[nrv-hams] Calling all party animals!

[Kay Craigie]

Two state QSO parties will be this coming weekend. One, Pennsylvania, is
among the biggest state contests. The other, Arizona, is not so large.

Carter and I used to be serious competitors in Pennsylvania so that's what
I'm going to talk about now.  From Virginia, the bands of choice will be 40
during the daytime and 80/160 after dark. Competition is on phone, digital
(RTTY and PSK), and CW.

The exchange we send is a serial number starting with 1, plus our state. So
I would send "01 VA." The Pennsylvanians will send us a serial number and
their county abbreviation. It might be something like "01 CHE," if they live
in my old home county, Chester.

The list of abbreviations is posted along with other information on the
contest web page, which is http://www.nittany-arc.net/PAQSO.html.

The contest period is from 1600Z on Oct 10 to 0500Z on Oct 11 and then
1300Z-2200Z, Oct 11.

As usual, there is no contesting on the 10, 12, 17, and 30 meter bands.

Every contest has its quirks. The Pennsylvania contest sponsors still
require entrants to submit summary sheets -- though these can now be sent in
electronically instead of submitted on paper -- in addition to electronic
logs. I don't know any other state QSO party that still wants a separate
summary sheet calculating your score. Of course if you are just playing for
fun and don't plan to submit an entry, you don't have to care.

The club competition in Pennsylvania used to set the bands on fire. The
Radio Association of Erie in the western part of the state and the Murgas
Amateur Radio Club in the eastern part of the state had a great rivalry that
produced a lot of fun. Dozens of other clubs were also fierce competitors.
Alas, the club competition isn't what it used to be. The same big club wins
year after year. The eastern PA vs. western PA club rivalry is no more. But
my goodness, it was crazy fun while it lasted.

Since I'm actually going to be home this weekend, for a change, I hope to
get on the air and work a lot of my old  buddies from up north. They'd like
to have you in the log, too.

73, Kay N3KN

P.S. - Maybe you're wondering what on earth is a "Murgas." Sounds like it
ought to be a little furry animal like a ground hog, but that's not so.
Father Josef Murgas was a Roman Catholic priest from what is now Slovakia in
central Europe. He emigrated to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1896, to
serve a parish of Slovakians who had come to northeastern Pennsylvania to
work in the coal mines. An accomplished artist and scientist, he
experimented with wireless communications, held many patents, and in 1920 he
communicated by telegraphy from Wilkes-Barre to Scranton about 20 miles
away. That was a big deal at the time. He may have shared many of his
discoveries with Marconi since, as a priest, he wasn't allowed to get rich
from radio. On the radio club's web page at http://www.qsl.net/k3ytl/, there
is a photo of Fr. Murgas's huge antenna, a little model of which is on
display at the church where he was the pastor. The hams of Wilkes-Barre,
especially the ones of Slovak descent, are still very proud of the radio
pioneer after whom their club was named.