2023 Virginia QSO Party

Updated 9 July 2023


Summary
The Virginia QSO Party is held during the 3rd full weekend in March.



The 2023 Virginia QSO Party was held during the weekend of 18-19 March 2023.
          Saturday, 18 March, 1400 UTC - Sunday, 19 March, 0400 UTC and
          Sunday, 19 March, 1200 UTC - 2400 UTC.


2023 Awards Ceremony Pictures:  A few pictures of the plaques being presented.

2023 VaQP Results:  We have prepared a presentation (Updated on 9 July 2023 8 July 2023) which contains the results of the 2023 Virginia QSO Party.  Comments to [email protected].

Plaque and Certificate Mailing:  All plaques and certificates remaining after the Awards Ceremony on 3 June were mailed on 6 June 2023. 

Plaque Awardees:  The plaque awardees and plaque sponsors are thanked for their participation and contributions to the Virginia QSO Party.

Awards Ceremony:  The plaques and achievement certificates were available for pickup at the Manassas Tailgate event on Saturday, 3 June 2023, starting at 0900.  The Manassas Tailgate was held in Manassas Park across from Signal Hill Park at 9300 Signal View Drive, Manassas Park, VA 20111.  The Virginia QSO Party committee announced the results of the Party and then presented the plaques.  Photos will be posted as time permits. Plaques and certificates not picked up will be mailed.

The Certificate:  The certificate is awarded to participants in the 2023 Virginia QSO Party.  This year the certificate memorializes the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club and highlight the club's major activities.  A certificate will be prepared for all stations in Virginia and for out-of-Virginia station who indicated "CERTIFICATE: YES" in their log.

Log MetaData:  The log metadata, i.e., call signs, scores, location, etc., is posted on 17 April 2023 (UPDATED on 8 July 2023 5 June 2023 18 May 2023 9 May 2 May 30 April 28 April 26 April 20 April 19 April 2023) for review and comment.  This is probably the FINAL, but may change as we continue to review the logs.  Comments to [email protected].

Post-Party Tidbits.  Interesting comments and stories.

Log submittal:  Here are you options to submit your log.  The list of logs submitted is updated once a day. It may take day or two for your log to show up on this list.

FAQ:  Answers to a few questions not answered elsewhere. Updated 7 March 2023.

Operating Aids:
    * John, KX4O, provides a dxcluster devoted to VQP contacts.  http://www.qsoparty.com
   
  
  * Andy, K1RA, provides a mobile tracker.  Information:  https://k1ra.us/2023/02/25/new-vaqp-aprs-tracker-for-2023/
    Map with Tracking:  https://k1ra.us/vaqp-aprs/
 
    * Mike, N4CF, provides a 2021 Virginia QSO Party Call History File for N1MM Logger+  http://n4cf.mdodd.com/vaqp-ch.html


Announced Operations:  This is a list of announced operations in Virginia.  We hope to get coverage of all the counties and independent cities identified early.  If you are planning on operating a station in Virginia, please send an email to [email protected].   A list of "Most Wanted" counties and independent cities for fixed station operation is in the VQP Briefing.

Plaques:  We will have 29 plaques this year.  New plaque is Virginia Single Operator Single Receiver (SO1R). (Updated 12 March 2023 18 February 2023 14 February 13 January 2023, Posted 21 December 2022) 

    Notice that we have a new station category, ROVER.  This has resulted in renaming a few plaques.  These are highlighted in pick in the listing of plaques. See below in VQP Rules for an explanation of the Rover category.
  
VQP Pre-Party Briefing:  The pre-party briefing (Updated 12 March 2023 18 January 2023 16 January 2023 12 December 2022) contains the rules and well as information from the 2022 and prior Parties.  It is in .PDF format.

Volunteers-on-the-Air (VOTA).  The ARRL VOTA call sign, W1AW/4, is reserved for use in Virginia during the Virginia QSO Party.  See  vota_page.html for more information.
  

VQP Contest Rules.  The revised rules are posted.  Updated on 15 Dec 22.  They are available in three formats (PDFHTML, and DOC).
      
The  definition of stations and scoring changed for 2023.  
      
Comments may be mailed to [email protected].
 

       An overview of the Mobile. Rover, and Expedition categories
 
Contest Logging Programs.  Logging programs designed for the Virginia QSO Party always help. We accept any logs, but logs submitted electronically and compliant with any cabrillo format are preferred. The following logging programs have been used in the past and they have been modified to support the Virginia QSO Party.  We re-score all logs submitted, so it is important to ensure your log contains all the required information.
    * N1MM+ Logger http://www.n1mm.com.
    * Scott & Kimberly, N3FJP & KA3SEQ Amateur Contact Log  http://www.n3fjp.com/.
    * WriteLog http://www.writelog.com/. 

    * WA7BNM Web2Cabrillo http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/   A manual entry cabrillo file generator.  Easy to use for those with QSOs not already in a cabrillo file.  Go to the web site.  Select Virginia QSO Party.  Fill in the forms.  In the last step, the program e-mails a Cabrillo file to [email protected], with a copy to the submitter's e-mail address. 

Paper Log Summary Sheets: (.pdf or .doc) The summary sheet was updated to include the "rover" category. Updated on 12 March to add "SO1R: Yes or No" question.  Used to record header information when submitting paper logs. This form is not required for cabrillo formatted electronic logs.

Virginia Counties and Independent Cities: 95 counties and 38 independent cities (html format or MS Document or PDF format).

Worked All Virginia Award:  The "Worked All Virginia" award is offered by the Rappahannock Valley Amateur Radio Club

Presentation Offer and Schedule: SPARC will give a presentation on the Virginia QSO Party to any group in Virginia.

Planning Calendar: The calendar is available for review.

Comments, questions, and recommendations should be emailed to [email protected].




Previous Virginia QSO Parties

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