Photo By Maria Blanchard | The team used a webpage to track the locations they connected with during the...... read more read more
FORT EISENHOWER, GA – A group of volunteer Signalers, from across the installation, came together to form team “HF Misfits” and compete in the Network Enterprise Technology Command’s (NETCOM) High Frequency (HF) Signal Competition, QRPX, March 20-22.
They were going up against 201 U.S., Canadian, and civilian teams around the globe.
This is a points-based annual competition, which challenges teams to communicate (voice and text) with as many stations as possible and report on “enemy” activity over low power (20 watts), using only field expedient equipment.
Army Warrant Officer 1 Colten Forte, a student in the Warrant Officer Basic Course, explained that there is commercial equipment which could make 20 watts look like 1,000, but that isn’t allowed.
“Everything must be field expedient,” he said. “Our antennas are hand made using Pots telephone line. They make 20 watts look like a couple of hundred.”
Forte pulled together the HF Misfit team, drawing on local talent, to build an even stronger team this year. They took third place last year and ninth in 2023.
He said the diverse Cyber and Signal talent at Fort Eisenhower gave this team an edge in the competition.
“We used the Cyber Electronic Warfare Personnel to better understand the magnitude of effects emitted and develop methods to dial in potential contacts we could reach with our limited power restrictions, and we leveraged our Signalers for the resident knowledge of Harris Radio Technology and Networking, to tie together our Analog and Digital technology,” Forte said.
For example, Capt. Jared Polack, with the 442nd Signal Battalion, wrote a program that interfaced the radio to the computer via a Graphic User Interface (GUI) making Station Calling quicker.
Competing gave the team members, whether signal or cyber, field experience and training opportunities. The Soldiers on the Cyber side got hands-on opportunities with radios while the Signal Soldiers learned some new techniques for integrating cyber technology.
“We have Drill Sergeants, AIT Instructors, students from the Career Captains Course, a Soldier who is about to retire, and others from across the installation,” said Forte.
The team consisted of 20 volunteers from the 442nd Signal Battalion, 369th Signal Battalion, 401st Cyber Battalion, 11th Cyber Battalion, and Non-Commissioned Officers Academy. Several commands also provided material support: 442nd Signal Battalion, 551st Signal Battalion, 324th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, and Fort Eisenhower Garrison.
Most of the supporting staff were also part of the David M. Fiedler Memorial Amateur Radio Club, a sanctioned club on Fort Eisenhower.
“Polack was competing against his entire team from the previous year, and they’re doing pretty well,” he said.
Their toughest competition came from the 11th Signal Brigade and Joint Communications Support Element. Forte believes his team can out ‘signal’ them. The results will be announced on NETCOM’s social media in the second week of April.
| Date Taken: | 03.21.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.03.2025 05:41 |
| Story ID: | 494149 |
| Location: | FORT EISENHOWER, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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