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At 159 counties, the state of Georgia is topped only by Texas (254) when it comes to the goal of a county sweep in a state QSO Party, and this weekend gives contesters the chance to chase that elusive goal again.
In 2009, organizers managed to get 157 of the 159 on the air - 127 counties worked was the most by any operator, with that title going to Eugene Pokatilov NT2A. Don Coulter W9IU was right behind at 125 counties worked.
And don't think for a second that this is just a domestic contest - as two DX stations had over 100 counties - Dietmar Kasper DL3DXX had the fourth highest county total with 107, while Gerhard Kaiser DL5AWI was fifth with 101 counties.
The third best station in terms of counties was also the out-of-state Single Op winner, as Dave Cockrum N5DO scratched out 117 counties on his way to victory.
The in-state winner in 2009 was Paul Newberry N4PN, who usually goes mobile in the Georgia QSO Party, but decided last year to stay home, and seems headed for the same choice this year.
"I'll probably operate from home," Newberry told radio-sport.net, "but, if there's some missing counties that would keep all 159 from being activated, then I'll make a run."
"I never made a "console" for the front seat of the car I have now and sitting sideways all those hours, does a number on my back," Newberry added.
But even with Newberry on the sidelines, the rover ranks for the Georgia QSO Party will be active, as more than a dozen rovers seem possible for the 2010 contest.
As the contest has evolved in recent years, the number of inactive counties has dropped substantially, from 37 in 2005 to just one in 2008, and two last year.
You can see more at the GAQP Rover Page.
The 2010 Georgia QSO Party is run in two segments - 1800z April 10 to 0359z April 11 and 1400-2359z on Sunday the 11th. The contest uses 160-6 meters.
2010 Yuri Gagarin Contest
While some will focus on the Georgia QSO Party, the Montana QSO Party and other events,
in Europe, one active 24 hour period this weekend will be the 2010 Yuri Gagarin International DX Contest.
For those not familiar with Gagarin, he was the first human to fly in space on April 12, 1961.
The 24 hour CW contest that marks his achievement runs from 2100z April 10 to 2100 April 11. You can find the rules at the Gagarin Cup contest web site.
The rules allow single operators to be active only 20 of the 24 hours of the test, while Multi-Ops don't have to take any time off.
The bands involved are the normal HF bands from 160-10 meters - however - in a nod to space travel and Gagarin, QSO's involving amateur radio satellites are allowed, and are counted as an additional band and are worth much more in terms of points.
For example, Satellite contacts are 100 points, while QSO's with a different continent would total four points.
There are also several special multipliers that have a space theme:
The 2009 Gagarin Cup winner was Anatoly Polevik UA9PC, who uses the call RC9O in contests.
The winning Multi-Op crew was Team RW0A.
