[NLRS] MWA SKN announcement

[Ford Peterson]

{I encourage people to cross-post this announcement to any reflector or mailing list that has members within the MWA's 175 mile "circle."  http://www.w0aa.org/}

ARRL / MWA Straight Key Night (SKN)

CW as a second language?  You bet!

Most hams have learned the code--way back when...  But how many of them use it?  What a great way to communicate!  You can work stations on CW that you could not possibly work any other way.  And if you are into contesting, but only use phone and digital, now's the time to begin doubling your scores.

If you fall into the "Yes, I know the code.  But I wish I knew it better" camp.  Then the ARRL's Straight Key Night may be just the ticket to get you going on knowing it better.  Lots of slow code that day (New Years Eve and Day) on all the bands.  Lots of experienced types to listen to--all of them pounding the brass the best they can.  Maybe W1AW will have 'old Betsy' on the air again?  I hope so.  I got a very nice QSL card after contacting W1AW during last year's event.

For the second year in a row, the MWA will sponsor a special set of awards designed to "get out the code."  Here's the official rules from the MWA website:  http://wb0tra.no-ip.org/mwa/skn.html

And of course, the real sponsor is the ARRL with their announcement: 

http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2005/skn.html

For those that want to try it, there is an extra special award.  Here's a picture of last year's award given to Jim Rice-N0OA.  This year's award will be similar, but personalized for the lucky winner.

http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/?con_id=62  What a beauty!  A J-38 straight key mounted on Hickory.

Anybody (seasoned op or not) who participates from within the MWA's 175 mile circle, and turns in a response to the ARRL, will receive a bottle of that magic elixir of straight key youth, a bottle of MWA Brasso.

Last year we had 227 entries submitted for SKN -- the most ever for Straight Key Night. Why not dust off the key, clean the contacts and light up the ether with the beautiful melody of hand-created CW? Sweeter music is hard to find. 

Ford-N0FP
MWA SKN Committee Chairman
N0FP at ARRL.NET