Kansas QSO Party 2025

FHARC participated in the KS QSO Party on Aug. 30 & 31, 2025.

The Kansas QSO Party is an annual amateur radio event that challenges operators to make contacts across all 105 counties in Kansas. It’s more than just a contest—it’s a statewide celebration of radio, geography, and community. Hams from Kansas and around the world join in to exchange signals, earn awards, and test their operating skills.

Whether you’re chasing rare counties, activating as a mobile station, or logging contacts from home, the Kansas QSO Party offers a fun and competitive way to connect with fellow enthusiasts while showcasing the spirit of amateur radio in the Sunflower State.

Our club had a successful weekend gathering with plenty of help at the Schlueters home again this year.

Using the call sign WØT, operators John (KØJDL), Bern (KC4CRH), Steve (KDØIJP), Wayne (KDØWAT), Barb (KDØWAU), and Catherine (KE5CEJ) participated and made 297 QSO contacts from 46 states and three foreign countries on 40, 20, and 15 meters!

Also stopping by for encouragement was Vic (KØVAB), Marvin (KFØMHR), George (KAØOSN), Ron (KFØAMJ), and Tom (KEØKQP).

We connected to nearly all states in the U.S, made 16 QSOs with Canada, 2 with Slovak Republic, and one contact with Mexico.

We used the Icom IC-7300, a favorite contesting radio because it combines SDR technology with a clean, sensitive receiver, effective filtering, and a quiet noise floor—making it easier to pull weak signals out of crowded bands. Its real-time spectrum scope and waterfall display let operators quickly spot activity. With solid transmit audio, 100 watts of power, and compact design, it’s versatile for both home and portable use.

Contacts can come in very rapidly, and it’s often a real challenge to keep up. Many operators find it helpful to have a second person handling the logging so the operator can focus on making contacts efficiently.

Bern (KC4CRH) thankful stepped up and did much of the logging so the radio operator could focus on making contact. While we eventually enter all of our contacts into a computer program, nothing beats the speed of jotting them down on paper during the rush of the contest.

For logging, we use the KS QSO Party Contesting Software from N3FJP. This program keeps track of our QSO contacts and automatically scores them. After the contest, Barb takes the handwritten logs and carefully enters them into the software.

She then downloads the data into another program that cross-checks against QRZ, helping catch and fix any call sign errors. To make sure everything is accurate, she’ll even trace back to the original scratch sheets from the operators.

Once corrections are made, Barb uploads the final log through the KS QSO Party website. She also posts our results on 3830scores.com, where we can compare how we did against other Kansas operators.

For this year, we competed as a club station, with a single transmitter, running low power (100 watts or less). We placed fifth in our category (SO SSB LP) with 29,700 points and 297 total contacts.

Mobile Tower and Antenna

John, KØJDL brought over his tower trailer again this year allowing us to get our antenna up to about 40 feet.

We attached KDØIJP, Steve’s yagi antenna and KDØWAT, Wayne’s rotor to the tower.

We setup the portable tower in the Schleuter’s driveway in an HOA neighborhood. Fortunately, the neighborhood thought it was just fine! Of course this is in an area that has had a couple tornados through the years so we are welcomed to setup a temporary antenna that can be used in emergency situations!

Lunch Break

It seems there is always food at FHARC events. We broke for lunch on Saturday and had a lot of friendly conversations and a great meal. Barb (KDØWAU) provided meats for sandwiches along with lots of other goodies.