[CQ-Contest] QSO Parties

Tue May 4 22:37:59 EDT 1999

In a message dated 5/4/99 4:19:15 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Jimk8mr at AOL.COM 
writes:

<< I don't want to start a thread here >>

Too late!

As with any other endeavor, the state QSO Parties are as successful as the 
work the sponsors put into them. Aside from the CQP (which tempts 
participants with tasty California vino) You have to put the full court press 
on participants and on the media to ensure any level of activity in any 
"non-major" contest. Currently, K4OJ carries the banner for the FQP and has 
made it successful by relentless plugging and getting operators excited about 
going mobile into rare counties.

For those of you who don't remember or weren't active in the mid 80's, The 
Great Armadillo Runs were the model for state QSO parties. It actually 
started in the late 70's when K5KG, K5RC, N5JJ and NA5R started going out for 
the MARAC CW contest. That led to the Texas DX Society bringing the Texas QSO 
Party back to life. With the above mentioned publicity and soliciting folks 
to put mobile rigs in the family wagon, in 1983 they activated all 256 Texas 
Counties in one weekend (and K4OJ worked all of them!). In '84, they 
activated all counties in Louisiana and Arkansas. In '85, they finished out 
the Fifth call area with Oklahoma and New Mexico. For the Texas 
Sesquicentennial in 1986, we put on 85% of the 3,076 counties in the USA in 
two weekends! We also got the Governor of Texas to declare "Armadillo County" 
until the end of '86. We also got the first QST Cover for a Club operating 
event (April, '86).

The point is that state QSO party sponsors can do just about anything with a 
motivated group of hams and the time and tenacity to keep pushing (a la 
K4OJ). The question becomes, WHY? As the former County Judge of Armadillo 
County, I can testify that it's an incredible amount of work for the 
amusement of a handful of folks. Is it worth it? Ask the sponsors.

Tom, K5RC

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>From Jim White, K4OJ" <k4oj at tampabay.rr.com  Wed May  5 04:07:04 1999
From: Jim White, K4OJ" <k4oj at tampabay.rr.com (Jim White, K4OJ)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 23:07:04 -0400
Subject: [CQ-Contest] Why do contests exist?
Message-ID: <00d301be96a4$5c792a00$33cb5c18 at tampabay.rr.com>

.... ALL of the big contests exist because they serve to support something
else, i.e. the contests the ARRL runs support their awards programs and the
ones CQ sponsors support their awards.

A fact far too few seem to have realized when they were gung ho to turn the
ARRL International DX Competition into an everyone works everyone format
when it was designed to enhance the WAS and 5BWAS as well as DXCC awards
programs!

in a recent posting to the CQ-Contest Reflector NC7W starts off by saying:

"I don't want to start a thread here ... just toss out a couple of ideas
and
see if someone wiser than I can formulate a better contest ...."

.........you apparently haven't been on these reflector thingees too long as
you ALWAYS stand the chance of starting a rope rather than a thread....can
anyone out there say "packet is multi-op" - or - "true north" - or - "wasp
spray" - well, you get the drift probably...

Our friend from Utah then goes on to state:

"Except for a few, these (State) QSO PARTIES ARE A WASTE OF TIME!"

Hmmmmmm - in your judgement of course, Dave!

I take a QSO Party as a CONTEST.  In a contest I want to work lotsa
stations!  If you are an outsider (outside the sponsoring state)
you are not going to be able to do much as far as runs go or anykind
of rate ... in most of the QSO Parties.  Why?  Because there is
not that much activity.  Unless you are seeking to win the coveted
FIRST PLACE your STATE certificate for making ONE QSO, the time is
hardly exciting, the rates are zilch and you wonder if collecting
snowflakes wouldn't be more rewarding!"

There are a number of facets to ham radio and one of them (which those who
subscribe to the contest reflector love dearly) is contesting.  Like
anything else in life they are major and there are minor contests. Most of
the state QSO parties are indeed  MINOR  contests. But that is to those
OUTSIDE of the hosting state....when the Floirda Contest Group began
sponsorship of the Floirda QSO Party last year we had no idea how many
casual ops would be required to make the contest "work".  While we are not
Texas, 67 is a fair amount of counties to activate - especially when the ham
population in some of them is single digit!

