Perturbation

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Straight Keys

Posted: 18 Jan 2016 06:47 AM PST
http://ke9v.net/2016/01/18/straight-keys/


This weekend was a radio-active one for me. Snow and bitter cold across the
Heartland demanded that I spend most of the weekend indoors. With little
else to do besides watch football games being played by teams other than my
own favorite, I spent more time than usual in front of the radio.

I’m a member of the Straight Key Century Club (3383T) which celebrates it’s
founding in 2006 with a month long, K3Y Celebration operating event every
January. It’s a busy time on the bands chasing slots and areas.

If a person were “all in� on the event, it takes 149 confirmed contacts to
sweep the entire board. Fortunately, you don’t need to be that aggressive
(unless you just want to) to claim success in the event. In working just a
small subset of those 149, I’ve managed to log stations in the
1,2,3,6,7,8,9,0 call areas — along with KL7, KP4, EU, and NA.

The EU station worked was Bert, F6HKA. I work him in nearly every SKCC
event and on every band. He’s a great operator and must be driving a super
station on the Continent. The bands can be completely abysmal, with not a
peep heard from anywhere on the planet yet there’s Bert. The NA station
was Paul, VE1PVH in Nova Scotia. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always
wanted to visit the MaritimesÂ*and whenever I work someone from a location
that I’d like to visit, that contact becomes a special one for me.

There’s still a few weeks left in the event and though I’m only able to get
on the air during weekends this month, I expect to work a 4 and a 5 and
“sweep the lower 48 states.

One additional SKCC note — the club just surpassed 15,000 members, a truly
impressive feat by any all-volunteer organization. It’s free to join and
offers all the fun you’re willing to put into it. Why don’t you join us and
relive the days when manually sent Morse was a common thread that bound ham
radio enthusiasts from Nova Scotia to New Zealand. It’s an ACTIVE club with
lots of events, contests, awards, and things to keep you busy on the air.



Speaking of straight keys, I caught this blog post from K2NCC who briefly
reviewed his new Vibroplex Straight Key Blue. I love that blue finish and
would have already whipped my credit card out and been on the phone to
Scott, except I’m trying to get rid of stuff, not add more to the pile.

But you, this beauty could be yours. Just saying
Filed under: Ham Radio Tagged: k3y, skcc, vibroplex