Amateur Radio From Loudoun County VA

MEETING LOCATION: The February 15, 2003, LARG meeting will be at 8:30 in the Leesburg Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 605 West Market Street. The church is located at the intersection of Market Street and Catoctin Circle on the west side of town. It is just east of the bypass. From the Bypass, take the Leesburg exit at the west end of town and the church is on the right just past the stoplight. Please enter through the door on the east side of the building where you will see both steps and a ramp by the door.

February Club Meeting Plans - The LARG plans for participating in the 2003 Virginia QSO Party will be the main agenda item for this meeting. John, W4AU , will lead a discussion of the rules, logging, strategy, and other valuable and helpful tips. We will have members who have operated in the various different categories of the VAQP in the past give their experiences and helpful hints. We want to regain the high-score Club title that was taken from us by the Central Virginal Contest Club last year. Attached to this newsletter is a copy of the rules for the 2003 Virginia QSO Party (they are unchanged from last year). We will be distributing lots of important, VAQP-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 me so I can add you to the list. We also need to appoint someone as the Field Day Chairman at the February meeting.

January Club Meeting Report - Our main preoccupation at the January meeting was snow and the election of officers for 2003, who are shown at the top of this issue of the Newsletter. We want to commend Mark, N3GMW, for the excellent job he did as President in 2002 and Tom, NA4MA, for his long stint as Treasurer. As you will notice, Bill, WF1L , has agreed to take over as Training Coordinator for the club.

Club News - This seems like a good time to list all of the various LARG committees and their Chairs; note that you can also find this information on the LARG website:

Balloon Committee - Tom, WB3AKD
Repeater Committee - Dave, KG4KZZ
Public Relations - Larry, K3HE
ARES / Emergency Communications - Tom, WB3AKD
Contest Committee - John, W4AU
Field Day 2003 - ????
Web Site Committee - Norm, AI2C
Training Committee - Bill, WF1L
Public Service - Mark, N3GMW

IF YOU HAVEN'T PAID YOU 2003 DUES YET, NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO DO IT!!

Calendar of Events:

2003 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 15 - 17, 2003. Contest times are from 1800 UTC on Saturday
March 15 through 0200 UTC on Monday March 17 .

Entries
Submit logs, summary and dupe sheets (for greater than 200 QSO's) by April 15,2003 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, 2003, 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.

NNNN