AWA AM QSO Party 2006

IIt’s time once again to power up those tube and solid state rigs for the fourth annual AWA AM QSO Party. For a 24 hour period each February, enthusiasts everywhere are encouraged to put their favorite rigs on the air and share their passion for the AM mode. The rules remain unchanged this year and, as usual, extra points are to be granted for contacts with our two anchor stations W2AN and W1HRX. Whether you work the whole QSO Party or just make a contact or two, you won’t want to miss out on this event that has become a yearly favorite of the AM ham radio community!

James Millen Memorial Station, W2AN

Dates and Times: The QSO Party starts at 6 pm EST (23:00 UTC) on Saturday, February 9 and ends at 6pm EST (23:00 UTC) on Sunday, February 10, 2008.

Objective: To promote and encourage the use of AM as a mode of operation in ham radio, and to have fun!

Frequencies: 1.880-1.900 mHz, 3.835-3.890 mHz, 7.280-7.295 mHz and 14.275-14.295 mHz.

Exchange: Name and state or province (or country if you’re outside of North America). That’s it! Of course we encourage participants to talk about the transmitters and receivers they’re using, antennas, microphones, etc. Take your time and enjoy showing off that station of yours!

Scoring and Classifications: For stations running 100 watts (or less) carrier OUTPUT each contact counts 2 points. For stations running over 100 watts carrier output each contact counts 1 point. All contacts made on 20 meters, no matter the power class, count 5 points. You may contact each station once per band. See extra points for flagship station contacts below.

Flagship Stations: There will be two authorized flagship stations participating in the AM QSO Party, but they will not be included in the final point standings (their totals will be listed apart from the other QSO Party stations). The first is W2AN, the club station for the Antique Wireless Association located at the AWA Museum Annex in East Bloomfield, NY. On 75 meters they will be running James Millen’s personal transmitter that he built in the 1930s. On 40 and 20 meters they will be using other transmitters from the AWA stable. The other flagship station will be operating and using James Millen's original callsign W1HRX, courtesy of the James Millen Society.

If you are lucky enough to contact a flagship station your first QSO with them counts as a 10 point contact, but if you happen to contact them again on other bands then all subsequent QSOs with them are the standard point count for your particular power category. If you’re fortunate enough to pull off a “grand slam” by making contact with both flagship stations that will give you an extra 20 points!

Logs: We will have a summary sheet on the AWA website available for download that you can fill out with all the pertinent information and your final point total. Even if you only make a contact or two please send in a report so your participation in the AM QSO Party can be counted. For those without web access, just send me a business size SASE and I’ll send you a copy of the log/summary sheet. Click Here for a Printable Log Sheet

NOTE: All summary sheets must be postmarked no later than March 18, 2008 and sent to the following address: Gary Carter, WA4IAM, 1405 Sherwood Drive, Reidsville, NC, 27320-5224.

Results: The results for the AM QSO Party will of course be published in the AWA Journal. They will also be published in Electric Radio and also online at www.Amfone.net.