One of the fascinating aspects of SKN is the potential for simplicity. A comfortable straight key (pretty much defined by my Hi-Mound Swedish Pump), a paper log (none of this  “yes, we worked for the first time in 1975”), a two-tube home-brew 5-watt 40-meter transmitter from a 1968 QST (modified so it neither drifts nor chirps), a handful of crystals  (eight to be precise), and a capable receiver (a Ten Tec R4030 QRP rig) and it is almost like turning back the clock a half-century or so. As in previous years I was limited to operating during the daylight hours of New Year’s  day, with a few more hours lost at the end because the Michigan State University Spartans were laying in the Rose Bowl!

When I had to shut things down late in the afternoon, I had logged ten QSOs in as many states and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The quality of the fists I both worked and heard was very good. I suspect the Straight Key Century Club, with over 11,000 members, may have something to do with that! Central Michigan had just emerged from a major ice storm and many still lacked power ten days after the event. Somehow it is gratifying that the century-old magic of wireless Morse lets us talk across the miles with just your fingers on a key, even if much of our high-tech infrastructure is deader than a stump!