WQ6X Wings a Wild, but Weird Radiosport Weekend

From the beginning, my focus for the October 9th-10th contest weekend was to wing-operate
(operate sporadically) the various radiosport GiGs littered throughout the 40 contest weekend. 
When I think about it, I am amazed & amused over how several divergent radiosport events can intertwine themselves in one weekend.  As a multi-mode (Ssb, Cw & RTTY) contester, this weekend offered a variety of different GiGs to dabble in.

• There were 4 QSO parties, each with a different style of exchange:

1. [X] - NVQP - 5NN EB
2. [X] - AZQP - 5NN CA
3. [X] - PAQP - 5NN EB
4. [X] - SDQP - 5NN CA

There were ALSO non-QSO Party events:

• [X] - The OCDX Cw contest: 5NN - 1234
• [X] - The Makrothen RTTY GiG - GRID Square

The Makrothen-style of radiosport uses a unique operating-time framework: 0000z to 08:00z,
16:00z to 00:00z and finally 08:00z to 16:00z - three 8-hour operating periods with two 8-hour
off periods in between.

 

As a RTTY contest, also unique to Makrothen - QSO points are calculated by the KM distance between the grid squares each station resides in.  Altho I used the onsite ICOM-7000 for listening, full-duty RTTY at full power (100 w.) makes the FT-1000mp superior for barefoot RTTY.

With the state QSO parties that weekend (excluding PQP), there was the usual problem of POOR participation from the states themselves.  Responders to my previous blogs on this topic have suggested that the problem is POOR receiving apparatus on my end.  

 

I MIGHT agree w/them, IF there were DOZENS of internet spots and I just could not hear them; when the TRUTH IS there were virtually NO QSO Party spots - EXCEPT for the PQP QSO Party.  I guess the REAL way to properly adjudicate this matter is to listen from several SDR's around the country,
to determine how many stations are actually on the air.

Having recently reconfigured the outboard filter order with the Concord setup.  For Ssb operation,
the MFJ-752 filters offer the best readability overall, altho the QF-1A filters (set to LP/HP) provide more adjustable settings.  The best setting of the MFJ-752's is to turn the r-hand FREQUENCY
knobs to (approx.) the 4 O'clock position.

For the National Tuneup Frequency (NTF), the auto-notch capabilities of the FT-1000mp's EDSP
(for the left ear) and the ANF circuits in the JPS NIR-10 / NIR-12 units resolve that "problem" reasonably well.  For Cw, the PEAK filters in the QF-1A units are unsurpassed.

If you had read my past blog comments on the various QSO party events around North America
(CQP excepted), you probably remember that I call out the QSO party organizers for continuously POOR turnout in their events.  In recent weeks, I have received two e-mails in response to my complaints.  These are worth exploring.  The 1st comment came from N6GP regarding my
writeup on the Kansas QSO Party (KSQP).:

I enjoy your commentaries on 3830.  
However, I think your analysis of last weekend was a bit unfair to Kansas.

The KSQP Rocks!   Rovers everywhere, and NO in-state multipliers.  
N6MU worked 104 of the 105 counties, just missing his 11th sweep. 
I think KSQP runs second place to CQP as my favorite.

 

Recently, I received an e-mail from Bill W0EJ, demonstrating that there is another
way of looking at this situation:

GM Ron, I received your SDQP log and while processing, I read your Soapbox input. We at PDARC recently took over SDQP as enthusiasm was waning in the group that ran it previously. Thank goodness State QSO Parties Group is trying to rally participation in all the state QSO parties.

I have sent your comments with warnings to PDARC club officers along with a suggestion to garner In-State operators to jump onboard. I will also be canvassing members as to how we can incentivize In-State operators to get on the air for SDQP even if they don’t submit a log.

Thanks for your input and we hope that you’ll give us another chance next year.

While it is true I hold other QSO parties to the same standards as the California QSO Party (CQP), it is for GooD Reason.  What good is it to host a QSO party when in-state potential-participants don't participate.  Also lacking is in-state stations calling CQ.  All too often we out-of-state OPs end up calling CQ because we've run out of in-state OPs to work.

While I appreciate out-of-state operators setting up operations in a neighboring state's QSO party, the BETTER solution is for amateurs who LIVE in that state to put their counties on the air, even if (like Alameda county in California) they are not a "Rare" county.  Having MORE in-state operations brings in more out-of-state callers when they hear dozens of in-state stations calling CQ for their QSO party.

What about YOU? 
Do YOU participate in state QSO parties (and in particular your OWN)?

If NoT, WHY NoT?

If so, keep calling CQ for your party and I will eventually end up in your log.