This is the first year that special event station N3P is going on the air without Rich Ryba [pron: REE-BAH] WQ3Q. Rich conceived of the event three years ago to call attention to the work of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, or PanCAN, an organization that serves patients and families of patients suffering from pancreatic cancer.
Rich had lost his younger brother, Tom, to the disease years earlier and became a Silent Key from it himself last year. Bill Samek, W3BUW, said that he knew it was time for the Skyview Amateur Radio Society, the club Rich had belonged to, to fulfill the mission for him this year. Operators are putting N3P on the air on 25th, 26th and 27th of April, coordinated as always to the Purple Stride Walk benefit that takes place on Saturday, April 26th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - one of several such walk-a-thons around the nation.
Yes, there will be QSL cards but these are not typical QSOs. As Rich himself told Newsline in an interview in 2023: [quote] “People want to talk, want to share their experiences with their family. We told our operators to sit and listen. It doesn't matter how long the contact takes if it serves a purpose of helping." [Endquote]