This Friday evening, I’m hearing a bunch of stations calling CQ SS between 7.040 and 7.050 MHz. The way I read the rules, though, the contest isn’t supposed to start until 2100 UTC Saturday. Am I crazy or are these contesters jumping the gun?
Having fun with amateur radio
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Some of the big contest clubs encourage their members to get on the Thursday and Friday before SS to shake down their stations and get familiar with the SS exchange after a year away. You stumbled across a shakedown run…
Is it possible they’re just staking out the frequency and sitting on it for once the contest starts? I’m a rather new Ham here, and have only operated in two contests. (I don’t think it will be a regular occurance for me. I enjoy the more casual “ragchew” I guess.
-Craig
KD8NJZ
Hi Dan,
You were hearing the NCCC’s practice session. It’s an extension of the weekly NS (NCCC Sprint) that happens on Thursday nights. We hold a special 30-minute practice session for NCCC members (and anyone else who wants to join in) to evict Murphy from their shacks before the real SS starts.
-Gordon KM6I, ex KC8ES, former ARROW member