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STAY

Use the STAY command to add 30 minutes to the op you are hosting. Send it from the same callsign and SSID that is running the op, any time while you are on the air.

Unlike the other op commands, STAY has no Q-code synonym. There isn’t a Q-code that means “give me more time”, and rather than bend one that means something else, STAY answers only to its own name.

It does not matter whether you have worked anybody. A quiet op and a busy one extend exactly the same way.

The two hour maximum still applies

STAY cannot push an op past the 2 hour maximum, which nothing can. Since an op runs at least 60 minutes to begin with, that leaves room for two extensions, and the second one may be trimmed to fit under the maximum. The reply always tells you when you are actually going off the air, so you never have to work it out yourself:

K7ABC-6OTASTAY
OTAK7ABC-6Staying on the air. Off the air in 34 minutes, max 55 minutes

The second number is how much time is left before the maximum. If you want to know what a STAY would buy before you send one, ask TIME: its reply quotes the exact number, which is under 30 once the maximum is close.

When the two numbers are the same, you are at the maximum and another STAY will not add anything. Sending one anyway just tells you so:

K7ABC-6OTASTAY
OTAK7ABC-6At the 2 hour max. Off the air in 12 minutes.

When the op does end at the maximum, the OTA bot invites you to start a fresh one with HOST. There is no limit on how many ops you can run in a day.

TIME tells you how much time is left without changing anything. DONE ends the op early. See Host an op for how the timer works and what else extends it.

Reference

STAY

Add 30 minutes to your op, up to the 2 hour maximum.

Available to
Hosts with an on-air op, from the op's station.
Rate limit
1 per 3 minutes and 3 per 15 minutes

Replies

stay_confirmation
Staying on the air. Off the air in {minutes_remaining}, max {minutes_to_hard_cap}
stay_at_cap_notice
At the 2 hour max. Off the air in {minutes_remaining}.

Hints

STAY with no live op
STAY needs an op on the air. Send HOST to start one. limited to 1 per 24 hours, then silent
STAY from a different SSID than the op's
Your op is run by {station_call}. Send STAY from it. limited to 1 per 24 hours, then silent