station may be asked if they are willing or able to participate in Phase two, ‘Ice Breaker.’ Which is the exchange of an 8 or 10 character Maidenhead locator used to identify a feature of location of interest.

Participation in Ice Breaker

The following information is required for the Contact Log.

* Time (Zulu)

* Frequency in use

* Contact Callsign

* Radio Check results

If conditions are favourable and the other station is prepared to participate in Ice Breaker, the exchange of the message and reply can take place.

Using RAF Cranwell as an example, the Maidenhead Locator square 6-character reference for RAFAC HQ at RAF Cranwell is: IO93RA, an identifiable feature is located at IO93RA88OS.

The simple message would be what is located at,

IO93RA88OS.

The reply would be the Lord Trenchard statue (RAF Cranwell).

Or if the Maidenhead locator was given as IO91XM01TU

the reply would be the Ravens Enclosure (Tower of London).

Maidenhead Locator Links

Create a message.

Use HA8TKS to find a feature and generate the 8- or 10-character Maidenhead Locator for the feature of interest. https://dxcluster.ha8tks.hu/hamgeocoding/

Decode a message.

HAMNUT – Enter the 8- or 10-Character Maidenhead locator in the search box to locate the feature of interest. https://hamnut.com/geocode/locator

HAMNUT test locators.

IO93RA88OS Lord Trenchard statue (RAF Cranwell).

IO91XM01TU the Ravens Enclosure (Tower of London).

Obviously, it will take time to locate the feature or location of interest from the Maidenhead locator given. The call may be terminated with ‘Wait Out’ or ‘Out’ to give the callsign time to identify the location.

To maintain the flow of radio traffic, the actual reply to the question may be deferred to a subsequent contact with the originating callsign.

EXERCISE FREQUENCIES

RAFAC stations should change (QSY) to a new exercise frequency every 20 minutes.

Note If operating on SUNDAY, RAFAC stations will vacate 5.398.5 kHz from 15:00 to 1530 UTC. The frequency will be used by the GB2RS News Broadcast

RAFAC SPOT FREQUENCIES IN THE MOD 5MHz (Shared) BAND

Frequency

Blue Ham Channel

Assignment – Use

5278.5 kHz

1

5298.5 kHz

2

5301.0 kHz

3

5304.0 kHz

4

5320.0 kHz

5

5335.0 kHz

6

5354.0 kHz

7

WRC-15 Allocation, available to European radio amateurs

5363.0 kHz

8

WRC-15 Allocation, available to European radio amateurs

5365.0 kHz