SKCC 3rd year Anniversary K3Y

Station Op's Guide	Station Op's Calendar	Log Search	K3Y Statistics
QSL Information	Sweep Certificate	Operator Certificate	Upload MERGE files

About K3Y

K3Y is a month long special event celebrating the third aniversary of the Straight Key Century Club. It starts at the stroke of midnight ushering in the new year 2009 and ends at 2359 on January 31, 2009.

Club members make arrangements with a regional coordinator to operate their station using the K3Y special event callsign. Members and non-members alike can make contact with the K3Y stations to earn a certificate and/or a K3Y QSL card.

For more information, see the SKCC Homepage

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K3Y Station Operator's Guide

Overview

1) Make arragements with a regional coordinator to use the K3Y Special Event call.
2) Get on the air and have fun.
3) Submit your log to the regional coordinator after operating.

Arranging Air Time

The Special Event callsign may only be on the air from one station in a call district at one time. Regional coordinators will maintain a schedule of operating times to ensure that this is the case. If you wish to operate a K3Y Special Event station you must make arragements with the coordinator for your region.

The regional coordinators have two email addresses that you can use to contact them. One has a generic form like area-n@skccgroup.com, the other is specific to their call sign as show in the graphic image below.

For example, email to area-2@skcc... or af2z@skcc... will go to Drew, the area-2 coordinator. Please note, Alaska is area-10, and Hawaii is area-11.

THE AREA NUMBER IS THE NUMBER OF THE AREA FROM WHICH YOU WILL BE OPERATING, AND MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM THAT IN YOUR CALL SIGN AND YOUR HOME QTH.

On-Air Procedure

While you are operating with the SKCC Special Event callsign you must remain within the privileges granted by your license. You must identify your primary station callsign at least once per hour.

You must use a straight key, bug or other key acceptable to SKCC. No electronic keyers are permitted unless granted an exception by SKCC.

This is not a contest. It is an anniversary event celebrating the beginnings of SKCC. Taking time during a QSO to explain the event and the club to newcomers is fine but keep in mind that others may be waiting to call you and will lose interest quickly if put on hold too long.

You should operate within your skill level. If 5 WPM and frequent mistakes is the best you can do, that's okay. You'll do better with practice and this is a good opportunity for that. Seasoned operators help slower operators on the other end gain experience and build confidence by operating at a reduced speed.

Try to stay on the air for the full time that you have reserved.

The suggested CQ format is: CQ CQ DE K3Y/n K3Y/n K where n = region number.

This is a suggestion. You can change your procedure based on current conditions. If you have a pileup, often a simple TU to the last caller will net another call.

For the minimum exchange you should give: RST, Name, State and your SKCC number.

To comply with the FCC requirement of identifying your primary station call and get the word out about SKCC you should send the following at least once during an hour:

INFO ABT SKCC FOUND ON THE WEB. [AR] DE (your call, your SKCC number)

Logging Procedure

The K3Y Special Event is likely to result in a hundred or more station logs that have to be merged to produce a master log from which QSL card labels can be generated. The regional coordinators have a special merge program to handle that but it requires station operators to follow very specific instructions for logging and naming their log file. All of the details are covered in a separate "Station Operator's Document" available for download from this web site.

Station operators should send the log of their operating session to their regional coordinator as soon as possible. Keep a backup copy of the log for the duration of the event.

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K3Y QSL Information

At the conclusion of the K3Y Special Event you can claim a QSL card listing the contacts you have made with K3Y stations. Send an SASE and an International Reply Coupon (IRC) or $1 for return of QSL.
Send to:

Dan Rhodes
P.O. Box 3092
Erie, PA 16508

As a courtesy to the K3Y station operator you can send one of your QSL cards if you have never worked that operator before. Please note: Some operators prefer direct QSLs, some use a buro, some accept eQSLs, some do not exchange cards. Please check the QRZ.COM website for the home call of the station operator as to the method for QSL.

If you are sending a QSL card please make it out to the home call of the station operator followed by K3Y/n. For example, if K2ABC was operating K3Y/2 then the card should be made out to K2ABC/K3Y/2.

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K3Y Sweep Certificate

If you have completed a sweep of all 10 K3Y call areas and it has been confirmed by a log search for your call, you can create and download an award certificate simply by entering the information below.

A personalized certificate in PDF format will be presented, which you may save and print.

If you make an error, just go back in your browser and redo it until you are satisfied with the layout.

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K3Y Operator Certificate

As a way of saying thank you to all the members who operated as K3Y, you can create and download a certificate of appreciation, simply by entering your name and callsign below, then press the "Submit" button. A personalized certificate in PDF format will be presented, which you may save and print.

If you make an error, just go back in your browser and redo it until you are satisfied with the layout.

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Your name as you want it to appear on the certificate:
Your callsign:
KH6 endoresement:
KL7 endorsement:
QRP endorsement: