The GERATOL Board of Directors has recently approved a new award for members to pursue. The award is called the “GERATOL INVITATIONAL AWARD”. No GERATOL number is required to complete this award, so all may participate in working toward its completion.
PURPOSE: To provide all net members, but especially our regulars, an opportunity to pursue a fun, yet challenging award, this season and if necessary next season.
In addition, the purpose of this award, and perhaps the most important aspect of the award, is to create a level of activity on the net, which results in multiple states checking into the net throughout the upcoming season/s beginning this November, as approved by the GERATOL Board.
DURATION: The Invitational Award is expected to have a finite duration, and will be attainable from November of 2019 through April of 2020. However, should conditions remain marginal this 2019/20 season, the Board has elected to review the award status, and if need be, extend this award out through 2021.
ELIGIBILITY: Any amateur radio operator, with Extra Class operating privileges.
REQUIREMENTS: To successfully complete the award a successful applicant for the award must:
- Invite, then successfully contact at least 25 stations in the Extra Class portion of the 80M ham band (3.6-3.7Mhz), and/or during the GERATOL Net on 3.668 Mhz.
- Must work an additional 25 stations in the Extra Class portion of the 80M ham band, or during the GERATOL Net on 3.668 Mhz, that were invited there by other operators.
- At least 25 different states need to be represented by the 50 QSO’s completed in items 1 and 2 above.
- All QSO’s must be logged, and then listed on the “Invitational Award” application, and submitted along with $5.00 to the Net Awards Manager, KJ8V. (See GERATOL Website for additional information, and application form)
- No GERATOL number is required to work toward this award.
RULES:
- Qualifying QSO’s for item 1. The invited station must confirm he/she was invited by the station working him/her. Successful exchange of signal reports and call signs. All QSO’s must be made in Extra Class portion of Ham Band 3.6-3.7MHz
- Qualifying QSO’s for item 2. After being identified as an “invited” station by another net member, a successful QSO would also consist of exchange of signal reports and call signs.
- All QSO’s must be made in Extra Class portion of Ham Band 3.6-3.7MHz. Applicant must successfully work, by exchange of call sign and signal reports, a minimum of 25 states from items 1 and 2 above.
- Stations who identify themselves as being “invited” by a net member to the NCS, must identify which member invited them. The member identified by the invited stations will be the ONLY station allowed to work the invitee, at that time, in order to keep the net check-in process at reasonable levels. If the invited station agrees to remain on frequency for the net, any other stations may of course work him/her by getting on the work list or if the NCS allows them to work that station before a work list is taken. If they had also invited them, they can add this QSO to their Item 1 total, when they successfully work them, or their Item 2 totals, if they successfully work them, but did not invite them.
- It will be the Net Control Stations prerogative, to determine how many stations may or may not work the invited station, prior to a formal “work list” being taken.
- All decisions on this are final, as determined by the NCS
- Should anyone need the “Invited” station to complete 48, 49 or 50 for the basic award, or other endorsement or award completion, as always, the operator needs to alert the NCS by stating “48”, “49” or “50”
THANK YOU:
It is our intention to provide a special THANK YOU to those stations who came on frequency that were invited up by our net members. We will be talking more about this, as the Award is approved and operators begin working toward it.
Have fun, and above all, enjoy working toward the new award, while bringing new friends and old acquaintences on to the net frequency.