7QP 2019

The 7th area QSO party (7QP) continues to grow in popularity each year, and has grown into one of the largest of the state (or multi-state) QSO parties. It is held the first Saturday in May, which is May 4th this year. It starts at 6:00 AM PDT and goes to midnight. The exchange is simple and the activity is a bit more relaxed pace than Field Day, so if you haven’t contested much or want to try it out, this is a good opportunity to join the club at Agate Lake Park. WE hold the event on the east side of the lake on the peninsula into the lake. That side of the lake is reachable at all hours.

From the May 2019 issue of The Repeater.

We, or shall I say, the small group of contesters that exist both clubs had a blast using Agate Lake again for the club sponsored go of operating single county multi multi category in the 7th Area QSO Party contest or 7QP for short. This is a report of our activities.

• Operators, NA7OM, K7GT KF7IBN AG7GP N7CGD W6ROX KI7ONN KD7MPA
• Contacts, 523 with 91 multipliers.
• Points score, 76152
• Total expenses, $117.50 (Fuel and meals)

Thanks for all the effort by everyone. The weather was great, the space weather was not. SFI was at 64 with a high A and K index. Mid day Saturday a solar flare hit making propagation short and unpredictable and noise levels difficult. What was impressive that the group soldiered on until the 17th hour of the contest. Most soapbox comments from other groups and individuals in the contest suffered the same conditions with Q counts being lower than last year. The fine lunch, cold drinks and fried chicken dinner made up for the crew’s hard efforts. Well done and,….. there’s next year.

Scott, NA7OM

From the June 2019 issue of The Repeater.