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A view of the 2015 VQP from John, KX4O/P.

http://www.hamradio.me/activities/kx4op-vqp-2015-portable-from-manassas-park-city-mpx.html

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On Saturday, 18 April, the VQP scoring party was held to review the scoring on the paper logs.  Electronic logs are rescored using a software program developed by Henry, K2BFY,



From left is Red, N3TG, Gordon, NQ4K, and Dick, W2YE.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

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On 12 Apr 15, Bill, KJ4VTH, emailed:

I get to my super secret location in Falls Church and spy a SUV with a PVC mast on the roof and wonder, "Gee who could this be? Don K4YND pops out to say hello!" He has quite the CW setup in the back seat. 

After a bit of chatter I tried to get the Buddipole to play on 40m SSB. It took a lot of work! Finally found a sweet spot near a picnic table (Don's car and mine in the distance) and a vertical arrangement that was mostly out of the way off foot traffic. 

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and lots of folks traipsing around Cherry Hill Park. My pup loved the attention from other people and dogs but didn't care so much for my radio activities. 


73, Bill KJ4VTH

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On 10 Apr 15,  Neil, AB4YK, emails:

AB4YK and XYL (driving) enjoyed the trip through the southwestern counties of VA.  I ran about 300 watts mobile into Hustler 40m antenna reaching up to 13�4�.  Thanks to Fauquier ARA club members for generously yielding a frequency and then spotting me � worked (from my perspective) wonderfully well.  I was able to hold a frequency this year quite usefully.

Saturday went very nicely starting from Wythe county, on to Bland then unintentionally spent 1 hour in West Virginia and consequently added an AB4YK WV log with about 9 Qs. Back in VA for WYT, BLA, TAZ, WIS, NRX, LEE, SCO, WAS and back to WYT for the night.  

Baffled by lack of activity early Sunday morning in WYT � nothing but local rag-chewers anywhere - nobody came back to my calls at all � problem was the solar storm which obliterated 7 MHz NVIS.  Finally got going at noon Sunday as the band gradually came back and Qs began pouring in.  There was no VHF activity in the S VA area (hills, church and sleep?). 

We went through some really beautiful parts of VA which we hadn�t seen before � with extension of our run through Carroll and Grayson and past Galax this year to Martinsville and Henry County and Pittsylvania and back via Patrick and Franklin and ending in Floyd at around 4:30 pm.   Did I say that there is no road from Martinsville to Floyd?  Any way we ended in about 3 miles of one lane gravel road past the Blue Ridge.  First time ever we had decent WX on the Sunday in Floyd � usually it�s ice and snow.  New RAV4 held up OK with new hole in side wall to allow RF through to antenna.  

Thanks for 3 Qs with K4NVA � one from WV.  Total just over 400 QSOs including the 9 from WV.

Great contest!  Got my emergency preparedness advanced a notch and this is another of the good things about the VAQP. 

73, Neil, AB4YK.

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On 10 Apr 15, Tony, N4TGR, emailed:



N4TGR's Go-Kit used for his first VA QSO Party:

System consists of a home built Tactical Go-Kit with Yaesu 857D, LDG antenna tuner, Yaesu 8900R, LDG and Diamond SWR/Wattmeter, KPC-9612+TNC, Tigertronics Signallink USB Sound card , 2U storage drawer, 1U Dual Gooseneck LED Rack Light , 32A DC power supply, Super PWRgate and RIGrunner 4008.

Antennas: Homemade 20M & 40M dipole used as an Inverted-V, Radio Works Carolina Windom compact 80, Diamond F22A or X300A and Comet CA-2x4SR.

Used a homemade air cannon to shoot lines into trees to pull antennas up.

Power Source: Honda EU2000i & 2ea 105Ah batteries.

I designed and custom built tactical kits and a communications trailers on the side, I've build systems for Poquoson CERT, Hampton Public Service Team and myself.


