SKN is winding down and I spent about an hour last early evening and another hour this afternoon making SKN contacts. Since I shoot for rag chews and not quick contacts, only made 7: WB4DKF 30m 20 mins K4ARD 80m 20 mins WA2WMR 80m 25 mins WZ2J 20m 15 mins K9NO 20m 20 mins WS1L 40m 6 mins AA4MX 40m 20 mins I'm done and time for dinner. But at least these were actual conversations and all using manual keys. I slowed my Blue Racer bug down to as slow as it can go (weight to the end) but that's still around 20 wpm so sorry for the 2-3 stations I did hear calling at slower speeds but just couldn't get there. I haven't owned a hand key in >20 years but might be time to invest in one, although I would rarely use it other than for SKN. It's still a fun "event." VERY unlike "SKCC" where it's hit-and-run, which is why I don't answer CQ SKCC calls.
Just finished an hour and a half on the SB-104A station with Japanese SATO straight key. Like Steve I went for longer chats than "RST/QTH/OP/HNY/73" Highlight was working Mark @WD4ELG for the first time - that was really cool! Another one of the interesting QSOs was with W6GRT Art in San Diego who was using a key built by his grandfather when he was 12 years old, with the contacts made from silver dimes - wow what a truly special key! In all for today's short session, 5 really nice QSOs and got lots of great reports on the SB-104A - it really is a fun rig on both CW and SSB. Total for the event is 16. More straight key contacts over 24 hours than I've had in years! It was nice to have so much more time this year than in past years. I ran out of time due to family obligations today so never got to the Ten-Tec Omni-C nor the Drake B-Line but I got lots of contacts on all the rest so I'm very pleased overall. Dave W7UUU
Three SKN contacts, which is one more than my total contacts of any sort since NYE 2006, not counting some FT8 stuff that I consider more just antenna testing as I couldn’t tell you if there was actually a human at the other end or not. i used the HW-16 for all of them. THAT felt nice.
I only made half a dozen contacts, all with the HW-16, but they were all nice "rag chews" with some lasting close to an hour. Everyone I worked wanted to chat, which was fine by me. I'm not collecting numbers. Several complimented my "fist" and asked what kind of key I was using. They're all like "my key is a.......fill in J38, SpeedX, Brass Racer or something fancy" and I'm like well, mine is an old brass thing I got from the Lafayette Catalog I don't think it has a name LOL
I always wanted an HW-16 but never owned one. It's a slick box. Your brass Lafayette key is likely a J-38 "copy," there were a lot of those on the market including a pretty good one sold by Ameco...but also saw them branded by a variety of stores back in the 60s and even the 70s.
You are correct, Steve. I looked it up in the 1973 catalog. Lafayette called it the "Brass Pounder's" Key. $2.75 If anybody asks in the future, I will just say J-38. A lot fewer characters than trying to explain it.
I was on for about an an hour and a half opening night and made 8 contacts on 40. All good rag chews. Most of the ops were using bugs, a few J-38 and other keys. Two of the hams were using Vibroplex bugs that were given to them by their fathers. Most of them were older than me, and I'm 72. One was in his mid 80's and was telling me he had to QRT to go out and do snow removal. I worked one Novice ticket holder who was using a QCX mini. One of the few novice ticket holdouts that get all they need/want from the hobby on the novice CW bands. Worked a YL who mentioned that she had a friend who was in the navy and on Guam in the 70's, at the same time I was there. She said he had QSOs with him from KG6NAA, which I knew to the the club and MARS station and at the Naval Air Station about a mile from where I lived the first 2 years. I visited that radio shack several times while there. I may have come fact to face with her friend back in '75. I had a Barker and Williamson B&W 5100B transmitter back then that had a tube failure. An OD3 15ov gaseous voltage regulator that took me off the air. I stopped by KG6NAA and talked to the navy MARS op there and told him about it. He rummaged through the defunct equipment room and found one, I think in a old piece of radar gear that was there for parts, and found one that put me back on the air. Got back on the next morning on 40 and QST to after 40 faded, and finished the operation. Total of 21 QSOs. Now the bug is back on the sideline until next time.,
