I have to chuckle to myself. sometimes. I went to the ARRL Webpage to read up on their VOTA (Volunteers On The Air) program from 2023.
"The Volunteers On the Air (VOTA) operating event has been popular among hams, with some operators making nearly 30,000 QSOs throughout the yearlong activation."
That is very impressive! But when all is said and done, I highly doubt that the entire VOTA QSO total will come close to matching:
Back in 2016, thanks to the efforts of Sean Kutzko KX9X and Norm Fusaro W3IZ, the National Parks On The Air program generated over 1,000,000 QSOs - yes, that's right, over 1 Million QSOs. AND ....... NPOTA gave birth to the ever popular Parks On The Air program which is running with full steam today and is not ever looking back.
If the ARRL is still around 100 years from now - NPOTA will have to go down as their most wildly successful sponsored activity - second ONLY to the DXCC program. I remember being excited about it towards the end of 2015 when it was first announced. I was amazed at the amount of activity that ensued on January 1st, 2016 and how it sustained itself throughout the year. And to top it all off, December 31st, 2016 was wall to wall NPOTA on the bands and was also, personally, one of the most fun and "bestest" days I've ever had in my Amateur Radio career.
There will never be anything like it again.
Did not get on the air last night for the 40 Meter Fox Hunt. Long day at work and then a meeting at 7:00 PM. Came home, ate something for dinner, hit the sack. Maybe Thursday night, if I feel up to it.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
VOTA was a big disappointment for me. As Section Youth Coordinator for Kentucky, I was worth 30 points for anyone who worked me, but all the focus seemed to be on the W1AW portable stations. If you weren't luck enough to operate one of those, VOTA was a non-event.
ReplyDelete-- de AI4BJ