Thanks
Tony Swindler - N4TGR
73's
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On Wednesday, 8 Apr 15, Andy, K1RA, emailed:>

Some fellow hams and I activated KW4VA as a small multi-multi from the W4RX station in Clarke county this past VaQP. I've posted a photo album and video and short description of the weekends event on my web site here:

http://www.k1ra.us/2015/04/08/1431

Please feel free to post or pass around. 73 and thanks for helping to sponsor the event!

andyz - K1RA

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On Thursday, 2 Apr 15, Kevin, KJ4OAP/M, emailed:

Hello all,

I had quite a fun time driving my Toyota Tacoma around Southwest Virginia and handing out counties like crazy!  Unfortunately, it was a lone ranger operation where much of the time I was driving, operating and logging at the same time.  And not just any old operating, but often times working through a pileup!!!   Because of this, there are a couple of miscues on the numbers I was sending to people that were calling.  The first one is that I skipped numbers 242 and 243.  Then, I gave out 582 twice.  And then lastly as I was working through the pileup in Buena Vista I skipped number 651.  Again here, my deepest apologies on missing these numbers, I hope it does not rule out my submission here for the contest.

Next year, I'm getting me a co-pilot to do the logging!  Otherwise, I wouldn't have changed a thing about this years contest.  It was such a great time!  I had great weather to get out and drive around the country.  And the bands were nice enough to let me sit down on a frequency and call CQ for quite a while!  Also, if you post this on the website, my apologies or thanks go to WD1U who I gave my frequency to as I was about to drive down a very steep and very windy road.  I don't think he expected to pick up the frequency when he called me!

Looking forward to it next year!  Thanks again to all the stations that called me and followed me on my path.

73, and GL!
-Kevin, KJ4OAP/m

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SOAPBOX comments as of 31 Mar 15:

AG6AY.log:SOAPBOX: Tough conditions this year for cross country contacts!  20M was the
    only band that worked for me this year.

AI4QB.log:SOAPBOX: As usual a fun local contest!

K0BAK.log:SOAPBOX: It was a tale of two contests. Saturday was a lot of fun with lots of
  contacts right up to 8pm or so when it started to dry up. Went down to
  RIC to start on Sunday morning, but the contest was dead, only getting
  one or two contacts in each county. My signal was getting out because
  I got QSOs with CT, MA, ON ... but only one in VA! Gave up after
  calling for a half hour from KGE around noon without response and
  headed home to PA. Thank you to the organizers, I had a fun time on
  Saturday ... but if I come next year, it'll be a one-day contest for me.

K4CGY.log:SOAPBOX: Great contest but low activity on Sunday

K4RC.log:SOAPBOX: Williamsburg Area ARC was fortunate to have access to a new venue from
 which to operate this contest. Thanks to AB1AX, we secured permission
 to operate from the Swim & Tennis Center located within the Ford's
 Colony gated community. The site was public, comfortable and well
 populated with trees suitable for antenna support. Facillity hours
 allowed us to work only 20 of the 24 contest hours, but everyone had a
 great time. We alternated between two radios, a Flex 6500 provided by
 AI4WU and a KX3 with KPA100 amplifier provided by NR4C. Antenna was a
 40-20 fan dipole configured as a low sloper and performed well.

K4VBM.log:SOAPBOX: Enjoyed my first Virginia QSO party!

K4WY.log:SOAPBOX: My intention was to activate Amherst County while visiting my daughter at Sweet Briar College. 
 Well, the College Inn was closed so we went over to Appomattox county and during some downtime broke out the FT 817 qrp rig and made some QSOs. 

K6AET.log:SOAPBOX: Work more next year!

k9gdf.log:SOAPBOX: Antenna is rain gutter and downspouts.

KA1DBE.LOG:SOAPBOX: New Antenna, Successful Failure.  Back to Vertical

KA4H-M.log: SOAPBOX: 1 contact from: Augusta Total Mobile Bonus = 100

KA7HBH.log:SOAPBOX: Enjoyed my first one

KD4QIT_EXP.log:SOAPBOX: 1 or more contacts from: Richmond, Westmoreland, King and Queen, Northumberland, King William, 

KD4QIT_EXP.log:SOAPBOX: wISH BOTH DAY TIMES WERE 10AM-10PM

KD4QIT_FIXED.log:SOAPBOX: I wish the contest ran the same hours on both sat and sunday 10am to 10pm

KE0G.log:SOAPBOX: K3/10 at 5 watts to a 74' dipole up about 50' fed with ladder line and a Matchbox tuner. 
 Thanks for the Q's !   Band conditions were poor, so couldn't hear everyone on the air in VA.  C U next time, 73,  Dan  ke0g

KI4DHW.log:SOAPBOX: Unusual conditions

KI4WKY.log:SOAPBOX: THANK YOU FOR CONTEST

KI4WKZ.log:SOAPBOX: THANKS FOR GREAT CONTEST

KJ4FUU.log:SOAPBOX: I thought the band conditions weren't that great, but I think by actually doing 80 meters at night, I did OK. Thanks for the party!

