The Vermont, Minnesota, and British Columbia QSO Parties will kick off the 2026 contesting year this weekend. Beginning Friday evening at 0000Z, the Vermont QSO Party will operate on all bands (except WARC) and modes (CW, phone, FT8/FT4, RTTY, etc.) It will continue 48 hours, so no matter what your schedule is like, you will have the opportunity to get Vermont in your log! The Minnesota and British Columbia QSO Parties will operate later in the weekend for a shorter time. We hope you will join us. Details of Vermont QP here: https://ranv.org/vtqso.html
I think I'll do the MNQP as a rover, and hit about a half dozen counties. I don't think I'll be able to make it to any "rare" ones, but I hope to hand out a few multipliers. The current plan is for my daughter to drive me around and operate in motion. She was cool with that as long as I wear headphones. I think I will be almost exclusively 20 CW.
Thanks for the info. I'll be paying attention to see if I can hear Orleans County, which is the only one I'm missing from Vermot. Greetings from the Canary Islands. EA8AM
Why not Just call them what they are..? QRMTESTS .. they have not bn a Party in 25 yrs . K8PG Paul Morse Music
I'm not much of a contester - I don't have strong desires to compete. However state QSO parties are kind of fun. It's like a scavenger hunt more than a contest. It's also a great way to fill in the blanks on a WAS award.
Are you going to work 40 meters tonight on SSB? If so I’d love to get a contact with you and will look for you. Thanks for the heads up on this event and good luck if you’re participating in it.
I did very little phone in the VTQP this year, preferring to focus on CW and digital. There were a number of Vermont stations on, some running big pileups. I hope you were able to work some Vermont!
