From the ARRL Letter, Februrary 9, 2007:
As new Amateur Radio Service rules phase in Friday, February 23, eliminating the Morse code requirement, Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station W1AW will mark the milestone with a weekend-long special event. In addition, a number of Central Connecticut volunteer examiners will be on hand at ARRL Headquarters — both before and after the new rules become effective at 12:01 AM EST — to offer Amateur Radio examinations under the current and new rules. ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, is helping to coordinate the celebration. He says Headquarters staff and other volunteers will keep W1AW active for the “Welcome Weekend” event.
“W1AW will be on the air all weekend for this special event to celebrate the fact that so many amateurs have gained or will earn new privileges as a result of the rule changes,” he said. “The station will operate starting at 12:01 AM Eastern Time on Friday, February 23, continuing into the wee hours and resuming operation during the day. Then W1AW will be on the air on both days of the weekend, from 10 AM until 5 PM — perhaps longer as conditions and enthusiasm dictate.”
Operation will be on both SSB and CW. W1AW operators will concentrate their activities on the Technician and General class HF subbands. On SSB, the station will use its normal phone frequencies — 1.811, 3.990, 7.290, 14.290, 18.160 and 21.390 MHz. On 10 meters, W1AW will operate SSB on or about 28.480 MHz.
Henderson says operating will be casual unless pileups develop. “The purpose is to welcome newcomers to new privileges,” he said.
“First Contact” certificates will be available as part of this event. ARRL invites anyone making a first contact or first HF contact to enter the contact information on the ARRL “Welcome Weekend” Web site and receive a certificate in return. “If the first contact is with W1AW we will also be including a W1AW QSL card for the contact,” Henderson added.
CT1FUH says
Nice blog 73’s