ARLA/CLUSTER: New Year's AMSAT CW Activity Day on the Satellites

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

Plan ahead for New Year's AMSAT CW Activity Day on the Satellites

Thanks to all who participated in AMSAT's Straight Key Night 2016,
held in memory of Ben Stevenson, W2BXA. For 25 years, AMSAT has
sponsored SKN on OSCAR, and it's been my pleasure to conduct this
event.

While Morse as a license qualification has gone the way of the spark
gap, I am pleased to see that amateur CW activity is as popular as
ever. Straight keys and "bugs", however, have found a niche primarily
with the boat anchor crowd, and AMSAT's insistence on their use in
OSCAR SKN has held down participation. Similar considerations have led
ARRL to broaden its annual HF event to include all forms of CW, even
computer-generated. The idea is to encourage everyone to enjoy CW
operation, no matter how they choose to do it. We agree 100%.

So, in with the new: AMSAT CW Activity Day.

As with the old SKN, it will be a fun event, not a contest, and will
run for 24 hours on January 1, 2017 (UTC). All forms of CW are
welcome. Since it is not a contest, there is no required exchange. A
QSO is a QSO. Working the same station on more than one satellite is
permitted.

Instead of submitting Best Fist nominations, all participants are
asked to post their results, including "Soapbox" comments, to AMSAT-
BB.
Please include the satellites you used, and the number of CW QSOs you
had on each. While it is not necessary to post your full log, you may
do so if you wish.

CU on CW!

Ray Soifer, W2RS