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The NAQCC July 2026 Challenge NAQCC Monthly Challenges are originated and information regarding rules, ideas, or suggestions go to Gary K1YAN. Email him at  .Challenge results and the Challenge App (the online Challenge tracking and reporting application) is administered by Charlie N1AOK. Email him with any questions at  PLEASE SEND ALL CHALLENGE SUBMISSIONS TO CHARLIE!!! (If you use the online Challenge App, it will automatically send it to him). LINKS: Challenge App: http://naqcc.wb5rvz.org Challenge Worksheet: challenge_tracker.pdf BEN FRANKLIN'S BONES  PREMISE: Benjamin Franklin spent most of the 20 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence living in England. His residence was located at 36 Craven Street. Plans to turn the house into a museum were underway in 1998, when restoration crews found some 1200 human bones, from 15 bodies, in the basement of the property. Forensic analysis dated the bones to the time when Franklin occupied the house. This sounds like the beginning of a crime novel or a TV detective show, perhaps with Franklin as a main character. However, another, less sinister, explanation has come to light. Human anatomy was a relatively new science in the 1700s and research by doing dissection of cadavers was not thought of very highly. Obtaining the necessary bodies for research was not always done legally. Anatomy schools sometimes resorted to digging up bodies themselves (literally) or paying "resurrection men", a polite term for grave robbers, to supply their needs. Disposal of the remains after dissection was also a secretive process. William Hewson was a good and trusted friend of Franklin and his mother-in-law was the landlady of the Craven Street home. Hewson was also a well known anatomist who established an anatomy school on the property in 1772. The location had some aspects that could have been helpful in the quest for new bodies. A gallows at one end of the street could have been a local source of bodies and a wharf at the other end would have been a good spot for delivery of resurrection mens cadavers. The basement pit would have been a handy spot to dispose of the dissection remains and cut marks on the bones suggest that this might have been the case. There were, of course, no antibiotics at the time and it is thought that Hewson died of an infection he contracted when he cut himself during a dissection. Although there is no documented involvement by Franklin, being a man interested in science, it is not hard to imagine that he would have shown interest in the research. TIME FRAME: The first day of the month 0000Z through the last day of the month 2400Z. RULES: Just make these words from calls of stations you work, subject to the General Challenge Rules. 36 CRAVEN STREET BASEMENT 1200 BONE PIT BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ANATOMY RESEARCH RESURECTION MEN WILLIAM HEWSON The 91 total letters contain these 26 different letters: A B C E F H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y 0 1 2 3 6 You can use each letter in a call TWICE. For example you could use K3WWP for 2 K's, 4 W's, and 2 P's. Subsequent QSO's with the same station cannot be used for additional letters. For example, no matter how many times you work K3WWP, you can only use his call for 8 of the letters in the words. See General Rule #5 for more details on what callsign letters can be used. If you need some help with your alphabet challenge record keeping take a look at our Alphabet Tutorial page for everything from some great pencil & paper methods to fully computerized tools. AWARDS: A certificate and Participation Point go to everyone making all the words and submitting their report before the deadline. A Participation Point goes to everyone making at least 1, but not all the words and submitting their report before the deadline. YOU MUST COMPLETE AND SUBMIT AT LEAST ONE WORD TO RECEIVE A PARTICIPATION POINT! LOGS: For your report, list the words you made and the station used for each letter in the word. The number of stations listed must be the same as the number of letters in each word, even though you use the same station for more than one letter as in: WORD - K3WWP N2OD WA8REI N2OD NEXT - NF8M W8REI N8XMS K9EYT (Note how N2OD is listed for both the O and D.) You may also include comments about the challenge. Please preface any comments you want posted with "SOAPBOX:" so we will know what you want posted and what is private. Send your results as text in the horizontal format shown above to Charlie N1AOK at: charlie.wilber AT gmail.com (You must type that address into your email program.) Subject must read: (your call) NAQCC (month year) Challenge For example: K3WWP NAQCC July 2026 Challenge All entries must be RECEIVED before the 10th of the following month at 2400Z. |