KJ4YKG.log:SOAPBOX: I could only work one day this year so I decided to try all digital. It was fun but I did not make one Virginia contact. I tried 80,40,20,15,and 10 Meters and not even K4NVA. Next year back to SSB.

KK4BSM-E.log:SOAPBOX:  First time running an expedition.  We ran the first day from the
  Rockbridge/Lexington line, and the second day from semi-rare Fluvanna
  County.  We had our fair share of challanges (wind blowing over masts,
  audio distortion, and a nasty sunburn), but still had lots of fun! 73
  - John, KK4BSM

KK4ZUU-M.log:SOAPBOX: 1 or more contacts from: Manassas, Manassas Park, Fairfax, Fairfax City,
 Falls Church, Arlington, Alexandria, Stafford, Fredericksburg, Warren,
 SOAPBOX: Rappahannock, Madison, Greene, Albemarle, Augusta, Nelson, 

KM4CPA.log:SOAPBOX: 1 or more contacts from: Louisa, Orange, Culpeper, Fauquier, 

KM4HTW.log:SOAPBOX: 1 or more contacts from: Loudoun, Clarke, Winchester, Frederick, Warren,
 Shenandoah, Rockbridge, Botetourt, Augusta, Albemarle, Rockingham, Greene,
 Page, Madison, Rappahannock, Falls Church, Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington,
 Prince William, Stafford, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Orange, Culpeper,
 Louisa, Goochland, Fluvanna, Charlottesville, Fauquier, Manassas, Manassas Park, 

kt4ka.log:SOAPBOX: Another great VA QSo Party. Lots of activity and I thought more CW
 this year, a welcome sight. It seemed like I worked more non-VA
 stations too. Thanks

kw4va.log:SOAPBOX: A LAST MINUTE EFFORT TO GET A MULTI-MULTI STATION ON THE AIR.
 WE WILL BE BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR FOR SURE!  THANKS FOR ALL THE QSOS.

kx4o.log:SOAPBOX: First time portable since 2007 and first time VAQP QRP ever.
  QRP Phone was rough, but QRP CW was great.
  All in all It worked okay, but went to a multi-multi on Sunday.

N1NN.log:SOAPBOX: 7TH VIRGINIA QSO PARTY

N1RLR.log:SOAPBOX: Please thank all of the VA Ops that took the time and energy to pull out my 4 watt QRP signal out of the airwaves.

N2ZZ.log:SOAPBOX: Enjoyed my first VA QSP Party de Jim N2ZZ, ARRL Roanoke Division Director

N4KDJ.log:SOAPBOX: Great Contest - Thanks Gordon for making VAQP Presentation to MPARC!

N4PN.LOG:SOAPBOX:       SEEMED ACTIVITY OFF FROM PREVIOUS YEARS..MISSED HEARING BOB
      W4MYA/W4ML...BUT NICE SEEING OTHER OLE FRIENDS, LIKE W4YE.

n4rp.log:SOAPBOX: Elecraft K3, 3/8 wave 160m Inverted L, 40m horizontal loop

n4yxw.log:SOAPBOX: 1 or more contacts from: Warren, Rappahannock, Page, Madison, Greene, Rockingham, Waynesboro, Augusta, Rockbridge, Nelson, Albemarle, Charlottesville, Orange, Culpeper, Prince William, Fauquier,

N7MZW.log:SOAPBOX: Kenwood TS-950SD, Heil ProSet with HC-5 mic. element, and home brew
 G5RV up 50 feet running N-S at 6,053 feet elevation from Laramie Co.,
 Wyoming.

