Need A Challenge? Try The East-West Double With The Arizona And Pennsylvania QSO Parties

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted October 4, 2010

A pair of state QSO parties on opposite ends of the United States will offer contesters the chance go for a daily double this weekend, as the Arizona and Pennsylvania QSO parties will be the main American contest offering.

Last year, Julius Fazekas N2WN managed to score in both of those contests, winning the top single operator honors for QRP in the Pennsylvania QSO Party, and the top QRP score in the Arizona QSO test.

"Wasn't sure about the Arizona party with it being so new," Fazekas told radio-sport.net. "Certainly some of the Western QRPers might have had a better shot at it than I did."

While it was a first for the AZQP, it was the third straight year that Fazekas had won the out-of-state plaque for QRP, as he even came out as the top overall out-of-state single op, edging Jeff Miller WB8WKQ who had the top high power score.

Miller was one of only two out-of-state ops to sweep all 67 counties in Pennsylvania last year. The other was Don Davis W1DWA.

The only sweep of the 15 counties in Arizona from an out-of-state op was by Don Harder W0BH, who managed a strong finish in the PAQP and took first place for single ops in the Arizona event.

The schedules of the two contests overlap a good bit during the weekend, as the Arizona QSO Party is run in two shifts - 1600z Saturday to 0600z Sunday, and again from 1400z to 2400z on Sunday.

The Pennsylvania QSO Party also starts at 1600z on Saturday, running until 0500z on Sunday. The second operating period goes from 1300z Sunday to 2200z.

It means for much of the weekend, both QSO parties will be on the air at the same time, giving both coasts - and those in the middle - the chance to score some points.

One change this year for the PAQP is that CW contacts with now count two points each, an important note for those running a mixed operation who want to maximize their score.

The one other rule change was basically a tweak to the Canadian multipliers being used in the PAQP.

"We've now reached the point where I don't see many if any rules changes coming along," said PAQP organizer Michael Coslo.

"At this moment we are pretty well placed for at least several years."

As for mobile operations on this double contest weekend, you will find almost the same level of action both to the West and East.

The new Arizona QSO Party had six mobiles zipping around the Grand Canyon State last year, as Dan Murphy K7IA won the top spot by making almost 700 QSO's.

In Pennsylvania, eight mobiles submitted logs from 2009, with W3USA coming out on top.

While these two contests might not be DX contests, some like N2WN see them as a good way to get ready for CQ WW SSB and more, who said he is "heading into the insanity contesting zone now," with a lot of antenna work left to - start - and do.

And what about propagation?

"15 will obviously become a very important factor in QSO parties in the coming months, and to a lesser degree 10," said Fazekas, who said he "Was kinda surprised there wasn't more activity in the TxQP on 15."