[SFDXA] Georgia QSO Party April 9-10!

[Bill]

Forwarded from AA5JF…

Please make plans to operate the Georgia QSO Party (GQP) on April 9th
and 10th. The GQP is an amateur radio operating event sponsored by the
Southeastern DX Club and South East Contest Club and that's held
annually on the 2nd full weekend of April. In 1960 Rusty Epps, W6OAT (ex
K4BVD) came up with the idea to have a state QSO party for Georgia. He
did all the initial log checking by himself while still in high school.
The current GQP contest director is Jeff KU8E.

For more information about this year’s GQP, please join our virtual
discussion on Monday, March 21st, at 7:30pm, via Zoom. Learn more about
the different entry categories, and we will share tips and strategies
with newcomers and veterans alike. And of course Jeff KU8E will be on
hand to remind us of the rules, and to answer questions: GQP Zoom
Meeting. Or in your Zoom App choose meeting ID: 985 2076 8438, Passcode
760216. For assistance, email Andy AA5JF amgoss05 at yahoo.com.

The operating periods for the GQP are from Saturday 1800Z (2:00 PM EDST
April 9th) until 0359Z Sunday (Saturday 11:59 PM EDST April 9th) and
Sunday - 1400Z (10:00 AM EDST April 10th) until 2359Z. (7:59 PM EDST
April 10th). The object of this competition is for amateur radio
operators outside of Georgia to make on the air contacts with stations
located inside the state of Georgia. Stations located inside Georgia can
work everyone. You don’t need to be a serious contester to participate
in this event, and casual operation is encouraged. Many clubs in Georgia
use the GQP as a club activity, much like Field Day. If you are located
in a rare Georgia county you will be very popular, as each county is a
multiplier (each county is a separate multiplier on CW and phone). There
is also have a very nice awards program that’s managed by Chaz,
W4GKF.
This is one contest where for Georgia stations, you are the DX. You will
have the best success calling CQ, and even a modest station can generate
a pile-up. Spotting is common, and it is likely after a few contacts,
your call will be posted on the cluster, leading to a flurry of callers.
And remember that you can spend as little or much time on air as you
want. If you devote a few hours over the weekend, you will provide QSOs
and multipliers to many, including those participating in the year-long
State QSO Party Challenge.

For Georgia stations, the contest exchange is a signal report plus your
county abbreviation. There are numerous different categories you can
enter, depending on power and mode. There is also a new portable
category, which requires you activate two different counties with a true
portable antenna (i.e. not a mobile antenna). Digital mode contacts are
not permitted. For more information, including the county abbreviations,
please visit our webpage at gaqsoparty.com

The GQP has always had good support from the amateur radio community in
Georgia, and with your help, we can grow that further. With 159
counties, Georgia has the 2nd most number of counties in the United
States. You can count on most of them being active during the GQP
weekend. The GQP has a rich history of having many rover stations on the
air that activate some of the rarer Georgia counties. We've had visitors
from Alabama, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas
and other places who have driven all the way to Georgia to participate
as a rover station.

The times of highest activity are the first hour of the contest on
Saturday (2-3pm) as well as late afternoon and early evening later that
day, when you can move from the higher bands down to 40M, and then 80M
at sunset. And there is usually good activity on Sunday afternoon as
well. However you can find stations to work anytime.

The North Fulton Amateur Radio League will be celebrating the club's
45th Anniversary by operating 10 special event call sign stations during
the GQP. The stations will be: N4N - N4F – N4A – N4R – N4L – K4N
- K4F – K4A – K4R – K4L. A certificate will be awarded to those
that work 5 of these 10 stations to have the suffix spell N-F-A-R-L. A
special sweep certificate goes to anyone who works all ten stations.

Electronic logging is recommended, and N1MM+ is already set-up to handle
the GQP. But the contest still accepts paper logs. Details in the rules
section of the website.

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ARRL Southeastern Division
Director: Mickey V Baker, N4MB
n4mb at arrl.org