Welcome Aboard !!

We want to take a minute to recognize our latest registrants to the GERATOL Website:

• AE0JY – Steve in MN
• K0DXV – Doug in CO
• N5KKG – Frank in MS
• NZ9D – Lee in WI Lee, we first worked you on the GERATOL Net in December of 1992 !! Great to be able to work you again (Wednesday evening) and hope to hear you on the net again soon ! N1KL

Thanks for taking the time to register on the net Website guys, and we look forward to working you all some evening in the coming weeks as the net continues at 3.668 Mhz at 0100Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

From the GERATOL Board of Directors and all Net Officers, we wish you all a very Happy, Healthy and Safe 2022, with lots of good operating and great QSO’s to fill your log books !!

Kevin N1KL

In the spirit of the season, we would like to wish each and every GERATOLer, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May Santa be good to you all, and may he bring you all the Ham Radio toys you asked to receive !! We hope you have been behaving appropriately, to insure his arrival at your QTH !!

Per the attached picture, it seems he’s still working on his 1922 Ham Radio list, so it may take a while for your request to arrive !! LOL !!

For those who remember, and for those not familiar with the origins of our net, it was the ARRL along with the GERATOL founders (John, W0NL and Hank, K2DS) who sponsored the original efforts to promote use of the newly assigned Phone privileges on 80M to Extra Class hams. The ARRL actually issued a unique Serialized WAS award, with a special sticker, which read: “75 Meter 2 Letter Extra Class SSB” with a lightning bolt on it, for those persistent enough to complete the requirements. That serialized WAS award number, then became your GERATOL # see example below:

Today of course, we are fortunate to have the tradition carry on, by issuing new GERATOL #’s in association with the Unbelievable Operating Achievement Award. The Serializations, (GERATOL numbers) on the Unbelievable Operating Achievement Award, picked up where the ARRL serialized 80M WAS Awards left off. Hats off to our current and former Awards Managers for keeping the “G” numbers consecutive from that era, to our current process.

Speaking of the ARRL, below are some old Christmas covers of QST from years gone by. In addition to the interesting artwork on each cover, note the cost of the magazine over the years !!

On behalf of the GERATOL Board of Directors, Net Control Ops and all those affiliated with the GERATOL Net, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night (of operating).

73 Kevin N1KL

Happy to report that there were NO Geratoler Silent Keys in the Jan. ST That’s really great.

Dave KJ8V

WELCOME ABOARD !!

We would like to welcome aboard the GERATOL Website, two new registrants. Thanks for taking the time to register on our website gents, and we look forward to working you on the net in the near future.

New Registrants:

• Dennis – WD9HCF who hails from IL. Dennis’ call is good for those needed a 2×3 W call for an endorsement.
  
• Bob – WD8ING who will be bringing up KY on the net, when he checks in.
  
  

Should you have any questions about the website and/or the net, feel free to fire me an email to: n1kl@geratol.net Kevin N1KL

GERATOL SPECIAL EVENT STATION

We are pleased to announce, the GERATOL Net will be activating a special event station, “W1G” to help celebrate our 50th year as a Worked All States net on 80 Meters.

W1G will be active starting Feb. 7th and will remain active through Feb. 20th. W1G will be checking into the GERATOL Net, and will also be active in the Extra Class portion of other bands, to promote the GERATOL Net to Extra Class operators who may not be familiar with the net.

For those who work W1G during the GERATOL Net, a special commemorative QSL card will be issued to them, without the need for a SASE. For those working W1G off the net, a SASE will be required.

GERATOL NET 50 YEAR CERTIFICATE UPDATE

As most are aware, the GERATOL Net, and Dave – KJ8V and Sandy – KJ8W, are sponsoring a special Certificate to commemorate our 50th year as a Worked All States net.

Dave has informed me, multiple Certificates have already been issued, and there are several GERATOLers who are still working toward completing the requirements for their commemorative certificate. It’s not too late to start working toward this colorful certificate. It’s a great way to help you celebrate the 50 years our net has been serving the Ham Radio community on 80 Meters.

You don’t need a GERATOL Number to work toward the certificate, but you need to work folks who do have a GERATOL Number. So, for those with GERATOL numbers who care to assist those working for the certificate, come up on frequency and share your G# with those looking to put you in their log.