The inaugural running of the FQP introduced me to mobile operating on
something other than 2 meters....I did it last year to help kick start the
Florida Contest Group's sponsorship of the FQP.  After last year I again
mobiled this year and lemme tell you that I cannot imagine NOT doing it
again!

We had a BLAST....despite a compromised rig and antenna we had a blast...for
the first five minutes after crossing into a new county we would crank up
the speed on the NA software so as to attract attention....we also signed
/CTY on my call alerting the tuner by that heah OJ is in a different county!

During those 5 minute spurts the rate meter would hover at 200 as those who
didn't want to catch snowflakes but were truly following the contest would
pounce on fresh meat!  It was a hoot!

When we wrote the initial rules to the FQP over a year ago we wrote them to
encourage Floridians not so much to work each other, but to be the sought
after ones....FL Vs FL NOT Vs. the rest of y'all.  Why - because the Florida
Contest Group is a contest club...in other words like most contesters we
here in the Sunshine State like to run....how do you run - add a few dB to
your signal by being RARE!

It works.  I felt wanted last weekend, W&F (warm and fuzzy)....it IS fun...I
am currently thinking about mobile plans for next years FQP
already....because I had fun, but want to have more fun and I am thinking
about improving the antennas and rigs and OH MY GOD:

ITS JUST LIKE REGULAR CONTESTING!

Out of this humble state QSO Party comes a ham with a little more savvy
about antennas and radios and JUST LIKE IN REGULAR CONTESTING ham radio is a
little better off for it....things slide up a notch.

NC7W goes on to suggest that:

"Instead of sponsoring a QSO Party that focuses on folks working
stations inside the sponsor state, why not a QSO party open to
all that is simply SPONSORED by a State.  Rules could go something like
this: The USA QSO PARTY sponsored by Missouri SSB ......

X-X-   a lot of snipping    X-X-

   Everyone works everyone (and once per band too!)

   Such is a QSO Party SPONSORED by a State and open to all and
   operation is among all.

   Awards are based on highest SCORES ... can have inside/outside
   awards if desired ... etc.

   (Not a QSO Party SPONSORED by a State to just work the State-folks!)"

Naw, I do not agree Dave.....but I do think you face a problem in that since
you are in Utah which has a small ham population for you to scare up a lot
of interest in a UTAH QSO Party might not work....it would suffer what you
refer to - a contest that sure don't feel like a contest!  ALONG THESE LINES
I HAVE SEEN SUGGESTIONS FOR LESS POPULATED REGIONS LIKE YOURS TO HAVE
REGIONALIZED QSO PARTIES.  I believe your area has a hamfest called WIMU (I
think that stands for Wyoming Idaho Montana Utah) - perhaps that would be
your ticket to being part of being a big enough target to attract attention
worthy of a serious contester's effort?

When we (KS9O and I) got our K4OJ mobile going on Sunday morning our first
QSO was with N4PN who was already over a thousand contacts...not too
shabby....I think this is what you want out of a contest - like any
contester, eh?

But there is another MORE IMPORTANT element to state QSO Parties...

Remember when you were first licensed and your first few QSO parties...when
you would mail in a single log sheet and every once in a while you got some
sort of certificate....lots of guys remember that feeling of putting up some
wall paper in the shack!  A lot of newcomers get their feet wet in the state
QSO Parties...

THIS IS WHY THE FLORIDA CONTEST GROUP ACTIVELY PROMOTES THE FLORIDA QSO
PARTY!

If you love something the best thing you can do is put something back
in...the Florida Contest Group consists of contest loving hams who hope to
showcase contesting as a fun activity to other Floridians.  Too many hams
are Elmered by hams who have never even made an HF QSO let alone operated in
a contest!

We cannot have a major operating event EVERY weekend, when would we do
antenna work?

If you wanna big arsed domestic contest there is the November Sweepstakes,
the grand daddy of em all....just make sure your typing is better than mine
(congrats, Chuck!)

73,

Jim, K4OJ
k4oj at tampabay.rr.com

Special thanks to everyone who operated in the 1999 Florida QSO Party 1999,
hope you had as much fun as we did!

The Florida Contest Group sponsors the Florida QSO Party, check out the FQP
website@:
http://home1.gte.net/wd4ahz/fcg/ssqp.htm

Proud member of the Florida Contest Group - visit our website at:
http://www.4w.com/deemer/fcg.htm

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