Living in the upper Midwest, it is very seldom that I get to be the DX station or have the ability to run a pile-up. But one such event give me that opportunity, the annual Wisconsin QSO Party. For the 2nd Sunday in March the airwaves come alive with ham looking to make contact with as many Wisconsin stations as possible. This year was no exception.

I’m not a hardcore DXer, nor do I spend every weekend working whatever contest comes my way, but next to Field Day the QSO party is my favorite on air activity. My operation is pretty casual, in fact it’s downright pedestrian, but however casual I operate, I still enjoy getting on the air for this event.

KB9VBR-station-IMG_0639My operation this year was hampered by a prior commitment that took away a chunk of my afternoon. But I was was able to clock about two and half hours on the air. But I did work an hour at the beginning and 90 minutes late into the afternoon. Since my time was limited I concentrated exclusively on the 40 meter band. My antenna, a G5RV up at about 30 feet provides me with excellent coverage on that band of both the state of Wisconsin and neighboring region.

The first hour of the event was mostly hunt and pounce for me. I dialed up and down the band, catching stations as I came across them. Conditions were favorable and I had no problem breaking through pile ups on the first or second call. In the first hour of operation I collected 24 contacts, almost all exclusively within the state.

After a couple hour break, I returned to the airwaves are about 4pm local time. After a sweep up and down the band, I had found another 20 stations from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois.  I then searched for a quiet spot and found one near 7277 KHz. I proceeded to call CQ and soon had a bevy of stations coming back to me. As I was nearing the end of my run, I could tell the band was getting long. I was collected less and less Wisconsin and Illinois stations and instead hearing places like Kansas, Nebraska, Alabama, and Arkansas. After a few more calls, I collected Tennessee, New York and Maryland. One final call and I caught a local station from Wausau. It’s only fitting I suppose. The clock struck 6pm and I shut things down for the evening. 106 contacts, 29 counties and 15 states- not a bad run for a limited amount of time.

Just about every state has their own version of the QSO party. I encourage you to participate in one if you haven’t already done so. You don’t even need an HF radio, my first experience with the WI QSO party was going mobile with a 2 meter rig. Is there a favorite operating event of contest you like to participate in? Please feel free to leave a comment below.

 

KB9VBR’s Contest Summary Report for WIQP

Created by N3FJP’s Wisconsin QSO Party Contest Log

Version 3.5  www.n3fjp.com
Total Contacts = 106

Total Points = 4,664

 

Operating Period: 2016/03/13 18:01 – 2016/03/13 22:50

Total Contacts by Band and Mode:

Band       CW   Phone     Dig   Total       %

—-       —   —–     —   —–     —

40        0     106       0     106     100

—   —–     —   —–     —

Total       0     106       0     106     100

 

Total Contacts by State \ Prov:

State       Total     %

—–       —–   —

WI             68    64

IL             13    12

MN              6     6

IN              3     3

OH              3     3

AR              2     2

MO              2     2

TN              2     2

AL              1     1

KS              1     1

MD              1     1

MI              1     1

NC              1     1

NE              1     1

NY              1     1

 

Total = 15

 

Total Contacts by CQ Zone:

CQ Zone   Total     %

——-   —–   —

04           94    89

05           10     9

03            2     2

 

Total = 3

 

Total Contacts by County:

County            Total     %

———         —–   —

WI Dane               6     6

WI Brown              5     5

WI Milwaukee          5     5

WI Winnebago          5     5

WI Marathon           4     4

WI Outagamie          4     4

WI Rock               4     4

WI Waukesha           4     4

WI Dodge              3     3

WI Door               2     2

WI Fond du Lac        2     2

WI Kenosha            2     2

WI Kewaunee           2     2

WI Manitowoc          2     2

WI Marquette          2     2

WI Price              2     2

WI Sheboygan          2     2

WI Barron             1     1

WI Chippewa           1     1

WI Crawford           1     1

WI Eau Claire         1     1

WI Jefferson          1     1

WI La Crosse          1     1

WI Lincoln            1     1

WI Oconto             1     1

WI Pierce             1     1

WI Portage            1     1

WI Richland           1     1

WI Rusk               1     1

Total = 29

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