SKCC CW Club

[WW4AM]

If you are into cw and using straight keys , check out the Straight Key Century Club Group. www.skccgroup.com  . This group is dedicated to cw and the use of straight keys. They are currently over 3300 strong in less than two years . They have calling frequencies on most bands, and you will find a lot of SKCC member activity  near these freqs.There is no ffe to join, and you can join apply on line and print your certificate once your number is issued which is yours for life. No annual fee  like some of the other cw groups charge. I just joined the group in July of 07 and have been having a blast using my Chinese PLA military key working SKCC members. Get off of those keyers and paddles and dust off your straight key !  CU on cw.

73's
AC4R
Fred

[W2RDD]

Good advice, and you don't have to take an oath to refrain from using your electronic keyer ever again. The idea is to get on the air with the hand key to keep that way of generating cw alive and well.
73
SKCC 2045

[WX4O]

I think I remember they allow 'bugs' also??

[WQ3T]

Bugs are fine if you adjust the dit timing to 50% duty cycle and have a good fist. I'm glad they let me use a bug.

[KJ7BS]

The Straight Key Century Club promotes any manual or semi-manual method of generating CW, which includes straight keys, bugs, cooties, sideswipers, etc.  However, some accomodations have been made for members who can not operate these devices.

The SKCC club has three major operating activities each month;

Monthly 24 hour operating event - This occurs on the first day of each month from 0000z until 2359z

SKCC Straight Key Sprint - This occurs on the second Wednesday of each month from 0000z until 0159z

SKCC Weekend Straight Key Sprint - This occurs on the fourth Saturday of each month from 0000z until 2359z.  This is really not a sprint as it operates for 24 hours, but the format is the same as a sprint.

Other amenities include, a key library where members can "check out" a key for temporary use in their station, an SKCC QSL bureau for exchanging QSL cards with SKCC members (non members can use this to send cards to SKCC members, too), an SKCC awards tracking spreadsheet for club awards (Centurion, Tribune, WAS, and band endorsements), and an email list for members, too.

The SKCC Centurion, the official newsletter of the Straight Key Century Club, is published monthly, on the first day of each month and features a shack of the month photo, a key of the month photo, membership and awards news, lots of interesting articles, and a member roundtable where members can post almost anything.

If you are experienced in CW, if you are just learning CW, if you are interested in manually generated Morse code, if you want to have a lot of fun on the air, check out the Straight Key Century Club at http://www.skccgroup.com .

Mark, KJ7BS
Glendale, AZ
Editor, The SKCC Centurion