K1USN SST

The K1USN Radio Club is a founding member of the
The International CW Council (ICWC)
"The International CW Council (ICWC) comprised of representatives from CW clubs world-wide, promotes and aids in the retention and growth of International Morse Code as a mode of communication between amateur radio operators."
Please visit the ICWC website for more information

K1USN SST features

Slower speeds (up to 20 Words Per Minute) SSTs helps to build CW skills and confidence with short easy exchanges (example)
Simplified Scoring:see K1USN SST rules
10,15,20,40,80 & 160M band use:see freq list
N1MM Logger+ Call History:see details below
K1USN QSO Certificate:see details below
WriteLog & SD loggers now support the SST
SST QSO Practice videos from Kurt AD0WE

Helpful Website Links

Questions? email us at: k1usn.radioclub.sst@gmail.com

K1USN SST RULES

K1USN SST FAQ

Using 3830Scores.com

larger version

CWops recognition award to the K1USN Radio Club for outstanding achievement in advancing the art of CW, May 2021.

SST (Slow Speed [Con]Test) History

**First K1USN SST September 14, 2020: Since then, SSTs – with their 20 WPM upper speed limit – have been held weekly at 0000Z Mondays (Sunday evenings in NA).

**Second EU-Friendly K1USN SST Session February 5, 2021: Since then, SSTs are held twice weekly at 0000Z Mondays (Sunday evenings in NA) and 2000Z Fridays.

SST Background

The CWops Club (CWops) promotes the art of CW for those wishing to expand and improve their on-the-air experiences. CWops’ CW Academy (CWA) program has produced thousands of successful graduates who have gone on to become everyday CW operators. Hundreds of CWA grads have become CWops members after demonstrating their ability to communicate in CW at speeds of 25 WPM and higher!

CWops’ three (soon to be four) weekly 25 to 40+ WPM CWT sprints are exciting, stimulating and a great way to improve CW copying ability, operating skills, and propagation knowledge. The CWTs create bonds of friendship among CW-loving operators around the world.

After a survey of CWA students and graduates showed strong interest in increased slow-speed on-the-air activities, several members of both the K1USN Radio Club and CWops created the weekly Slow Speed [Con]Test, the SST. First airing from 0000 to 0100 UTC Monday, September 14, 2020 (Sunday, September 13^th in the USA), the SST grew in popularity until more than 100 new and experienced CW operators were regularly submitting their SST scores to 3830scores.com. [There is no formal log submission in the SSTs. Instead, all participants making one or more QSOs are encouraged to upload their QSO totals and scores to the 3830 reporting website - easy! See www.3830scores.com ]

With help and encouragement from other CWops, including CWops President Stew GW0ETF and Mac G3WZD, K1USN Radio Club added a second weekly SST session starting Friday, February 5, 2021, from 2000 to 2100 UTC, in hopes of attracting more EU participants. Since then, the twice-weekly SSTs have often attracted a total of 200 or more operators, according to 3830scores.com reports.

You are welcome to join us!

K1USN’s Slow Speed Tests are especially designed to encourage and assist those who signed up for CWA classes or joined in other programs, such as the online Morse Code sessions offered by Long Island CW Club, to learn CW or to improve their CW skills, but who are not yet comfortable at 25 WPM. SSTs also welcome all others who feel like “taking it slow and easy” once or twice per week, both for their own pleasure and to help others out. All of us old enough to remember our Novice days recall the rush of adrenalin and the sweaty grip on our J-38 (or Radio Shack) keys during our first CW QSOs. This is what it must feel like for today’s new CW operators as well.

The twice-weekly slow speed SSTs are also for operators who participate in regular CWT sessions, but only as S & P (Search and Pounce) entrants. The 20 WPM (and slower) SSTs help build confidence to find an open frequency and begin calling CQ, first in the SSTs and then in the more crowded and frenetic CWTs and other CW contests. Successfully crossing that CQing threshold is another real accomplishment!

