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BRINGING OUT THE TROOPS FOR NJQP

Timothy R. Polhamus (N8LXR) on July 31, 2002
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BRINGING OUT THE TROOPS FOR THE NEW JERSEY QSO PARTY

HOW ONE CONTESTER IS TRYING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

Bored one night, I was cruising the 40 Meter Band when I came across a few Old Timers talking about "the days when State QSO Parties were really good."

"Yeah, I remember when the whole state would get on the air, even little states...it was wall to wall activity...people back then were friendlier and wanted to get on the air for their own state's QSO Party. But heck, today, other than the really big ones like PA and Texas, you can hardly find anyone who is calling the contest."

"Yeah, its a shame," his friend lamented. "Here in my state, its the same thing... the local QSO Party gets little activity....they might as well bag the whole thing!� Folks have no pride in their state any more,,,,everything has gone big scale, all they want now is the big contests sponsored by big magazines and the ARRL."

Since I love state QSO Parties, this conversation interested me. I compete in the PA QSO Party's Mobile Class, having placed 3rd last year, my first time ever in any state QSO Party and also my debut in mobile contesting. I am planning to compete in the Ohio Qso Party as well, later next month.

But I had to agree with them. The smaller state QSO Parties do seem to have scant activity, a fact I learned when I tried a mobile effort in a� neighboring state. That day, I called and called the contest over and over, in both voice and CW. The result? Not one single QSO! I could hardly believe it.

So when I decided to compete in the New Jersey QSO Party, my home state, I wondered if the same situation would prevail when it kicks off at 2000 GMT on Saturday, August 17th, 2002.��

Now, none of this is meant as a criticism of the sponsors, the Englewood Amateur Radio Association.� For years, they did all they could think of to "bring out the troops" and a fair amount of activity was generated. New Jersey has a good QSO Party, but I wanted to help make it into a great QSO Party.

I resolved to get in touch with the NJQP Chairman, Dave, W2CC, and see what we could do together to really get New Jersey on the air for their own QSO Party, and give operators in other states an incentive to get on the air too. That way, a good time could be had by all, and I would have the benefit of two super-active contests featuring a mobile class right in my backyard.

Dave was also of the opinion that in the last 20 years or so, as the high profile contests increasingly have dominated the contesting landscape, state QSO parties have suffered a lack of activity all over the country, with the exception of the big states like Texas and Pennsylvania. There seemed to be a lack of enthusiasm for the smaller and mid-sized states' QSO Parties, once they were overshadowed by the really big domestic contests.

But NJ is no small state, I reasoned. Its ranked 13th in the country in Ham population, with about 17 thousand licensees. If even a small percentage of them got on the air at the same time, activity levels would be terrific. And in the Age of the Internet, getting the word out should be easier than ever.�

The New Jersey QSO Party was just 8 weeks away when I got involved in helping to promote it. Time is of the essence. The word has to get out fast, and be presented in a way that outlined the fun and excitement of representing your state and county on the air in your own state's QSO Party.

So I took to the Internet. The first thing I did was to create a web page for the NJQP. It just went on the QSL.NET server today, and I think that having a an Official webpage lends any state QSO Party credibility as a contest worthy of participation. The URL is:�

www.qsl.net/w2rj

I have also resolved to E mail as many NJ and out-of-state hams as I can, scouring QST and online sources for callsigns and looking up their E mail addresses, followed by a friendly "personal invitation to join us in NJQP". This required a "Bulk Mail Exception" from AOL and is a time consuming task, but one that should help us get more people on the air.�

This article is really written as a challenge to NJ Hams and all others interested in State QSO Parties. The reason why any state QSO Party suffers a lack of activity is because we hams simply do not get on the air for it, so its a "chicken and egg" thing. We are to blame for the lack of activity, saying "Well no one gets on for it, why should I?," and the self fulfilling prophesy comes home to roost again, and the whole thing feeds on itself.

If I can get 5 to 10 NJ Hams from each NJ County on the air at the same time, the NJQP will be an excellent contest, lots of fun and excitement for all, while at the same time, showing that NJ Hams are ready if ever needed in an emergency. The out-of-state stations will be drawn to the activity, and they will come to our Radio Party too, just like what happens when you have free drinks at a cocktail party!

Everybody shows up!

"You can take the boy off the beach, but you can't take the beach out of the boy," so goes an old NJ saying, and that is part of my motivation to help promote NJQP.

I am originally from the seaside shores of Cape May County, NJ, and while I now live in Philadelphia, I guess I will always be a Jersey Boy. I want my home state's QSO Party to be one of the best.

Won't you stop by for a QSO or two on August 17th and 18th? Just visit our website: www.qsl.net/w2rjyour table at the party is waiting.

73 and hope to QSO you from the Garden State.........

Tim

N8LXR


Member Comments: Add A Comment
BRINGING OUT THE TROOPS FOR NJQP Reply
by N2BA on August 3, 2002 Mail this to a friend!


I would love to put some time in the NJ QSO party (barring other plans by the XYL). I used to be very active in this contest in High School and College 1966-74 and it was a lot of fun, with a good deal of activity. Last year I got on, and couldn�t find a single station on in the contest.

One year (I think it was 1974) a group of us set up what was a super station (at least for us then, KW and beams) and worked the contest Multi-2. We made something upwards of 1000 Qsos, almost entirely among DX stations that we had to explain the rules to. We�d make a long CQ, begging for a response, and often get a pile-up of casual operators happy to help out. However, the exchange really worked against having any fun in this contest. By the second day we had ditched the official rules, started working guys with our own exchange, We filled in the log with lot�s of assumed QSO number 001 and Countries derived from the Call. Because at the end we weren't sure we had a legal log we didn't send it in, but our score would have been a few times the best prior all-time record.