Details on the requirements may be found on our website, both under the POST announcing the certificate, as well as in the tool bar at the top of the page under Awards, then under Other Awards and Certificates. Below is a sample of the certificate itself. A nice way to celebrate our anniversary, while having fun renewing old acquaintances or making new friends.

All the best to new and old GERATOLers alike. We hope to hear you all on the net in the near future.

Regards, Kevin N1KL Website Administrator

We would like to extend a Happy Thanksgiving to the entire GERATOL family, and we hope you are able to spend quality time with family and friends this year.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we would also like to give a special “Thanks” to our Net Control Operators, who continue to keep the GERATOL Worked All States alive and active, and have done so now, for 50 Years !!! Thanks to all NCS.

We would like to take a minute to welcome some of our latest subscribers to the GERATOL Website.

• N9CWW – Clark, who represents the great state of Indiana. My guess, with a CWW call sign, combined with his QRZ page sporting a big picture of the Morse Code symbols on the screen, Clark may be a CW enthusiast. You are in good company on the GERATOL Net Clark, since many of us are former service men and women, or just plain ham nuts, who are Morse operators, when not checking into the GERATOL Net. Clark’s call is good for the “N 1×3” endorsement. Welcome Clark.
  
  
• N1UZ – Bill, hails from my home state of Taxachusetts, and just happens to be the President of the Mohawk Amateur Radio Club, of which I am a proud member. I’ll try to coax Bill on board to the net some evening, so you all don’t have to put up with only N1KL and N9SC representing Massachusetts. Bill’s call is good for the basic award of course, and we hope he can join us some evening this season. Welcome Bill.
  
  
• TOM – Tom did not provide his call sign upon registering, but we would like to welcome him aboard.
  
  Thanks for taking the time to register on our website guys, and we look forward to working you some evening, starting at 0100Z on 3.668 Mhz
  
  

OTHER GERATOL NEWS:

• The GERATOL 50th Anniversary Certificate continues to be chased by many GERATOLers checking in, and in fact Dave, our Awards Manager, KJ8V confirms that he indeed has already issued several certificates, this early in the season. Well done to those who successfully contacted 50 stations with GERATOL Numbers !!
  
• STAY TUNED !!!! In addition to the 50th Anniversary Certificate, to help celebrate our 50th year in service to the Ham Radio community as a unique Worked All States on on 80M, we will be conducting some additional activities. More to come as the 2021/2022 Season marches on, and as (hopefully) conditions continue to improve.

73 Kevin N1KL Website Administrator

Sorry to have to report that there were two Gertoler silent keys.

W1WS Connie #297 Maine and AK9J Lee Illinois. Connie was a big help in getting Sandy KJ8W to get her Extra and join the Net. Rest in peace you will be missed. Dave KJ8V

In conjunction with the 2021/2022 GERATOL Net season, we are pleased to announce the launch of a new certificate, to help celebrate our 50th Anniversary. Truly a major milestone for the GERATOL Worked All States Net.

The certificate is being sponsored by our Awards Manager, Dave – KJ8V and our Treasurer, KJ8W – Sandy, as a show of their appreciation for the GERATOL net, and all it’s members. Simply follow the guidelines set forth by the following requirements, and you can participate in working toward the certificate, this season and seasons to come, since this special certificate will be offered beyond the 2021/2022 season. Below is a sample of the certificate being offered upon successful completion of the requirements.

Join in the fun starting October 1^st (GMT) and begin working toward this very special commemorative certificate celebrating 50 years of the GERATOL Worked All States NET. 

To achieve the certificate you must follow these guidelines :

The effective date to begin working toward the award is: 01:00Z October 1^st, 2021.  There is no end date, or cut-off time period, and you may begin working toward the certificate, any time after the start date.

