[PaQSO] PA QP remarks

[Jim Funk]

I hesitate to go very deeply into what I consider an interesting discussion as I have only dabbled in the PAQP, have never sent in a log until this year (and from EMA as a guest op), and have never been mobile in the contest.  However, as meekness has never been my strong suit, here goes nothing....

1) Comparing PAQP and CAQP is like comparing baseball and volleyball.  They both use round objects that you hit and hope nobody stops them.  That's where they start being different....

2) It's nice that PAQP is still willing to accept hand-written logs. ILQP still does as well, but fortunately we receive only a dozen or so each year.  Transcribing them is a chore (I don't need to tell the PAQP folks this....).  I can understand why CAQP does not, given the volume of total logs they get.

3) I cannot understand why a summary sheet is required for an electronic log, but that's entirely up to the sponsors and log checkers.  For ILQP we are happy to receive a summary sheet, but it is used only as a comparison with the score we calculate from the entrant's log.  If there is a marked discrepancy, we did deeper to find out why.  Sometimes it's our scoring model that had messed up; more often it's that the entrant has miscalculated something.

4) Not all QSO parties have to be the same.  My take on the PAQP is that the emphasis is on allowing PA stations to get a "sweep" of all 67 counties.  This is well and good and appears to make many people happy.  Many states give special recognition to stations who get all of the target state's counties.  I hope someday to give something super-duper to the first station to work all 102 IL counties in ILQP.  Maybe this year....?

5) For those who wish to endure a two-day QSO party, have at it.  I am "wooped" after operating 8 hours in ILQP as a mobile.  I can't imagine doing 24 hours over two days.  (Well, come to think of it, I did this in TX a few years ago....but I digress....).  It would seem to me that it's more difficult to get out-of-state stations to come in as mobile entrants if they have to leave home on Friday and get home on Monday....but maybe not....  Maybe when I retire....

73, Jim N9JF

Best regards, 

Jim Funk
Customer Service Engineer

FOSS

800/547-6275 
option 1 for parts, option 3 for service
jfunk at fossna.com

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