[CQ-Contest] In-state stations in QSO Parties...

[Robert Chudek - K0RC]

I read the following in a soapbox on the 3830 scores reflector...

"Comments:

Had a great time. Bands were not in the best of shape, but workable from SE
Florida. Next time I will try using /4 as a lot of folks were not sure I was in
Florida. First FQP so I learned at least one thing...."


The Florida QSO Party is probably the poster child of retired ham operators moving to Florida but retaining their non 4-land callsign. I am never confident enough to call a "non-4" station without waiting to hear at least one exchange. Unfortunately, that wastes a lot of time hanging around waiting for the verification.

The best CQ syntax I heard last weekend was one station appending the county abbreviation after sending his callsign the last time; i.e., "CQ MnQP CQ KØRC KØRC CHS". He didn't use the slash character, just a space and his county designator. His technique provided several benefits. First it identified he was indeed in Florida, not New Hampshire, and second it allowed me to check the county status in my logging software so I knew if he was a "new one" for me. It also eliminated any logging issues and QSO matching problems on eQSL or LoTW by not appending a /CTY to his root callsign.

This sounds like a lot of "wins" in my book. I hope his technique catches on with more QSO Party participants. 

73 de Bob - KØRC in MN