Worked A QSO Party Event
Sunday - August 18, 2019
I got to work a dozen stations during an event that I didn't even know was happening - QSO NA Party! Wow! It was awesome to make QSOs even with the bad conditions we are having in the low part of the solar cycle.
Just a normal Saturday afternoon when I turned on my HF radio to see what's up with 20M. Then, there it was—to my surprise, the whole band was full of activity on my scope. So, I tuned in, listened and I heard someone calling "CQ NA, CQ NA…".
I've never heard this before, so I looked it up. It turns out its an event that's referred to as a NA QSO Party. I then took advantage of this and sat in the pile-up trying to break through, constantly getting stepped on with my barefoot IC-7300. To my amazement, I was able to specially going against folks who probably have 1+KW amplifiers. Of course, I had to wait and time my call to make sure the station calling CQ would recognize at least part of my callsign.
I would say I was fairly successful even with the bad solar conditions we are having. The farthest stations I reached were Hawaii to the West and Boston to the East on 20M and some of 40M. Frickin' amazeballs!
I've never heard this before, so I looked it up. It turns out its an event that's referred to as a NA QSO Party. I then took advantage of this and sat in the pile-up trying to break through, constantly getting stepped on with my barefoot IC-7300. To my amazement, I was able to specially going against folks who probably have 1+KW amplifiers. Of course, I had to wait and time my call to make sure the station calling CQ would recognize at least part of my callsign.
I would say I was fairly successful even with the bad solar conditions we are having. The farthest stations I reached were Hawaii to the West and Boston to the East on 20M and some of 40M. Frickin' amazeballs!