Virginia QSO Party - 2021
Call: W4GO/M
Operator(s): W4GO
Station: W4GO/M
Class: SOAB/MixedMobile HP
QTH: VA
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
----------------------------
160:
80: 1029
40: 419
20: 58 15
15:
10:
6:
2: 67
UHF: 23
----------------------------
Total: 58 1553 0 Mults = 120 Total Score = 231,610
Club: Fauquier Amateur Radio Association
Comments:
This year, my fourth consecutive in the VA QSO Party as a single-op mobile, I
activated the following 45 counties and independent cities:
FAU, PRW, LDN, MAX, MPX, FFX, FXX, FCX, ARL, ALX, STA, FBX, SPO, CLN, KGE, WES,
RIC, ESS, KQN, KWM, HAN, HCO, RIX, GOO, LSA, FLU, ALB, CHX, GRN, ORG, MAD, CUL,
RAP, PAG, WAR, CLA, FRE, WIX, SHE, RHM, HBX, AUG, STX, WAX, NEL
Thanks to the 1344 participants whom I worked across the last four editions of
this contest for a total of 6555 QSOs. It was a pleasure having you along for
the ride.
Over these four years in the contest, I had the privilege of activating all 133
counties and independent cities in the state. The journey expanded my knowledge
of antenna design, mobile installation practices and operating technique, not to
mention state geography and road clearance. Many friends were made along the
way, and I've accumulated a few good stories (that'll happen when you drive 2200
miles with an absurdly large antenna on your roof).
I made an average of 49 QSOs from each county and city. The City of Richmond
(RIX), a rare mult which I mined three of the four years, has yielded the most
with 163 QSOs in total. Newport News (NNX), which I was rushing through to get
to my hotel after a tiring day in the 2018 run, was the only county or city from
which I logged only one QSO.
I'd be remiss not to credit my top five chasers: W8BT, N4RP (QRP!), KW4VA, K3WJV
and WD4ASP. Over the last four years they worked me 125, 111, 82, 80, and 74
times, respectively, with essentially no dupes. Particular thanks to them and
many other prolific chasers for the Qs and spots.
This year, HF propagation was badly degraded by a geomagnetic storm throughout
the contest weekend. At times the bands seemed all but dead when I would have
expected productive runs. At other times heavy fading or garbled signals turned
every QSO into a dental procedure.
The poor propagation, coupled with a route which hit fewer rare counties/cities
than previous routes, resulted in a lower score than last year, which was not
only my personal best but a new record in the mobile category. 538 stations were
worked this year for 1611 QSOs. Last year, only two more stations were worked at
540, but good band conditions and blistering demand put 2139 QSOs in the log.
Still, this year's run was made interesting by two departures from my usual
practice. This year I added FM radios and whips for VHF/UHF (146, 222, 440 MHz)
to take advantage of mileage on and near the Skyline Drive atop the Blue Ridge.
This is a favorite perch for line-of-sight paths to the ham-rich population of
Northern Virginia.
The VHF/UHF bands provided a fortuitous relief from the impaired HF conditions.
They didn't bring rates as high as HF normally would, but this was somewhat
offset by a much higher proportion of 3-point mobile-to-mobile QSOs than on HF.
Also for the first time this year, I set aside a couple hours for 20 m CW amid
my usual 80 / 40 / 20 m SSB-fest. This was partly motivated by the large number
of pre-contest requests I received from county hunters in EU and on the West
Coast who wanted a QSO from Rappahannock County (RAP).
20 m SSB has been a consistent washout for me in this contest in terms of rate
and multiplier yield, but the 20 m CW sessions in this edition were reasonably
productive. VAQP fans can expect more CW activity from my future treks.
73,
Matt
W4GO
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