CERTIFICATE RULES:

• The following requirements need to be met:
  • Fifty (50) contacts must be made on the GERATOL Net itself, during an official net session.
  • One of those 50 contacts must be made with the GERATOL Net Club Station W0NL GERATOL #1M, Frank – AA0ZP Trustee of the GERATOL Club Call
    • Both Frosty – W0FP and Dave – KJ8V may be contacted to work W0NL, should the trustee, Frank – AA0ZP not be around.  They will email the QSO details to Frank, for him to officially log the contact.
  • The 50 Stations worked, must have a GERATOL number. However, you don’t need one to complete the certificate. If you work a station with multiple GERATOL #’s, you must make separate contacts for each G # worked.  Club stations with G #’s are also good for this requirement.
  • All call sign formats, as always, are eligible and encouraged to participate.
  • Logs must be submitted to Dave – KJ8V and contain the standard log information, including:
    • Call Sign of station worked, Date/Time, Signal Reports and Frequency to 4 digits & GERATOL # of the station worked
  • Entry logs may be submitted via email to: kj8v@charter.net 
  • Be sure to include your name as you wish to have it appear on the CERTIFICATE itself.
  • Also, be sure to include a valid phone number, and email address, should any questions need to be answered by our awards manager.
  • If you have no email account, paper logs may be sent to: Dave – KJ8V 13063 Hopkins Forest Rd., Bear Lake, MI, 49614.  Paper logs will be forwarded to Dave while he is in FL, and he will be issuing certificates sent via email or mail, from either his home QTH or while he is in Florida
    • In addition, while Dave is in Florida, he will update his snail mail address, by posting his FL address on the GERATOL website to speed up processing the certificate applications.

Our thanks to Dave and Sandy, for suggesting this certificate to help us celebrate this major GERATOL milestone. In addition, for providing the guidelines, requirements and especially the resources to support the certificate.

In addition, a big shout out to Kevin – N1KL for creating such a colorful certificate, to accompany this special occasion.

The net resumes operation at 0100Z time, on Oct. 1st. Remember, that means the net starts up again Thursday evening, 9/30/21 at 9:00PM Eastern time, on 3.668 Mhz.

So let’s hope all the antenna work has been completed, the rigs are tuned and ready to go. Feel free to spread the word among some of your fellow GERATOLers, who may not see the website update, or view the announcements on QRZ, eHam, etc. Come join the fun Thursday evening !!

The new GERATOL Anniversary Certificate is being actively pursued on the net. Our Awards Manager, KJ8V informed me that he has issued several certificates already !! That is awesome. Again, thanks to both Dave (KJ8V) and Sandy (KJ8W) for their sponsorship of this exciting new certificate, celebrating 50 Years of the GERATOL Worked All States Net.

If you have not heard about it yet, check the POST on our website explaining how to qualify for one, or simply go to our website, and look under the AWARDS tab, at the top of the site’s tool bar.

The following hams took the time to register on our GERATOL Website. Let’s give them a hearty welcome aboard, and we hope to hear and work them on the net this season. WELCOME guys !!

• KD9SWA – Lee from Wisconsin. Lee’s 2×3 “K” will be sought out by the guys looking to complete Endorsement #17 to work stations with 2X3 Call sign formats.
• N7KJ – Scott from Montana. Those looking to complete Endorsement #18 for State Capitols, will be glad to hear Scott on from Helena, MT !!
• WB2JCC – Matty from New York. Always great to have a NY station on the net, but Matty also operates out of Maine ! So be on the look out !!

Welcome aboard to each and every one of you, and should you have any questions about the website, or the net in general, feel free to fire me off a note to: n1kl@geratol.net

73 to all, Kevin N1KL

NEW WEBSITE REGISTRANTS

We continue to receive new registrants for our GERATOL Website. Please welcome the following ops, who have taken the time to register on our site, and let’s hope we get to hear them on the net in the coming weeks/months:

• AD0QM – Jeff from the state of MN
• Steve
• N3AH – Paul from the Commonwealth of PA
• ND7C – David from the state of AR
• W7LRD – Robert from the state of WA

Welcome aboard to all of you, and feel free to fire me off a note to n1kl@geratol.net if you have any questions about the website.

GERATOL 50th ANNIVERSARY CERTIFICATE LOG FORMS

Frosty was nice enough to create a log form, to be used by those working toward the new GERATOL 50th Anniversary Certificate. There are two pages for the log form, so make sure you print out both of them. They can be found via the following links:

https://geratol.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/50-Year-Anniversary-Log-Form-1-1.jpg

https://geratol.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/50-Year-Anniversary-Log-Form-2-.jpg

Simply click on each link, the document will appear, and you can then print it out. Fill in your QSO’s as the log form requires, and when you reach the magic 50, send in your application to Dave, KJ8V or simply email him your log forms, and he will process your certificate. Good luck, and have fun. Kevin – N1KL