[CQ-Contest] QSO Party Rules

[Dave Edmonds]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a competitive contester with a very strong fondness of the state QSO
party contests. I have been working them since 2014 and have 20+ first
place awards. Each QP is very unique. The rules for each QP are
different...some more than others.

IMHO, the best QP provides a strong marriage between in-state and out of
state ops. That is, it is a symbiotic relationship (an old Disney movie
just entered my brian with that word). Both contesters need each other to
make the QP a success.

In SC, we allow in-state ops to work anyone and receive mults for SC
counties. To make sure that our in-state ops work out of state ops, we
offer double QSO points for every 'out of state' contact. This gives the
in-state ops a huge incentive to work the high bands as long as possible.

Another feature of the SCQP is that we have a 'balanced' awards program.
That is, we reward both in-state and out of state for their contesting
achievement. We don't have 10 instate awards and 2 out of state awards.
It's much more balanced.

It's all about having a blast and competing with some of the best ops on
the planet.

73s Dave WN4AFP

On Mon, Sep 19, 2022 at 5:48 PM James Duffey <jamesduffey at comcast.net>
wrote:

> To the extent that this is an issue, it is really only an issue for those
> states or entities that have a lot of counties. And, then it is as much an
> issue of how individual mobiles choose to operate as it is the rules. There
> is a fine balance between writing rules so that there are both a lot of
> in-state and a lot of out-of-state contestants.
>
> I operate QSO parties mobile much like I operate contests from a fixed
> station.  I suspect that most serious contesters/QSO party mobiles do the
> same. I run until I run out of stations to work and then, if I am stopped,
> move on to the next stop.  If I have a driver and operate in motion, I
> usually still have stations available when I come to a new county. When the
> sunspots are poor, as they have been for much of the time I have operated
> QSO parties, during the day, I try to emphasize 20M, but do not neglect 40M
> as there are usually stations there. I don’t operate 80M as that is an
> exercise in antenna frustration. For me, time and effort are better spent
> on 40M and up. Having said this, when 20M folds, there is no choice for a
> competitive mobile than to go to 40M. I never stop to think that I should
> look for more in-state QSOs to get more multi, unless there is a bonus for
> such.
>
> Having said all that, many of the mobile entries in the larger states are
> not serious contesters and like to get on and work their friends in the
> contest. I am not sure that would change if intrastate QSOs did not count
> for multipliers.
>
> One of the attractions of state QSON parties is that the rules are varied,
> as is the geography and skill of operators, and each has its own
> attraction. I operate pretty much all of them that I can get to easily or
> put in a serious effort from home.  You can operate those you like and
> don’t operate those you don’t like, but don’t expect the sponsors to change
> the rules to accommodate out of state individuals.  It is not a one size
> fits all situation, and most, but not all, state QSO parties are held
> primarily for the benefit of the residents of the state. 73 - Duffey KK6MC
>
> > On Sep 18, 2022, at 11:00, K9YC wrote:
> >
> > I've long enjoyed working QSO parties, and have won a few, but one
> > scoring rule for many of them discourage my participation, and caused me
> > to avoid them. The rule awarding multipliers to in-state stations for
> > their counties causes mobiles to avoid the higher bands while those
> > bands are still open, causing me to miss multipliers. I won't be on for
> > TXQP and the Salmon Run, both this weekend.
> >
> > Other parties that I've worked in the past but abandoned for that reason
> > include TNQP, NEQP, and PAQP.
> >
> > Parties that I will work include FLQP, GAQP, 7QP, and CQP.
>
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-- 
Dave Edmonds
PK Ministry Webs
864.288.6678
dave at pkministrywebs.com
www.pkministrywebs.com