Hello Hams around the world - To paraphrase an old US Marines slogan from the Eighties; We're looking for a few Good Operators. As some may know, besides POTA and DX operations, I also produce some special events that touch people significantly throughout the year. Most are local and a small team of folks have become regulars in helping operate but good things evolve and expand. With the great results of the recent SE operation of K2C for International Childhood Cancer Awareness Day that wrapped up 2/15/23 I find it will best serve those we seek to support by enlisting a more global team of operators. We can use more US operators as well, spread across the country. For this reason I am looking for volunteers from all around the world. Particularly seasoned activators who can handle a pileup with professionalism and maintain the integrity of the cause. If you're "Mic Shy" it may not be for you but if you like to talk and can speak with ease, then come join us; the shyness will quickly disappear. So, don't Be Shy - Step forward for a good cause. POTA Operators would be ideal. You'd also need to commit to time on the air and have a station able to reach a wide audience as conditions allow which is why incorporating it into a POTA activation is an ideal way to help out while still doing what you like (you Can do it from home if you wish). You may operate in any mode of your choice keeping in mind the goal is to steer callers to the QRZ page to learn about what we're doing. If you can fit that into an FT8/4 exchange, go for it. We have, coming this March 25 to April 2, World Autism Awareness Week in an effort to bring more awareness to globally to Autism Spectrum Disorder. The call is W2A in the US (QRZ page already up) but each country will need its own special event call that reflects the theme of the event - Autism Awareness. International Volunteers will be asked to secure local special event calls in advance and let me know so I can include them on the event QRZ page. We use a Discord chat group channel to coordinate bands / modes but with the nuances of propagation it would be advantageous to have operators on the same bands in different locations but, coordination via Discord Chat is paramount to success - we Must know who is where and when. Ideally you can do it from parks to take advantage of our almost 34,000 members world-wide to get the activation while spreading the word we want to get out. To do this, you'd use the event call, W2A in the US and whatever special call you get in any other country, in the log field "Station_Callsign", and Your call in the field "Operator". You then simply send you final log file to us and we'll take care of the rest. Anyone interested in volunteering to help may email me at hamradioevents@gmail.com with Special Events in the subject line (Helps with filtering away from the Spam) and I will send you the chat invite and details with simple script. Thanks in advance. James / KB2FMH
Great idea, James. Anything to increase on-air activity while highlighting awareness of various causes is certainly a good thing. I wish you and other activators great success. 73 es ZUT, Chip W9EBE
Do you want in on it Chip? we need more US ops also, spread out across the country. Our group also does some of the multi op collection events like 12 days of Christmas and 13 Colonies etc. where having operators spread out makes it better for those who hunt for all the stations.
Thanks Kevin, I will send you an email later with details. You Will need to secure a special event callsign for this one though as you couldn't use our US call of W2A legally there.
You got it brother. I'm creating an info package for all volunteers so sit tight - they're coming in from near and far.. and Thanks!!
Wished the lame Radio Associations and Clubs within the country I'm currently living in could organize a Special Event. https://brasil.un.org/pt-br/176593-dia-mundial-de-conscientizacao-sobre-o-autismo-2-de-abril Not that people involved in Autism and its awareness would forget the date, just that those stupid lazy agents dozing all day at Anatel premises would never get back to work in time, granting a Special Event c/s on such a short notice. Shame on Brazil - SOB Oliver
Would you like to help with this Oliver? I have been working on a way to make it easy if one cannot simply get a special call like we can here in the US. We'd love to have South America represented. I'd even ask you to bring in some friends. If so, let me know via the suggested email address above in the message. Thanks
James, I can't commit to being on the air all week, but I can put some hours in on evenings or weekends. My 21 year old son is autistic, so I'm well versed on the subject. If you could use some help, I'm here for ya. I'm in the Omaha area and get out fairly well with my 100 watts and a wire. I'm good on FT4, FT8, or SSB. I could even do some SSTV during the weekend days on 20m. 15m is my most resonant band, but 20m works pretty good too. I know I don't have a lot to offer, but I'm there if you need help.
All help is welcome and appreciated Anthony. I will be sending out an info package soon so watch your email in the coming days. Because this type of event requires human interaction, let's stick with the Human modes as best we can. We're not looking to rack up contacts and there is no prize for us or our callers. The only benefit will be spreading awareness around the globe which works best by "Word of Mouth". Thanks Very Much.
CW or Phone is preferred Ken, our goal is to convey information, not simply fill up the log with callsigns. I don't believe we could get the information squeezed into the popular digital modes unless someone uses RTTY, which is unlikely. With these things, people like to Talk, whether mouth or key (if one is fast enough I suppose). We would love to have a station on the air in WA so I will send you the info packet in the coming days. I hope you join us in helping spread the word about this often debilitating affliction. Thanks
