Virginia QSO Party

The TVDXA VAQP Tradition

The Virginia QSO Party (VAQP) is held each March and is sponsored by the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC). TVDXA has made the annual 5-hour trek from Chattanooga to Wythe County, Virginia — operating field-day style from the Sand Mountain Hunting Club lodge, on a mountainside near Speedwell. 2025 marked our 10th anniversary of taking part, thanks to longtime lodge member Gary K4VIG, who secures permission for the club to use the facilities each year.

We enter the multi-operator, multi-transmitter, fixed-station, low-power category, operating under Gary's call, K4VIG. Two or three stations run wire antennas strung between the trees around the lodge, networked with N1MM Logger+, giving out the sought-after Wythe County (WYT) multiplier to stations across North America and beyond.

Over the years it has become one of the most anticipated events on the TVDXA calendar — a road trip, great food, serious radio operating, and plenty of fellowship. The same crew returns year after year, and new members are always welcome.