K7UGA Arizona Centennial Operation

The second phase of the K7UGA Arizona Centennial Operation will take place during the week of Statehood Day - that is, Feb. 13 - 17.  The first phase, which took place in association with Prescott’s BestFest, was a tremendous success and this operation should be even better!

During that week, the K7UGA callsign will be available to be used at the QTH of N7CW in Prescott, on almost any mode or frequency from 160 - 2 meters.  On Monday, Feb. 13, and Wednesday through Friday, Feb. 15 - 17, any other members of the Central Arizona DX Association (CADXA) may also be using the K7UGA call, so the band and mode will need to be scheduled ahead of time.  On Statehood Day, Tuesday, Feb. 14, the call will only be used by 3 stations: N7CW in Prescott, 1 station at the Goldwater Memorial in Phoenix and 1 station in Tucson.  Of course, those 3 stations will be coordinating frequencies and modes also, to avoid 3 stations signing K7UGA on 20 meter SSB at the same time!  The current schedule will be posted on the CADXA website, cadxa.org , but it will be updated frequently, as operators determine their desired bands and modes.

So, if you would like to participate, either on Statehood Day, or one of the other days, please contact Bud, N7CW, at n7cw@cableone.net or (928) 771-8267 to arrange a time, band and mode.  There are a few times during that week when the station won’t be available, so schedule your preferred time early!

For those folks that are new to ham radio, K7UGA was the callsign of Arizona’s Senator Barry Goldwater and is very well known on the bands.  It is sure to generate a lot of callers, so there will be plenty of opportunity to work people fast, contest style, or stop and chat.  An Extra Class control operator will be available at all times, so you don’t need any particular license class - in fact, you don’t need to be licensed at all.  You are welcome to come and watch others operate, to log for someone else or to operate yourself.  The station is set up to operate SSB, CW, FM, RTTY, 2 meter packet and any of the WSJT modes (on VHF).  It can probably be set up to operate on PSK31, if N7PJN’s talk at the January meeting got you interested in that mode.