Amateur Radio From Loudoun County VA

The next LARG Club Meeting will be on February 16, 2002, in the Conference-Training Room at the Leesburg Police Station on Plaza Street at 8:30 a.m. The facility is located on Plaza Street between East Market Street and Edwards Ferry Road. Talk-In is on 147.480 MHz. You can join other LARG members for breakfast (~7:30) before the meeting at the International House of Pancakes located in the Shopping Center with Walmart, just off of Rt. 15, north of Leesburg.

January Club Meeting News - Election of new club officers! Check the top of this Newsletter for the names of your new club officers, who were elected at the January meeting. We would like to thank our past President, Denny, KF4TJI, for a successful year leading the club. Balloon ommittee chairman, Tom, WB3AKD, noted that air space restrictions in the Washington seem to have been relaxed, which will enable us to plan for a spring balloon launch. We passed a motion made by Dave, KG4KZZ, to have LARG join TMARC, the regional repeater coordination organization for $25.00 per year.

February Club Meeting Plans - The LARG plans for participating in the 2002 Virginia QSO Party will be the main agenda item for this meeting. Paul, N4PD, and Norm, AI2C, will lead a discussion of the rules, logging, strategy, and other valuable and helpful tips. We want to defend the Club title that we so deservedly won in 2001! Attached to this newsletter is a copy of the rules for the 2002 Virginia QSO Party. Paul and Norm will be distributing lots of important, contest-related handouts at this meeting. We will also be passing around a sign-up list for those who plan to participate in the QSO Party. If you can't make the meeting but will still be active in the VAQP, be sure to contact Norm or Paul so they can add you to the list.

Just a note to remind you to Pay your 2002 club dues! if you haven't done so already. Our Treasurer will be on duty at the meeting to collect dues for next year.

LARG Club News - A large group of LARGers made the longish trip to the Richmond Hamfest this past weekend. Maybe they will bring some good stories to the meeting if not actual goodies that they found there. Chairman of the Training Committee, Bill, K8SYH, is in the midst of planning potential classes for those who want to take the General and Extra class license exams. Contact Bill if you are interested in either class.

2002 Virginia QSO Party - Rules and Information

Sponsor:   Sponsored by the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club, Call Box 599, Sterling VA, 20167.

Object: To promote amateur radio activity in the 95 Virginia Counties and 42 Independent Cities.

Dates:

March 16 - 18, 2002. Contest times are from 1800 UTC on Saturday March 16 through 0200 UTC on Monday March 18.

Entries

Submit logs, summary and dupe sheets (for greater than 200 QSO's) by April 15,2002 to the VA QSO Party, Call Box 599, Sterling, VA 20167 or by email to [email protected]. Include SASE or email address for summary of contest results. A $1.00 donation to help defray the costs of printing and mailing is encouraged.

NOTE: LARG members please get your entries to John, W4AU, by April 6, 2002, so that we can tally up the scores and check everyone's arithmetic. Don't forget your signed summary sheet and $1.00 donation.

Contest Rules

Work fixed stations once per band/mode. Out-of-State stations work Virginia stations only. No cross-mode or repeater QSO's. Work Virginia Mobiles in each Virginia County or Independent City from which they operate. Mobiles and Fixed stations on County or Independent City lines count as one QSO and only one County/Independent City multiplier. Multipliers are only counted once. Contacting the same Virginia County, Independent City, State, Province or Country using a different band or mode counts only as a new QSO, not as a new multiplier. Virginia Mobiles receive a bonus of 100 additional points for each Virginia County/Independent City from which they log a valid QSO. For award purposes Fixed and Mobile operation will be considered separately, please submit separate logs for Fixed and Mobile operation. Spotting nets, DX clusters, etc., may be used to locate other stations - no self-spotting permitted. All operators must observe the limits of their operator's license. Multiple operator stations should indicate all operators by name and call sign.

Paper or electronic Logs, Summary and Dupe sheets (200 or more QSO's) are required. Summary sheet should include name, mailing address, call sign, number of Virginia Counties/Independent Cities in which operated, license class, club name and a signed statement that all contest rules and regulations have been observed. Dupe sheets by band and mode are required for 200 or more QSO's. For Club Competition (minimum of 3 valid club entries), be sure to indicate club name on summary sheet and log. Contestants using computer logging and reporting software are required to verify scoring and duping to ensure contest rules have been followed.

Scoring

QSO's count 1 point per Phone, 2 points per CW, and 3 points per contact made with a Virginia Mobile (Phone or CW). Virginia Fixed Stations multiply QSO points by the total number of Virginia counties, Virginia Independent cities, U. S. States, Canadian Provinces and DX Countries. No extra DX multiplier for U.S.(including Alaska and Hawaii) and Canada. Virginia Mobiles, add to your Virginia Fixed Station score 100 bonus points for each Virginia County or Independent City from which you log a valid mobile QSO. Outside of Virginia, multiply QSO points by the total number of Virginia Counties (95) and Independent Cities (42) worked to obtain final score. All stations add 500 bonus points for a contact with K4NVA the club station of the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club.

Exchange

Exchange QSO number and QTH (Virginia County or Independent City for VA stations; State, Province or DX Country for others). Virginia Mobile Stations log QSO's by Virginia Independent City or County of operation. Identify all QSO's with band/mode, sequential QSO number sent/received and date/time of contact in UTC. Please follow standard contest practices by making and responding to "CQ Virginia QSO Party" calls. Multiple Transmitter stations may maintain sequential QSO numbers Independently for each transmitter.

Frequencies

160 meters and up, except no WARC band QSO's permitted. Suggested frequencies: CW-1805 KHz and 50 KHz up from band edge on others. PHONE --1845, 3860, 7260, 14270, 21370 and 28370 KHz. Novice/Tech Plus--10 KHz up from the edge of the CW band and 28370 KHz on PHONE. VHF -- 50.125, 144.200 (CW & SSB), 146.580 and 223.50 MHz. UHF--446.00 MHz. All frequencies plus or minus QRM and nets. No Repeater or cross-mode QSO's.

Information

Additional information may be obtained by mail at VA QSO Party, Call Box 599, Sterling, VA 20167 from the SPARC website www.qsl.net/sterling or by contacting [email protected].

Operator Categories

Single Operator - One person performs all operating and only one transmitter may be on the air at a time

Mobile - Single or Multiple individuals operating Mobile under a single call sign with only one transmitter on the air at a time. A mobile station is self-contained and capable of legal motion (land, water or air) while operating. Motion is optional, and discouraged, during operation.

Club - Minimum of three valid contest entries each indicating club affiliation.

Multi Operator / Single Transmitter - Two or more operators with one transmitter on the air at one time.

Multi Operator / Multi Transmitter - Two or more operators with two or more transmitters on the air at one time.

Expedition - One or more operators of a single transmitter station that moves between two or more Virginia locations during the course of the contest. All equipment, power supplies and antennas must be transported to each operating site.

Calendar of Events:

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