Hi,
Rebecca VA7BEC, contest coordinator for the BCQP. I would like to update you on
preparations for the 2012 event. If you know someone who might benefit from the
content of this post but does not belong to this Yahoo! Group or does not check
regularly, please forward the post.
If you belong to reflectors or other Yahoo! Groups, check online calendars on a
regular basis, are members of contesting-oriented organizations, have
connections to clubs in the Pacific Northwest or clubs organizing a QSO party
on the Feb 4-5 weekend, and/or have access to the January/February issue of The
Canadian Amateur (specifically, pages 53-54), then what follows may be old news
to you.
Suffice it to say, the profile of the BCQP has never been higher. Some of you
in the QSO Party Group have contributed to this heightened profile. My
sincerest thanks to you all.
Here is what has happened since my last post to the Group back in November 2011.
* BCQP 2012 appears in more online and printed contest calendars than ever
before, not only in Canada and the U.S. but in Japan and Germany as well. (Many
of you in the Group generate calendars of your own and have included the BCQP.
Thank you!)
* BCQP 2012 has been announced during nets, blogged about and tweeted. It is
showing up in reflectors and Yahoo! Groups, some that I have posted to
directly, some that have picked up the news from elsewhere.
* BCQP 2012 has appeared in amateur radio-related news feeds, largely thanks to
RAC Bulletin links.
* The BCQP is the focus of a guest column in the January/February issues of The
Canadian Amateur. Of course, I hope this will boost participation in BCQP 2012,
but I think the article will raise awareness of and interest in other QSO
parties, too.
Naturally, the participation of BC stations is crucial to the BCQP because,
like the state QSO parties, out-of-province/state participation relies on local
involvement.
Getting VE7/VA7s on the air was one of the most difficult challenges for the
BCQP under the original sponsor and that is the main reason the other club gave
it up. But for 2012, under the Orca DXCC banner, interest and awareness seems
to be way up. I have heard from a number of BC clubs that they will form teams,
not only to support the BCQP but to take advantage of the on-air opportunity to
practice skills. Teams are not as likely as individuals to call it quits after
30 minutes. Greater on-air activity will raise Q potential for BC and non-BC
stations, attract more participants overall and fuel the Q count, which will
make CQing productive, which will draw more participants, which will expand the
potential for more Qs... and on it goes. This is the snowball effect that the
more well-established QSO parties have already achieved. I hope this year, BCQP
will see this effect, too.
The heightened profile of the BCQP bodes well for this.
I know that most of the QSO Party Group is stateside and on the Canadian East
Coast and, logistically, the state QSO parties and 10-10 International, and
maybe the Mexican RTTY contest and the CW contests, too, are more inviting. But
I would ask, if at all possible, please provide a reminder to members in your
contesting groups or in updates for your own QSO parties if they take place the
Feb 4-5 weekend so that participants are aware of the BCQP and be prepared to
trade a QSO if necessary.
BCQP 2012 will run from 1600z Feb 4 to 0400z Feb 5.
> From outside BC, the exchange is RS(T) + state/province. And you will receive
> from BC stations a three-letter code representing the federal electoral
> district in BC. Rules and other details are available
> athttp://orcadxcc.org/bcqp.html .
For participants in the QSO parties coinciding with the BCQP, trading a QSO may
be a little cumbersome, but every contact in the log is appreciated, right?
Moreover, a good showing for VE7/VA7s in the BCQP may encourage them to
reciprocate when other QSO parties take place later in the year. It is a
win-win situation for us all, no?
Good luck to those of you holding parties the Feb 4-5 weekend. Hope to work
you. I will be on phone with the sponsor callsign VA7ODX.
73,
Rebecca VA7BEC
Orca DXCC, Contest Coordinator, BCQP
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