[PaQSO] Non-PA QSOs and High Bands

[k3pp at k3pp.com]

Hi everyone,

I've been following the discussion on high bands and out-of-state (OOS) QSOs in
this year's PA QSO Party. I've been wanting to comment, but my employer has kept
me slammed and on the road and I have been unable to jump in with my own data. I
have to say, I had a lot of OOS activity this year, the apparent opposite of
what I heard from my fellow PAQSO participants.

After finally digging in and analyzing my log, I have the following to report
from K3PP:


    1065 QSOs

      421 (39%) PA
      536 (51%) OOS W/VE
      106 (10%) DX

      455 QSOs (42.7%)  were on the high bands (20/15/10)

Of my PA QSOs, the EPA:WPA ratio was 1.6:1 (259:162)

Breaking down the OOS by call areas:
      W1   32   (3.0%)
      W2   42   (4.0%)
      W3   22   (2.1%) - Non-PA
      W4 123 (11.6%)
      W5   36   (3.4%)
      W6   62   (5.8%)
      W7   92   (8.7%)
      W8   34   (3.2%)
      W9   28   (2.6%)
      W0   48   (4.5%)
      VE    17   (1.6%)

Top Ten OOS Sections:
   QSOs Section
        29   AZ W7
        27   VA W4
        26   WWA W7
        20   MDC W3
        20   OH W8
        19   GA W4
        18   TN W4
        16   MO W0
        16   NC W4
        15   NTX W5

DX Breakdown:
      EU  99
      AS     2
      AF     3 (all ZS)
      OC    1 (TX5D DXpedition)
      NA     1 (Mexico)
      SA      0 (Really??)

Notes:

WWA section was very active. There must have been a strong propagation pipe
there on 15m. I heard them loudly while many others were weak.

Less from our W8 friends than usual. Thank you to our OH neighbors and others in
W8, but the numbers seemed down this year. This may have a lot to do with me
spending more time on the high bands.

Only one VE2. QC is usually much more active.

The SF section is usually very tough. This year, I had 7 QSOs there.

The AZ QSO Party is both a ban and a boon to PA QSO players. On the downside,
their activity "interferes" with ours and can sometimes confuse stations. On the
other hand, there are more AZ stations to work! :-) It worked pretty well for
me, as we just exchanged each other's numbers and moved on. Nice!

The SAC contest definitely reduces numbers from EU runs, but EU still came
through nicely, as it always does.

On CW, I found "CQ PAQP" to work better than "CQ PA" because the prior implies
"calling anybody" whereas the latter implies "calling PA stations only."

I had several CA stations thank me for joining their QSO Party the prior week.
Lesson: You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours! It helps to participate
liberally in other contests. Just ask AA3B, who seems to be in EVERY contest
that runs! If you think that doesn't give Bud an edge, think again!

I was pleased to work so many sections! This is my best ever mult count! It will
be very difficult to top. I only missed one ARRL section (WTX) this year!

Upon the Saturday night shutdown, I was a bit worried about prospects for a
county sweep. Alas, the mobiles and rovers came through!! THANK YOU MOBILE/ROVER
STATIONS!!!! **** YOU **** make this a VERY cool contest!

As I dig in more, I will generate more stats and graphics that I will post to my
web site.

YMMV

Onward to CQWW SSB!
VY 73 de Glenn K3PP