We hope many SST participants become sufficiently comfortable with CW contesting to enjoy the higher speed CWT sessions, other big CW contests, and smaller local and regional QSO parties, using N1MM+ (or other) computer loggers, spotting networks, call history files, live online scoring, etc. But we welcome everybody to join in the SSTs whether high speed CW contesting is your goal or not, including new ops making their first attempts at completing a CW QSO. In addition to following SST’s 20 WPM upper speed limit (there is no lower speed limit), we ask all to be patient, supportive, and willing to slow down to assist another op in completing an SST QSO. Many of us have been delighted to learn afterwards that the operator we assisted in an SST was making his or her very first CW QSO, or the first after a long period of inactivity!

CWA recommends using electronic keyers and paddles, but if you are more comfortable with some other device, please feel free to join us in the SSTs using a straight key, cootie key, or bug. Unlike high speed contests, where QSO rate is king and a CQing/“running” station expects only the required exchange and confirms contacts with simply “dit” or “R,” the SST encourages sending brief friendly greetings to the other op, such as GA, GE, and 73. Friendliness is part of taking it slow and easy!

So please join us in the SSTs! All you need is an HF radio, an antenna, and the desire to become, and assist others to become, better CW operators!

For more info or questions about the SSTs, see the right column of this page or email us at: k1usn.radioclub.sst@gmail.com .

SST: Slow Speed [Con]Test:
Example:

Suggested SST exchange: Each station sends a first name and state, province, or DX country
Unlike the higher speed contests, where QSO rate is king and a CQing/”running” station expects only the required exchange and typically acknowledges a contact with simply “dit” or “R,” the SST will encourage including brief friendly greetings to the other Op.

Example SST exchange between operator K1RV (Pi) and operator N1DC (Rick):

Pi, K1RV sends:
Rick, N1DC replies with:
Pi, K1RV replies with:
Rick, N1DC replies with:
Pi, K1RV: replies with:

CQ SST K1RV
N1DC
N1DC Pi MA
GE Pi Rick MA
GL Rick TU K1RV SST

fyi, CW abbreviations used above: CQ (Calling Any Station),
GE (Good Evening), GL (Good Luck) and TU (Thank You).
MA is the state abbreviation for Massachusetts.

Suggested operating frequencies:

160 meters 1.810 - 1.825 MHz
80 meters 3.528 - 3.545 MHz

40 meters 7.028 - 7.045 MHz

20 meters 14.028 - 14.045 MHz
15 meters 21.028 - 21.045 MHz
10 meters 28.028 - 28.045 MHz

Normal Date and Times:
20:00-21:00 UTC Friday (3-4pm EST)
00:00-01:00 UTC Monday (Sunday 7-8pm EST)

For those who use the N1MM Logger+ program, we've created a K1USN SST UDC (User Defined Contest) file which supports the SST.
Note: PLEASE BE SURE TO UPDATE YOUR UDC FILE

The latest K1USN UDC file can be downloaded from the N1MM Logger+ UDC webpage. <click here for the SST UDC file on the N1MM Logger+ site>

NEW for 2021: Beginning January 2021, for consistency and to help those paper logging/scoring, we are simplifying the SST scoring. Details can be found in the SCORING section of the K1USN SST Rules

**Note** - The 2021 updated scoring requires that you install the NEW ‘K1USN SST’ UDC file available from the N1MM+ UDC website

Download the latest K1USN UDC file into this folder on your station computer:

Documents/N1MM Logger+/UserDefined Contests/

our instruction file to a convenient location of your choice (or example: Documents/) and follow to complete the UDC installation.

N1MM Logger+ provides some online instructions:
Installing and Upgrading N1MM Logger+
The N1MM Logger+ UDC instructions

NEW for 2021: Several screen shots using N1MM Logger+ with the new 2021 K1USN SST UDC:

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New for 2021: N1MM+ Logger Call History File
Based on numerous requests, we now have a call history file for N1MM+.

Have you ever wondered what the N1MM+ ‘Associated Files’ section is when setting up your SST Contest Log? One of the features is the ability to implement a ‘Call History Lookup File'.

The ‘Call History Lookup' is a feature that can be used to pre-fill the exchange during a contest to save typing, or to display user comments or notes for specific call-signs.

To implement: In the N1MM+ ‘new log’ set up, click the ‘Associated Files’ tab and then click ‘Change’ in the ‘Call History Filename’ menu line. Click ‘Yes’ and you are all set. Note, this file is updated frequently. You should check it every time you set up your new weekly SST log file.

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Helpful links

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