I didn't mean to leave Straight Key Night (SKN) off my report for this
week. It is sponsored by the ARRL and runs for the 24 hours of January
1 UTC, so it starts at 7 PM EST tonight and runs until 6:59 PM Thursday
night. Everyone is encouraged to use a hand key (also known as a
straight key) or a bug and to make CW contacts on all bands. There is
no format and no required exchange. You can report the number of your
QSOs and your vote for the best SK fist and for the most interesting
QSO. There is no reporting to 3830, but if you will let me know how
many CW contacts you made with a mechanical key, I'll summarize the
totals next week. I'll be QRV with my Vibroplex Deluxe Hand Key.
Charles, K4GK, plans to call the GSN tonight (3549 kHz at 7 and 10 PM
EST) using an old spark gap hand key from the 1910-20 era. A lot of
hams will probably using other classic radio gear too and will delight
in telling you about their "vintage" stations. 73, John, K4BAI.
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