Two issues:

DX stations--I understand from the rules that DX stations count 3 points but don�t count as a multiplier. Do you realize how hard it is to get a DX station to send the name of his country? He thinks you are an idiot. Also, most DX countries don�t have easy to exchange standard abbreviations for their country name.

Report � Everyone wants a report if they aren�t in the contest. If you send an exchange of RST and QSO number, you'll often get and RST 001 back from the non-participant. But just sending a QSO number and no RST confuses the casual op who is looking for a signal report.

The contest would start out on CW and be hot for an hour or so working guys who are in the contest. Quickly we moved a station onto phone

Here is a typical type of exchange I remember from Sunday morning in the contest on phone (except we weren�t using my call in the contest).

Me: CQ CQ CQ NJ QSO PARTY, BUT PLEASE, ANYONE GIVE ME A CALL TO HELP ME IN THIS CONTEST, THIS IS NEW JERSEY STATION N2BA NOVEMBER TWO BRAVO ALPHA.

Him: G3XYZ

Me: G3XYZ YOUR NUMBER 439 SOMERSET

Him: N2BA YOUR 59 PLYMOUTH

Me: Well, I actually need your QSO number and country

Him: Uh, well, what number? I�m in zone 14 and I am in Great Britain.

(Note: What country are you guys expecting? DXCC? or does any one care?)

Me: No, I need to know how many New Jersey stations you have worked in this contest?

Him: Well I guess you are my number 1, except that I worked someone in New Jersey yesterday but I�m not sure if he was in this contest of yours.

Me: Thank you, I QSL, this is N2BA looking for anyone who could give me a QSO to help me out in the New Jersey QSO party. N2BA listening.

Him: Huh, this is G3XYZ again, could you give me a signal report, you are really loud here, 59 plus 10.

Me: Yea, you are 58.

Him: Thanks, good luck.


By the end we had modified the exchange to sound like:

Me: CQ CQ CQ NJ QSO PARTY, BUT PLEASE, ANYONE GIVE ME A CALL TO HELP ME IN THIS CONTEST, THIS IS NEW JERSEY STATION N2BA NOVEMBER TWO BRAVO ALPHA.

Him: F6ABC

Me: F6ABC, you are 59 and my contact number 933 in SOMERSET COUNTY, New Jersey

Him: You are 59 001, do you need anything else from me?

Me: No, that�s fine. We have a CW station at 14036, maybe you could work him there. Anyone else who can help us, this is N2BA looking for anyone to give us a QSO in the NJ QSO party.

Him: K5ZZZ

Me: K5ZZZ you are 59 and my contact number 934 in SOMERSET COUNTY, New Jersey

Him: You are 59 number 1 I guess in Sinkhole, Texas.

Me: Thanks, QRZ, N2BA


So the way we changed things was:

We gave everyone a signal report (cause they kept asking anyway).

We didn�t ask DX stations to tell us their country.

We sent our county and state. (Other US stations typically responding by sending their county and state. We discovered that if we just sent our county then other US stations also just sent us their county, without telling us their state. It was easier to just model what we wanted than to explain all the rules.)

Conclusion:

Other QSO parties that have a following can make up difficult exchanges. Not here, no one knows the rules except for the few NJ stations that might go out for it. Please make the exchange simply:

RST and County for NJ
RST and STATE/PROVENCE for US
And simply:
RST for DX.

This way, people can have casual QSO�s with people not really in the contest and get enough to make a valid entry in their log. If so much activity occurs this way that you really, really, must make the exchange more complicated to discourage some participants, then perhaps it makes sense to add a QSO number.


Any way, that's just my two cents. I'll try to get on, and if there is enough activity, I'm happy to put in a full effort.

73,

Brooke, N2BA


 
RE: BRINGING OUT THE TROOPS FOR NJQP Reply
by W2PA on August 9, 2002 Mail this to a friend!
Brooke - I have to agree with all of your points. I too operated the NJQP back then. In fact, I believe we operated together for the one you talked about (NPP?).

The point is that the in-state participants make the contest happen by being active for most of the period, and the out-of-state stations, usually not in the contest at all, supply most of the contacts. So the objective should be to make it as easy as possible for these kinds of contacts to be made.

Back on N8LXR's original article..
It is kind of silly to ask a DX station for his country (usually). Maybe signal report and zone, or name or something else non-obvious.

Perhaps studying how the successful and active QSO parties are run would be instructive. TX and PA are not *both* big states. The fact that they both have successful QSO parties means that practically any state could do it regardless of land mass or population (to a degree).

To what extent do contest clubs around the country endorse or encourage participation?

73,
Chris, W2PA
 
Where were the troups? Reply
by AD1C on August 19, 2002 Mail this to a friend!
I was pretty busy this weekend, but got on the air between 5-6 p.m. on Saturday and 6-7 p.m. on Sunday. Activity was VERY light and I never heard any mobile stations. I made 5 QSOS total, a couple on 40 CW and a few on 40 SSB. I was hoping to work my last two counties (Warren and Cumberland) but of course no luck there.

Where was everyone????

- Jim
 
BRINGING OUT THE TROOPS FOR NJQP Reply
by N2CQ on February 11, 2003 Mail this to a friend!
Much late in the game to comment on but.....
One of the items that would "BRING OUT THE TROOPS"
would be to include a QRP Category. There are a
good size of QRP contesters, especially in PAQP,
CQP and others. Just include QRP Category to
compete other QRPers In-state and another outof state.
I pushed this a couple of years ago and the top winners were QRPers but not so recognized. Please
try it for 2003 won't you W2CC?
 
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