The Virginia QSO Party is held each year on the third full weekend of March and is sponsored by the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club. This was our 8th year taking part, and the annual trek to the Sand Mountain Hunting Club lodge has become a tradition. The lodge sits on a mountainside near Speedwell, about an hour up I-81 beyond Bristol, off the Rural Retreat exit. Gary Grogg, a long-time member of the lodge, always secures permission for us to use their facilities — thank you, Gary!
A QSO Party is a specialty contest sponsored by an organization within a state or region to activate counties — and, in Virginia's case, independent cities — that may not normally see much amateur radio activity. These are highly sought by awards chasers.
We entered the multi-operator, multi-transmitter, fixed-station, low-power category ("low power" being 100 watts or less). Our operators were Gary K4VIG, Bill W4XK, Billy KE4CMA, Howard WB4ZBI, and Ted W4NZ, operating under Gary's call, K4VIG.
Stations & Antennas
| Station | Provided By | Radio | Antenna |
|---|---|---|---|
| Station 1 | K4VIG | FlexRadio 6600M | G5RV and ZS6BKW Special |
| Station 2 | W4NZ | FlexRadio 6600M | 40m Extended Double Zepp; 160m inverted-L |
The antennas were strung on ropes between the trees around the lodge, all between 40 and 60 feet in the air, and worked very well.
Each station had a laptop for rig control and logging with N1MM Logger+, networked through a local wireless router so every QSO appeared on each computer.
Band & Mode Summary
| Band | Mode | QSOs | Mults |
|---|---|---|---|
| 160m | CW | 14 | 0 |
| 80m | CW | 189 | 7 |
| 80m | SSB | 62 | 9 |
| 40m | CW | 310 | 68 |
| 40m | SSB | 198 | 26 |
| 20m | CW | 238 | 28 |
| 20m | SSB | 101 | 6 |
| 15m | CW | 25 | 4 |
| 15m | SSB | 5 | 0 |
| 10m | CW | 35 | 6 |
| Totals | 1,177 | 154 |
1,177 QSOs · 154 multipliers · multi-op, multi-transmitter, low power
We worked 46 states (missing only Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming), 5 Canadian provinces (ON, NB, QC, MB, BC), and 15 DXCC entities (9A, CT, DL, EA8, F, HA, HB, I, IS, LA, LY, OK, OM, SP, ZL). Of the 1,177 QSOs, 742 were unique calls.
| U.S. states | 46 — missed HI, NV, UT, WY |
| Canada | 5 provinces (ON, NB, QC, MB, BC) |
| DXCC | 15 entities |
| Unique calls | 742 of 1,177 |
Photo highlights: the lodge, the crew putting stations in the log, and the well-stocked kitchen. See the full photo gallery →
TVDXA VAQP Scores
- 2023K4VIG · 310,005 pts · 1,177 QSOs
- 2022K4VIG · 251,285 pts · 1,022 QSOs
- 2019K4VIG · 111,834 pts · 640 QSOs
- 2018K4VIG · 93,345 pts · 577 QSOs
- 2017K4VIG · 217,350 pts · 1,013 QSOs
- 2016K4VIG · 118,320 pts · 681 QSOs
- 2015K4VIG · 167,540 pts · 773 QSOs
- 2014K4VIG · 132,665 pts · 662 QSOs
Eight years of operating through 2023 (the club did not operate the VAQP in 2020 or 2021).
About the Virginia QSO Party
The VAQP is held each March and is sponsored by the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC). See the TVDXA VAQP event page or visit the official SPARC VAQP website.