There I was, minding my own business at Field Day, when I ended up in a conversation with The Matts (KF0RIG and KG0AT). They said something about being in the Brass Knuckle Gang, which I knew nothing about. One of the Matts said “it is kind of fun and kind of dumb.” I thought “this sounds like my kind of activity.”
The only thing I learned from that conversation is that it has to do with operating CW on the 2m band. Now that got my attention…CW is not really my thing but I partake in it from time to time, when the situation presents itself. But CW on a VHF band, perhaps on a SOTA summit? That sounded awesome!
A day or two later, I noticed that KG0AT was spotted on 144.025 MHz CW from W0C/SP-094, a nearby unnamed summit. I was at home with my IC-9700 driving a 12-el Yagi at 40 feet. Yeah, I think I can work him.
A few minutes later, with me fumbling around with my paddles, I had Matt in the log.
A day later, I received this notice from Forrest KI7QCF: You are hereby granted BKG114 for time and eternity.
So there you go, I am in the gang, so treat me with the appropriate amount of respect that comes with this honor.
Here’s Forrest providing an in-depth, potentially useful, explanation of BKG:
I should disclose that I was not actually pounding brass (using a straight key) when I made this 2m CW QSO. I was using paddles.
The BKG website is here: https://www.bkg.club/
73 Bob K0NR