W0BH Aims at Three Straight 7QP Titles In Active Contest Weekend

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted April 28, 2008

A week after a big mobile effort in the Nebraska QSO Party where he activated 31 counties, Bob Harder W0BH will be stationed in his shack in Kansas, trying for a third straight Single Operator victory in the 7th Call Area QSO Party.

"I'm formerly from Washington State and have spent many vacations in 7-land, so it feels like I'm "calling home," said Harder.

Harder did most of his damage last year on SSB, ending with almost a 3-1 ratio of phone to CW contacts.

"Unlike many QSO parties when most of the action is on CW, SSB in the 7QP seemed to provide better rate for me," Harder said about his 2007 7QP strategy.

"With CW Qs worth 3 points and SSB Qs worth 2 points, the rate more than made up for the point penalty," Harder told radio-sport.net.

While most contesters have been grumbling about the tough propagation of recent months, Harder says it seems to have worked to his advantage.

"These past two years, it's been hard to find a time of day in Kansas when I couldn't work 7s on at least one band. Having said that, 55% of my Qs last year were on 20m with 10% on 80 and 25% on 40," he said.

One big attraction of the 7QP is the number of counties that can be activated by this contest, 259 in all. W0BH found the most in 2007, a total of 153.

"Last year we had 201 of the 259 active," said 7QP Oregon Captain Dick Frey K4XU, who acknowledged the vast spaces and limited population makes getting all on the air very difficult.

"We've got counties out here that are bigger than many states back East. It takes more than an hour at 80mph or more to cross them, coyotes, deer, elk, buffalo and antelope notwithstanding," said Frey.

In fact, fifty of the 259 counties in the eight states have never been on the air for this contest.

"We're thinking of giving out a 50 point bonus next year for activating them," added Frey.

Like many QSO Party organizers, Frey will do his part to make sure the bands are hopping on the contest weekend.

"I do a mobile route which picks up some tough (counties) out here in the east high desert part of Oregon," said Frey. "This year we will have three more mobiles in Oregon. Each one makes my job more fun...and easier."

"Here in Oregon we have 36 counties, 14 of them have just one or no active HF-enabled hams. Six of the others are only a little better."

One thing that helps increase 7QP activity is that there are several county-oriented contests running at the same time, with the New England and Indiana QSO Parties and the county hunter MARAC CW and SSB contests.

"With so many stations to work, I've had my best luck calling CQ while searching on my second radio," said Harder W0BH.

"Sometimes conditions are so good into 7-land that I beam and work NE and IN and still get 7QP calls off the back of the beam. Last year I didn't move many stations, but I'll likely do more of that this year," he added.

"We crafted the rules to make sure we would complement the NEQP or the Indiana QP which also shares our weekend," said Frey K4XU.

"The NEQP doesn't start until 20Z Saturday. We start at 13Z which is 0600 Pacific time. They start out with their beams on Europe to get all those DX multipliers. It's only after 23Z that they start looking west."

"The overlap gives us both increased contacts," said Frey.

"There are LOTS of stations to work," said Harder. "I put all the mult files together and sort out the log afterwards."