I joined the Straight Key Century Club (3383) in 2007, but didn’t really become active with that group until several years later in 2013. I dug in and quickly leveled up to Centurion and not long after that Tribune. And while I’ve remained a “T” ever since, I do occasionally still collect additional numbers. At the moment I have 953 total SKCC contacts in my log. Today I crossed the Tx8 threshold which is a major step on the long road to Senator — if I decide to move up to that level. I have remained a Tribune because after a decade, sending “3383T” has become a muscle memory thing. Plus, I have printed QSL cards and an SKCC decal on my automobile with that number on them — why change now?
Getting to the Tx8 level requires 400 unique contacts with S & T members once the basic Tribune level has been achieved. These are broken into groups of 50 contacts. So 50 more equals Tx2, a hundred equals, Tx3 and so on. Eventually, you complete all 400 and arrive at the Tx8 level. Moving from this point to the Senator level requires yet another 200 unique contacts with S & T members. These must be logged after qualifying for the Tx8 level. However, this is something of a fresh start since T and S stations worked to get the TX8 may be worked again for credit towards Senator. That should make the final run of 200 easier to obtain. Once all that’s complete, the documentation submitted and approved, I would become a Senator and my SKCC number would become “3383S”.
If I decide to level up, and I just submitted the paperwork for Tx8, I figure I can probably get there by year-end. That’s two more months and two more Weekend Sprints. If I don’t qualify by the end of this year, then January 2024 brings the K3Y Straight Key Month event that usually generates a nice bump in the log.
Moving from Tribune to Senator hasn’t been a big priority for me up to this point. And I’m not sure how much urgency I feel to do that. But the events of this incredibly bad personal year reminds me daily of my mortality. Life isn’t forever and of at least a hundred different things I’ve tinkered with in this hobby, many remain unfinished yet “close”. Like the 99 DXCC I have confirmed on 15 meters. I mean, come on, I can’t quit on that and many others like it.
Maybe replacing the T with an S on my SKCC number is one of them too?