Take Aim At The Golden State For 2010 California QSO Party; N6MJ Vies For Sixth Straight Win

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted September 26, 2010

As the sunspot numbers keep creeping up, the turnout should be even better for this year's California QSO Party, as the Golden State contest is the biggest offering on the bands from the United States this weekend.

The defending single operator champs are some familiar names and calls, as WRTC veteran Dan Craig N6MJ has won five straight titles as the top operator from California, operating from the W6YI station in San Diego County.

Outside of California, the streak has been in the hands of Dennis Egan W1UE, who swept all 58 counties from the station of K1TTT in Massachusetts in just 3 hours and 30 minutes, setting a new record in the process.

Egan has been the top single operator outside of California for the last two years. He has won that title three times - his first was back in 1995, with his old call of NB1B.

If you think you have no chance to be competitive in that category - think again. Winners over the last ten years have come from close in areas like British Columbia (VA7RR), across the country in Massachusetts, down in Texas (K5GA) and from Michigan (W8MJ).

If you don't think you can be that competitive, the CQP maintains a huge listing of individual records broken down by states and by California counties, which can give you all kinds of numbers to shoot at during this contest.

2009 was a big year for records, as 21 were set in last year's contest, including the most CW QSO's, which is now in the hands of Ed Muns W0YK, who operated K6YT to 1751 CW contacts.

You can see all the details on the CQP website. Find a record and break it!

What's the oldest record? That would be the top score for a single operator from San Francisco County of 232,560 points set by Dean Straw N6BV.

The CQP runs 30 hours in all, but single operators are restricted to a maximum of 24 hours on the air. There is no "Assisted" category in this contest, as the use of spotting nets (DX Cluster, etc.) places you in the Multi-Single category like IARU or the ARRL 10 Meter Contest.

Unlike the 254 counties in last week's Texas QSO Party, California sports only 58 counties, all of which are slated to be on the air again this year.

While you are probably used to hearing a good number of mobiles on the air for other state QSO parties, that is not the case with California, which often has very few mobiles on the air.

One other note - the CQP uses contest bands between 160 and 2 meters, so if some of you want to try out 6 and 2 meters, contacts there would count for your score.

If you can find your way into the top score boxes, there are 37 plaques that the CQP hands out, including two new ones for 2010, for the top "Youth Op" on both the California and non-CA categories, aimed at those who are 18 years old or younger.

The top 20 finishers in the single op categories will get a bottle of wine furnished by the Northern California Contest Club.