British Columbia QSO Party - 2020
Call: VA7ODX
Operator(s): VA7BEC VA7KO
Station: VA7ODX
Class: Multi-OpMixed HP
QTH: NR Vancouver
Operating Time (hrs): 20
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs CW Mults Ph Mults Dig Mults
-----------------------------------------------------------
160: 1 2
80: 6 12 7 11
40: 62 72 40 37
20: 228 699 4 61 60 5
15: 11 1 9 2
10:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Total: 307 785 4 117 112 5 Total Score = 657,540
Club: Orca DX and Contest Club
Comments:
So many things to comment on. Where do I start?
First, I guess, from the sponsor perspective, is to thank everyone who got on
the air or helped others do so.
Looking at 3830 posts, scores seem to be way down from last year. But
participation seems to be up. I think scores reflect the impact of very
challenging CONDX.
As BCQP 2020 began, propagation data indicated sunspots -- yeah! -- but the
bands were really no better than they were last year when the data indicated
minus 1 sunspots. From comments I have received post-party, it would appear that
a good number of BC operators called and called and called and called some more
and got very little response to their CQs. So while stations outside BC are
saying "where were the BC stations?," well, they were there and not
being heard.
CONDX isn't the only factor, of course. QTH plays a part as well. Stations in
some states responded to sponsor station VA7ODX CQs with booming 59+20 signals.
Others were mere whispers in the wind. Stations in the mult-rich Metro Vancouver
area and on Vancouver Island simply weren't heard despite serious CQing.
Other factors... equipment, antenna setup, operator ears, experience, local QRM,
availability or timing when a particular band was less noisy than it had been --
I won't say "opening" because really there weren't any -- antenna
direction, being lucky enough to get spotted, choosing the right time to switch
between PH and CW for those ops doing mixed mode, conflicting commitments (work,
family), health issues, weather... The list goes on because factors impacting
activity and participation are as varied as the people who get involved.
I'm not sure why -- maybe because CW signals tend to get through better than
voice when CONDX is poor? -- but there appears to have been a lot more CW
activity this year. Not to say there wasn't any SSB. Not at all. Look at the
VA7ODX QSO data for PH. But as I go through submitted logs, I'm seeing a lot of
CW QSOs. Last year, too, the depth of CW participation was very noticeable.
Maybe a new trend? It will be interesting to see what my number-crunching
analysis reveals. (The report is usually ready by late spring, when results are
officially announced and certificates and plaques are ready to mail out. Stay
tuned.)
At VA7ODX, we set up his and hers radios this year. Very happy that I was not
required to give up my chair and could continue with good pileup activity on
20m. 10m was a complete blank. 15m was next-to-impossible for PH and only
slightly better for CW. 20m was the go-to band for both CW and PH. 40m provided
some good moments, mostly in the late afternoon/early evening, as would be
expected for a low band. 80m was mediocre, but that might just have been bad
timing.
On the CW front, NA Sprint in the last four hours of the first segment of BCQP
and the FOC Marathon over the whole weekend make the going rather tough for BCQP
participants. NA Sprint is fast-paced and has a QSY requirement, so it's
difficult for BC stations to hold a frequency to "CQ BCQP". The FOC
Marathon is a members-only event and is not listed in contest calendars, so
non-members probably wouldn't know about the event nor would they know that
members "would prefer not to be called by non-members since a QSO with a
non-member can't be counted" (according to the First Class CW Operators'
Club website).
Operators just learning CW or whose skills are a little rusty need to practice,
and QSO parties are wonderful opportunities for this. It would be great if the
NA Sprint and FOC Marathon organizers could set aside a quiet zone like in the
10-10 Winter SSB Contest so that anyone who is not in the sprint or the marathon
has the chance to pursue CW opportunities at a QSO party pace that doesn't
bother operators who have already achieved high-level skills.
As a final note, let me say that the new State QSO Party Challenge appears to be
off to a fabulous start. I am the person receiving BCQP logs, and I can see that
many submissions are the result of operators, particularly in the U.S., dabbling
in all three weekend QSO parties. If only CONDX had been better, I'm sure all
those U.S. stations would have been able to hear the CQing VE7/VA7s and build
bigger BCQP logs. Maybe next year?
See you all again Feb 6-7, 2021.
33, 73 and/or 88, as appropriate,
Rebecca VA7BEC
Koji VA7KO
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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