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| California QSO Party Sponsored By Northern California Contest Club |
History
Its inception stretches back into the mid-60s when two ambitious high school students Tom, WB6KIL (K1KI) and Chris, WB6EUZ organized and launched the event from the Claremont Ham Club. Afterwards, the California QSO Party competed against heavily organized Georgia and New Jersey QSO parties, until it was infused with new energy in 1975 by the Northern California Contest Club (NCCC).
Rusty Epps, W6OAT challenged conventional wisdom of the times and the NCCC ejected the cloned 599 and/or 59 signal report from its exchange DNA in favor of serial number and county nomenclature. I can see from a historical perspective, that our current debate about this bit of information, is not something new.
Classification
I classified the California QSO Party as a major project within RadioSport's portfolio of programs, because of its capacity to generate sustained high frequency activity and sustained popularity. Additionally, the same event coincides with seasonal change in propagation, affording both DX and domestic contacts across a broad spectrum of frequencies. Lastly, according to the website, activity attracts activity and the NCCC goes to great length to ensure nearly every to all California counties propagate radio frequency.
However, at this moment, my operational criteria as a means of measuring event quality is under refinement and is only a beginning instead of an end. The purpose of which is to begin conversation and a fresh organizational perspective on our avocation.
Time To Standardize
The California QSO Party is an integral component within RadioSport's Event Program and overall portfolio. Futhermore, all State QSO Party projects are integral to the big picture success of the game in addition to the health and vitality of Amateur Radio, when extending out to the next 100 years.
Perhaps what might be considered in the near future; standardization of event exchanges within RadioSport's Event Program. The potential benefit lessens confusion on game day when multiple QSO parties compete on a given weekend while reducing the workload on our software engineers.
73 from the shackadelic on the beach.