[CQ-Contest] QSO Party Rules

[Stan Zawrotny]

Participation in state QSO parties requires a skillful knowledge of
propagation and geography. It’s unfortunate that every state can’t provide
59 or 599 stations on all bands 24x7. Knowing when and on which bands
stations from a targeted state can be worked is a specific skill.
Boycotting states because they are difficult for you is admitting defeat.

OM2VL should be an example to us all. He has qualified for the Worked all
QSO Parties Award from Europe. He understands propagation and enjoys
participating in the state QSO parties.[image: image]
Contesting is not meant to be easy. Anyone can work a hundred stations in
the  big ARRL, CQ and NAQP contests. The bands are jam packed. State QSO
parties are more of a challenge.

   - Some states are too far away --for certain bands.
   - Some states are too close -- for certain bands.
   - Some states don't have many hams -- or not as many willing to operate.
   - Some states have rules that are different. We have to adjust to the
   variations.
   - Etc.

Challenge is what contesting is all about. But we can't win all contests.
So we have to set our own goals for each one. If you participate in the
State QSO Party programs, then the challenge might be just making two
contacts is a state that is too far, too close or too small.

Contest ebulliently.

Stan, K4SBZ

"Real radio bounces off the sky."

On Sep 19, 2022, at 5:48 PM, Ron Notarius W3WN via CQ-Contest <
cq-contest at contesting.com> wrote:

The problem is, however, that for stations in the "home" QSO parties to
work the high bands... and I agree that's important... there also have to
be stations for THEM to work.  Otherwise it is a lot of wasted time calling
CQ with no responses.
I've run the Pa QSO party more times than I care to think about, going back
to my days as a college freshman -- as a member of a club operation
(including a multi-county/multi-station bonus effort), home op, portable,
and mobile.  I can tell you from experience that working or trying to work
stations on 20 - 10 can sometimes be a lot of effort for minimal gain.
Especially on 20, when the band is crowded, finding a "hole" can be it's
own challenge, and the anti-contest yahoos jump in to give you a hard time,
just because.  (And heaven forbid you accidentally stumble on or near a
cherished "net" frequency, even if it isn't currently in use)
So of course the mobiles are going to concentrate on the low bands, where
there's lots of activity.  Especially on those that are only capable of
running a single hamstick or equivalent at a time.
This isn't really, or at least always, a question about "rules" for
mobiles/rovers/portable stations.  It's an acknowledgement of the classic
bootstrap, or if you will, chicken-or-the-egg, conundrum.  How do you
encourage more activity from both ends of the effort on the high bands?
Boycotting a given contest because of a perception that
mobiles/rovers/portables are somehow granted a "point" advantage to NOT
work more multipliers seems counter-intuitive to that encouragement.

A problem or potential problem has been brought up, thus this email chain.
The simple question remains:  What do we do about it?
73, ron w3wn

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Brown <k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com>
To: cq-contest at contesting.com
Sent: Mon, Sep 19, 2022 8:42 am
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] QSO Party Rules

On 9/18/2022 4:54 AM, Pete Smith N4ZR wrote:

Nonetheless, I have to wonder why anyone would boycott a particular QSO

party because of its rules.


It matters whether the "home" QSO parties are there to work on the bands
where distant participants can work them. It's no fun to work a QSO
party when you can't hear the guys you're trying to work, which causes
you not bother with those parties. Many of us LOVE state QSO parties
WHEN we can work them, and the serious in-state participants need us as
mults, just as they need US as mults.

Contests are about competition, and if I can't work mults, I'm not
competitive, and it's no fun. Many of us ENJOY tracking mobiles through
dozens of counties. That's an important part of the better QSO parties.

The guys who coordinate and participate in CQP work very hard to make
sure that all CA counties are workable from all of NA. Our CQP team
activates one or more CA counties with serious multi-setup portable
operations, and we've activated 5-6 rare NV or UT counties for 7QP with
stations that are easily workable on the two or three bands with prop to
all of NA. Our goal is to make working CQP and 7QP fun for out of state
participants throughout NA. and even EU. There are EU stations who take
these contests seriously, all because we don't sit on 40M and work
locals for in-state mults.

Scoring rules MATTER -- they establish the nature of the contest, who
can have fun because they are competitive, who can't. QSO parties are
more fun for both in-state/region participants if they have more
stations to work, and stations that need the higher bands to work them
will water their lawns when they can't.

73, Jim K9YC
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