NAQP SSB - January Soapbox built 2-3-2008 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA4LR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 704 Antennas: Cushcraft A3S/A743 at 15m (15-40m) Equipment: Elecraft K2/100 w/ KAT100 MC-50 Microphone Comments: Ugh! Conditions were terrible! I got on late and was pretty tired already at 1945z. 15m was completely shot, 20m sounded weak and miserable, and 40m had very little going. I don't think I have heard conditions this bad during a contest, ever. After an hour of this, I pulled the plug. Next time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AD8J Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 47,672 Very bad QRN on 75, usually over S-9. It appears that some of the pig farmers have migrated to 160 meters, "The Gentlemen's Band". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AI4ME Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,550 START-OF-LOG: 2.0 CREATED-BY: N3FJP's NAQP Contest Log 2.4 CONTEST: NAQP-SSB CALLSIGN: AI4ME CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP ALL LOW CATEGORY-ASSISTED: NON-ASSISTED CLAIMED-SCORE: 1550 OPERATORS: AI4ME NAME: Don Michalek ADDRESS: 2437 Broomsedge Trail ADDRESS: Virginia Beach, VA 23456 ADDRESS: (e-mail) ai4me@cox.net SOAPBOX: QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2312 AI4ME DON VA W9QL DAVE IL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2313 AI4ME DON VA WD9CIR STEVE IL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2314 AI4ME DON VA K0FVF DAVE MN QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2316 AI4ME DON VA KP2M BRAD Virgin Is QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2317 AI4ME DON VA KY5R AL AL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2318 AI4ME DON VA KG9N CHUCK IL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2325 AI4ME DON VA WW9R PAT WI QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2326 AI4ME DON VA K1ZZI RALPH GA QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2329 AI4ME DON VA W0AIH PAUL WI QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2330 AI4ME DON VA K0EJ MARK TN QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2332 AI4ME DON VA W5WMU PAT LA QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2334 AI4ME DON VA N9BSO FRED MO QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2336 AI4ME DON VA N4RZ RICK KY QSO: 14000 PH 2008-01-19 2341 AI4ME DON VA NW5Y SAM TX QSO: 14000 PH 2008-01-19 2342 AI4ME DON VA N6XT RON CA QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2349 AI4ME DON VA VA3DX GLEN ON QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2350 AI4ME DON VA K5TR ED TX QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2351 AI4ME DON VA VE5SF SAM SK QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2358 AI4ME DON VA WB4UIC TOM WY QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-19 2359 AI4ME DON VA K0TG DAVE MN QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0001 AI4ME DON VA WO4O RICK TN QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0015 AI4ME DON VA KW8N BOB OH QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0021 AI4ME DON VA K0RH JIM KS QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0337 AI4ME DON VA KF6T JACK CA QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0338 AI4ME DON VA N6MJ DAN CA QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0341 AI4ME DON VA K6LA KEN CA QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0344 AI4ME DON VA N6NF TOM CA QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0344 AI4ME DON VA KC4HW JIM AL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0350 AI4ME DON VA NX5M BOB TX QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0356 AI4ME DON VA KK4TE CHUCK AL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0402 AI4ME DON VA N4PJ ART FL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0414 AI4ME DON VA AI4FR JOHN FL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0424 AI4ME DON VA N4OX JAY FL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0426 AI4ME DON VA K4BAI JOHN GA QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0427 AI4ME DON VA K4NO GREG AL QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0428 AI4ME DON VA W4BW BOB GA QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0432 AI4ME DON VA N0GMG BOB KS QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0436 AI4ME DON VA K3TD TAD TX QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0439 AI4ME DON VA W0ZP WAYNE CO QSO: 7000 PH 2008-01-20 0440 AI4ME DON VA W6YI JIM CA QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0446 AI4ME DON VA N1HRA BILL RI QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0453 AI4ME DON VA WZ8P EV OH QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0454 AI4ME DON VA W4NZ TED TN QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0458 