Amateurs all over Virginia (and many other places, too) will be on the air the third weekend in March to celebrate this year’s edition of the Virginia QSO Party. This event, sponsored by the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC), is designed to promote ham radio in Virginia. The goal for participants is to work as many independent cities and counties as possible. To keep you busy, there are 39 independent cities and 95 counties in Virginia. Hours for the event are 1800 UTC on Saturday, 20 March 2010 through 0100 UTC on Monday, 22 March 2010.

 The QSO Party is as much about fun and fellowship as it is about competition. Plaques will be awarded in 24 categories and certificates will be prepared for all participants submitting a log. Scoring is straightforward; 1 point for each phone contact, 2 points for each CW/digital contact, and 3 points for each contact with a mobile station. Multipliers are available for each county, independent city, state, province, or country. There is also a 500 point bonus for completing a QSO with K4NVA, the SPARC club station. The contest is not limited to Virginia amateurs and hams outside the state will contact as many Virginia counties and independent cities as possible. Four of the plaques will be awarded to those outside of Virginia.

 
There are categories for just about every interest: operator categories include single operator, multi-operator/single transmitter, and multi-operator/multi-transmitter. Station categories are available for fixed, mobile, and expedition. If that isn’t enough, there are also power categories for high, low, and QRP. The SPARC website contains a complete list and description of all the categories.

For each QSO, the exchange is simple and short. For stations in Virginia, the exchange is a sequential QSO number and the Virginia independent city or county. Stations outside of Virginia will provide their state, province, or country.

 Electronic logs are preferred but paper logs will also be accepted. The deadline for log submissions is April 15, 2010. Several popular logging programs support the Virginia QSO Party including the N1MM Logger and N3FJP software. Awards will be presented at the Manassas Hamfest on June 13, 2010.

 For more information and a complete set of rules, check the SPARC web site at http://www.qsl.net/sterling or contact Gordon Miller at nq4k@arrl.net or Mark Travis at ki4obt@arrl.net.