SKN History

[N2EY]

Maybe I'm getting along a bit, but nobody seems to remember the history of
SKN - not even ARRL!

It started out as a casual operating activity on or about the 4th of July.
(not New Year's Eve!) It was so popular that a second SKN was added for New
Year's. The New Year SKN eventually outshone the 4th of July event, and the latter
was dropped. Part of the issue was that many of us were outdoors on the 4th
rather than in the shack.

If anybody's interested, I can look up the dates.

btw, for a few years in the 1930s there were 2 Field Days each summer, too.

73 de Jim, N2EY
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[Ron D'Eau Claire-2]

The first few SKN's I participated in were twice-yearly. I tried to look up
the dates but can't find them. How about it Jim?

But, no, I was not around for two Field Days nor, as it is sometimes
rumored, did I go to grade school with Gugliemo Marconi...

Ron AC7AC

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[Jim Wiley-2]

Yeah, but we heard you used to date his sister!
<grin>

- Jim, KL7CC



Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

 <snip>

nor, as it is sometimes rumored, did I go to grade school with Gugliemo Marconi...


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[Terry Conboy]

>Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
>nor, as it is sometimes rumored, did I go to grade school with
>Gugliemo Marconi...
>
>and Jim KL7CC wrote:
>Yeah, but we heard you used to date his sister! <grin>

Hmmm, wasn't her name Maria Olivia Ramona Silvia Elena?  8-)

Keep clam,
Terry N6RY


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[N2EY]

In a message dated 12/19/05 11:54:03 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[hidden email] writes:


> The first few SKN's I participated in were twice-yearly. I tried to look up
> the dates but can't find them. How about it Jim?
>

Well, I'm no expert, but here goes:

The first mention of SKN appears in QST for April 1970. K4MD suggested it,
and the first one was held on New Year's Eve/day of that year (1970--->1971).

First one was 8 PM to 1 AM local time. They got over 160 reports, and SKN has
been repeated every year since then.

Quick timeline:

New Year's Eve 1970 --> 1971 - First SKN, 8 pm to 1 am local time. There has
been a New Year's SKN every year since that first one.

New Year's Eve 1971 --> 1972 - Time extended: 8 pm to 3 am local time

July 1974  - Addition of "4th of July" SKN. Actually run the night of July 3
if I understand the times correctly.

New Year's Eve 1974--->1975 Time changed to 6 hour period starting at 0100
UTC on January 1 (1975, actually, but in USA it starts on New Year's Eve).

New Year's Eve 1976--->1977 Time changed to 24 hour period starting at 0000
UTC on January 1 (1976, actually, but in USA it starts on New Year's Eve).

July 1979 - Last "4th of July" SKN. Lack of participation cited as reason for
cancellation; the New Year's event got more reports.

---

Researching SKN was a bit of a sporting course because in the early years it
was a very low-key (arghhh!) event. It appears as a small paragraph buried in
"Operating News", and doesn't show up on the ARRL indexes for the first few
years. SKN didn't get a separate announcement or result until 1976.

But even with that tiny amount of publicity, the first one drew over 160
reports and had over 600 different calls reported worked.

One unusual feature of SKN has always been the short reporting deadline. ARRL
wants reports within 10 days IIRC, not the usual 30 days. Of course the
report can be very informal, or highly detailed. There is no "wrong" format of
report!

I think there's a bit of a message in all that. If we aren't active, or don't
report our activity, they'll change the format or even discontinue the event.


73 de Jim, N2EY
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