Announcing a new on air operating event: Silent Key Night

Announcing a new on air operating event: Silent Key Night

Ron Jones K7RJ



Beginning midnight, April 1 till the bands are dead will be an opportunity to resurrect those long lost contacts and reconnect to the old timers who have gone QRT. In the spirit of ham radio let’s get on the air and see how many of the old timers we can raise.


Use any medium such as CW, Phone, or séance. You may want to use an antenna that has a strong vertical signal and point the antenna up toward the heavens, or, depending on which silent key operator you work, you may want the reverse radiation pattern.

If you hear a distant, ghostly sound, it may be one of the old time silent key operators buried in a pileup.


This may be the perfect excuse you need to try to resurrect one of your dead rigs.


Don’t pass away an opportunity to operate from a field such as in a cemetery or a local morgue. But plan ahead. If your batteries die, this will indeed be a grave situation.


Score:

One point per silent key contact.

One half point for each “ghost contact” (That is where you think you worked them but weren’t really sure).

Bonus: 1000 bonus points for working The Old Man himself.

You qualify for a special certificate if you yourself are a silent key.

Doesn’t be a deadbeat; join the fun on Silent Key Night, where the bands will be alive.

 

I give it a 10 for originality

 

Ya know, to a certain degree, I was kinda hoping this was a real thing....
Several years ago when I got back into ham radio and received my tech license, I was all excited about going out to meet other hams during field day events. My xyl and myself hopped on our motorcycles and went out to a location where one of the clubs were camping. To put it mildly, I don't think they would have given us the time of day if we were holding a bag of cash even though we tried to introduce ourselves.
After a short time and having the wind taken out of my sails, we left and stopped at a diner on our way back to town. I mentioned to my girlfriend that there was another field day event not far from where we were eating if she was up for the ride. It was a residence basically in the middle of nowhere off a dirt road.
It was easy to find the location because of the antenna in the air. We rolled up the entrance of the gravel driveway and hopped off our bikes so we wouldn't risk dumping them. No sooner than our feet hit the ground, several men rushed out of the open garage door toward us. I was told later that my eyes were as big as saucers as my first thought was that we were trespassing based on the speed that I was being approached.
That group was led by Willie Williams W5WIW and they welcomed us and invited us for BBQ even though we had just finished eating at our last stop. We spent hours conversing with everyone in the group. My xyl, who couldn't care less about ham radio, felt welcomed by the group and we quickly were considered part of Willie's extended family.
Willie passed away a little over a year later at age 78. We never talked on the radio, but I spent a lot of time with him as he loaned me equipment to get back on the air and give me tips on getting started. Pretty generous for a guy who didn't know me from Adam to begin with. It inspired me to share what I have these days with new hams trying to get started.
Anyway, Silent Key Night just made me think of that as W5WIW inspired a lot of us in our local ham community. 73's and may God bless us with many years to go before our keys go silent.

 

No doubt any QSL cards mailed out for this event will wind up in the dead letter office.

 

You're killin' me!

 

I think Halloween would be a better date.