N7QLK.log:SOAPBOX: Great QSO Party

NA2X.log:SOAPBOX: Thanks to the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club. Good amount of activity,
 even on Sunday afternoon when things typically slow down but there were
 still lots of fixed stations and mobiles in new counties to work.

ND3R.log:SOAPBOX: Alot of fun again this year. See you all next year.

VE3PYJ.log:SOAPBOX: I could only operate for a short time this year but still had a great time, thanks.

W0YJT.log:SOAPBOX:WAS FUN BUT 40 METERS WAS ALET DOWN THIS WEEKEND 73 JOHN

W2HHT.log:SOAPBOX:  FUN + INTERESTING + POPULAR!

W2UDT.log:SOAPBOX: had weekend visitors so it cut into my time. No excuse. But still need

w4kkn.log:SOAPBOX: Mostly on during Sunday to help mobiles have a chance.

W8KNO.log:SOAPBOX: ALL 40M CONTACTS MADE USING 160M DIPOLE, BEAM WAS POINTED TOWARD OKLAHOMA.

WA4CZD.log:SOAPBOX: THANKS

WA6KHK.log:SOAPBOX: Everytime I looked at your spotting cluster all the VA stations were hanging out on 40 meters.  Was there some good reason why most of those stations never got on 15 or 20 meters???  Were conditons on those 2 bands that poor in VA???  Very sad.  No chance for the west coast, as usual.  I even emailed some of your rovers ahead of your QSO party to let them know that I had 13 counties left to work in VA.  That's 13 out of the last 47 I have to go for ALL US counties!  I didn't get 1 new county from VA this week end and it was not due to the lack of effort on MY part! 

WB7CYO.log:SOAPBOX: Attic dipoles, 100w. tnx 4 sponsoring event

WS3G.log:SOAPBOX:  FIRST TIME EVER CONTESTING. ALL LOGGING BY HAND.PLEASE EXCUSE MISTAKES.

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On 30 Mar 15, Harv, K2PI, emailed:

Another wonderful operating event this year.  Operating as one of that "Fauquier County" gang, I had a blast working so many people, including many from outside VA who were giving out contacts. Thanks to all the mobiles and portables who put so many rarely seen multipliers on the air, many of which were entirely new ones for me.

The bands on Sunday were significantly down, and that made for a big challenge this year, but it was as fun as ever.

Thanks again for a wonderful contest!

73

Harv

K2PI

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On 28 Mar 15, Ben, N3FQ, emailed:

Attached are pics from the N3FQ expedition trip showing KM4IML/M helping set up our portable 40m dipole in various trees in PBX (on an open road by the river), COX (behind a shopping mall), AME (elementary school parking lot), and STX (high school parking lot). Also a picture of K4IMP/M, Spencer, and sister KM4IML/M, Jacqueline, in LEX getting four quick contacts on 2m, 220, 440, and 900 before going to bed. We traveled ~800 miles, two nights in hotels, set up expedition in five locations, and did the "county jiggle" over 20+ county lines! We even ran into KI4ZKJ/M of FARA at the HIG/AUG line.

Also attached are the logs for all three of us. I had the county contacts in Excel to make it easier on the road, but had trouble importing into N1MM+. I checked and it looks like they converted correctly. Thanks
 
 -Ben, N3FQ

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On 26 Mar 15, Henry, N4HB, emailed:
Gordon,

Attached is a picture of the N4HB contest team who ran the 2015 VQP as K4Z in the multi-single category. Left to right in the picture is Wray, (setting) AB4SF, Henry, N4HB (center) and Will (right) KR4OI, who is my oldest son.



Henry, N4HB
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On 25 Mar 15, Don, K4YND, emailed:

I made this of attempt this year. I did run into Bill, KJ4VTH, and his wife on Sat.

73,  Don

 

https://youtu.be/D30muq1QgY0

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The K4NVA fixed station, operated by the Sterling Park ARC, was hosted at the QTH of Dick, W2YE, just south of Leesburg Virginia.

Gary, NC4S, at CW operator position.	Gordon, NQ4K, at SSB operation position.
Marty, NV3H.	Evelyn working SSB on 20M.
Jim, AF4MO, working SSB.	Dick, W2YE, working CW.
Duane, K4UW, visiting.	Chaz, KK4TNO, visiting.
David visiting.