The 2024 running of the Virginia QSO Party was held on March 16 and 17. The contest is sponsored by the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club of Loudoun County. 2024 marked our 9th year participating, and it has become a tradition for our members to make the annual 5-hour trek to the Sand Mountain Hunting Club lodge. The lodge sits on a mountainside near Speedwell — about an hour beyond Bristol, up I-81 off the Rural Retreat exit. Gary Grogg, a long-time member of the hunting lodge, always secures permission for us to visit and use their facilities for our radio contest. Again, thank you, Gary!
A "QSO Party" is a specialty amateur radio 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 counties are highly sought by operators chasing all 3,077 U.S. counties and 50 states, and there are organizations that give attractive awards for accomplishing the feat.
For this contest we entered the multi-operator, multi-transmitter, fixed-station, low-power category — "low power" being 150 watts or less. Our operators were Gary K4VIG, Bill W4XK, Paul WA4AA, Ken K3JWI, Billy KE4CMA, Howard WB4ZBI, and Ted W4NZ. As is usually the case in the VAQP, we operated under Gary's call, K4VIG.
Stations & Antennas
| Station | Provided By | Radio | Antenna |
|---|---|---|---|
| Station 1 | K4VIG | FlexRadio 6600M | G5RV multiband antenna |
| Station 2 | W4NZ | FlexRadio 6600M | ZS6BKW multiband (via Drake MN-2000 matching network) & a 160m inverted-L |
| Station 3 | K3JWI | Elecraft K4 | 40M Extended Double Zepp w/ Johnson MatchBox tuner; Array Solutions BandPasser II filters |
The antennas were strung on ropes between trees around the lodge, all between 40 and 75 feet in the air. The 160m inverted-L was suspended from an end-support rope of the 40m EDZ, with the radiator roughly 55 feet vertical and 80 feet horizontal, and one elevated radial running a few feet off the ground into the woods.
Each station used a laptop for rig control and contest logging with N1MM Logger+. All stations were networked through a local wireless router provided by Bill W4XK, so every logged QSO appeared on each computer. This also showed which station was on what band and mode, avoiding having two stations accidentally land on the same band and mode at once.
Band & Mode Summary
| Band | Mode | QSOs | Mults |
|---|---|---|---|
| 160m | CW | 22 | 0 |
| 80m | CW | 140 | 3 |
| 80m | SSB | 93 | 7 |
| 40m | CW | 363 | 52 |
| 40m | SSB | 249 | 49 |
| 20m | CW | 225 | 29 |
| 20m | SSB | 143 | 6 |
| 15m | CW | 29 | 5 |
| 15m | SSB | 12 | 0 |
| 10m | CW | 14 | 4 |
| 10m | SSB | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 1,291 | 155 |
1,291 QSOs · 155 multipliers
Of the 1,291 QSOs, 845 were unique calls — and we removed 62 duplicate contacts along the way. A summary of what we reached:
| U.S. states | 45 worked — missing only Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming |
| Canadian provinces | 5 — AB, BC, NS, ON, QC |
| DXCC entities | 14 — CT3, DL, EA8, F, GM, HB, KP4, LY, LZ, OK, OM, PA, SP, UA9 |
| Virginia | 91 of 133 counties & independent cities |
| Unique calls | 845 (62 duplicates removed) |
K4VIG · W4XK · WA4AA · K3JWI · KE4CMA · WB4ZBI · W4NZ
Photo highlights from the weekend: the lodge, Gary K4VIG at the mic, Billy KE4CMA going strong, Ted W4NZ working the pileup, the crew taking a break, and the view from the kitchen. See the full photo gallery →
TVDXA VAQP Scores
- 2024329,220 pts · 1,291 QSOs
- 2023310,005 pts · 1,177 QSOs
- 2022251,285 pts · 1,022 QSOs
- 2019111,834 pts · 640 QSOs
- 201893,345 pts · 577 QSOs
- 2017217,350 pts · 1,013 QSOs
- 2016118,320 pts · 681 QSOs
- 2015167,540 pts · 773 QSOs
- 2014132,665 pts · 662 QSOs
Nine years of operating since 2014 — our best QSO total yet in 2024.
Notable Quotable Quotes
"You can't beat the cool, fresh, crisp air with the occasional scent of hardwood smoke coming from a wood stove closely managed by Howard." — Paul WA4AA
"Hardwood smoke flavored with bacon grease — will that attract bears?"
"Even after 9 years, EVERY YEAR is exciting, unique and memorable!" — Howard WB4ZBI
"This place has 2 complete restrooms — 3 if you count the woods behind the storage building."
"There is enough room to sleep 16 people — a lot less if they snore."
"This was totally a fun trip. Good food, good fellowship, and playing radio in the woods. What's not to like about that?" — Ted W4NZ
About the Virginia QSO Party
The VAQP is held each March and is sponsored by the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC). For rules, exchange, and scoring details, see the TVDXA VAQP event page or visit the official SPARC VAQP website.