Leave it to Hams to hit the New Year running! Get ready to celebrate by making the first QSOs of 2021 courtesy of these events:
SARTG New Year RTTY Contest (January 1) 0800Z to 1100Z. The Scandinavian Amateur Radio Teleprinter Group hosts this RTTY-only 80 and 40 meter event. It’s a great chance to usher in 2021 by spreading some worldwide good cheer. The exchange per the SARTG website is RST + QSO number, starting with 001 + name + “Happy New Year” in your native language.
Check out this video (“RTTY or Not, Here I Come”) from longtime RTTY aficionado and DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, George, K3GP, for some of the basics of this fascinating and much beloved mode.
QRP-ARCI New Year’s Day Sprint (January 1) 1500Z to 1800Z. The QRP Amateur Radio Club International will be sponsoring this CW-HF-only event to kick off a year’s worth of filling log books with low-power QSOs (55 mW or less to 5W). To participate per the QRP-ARCI website: “Get on any of the HF bands except the WARC bands and hang out near the QRP frequencies. Work as many stations calling CQ QRP or CQ TEST as possible, or call CQ QRP or CQ TEST yourself! You can work a station for credit once on each band.” Suggested frequencies: 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10M.
ARRL RTTY Roundup (January 2-3) 1800Z to 2400Z. Here’s another one for RTTY fans. Per the ARRL, “Amateurs worldwide contact and exchange QSO information with other amateurs using digital modes (Baudot RTTY, PSK, FT8/FT4, ASCII, AMTOR, and Packet—attended operation only) on 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands. Any station may work any other station. Stations may be worked once per band, regardless of mode.”
ARRL Kids Day (January 2) 1800Z to 2359Z. If your kids keep inquiring about all that cool, blinking equipment that occupies so much of your spare time, here’s a nice opportunity to show them why. Held the first Saturday in January and the third Saturday in June, ARRL’s Kids Day “is designed to give on-the-air experience to young people and hopefully foster interest in getting a license of their own. It is also intended to give older hams a chance to share their station and love for Amateur Radio with their children,” per the ARRL website.
For those striving to introduce Ham Radio to the next generation of experimenters, contesters, and EMCOMM operators, here’s an excellent OnAllBands post from Sean, KX9X, on “Finding and Maintaining Young Ham Radio Operators.” You can take Kids Day one step further by gifting interested youth with a Ham Radio Technician licensing guide, and a mobile or base station starter package available at DXEngineering
SARTG New Year RTTY Contest (January 1) 0800Z to 1100Z. The Scandinavian Amateur Radio Teleprinter Group hosts this RTTY-only 80 and 40 meter event. It’s a great chance to usher in 2021 by spreading some worldwide good cheer. The exchange per the SARTG website is RST + QSO number, starting with 001 + name + “Happy New Year” in your native language. SARTG New Year RTTY Contest (January 1) 0800Z to 1100Z. The Scandinavian Amateur Radio Teleprinter Group hosts this RTTY-only 80 and 40 meter event. It’s a great chance to usher in 2021 by spreading some worldwide good cheer. The exchange per the SARTG website is RST + QSO number, starting with 001 + name + “Happy New Year” in your native language.
