Feb. 2008

June Is National Amateur Radio Simplex Month

National Simplex Month is sponsored by The Simplex Preservation Society. To participate, all you have to do is practice direct communications during the month of June. No repeaters, no IRLP, no Echolink, no satellites, etc. Antenna to antenna communications only. If it's worth doing for a day or a week, it's worth doing for a month.

National Simplex Month is not a contest, so it doesn't matter how many contests are happening in June. Field Day won't affect it one bit. One does not interfere with the other. I would guess that 99.999% of contests are simplex events anyway. I haven't heard of a repeater or Echolink contest, but tomorrow is another day!

I know it will be a challenge for some of you not to jump in the car and announce "WWW5XYZ monitoring", but give it a try. Switch over to 146.520 Mhz simplex and give a shout. Arrange with your buddies to meet there during June. The first thing many regular repeater users will find out is that their stations aren't up to the task of communicating reliably via simplex, and that some improvements will need to be made. Better to make them now, before the repeater is taken out by a storm.

A series of Special Events will also be associated with National Simplex Month. The details of these events will be announced in the near future. Check www.73SPS.com frequently for updates!

If you like the idea of Amateur Radio Operators practicing direct communications for a month, then spread the word.

73,

WF5TX