[GCARC] North American QSO Party August Edition

[Tony Starr]

Greetings All GCARC Members!

I want to remind everyone that next week, on Saturday August 3rd, the
summer edition of the North American QSO Party CW Contest will be held,
starting at 2 PM EDT. This is the very best contest to try if you have been
itching to try out a CW contest, but either did not know the ropes, or was
feeling a bit intimidated by the high speeds of one of the "big contests".
This one is just 12 hours long, and single-op stations may only operate 10
hours of the 12. Also, this contest is low power only (100 watts) and no
amplifiers are permitted, so the "little pistol" station actually has a
chance to be heard. And the fact that almost all of the activity is within
North America means that those low power stations will be relatively easy
to copy.

This contest is held in January and August, and the summer edition is by
far the most beginner-friendly. The CW speeds are not quite as high, and
the bands are not as crowded. In 2016 when I got back on the air after
almost 25 years, this was the first CW contest I attempted to operate, and
it turned out to be an excellent choice, even though it was strictly by
chance. If you are a total beginner at CW contesting, this is your chance.
There is an article that we put together last year, in the August 2018
Crosstalk, that spells out some of the specifics of how to actually get on
the air and make contacts in this contest. You can find it in the archives
page on the GCARC website. I hope that some of you will give this a try,
and find yourself, as I did, on your way to being a CW Contester. If you
still want to try contesting but just cannot do the CW part of it, the NAQP
SSB summer edition will be exactly two weeks later. 73 and good luck!

Tony WA2FZB
GCARC Contest Committee