[nrv-hams] Virginia QSO Party is this month

[Kay Craigie]

Unless someone is very new in ham radio, the prospect of working a Virginia
station doesn't create much excitement. Wyoming, we're not. One weekend of
the year, however, we are the cool kids everybody wants to talk to. The
Virginia QSO Party, sponsored by the Sterling Park ARC, brings out all sorts
of hams who want to work us.

The contest time period is Saturday, 16 March 1400 UTC - Sunday, 17 March
0200 UTC and Sunday, 17 March 1200 UTC - 2400 UTC. For Virginians, this is
Saturday 10 AM - 10 PM and Sunday 8 AM - 8 PM Virginia local time.

The exchange is a serial number and your county or independent city for
Virginia stations. Stations not in Virginia will send a serial number and
their state, Canadian province, or "DX" if they're outside the USA and
Canada. The list of official Virginia county abbreviations is posted on the
QSO Party web site at
http://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2013_VQP/2013_VQP_Main.html. Know
what your city or county's abbreviation is, because somebody is bound to ask
you.

Contacts are not to be made on repeaters or on 12, 17, and 30 meters. 

We can work a station only once per band / mode, unless the station has
moved to a different city / county. Mobile and Expedition stations will
indicate their location by appending the official abbreviation to their
callsigns, so we will know if it's okay to call them again. For example, if
I work N3AO/MON on 40 meters SSB but later hear him calling CQ on 40 meters
SSB as N3AO/GIL, I know that he has moved from Montgomery County to Giles
County, and I can work him again on the same band / mode.

One member of the Virginia Tech ARA has an ambitious plan to operate from a
bunch of counties. Listen for Kevin KJ4OAP mobile. I assume that's the
callsign he will be using. 

Why do people from outside the state play in our contest? Some do it just
because it's fun. I get into a lot of state QSO parties for that reason.
Other people do it to work Virginia counties. There's an award for
confirming all the 3000-plus counties in the USA, and state QSO parties are
good opportunities to work lots of counties.

Last year I operated only on 40 and 80 meters. If I really wanted to go for
a big score, I would call CQ on 10, 15, and/or 20 meters to pick up more
states. That's a lot like work, so I tend to stay on 40 and 80 and (if I
stay awake that long) 160 meters where it's easier to find contacts.

Counties and cities in our part of the state are not that easy to work in
the contest, so if you can be on the air just for a little while you can
make some people happy.

Have fun in the Virginia QSO Party! 73 - Kay N3KN