Great Day,

January is Straight Key Month. 

A straight key is a tool for sending Morse code characters.  The ham radio operator operates the straight key by using the muscles in his or her arm, and to a lesser extent, the wrist and fingers.  These Morse code characters by a real live human being.  There are no computer generated dits and dahs (some folks may call them dots and dashes) when the ham radio operator is using a straight key.  That is the beauty of a simple tool.

The Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) advocates and promotes the use of straight keys.  They have designated January as Straight Key Month.  All month-long hams who support SKCC will be on the air a little more frequently than usual, sending their radio signals using Morse code.  The on-the-air activity will take place using the special call sign K3Y followed by a portable designation such as “/3”

 

Our own Cumberland Amateur Radio Club is honored to have one of our members  participating in this event.  Radio Station Operator John, WA3KCP will be operating some of the scheduled shifts using call sign K3Y/3.    His on-the-air shifts over the next few days are:  

 

Tuesday       January 09, 2024 from 1800 UTC to 2359 UTC.   The equivalent local time is 1:00 p.m. to 6:59 p.m.

 

Wednesday January 10, 2024 from 0000 UTC to 0100 UTC.  The equivalent local time is 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday January 10, 2024 from 0200 UTC to 0300 UTC.  The equivalent local time is 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Wednesday January 10, 2024 from 1100 UTC to 1800 UTC.  The equivalent local time is 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday January 10, 2024 from 2000 UTC to 2300 UTC.  The equivalent local time is 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

 

If you hear K3Y/3 on the air during those time slots it will be our friend John WA3KCP with his hand on the morse code straight key.

 

For more information about Straight Key Month please visit the Straight Key Century Club web site www.skccgroup.com

This link will take you directly to the Straight Key Month web page.  https://www.skccgroup.com/k3y/k3y.php

 

For more information about the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club, located in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, I invite you to visit our web site.

www.RadioClub-CARC.com

 

Regards,
Andrew Forsyth    Amateur Radio  (Ham Radio) Call Sign AF3I

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