Special Event Operating Tips

(This article first appeared in the May 1994 issue of NUDENETTER) (the dates have been changed to jive with 1997) OPERATING A NRW/NRD SPECIAL EVENT STATION John Meaker KR4AH

To celebrate North American Nude Recreation Week a group of hams is forming to sponsor a special event and your help is needed. We are looking for hams who are interested in clothing optional activities to become special events stations for the period of July 7th - 13th. Since we have no set times or bands, you are encouraged to get on the air at any time during this period and work stations while promoting nude recreation.

To help spread the word about the special event we will place notices in magazines such as QST, 73 and CQ. There will be a short notice about the event and QSL information. This will help reduce the amount of time it takes to contact each station. On the air the Special Event station can then say "For QSL information see page xx of QST or page xx of CQ." We will also put the word out to newspapers and magazines through the wire services so that the general public is aware of our activities. This will help to promote the event not only for the ham community, but also the general public.

Each special event station will receive an information packet that will include all the magazines that have listings, a geographical list of NANRW events at various locations, and a description of the certificate. Be sure to ask the contact if a certificate and brochures depicting tasteful nudity is acceptable.

On the air the operating procedure will be relatively simple. Get the location of the station calling and try to talk about a NANRW event in the contact's local area. For instance, if a station in Boulder Colorado calls we could give him information about the annual NANRW open house at Mountain Aire Ranch. As stations call from various areas you should be talking aboutevents that are happening in the areas that your signal is reaching.

Every once in a while, every 15 minutes or so, be sure to give the QSL information. Mention that we will also confirm SWLs. We will require a 9x12 SASE with 2 oz of postage. Mention to the contact that if they send a business size SASE that the certificate will be folded.

Organization of your station is the key to being a good special event station. Remember that there are several different kinds of information that have to be juggled at once. The station log has to be maintained, QSL information needs to be given out and numerous NANRW events have to be advertised depending on the location of the station you are talking to.

To prepare for operation of the Special Event, it would probably be a good idea to listen to some of the events on the air to see how they handle contacts and questions. You might also want to help with a special event in your local area, if there is one.

It will probably be best to do all of your logging in UTC. QSLs will come in from all areas and this will help to keep the paperwork in order.
If operators are not familiar with operating something like this, spend time listening to other special events operations (listed, as noted, in the ham mags) and DX stations. You want the operators to emulate a good DX operator for efficiency purposes and to make life easier on all concerned.
When operating the event, don't waste time giving out QSL info after every contact. Simply announce every 10 to 15 minutes or so what the QSL info is. Be certain to include the SASE requirement. Also, you can say "QSL info on page x, QST, July issue," for instance. At this time you also mention you have a commemorative certificate for the QSO. Here, you have a lot of latitude. If you are getting lots of calls, this advice is good. If calls are infrequent, you can pretty much do what you want as far as giving out QSL info. Be prepared for any eventuality.
Operate on bands that have good propagation at any given time. Be in a portion that allows the largest number of license classes to operate, that is the general portions of the HF bands.
If you are contemplating setting up a portable operation at a CO location, you need to think about Field Day practices. This would include auxiliary power, temporary antennas, all the details involved in running a temporary station. If there will be several operators you definitely want to be wearing headphones.

Probably the biggest detail that needs to be dealt with after the event is the confirmations. Most of the responses will probably show up within two weeks, but some may show up much later. One special event coordinator reported that there were responses about 6 months after his special event. A working estimate from other special events is that about half of the contacts will actually QSL. We may get just QSL cards and no return postage. If that happens, we will have to decide how to handle those cards.

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