The Bill Windle QSO Party (BWQP), formerly known as the FOC QSO Party (FOCQP), is held twice a year and is open to all radio amateurs world-wide.

It’s not a contest but, rather, an activity day in memory of Bill Windle, G8VG (SK), a past Chairman of FOC who was very keen that we should all be as active as possible on the bands. Stations participating in the BWQP should call “CQ BW” in memory of Bill.

Participants have often reported this is one of their favourite operating events!

The idea behind the BWQP is to offer some stress-free opportunity for FOC Members to meet and greet both other members and non-members.

Each one of us can make this event what you want it to be – some get on for a few casual QSOs, others spend several hours on different bands and still others treat it like a “mini-marathon”.

The basic concept is just to work as many stations as you can over a 24-hour period, from:

Just call “CQ BW” from 015 to 040kHz on all bands, excluding the WARC bands. The exchange is: RST, name, and FOC number (non-members send RST and name).

Many people also take the opportunity to engage in longer QSOs; this is definitely encouraged but it is entirely up to you! However, please note, we still call “CQ BW” to initiate a QSO, a tribute to Bill Windle who did so much to foster activity in our Club.

2024 BWQPs

– Saturday March 23

– Saturday Sept. 14

0000z to 2359z

* Note: Starts Friday in the U.S.

How to Report Your Results

If you are interested in reporting your results during a BWQP, simply log onto this website page and fill out the form: https://focqp.g4foc.org . It’s as simple as that. No logs are required because we work on the honour system.

When reporting scores we separate according to: Europe, North America, North America “West Coast”, Asia, Africa and South America, and this is done automatically for you when you enter your information on the web form.

Reports are due 7 days after the event. A complete list of the stations who report, and their totals, will be included here on our public website. Handsome certificates are awarded to members and non-members on each continent reporting the highest number of QSOs.

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The March 2024 FOC QSO Party

 By All, N2KW

(Download all  March  2024 member  scores or read them here)

(Download all March 2024  non-member scores or read them here)

Hugh Cassidy knew we were all sun-worshipers, and as we approach the peak of Solar Cycle 25, we are reminded of this every time we turn on the radio.  As I write this, the Solar flux is 227, yet the bands are (mostly) dead.  The sole exception is YB0LRR on 15m, being heard all over the world! VERY strange conditions!  There is a major Geomagnetic storm in progress, and Aurora was visible much further South than one would think.

Uncle Sol decided to surprise us with fireworks for our party. There were at least six flares, two geomagnetic storms, and a Proton Event.  We can only be thankful that the CME waited until Sunday!  All of these tell us we are approaching the peak of the current Solar cycle.  Enjoy 10 metres while you can!

As if the propagation didn’t provide enough challenge, Mr. Murphy paid a visit overnight, bringing a major ice-storm to the Northeast USA.  Yagis morphed into air-cooled dummy loads, with astronomical SWR precluding QRO, and radial ice precluding rotation.  It wouldn’t have mattered, as the antennas were hardly directional. W1RM and W2FOC were hit the hardest.

In case you never realized it, overcoming adversity multiplies the fun factor.

As you can see from the list below, we had over 330 attendees at this year’s event.

Some of us treat FOCQP as a contest.  However, if one examines the results, there were only 15 members who logged over 500 contacts, with two of the Continental leaders DOUBLING that!  It is pretty clear to, me that this is more of a social event, than a competition. Congratulations to our leaders, the 1000 QSO mark was broken both in Europe and in North America. This has only been accomplished once before in the 20 plus years FOCQP has run! 

There lots of Soapbox comments.  Read them all.

Complete results appear below. The next FOCQP will be held on September 14, see you then!

(Download all March 2024 member scores or read them here)

(Download all March 2024 non-member scores or read them here)

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BWQP Results by Year