September State QSO Party Tuneups Continue In US With Washington's Salmon Run

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted September 14, 2009

It may seem like a long way off, but the CQ WW DX SSB contest is less than six weeks away, which signals a run of State QSO Parties in the US that can help you get tuned up for the bigger contest showdowns later this year.

This month has already seen QSO parties in Tennessee, Arkansas and Colorado - this weekend, the focus goes to the Pacific Northwest, where the Western Washington DX Club hosts the 2009 Salmon Run.

That launches contesters on a tour of some of the biggest state QSO parties in coming weeks, as we visit Texas, California, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

"Yes, I'm planning to operate the Salmon Run again this year," says Bob Harder W0BH, who was the top out-of-state Single Op in the 2008 Salmon Run.

"I'm formerly from Seattle, so I always enjoy working back to Washington State."

Harder has been busy as usual on the state QSO party front, recently going mobile in the Kansas QSO Party at the end of August.

"We've worked really hard to put it back on the air and without looking at the logs, it looks like we activated 99/105 counties," said Harder, who had his wife Lorna K0WHY driving, as he piled up 2,510 contacts.

"What was even more amazing was 4 ops working me 70 or more times with Jeff, N8II working me 97 times from 35 counties and John, N6MU working me 76 times from all 36 counties (the other two were KU5B and K4ZGB)," Harder added.

For those working the Salmon Run, there are a few new rules for the 2009 test.

One states that "CW does not count as a digital mode," while the others clarify operation from "wet county lines" and Canadian mults for stations in Washington State.

Also, don't forget that Salmon Run has an award for those who go mobile in Washington State, the Washington All County Activation Award.

For county hunters, it's just part of a fun next few weeks, with major QSO Parties in Texas, California, Pennsylvania and more (see list at right.)

The Washington State Salmon Run is on the air from 1600 September 19 to 0700z September 20 and 1600-2400z September 20.