Blast from the Past: California QSO Party (CQP)

Prior to the year 2000 I never paid attention to CQP - the California QSO Party.  Since then
I've not missed a GiG, altho some of my early solo events lacked a camera person.  The "Under Construction" sign is indicative that my CQP events are always in some way "under construction".
The WQ6X.Info CQP web section is loaded with documentation of all the events during the last 19 years.  Who would've imagined there would be such a variety of different CQP operations in those years; some new, some repeats.

My first exposure to CQP was with the W6ML crew (W6KC, W6SW, W6JTB, et. al) at Mammoth lake (in Mono county) during 2000 - 2003.  As you can see, we took 1st place for the Expedition category every year.

My first solo CQP events occurred from an under construction multi-million dollar house in the
Ojai valley in Ventura (VENT) county.  Initially, I operated from the spacious downstairs garage.  Later, operations moved a folding table to an upstairs bedroom where it was much warmer. 
Even back then, I insisted on using some form of wireless headphones.

Hooking up with N6GEO (George) we put Modoc county on the radio 3 times: 2010, 2012 & 2013.  While our 2012 trip was largely a disaster, we nevertheless took a 1st place for Modoc.  In 2013,
we not only took 1st place Modoc, but also for the entire low power M-M Expedition category.

•  [CLICK HERE] to read the web section about our 2013 event.
•  [CLICK HERE] to read the contest BLOG about our 2013 event.

Backing up to 2011, George suggested we take his cruiser out on the river, literally JUST
inside Sacramento county by several hundred yards.  Our 1st-place in SACR was certainly a break
from those LONG trips to Modoc (altho we would repeat that Modoc expedition in 2012 & 2013). 

• [CLICK HERE] to read the web section about that event.

As we were deciding what kind of operation to put together for 2014, the CQP website that year showcased our 2013 event - how cool is that?  The way I look at it, they must've been DESPARATE for website copy in order to showcase our pictures for nearly 6 months - wOw!

The Downside, as I explained on the CQP 2014 webpage was that our planned trip to Tuolumne
was sidelined until 2015.  Instead, we setup an ad-Hoc operation from George's Brentwood QTH. 
The UPSIDE is that we set a county record for Contra Costa county from that operation.

•  [CLICK HERE] to read the web section about the 2014 event.
•  [CLICK HERE] to read the contest BLOG about our 2014 event.

In 2015, operating as W6E we put together a TUOL expedition in Twain Harte for CQP-50, devising
a 2-station portable operation from George's mountain cabin.  Our simple operation netted a 1st-place from Tuolumne county.

•  [CLICK HERE] to read the web section about our 2015 event.
•  [CLICK HERE] to read the contest BLOG about our 2015 event.

In 2016, the Twain Harte cabin was available, but N6GEO was on vacation with his XYL. 
Registering the W6K callsign I gave the newly acquired Yaesu FT-1000mp it's first contest run
(for WQ6X anyway - previously the radio had been part of N6VR's early SO2-R operation from Ojai).  Not only did W6K take 1st-place from TUOL, a county record was set, which has yet to be surpassed.

•  [CLICK HERE] to read the web section about my 2016 event.
•  [CLICK HERE] to read the contest BLOG about my 2016 event.

While I was making plans for CQP 2017, the CQP website showcased my W6K operation next to the K6M Modoc expedition from Bend Oregon  - Hey! they stole our K6M callsign.  As you can see, it is a GooD idea to take pictures at every event; you never know who might want to sneak a peak at a Blast from the Past.

For 2017, being in a lazy mood/mode, I decided to take "the easy way out" and run a CQP operation for the 1st time from W7AYT's Concord QTH in Contra Costa county.  When it was all over, I was shocked to discover that K6T (Kilowatt Six Tango) set a county record for CCOS.  Since then,
other expeditions have leveraged K6T to great success.

•  [CLICK HERE] to read the web section about my 2017 event.
•  [CLICK HERE] to read the contest BLOG about my 2017 event.

That leaves us with 2018.  Thanks to N6KI's efforts I took possession of an Elecraft K3/0 allowing
me to more easily run remote into NX6T in Fallbrook and also running as W6C from Contra Costa county (CCOS).  While W6C didn't set any records, at least a 1st-place for CCOS was made.

•  [CLICK HERE] to read the web section about my 2018 event.
•  [CLICK HERE] to read the pre-2018 CQP contest BLOG.
•  [CLICK HERE] to read the contest BLOG about my 2018 event.

How did 2019 turn out?
Well.... you'll just have to read the upcoming BLOG entry on this last weekend's operation;
once I sort out all the pictures and web-links, there will be a LINK to it.

Do YOU ever play in the California QSO party (CQP)?

Is one of the above callsigns in YOUR Log?