Green Keys Night

The Greenkeys online group is happy to announce the first-ever Green Keys Night (GKN), to be held concurrent with Straight Key Night on January 1st, 2020, from 0000 to 2359 UTC. As with SKN, GKN is an event and not a contest.

“Greenkeys” is not a reference to eco-friendly operating – though members certainly are keen on equipment recycling – but rather is a group dedicated to the restoration and use of vintage mechanical teleprinters and related equipment. The term “greenkeys” itself refers to the color of the keys on Teletype machines.

Participants are encouraged to get on the air and simply make enjoyable, conversational RTTY QSOs. Operate on all authorized Amateur frequencies. Please follow established band plans and be mindful of SKN QSOs. RTTY modes only. Call “CQ GKN”.

The use of mechanical teleprinters is preferred, or simply get on the air with the oldest equipment you can scrape together. Real heavy metal Teletypes to be sure, but if that isn’t available: analog hardware modems, VT100 terminals, pre-Windows computers, etc. And vacuum tubes. 😉 And maybe fire up that boatanchor rig that never gets enough air time.

Please no brag tapes/files. Please no pre-recorded messages. Have a real conversation by hand typing it keyboard to keyboard. If you are slow we’ll happily wait. (A CQ macro is okay but you would have better bragging rights if you hand typed that too.)

But even if you don’t have any old equipment, do get on the air and have some fun QSOs the old fashioned way!

Email John Wilson K0IP at wa0ydu@gmail.com to let us know you participated. There are no points scored, but if you’d like to share with us your favorite or most interesting QSO (worked or heard), your log, and what equipment you operated with (including photos), please do.

Please note that there is a RTTY contest concurrent with GKN, the SARTG New Year RTTY Contest. The contest runs from 0800 to 1100 UTC. As long as you have your RTTY working why not join in the contest and then return to more GKN fun! (For info: http://www.sartg.com/contest/nyrules.htm)

The Greenkeys online group is an email list devoted to the discussion of older radio teletype (RTTY) gear including mechanical teleprinters (Teletype, Kleinschmidt, etc.), terminal units, paper tape, gears, cams, oil, and anything else related to TTY/RTTY. To join the group, visit http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys.

For more information, email wa0ydu@gmail.com. And please do forward this announcement to your local club or interest group.