Planning

Ham radio operators are fortunate to have a hobby that can be done from home in comfort and safety. Now is a great time to stay at home, operate contests, work some DX, clean up your station and improve your antennas. It will also, soon, be time to start planning for CQP, especially if you have a county expedition in mind. This message from CQP management is intended to help with your planning for CQP during this pandemic year.
There’s a lot we don’t know right now about what things will be like in October. What travel restrictions, if any, will be in place? Will restaurants and motels be open? The one thing we can say with certainly is that the virus will not be gone. Gathering in enclosed spaces will not be safe. With that in mind, we offer the following recommendations:

Non-California Stations. Please join the fun as usual. There will be hundreds of California stations to work. As always, some counties will be tough to find and work, but that’s just part of the challenge. We will do our best to get all 58 on the air.

California Fixed Stations. Regardless of your county, we need you to get on the air like never before. This year will be all about participation – the more stations on the air, the more fun for everyone. Little pistol with 100 Watts to a dipole? This is your chance to get on the air to work all states in a weekend. Experienced operators, please consider operating a remote station in a rare county. We’ll do our best to pair stations and operators to activate needed counties.

All Multi-Ops. The risk of exposure and spread within a group of people in an enclosed space is unacceptably high. M/S and M/M stations should limit physical occupancy of the station to one operator at a time, except in the case of family members who are sheltering together. Using remote operators is highly encouraged. No formal rules changes related to multi-ops are planned at this time, but we do ask that you plan for safe and responsible participation

California County Expeditions. All current contest rules remain in effect. Rules changes are not planned at this time, but we expect county expeditions to follow the following guidance:

No plaque or county record is worth contracting the virus or bringing it home to your family. Don’t let the competitive spirit over-ride common sense.
Follow all state and local regulations regarding travel, restaurants and lodging.
Managing exposure in a group of people in an enclosed space is virtually impossible. There are a number of teams that look forward to getting together for a CQP expedition each year. Don’t do it. Skip this year and we’ll all get back together in 2021.

Thanks and 73,
The CQP Management Team

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