AI4ME DON VA W9IU DON IN QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0502 AI4ME DON VA W5WMU PAT LA QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0504 AI4ME DON VA NA1QP DAVE CT QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0507 AI4ME DON VA N3AD ALAN PA QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0509 AI4ME DON VA W4MYA BOB VA QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0510 AI4ME DON VA KA1ARB ROB NC QSO: 3500 PH 2008-01-20 0512 AI4ME DON VA NE9U BRETT WI END-OF-LOG: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0EJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 14,400 started late, quit early. Nice to say hello to y'all in radio-land. 73, Mark K0EJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0EU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 4,512 I feel sorry for all of you that put in your full 10 hours on this one. Conditions were really stinky on the low bands. Must have been especially noisy on the Eastern side of the country as many loud 4-landers CQed in my face on top band. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0GAS Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 13,320 SURE LOOKING FORWARD TO BETTER BAND CONDITIONS! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0OU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 47,400 Knew I wasn't going to get a full effort in, so I started out "DXing" on 10 and 15. Got some neat, fun mults but not much score. Worked a little over 4 hours then took wifey-pooh out to diner and to watch KU win it's 18th basketball game this year (wish I could contest as well as they play basketball). Got home for the last 2 hours of the contest, and had a couple of nice runs on 80, but was still DXing on 40 and 160. Made it fun for the time I was on. TNX to all for the Q's, and hope to see you all in the Sprints next month. Steve in MO K0OU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0RH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 151,151 Not much on 10 and 15m.........Thanks for all the calls..Jim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0TG Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 7,470 By the time I got started I missed a lot of the 20 meter opening. So 40 was the band for me as usual. My 80 meter antenna leaves a lot to be desired so only could squeak one QSO out of it. It was fun to work other MN Daves! Got a few comments. Oh, another Dave in MN?? :) Good to honor our buddy KT0R this way. Fun contest. 73, Dave (John) K0TG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0UK Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 37,062 HAD A CONCEALED WEAPONS CLASS ALL DAY TODAY SO MISSED MOST OF THE CONTEST. STARTED 0014Z FIRST CONTACT ON 40MTRS. WORKED ON STATION ON 20MTRS AND THE BAND WAS GONE. WENT TO 40MTRS FOR A GOOD RUN WHILE PICKING UP THE STRONG STATIONS ON 80MTRS AND 160MTRS. THEN 40MTRS WENT WEIRDO ON ME WITH NOISE LIKE QRN. MOVED BETWEEN 160MTR, 80MTRS, 40MTRS FINISHED WITH A SMALL RUN ON 3815 WITH ME AND SPANISH SPEAKING STATION SCREAMING. WORKED GMCC'S W0MU, W0ETT, N0KE, N0POH, N0EOP, I KNOW THERE WERE OTHERS BUT BILL IS SLEEPY AND HEADED TO BED..SEE YA. PTL BILL UK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K0WA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 98,056 Propagation was a problem on all bands. The CW weekend was much better. I had to get use to using SSB since I work alot of CW and RTTY. I need 10 more antennas on my small city lot... enough to start SO2R. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K1ZW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 4,940 I had noise, noise and more noise but it was fun. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3LL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 28,126 Fun time in my first NAQP. Antennas: 80/40 trap inverted vee and tribander at 20 feet. 73, Cliff K3LL/6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3MD Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 10,824 High noise after 0200 precluding any more QRP QSO's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3RWN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 9,438 I was operating 3 contests at one time, well I was trying. The NAQP SSB, the ARRL VHF contest and a local Breezeshooters 10m PSK31 contest. Now I have quite a headache. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K3TD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 43,992 Inverted L 30'H x 75'L with SG-230 autotuner ProII and N1MM v7.12.4 My first NAQP in a very long time and it was fun. Mostly S&P but did CQ on 40 a couple of times. 75 was very noisy until near the end. Next time need to have a better strategy for when to be on which band - 40 was fun with this antenna, but should have spent more time on 20. Looking forward to NAQP RTTY next month! 73, Tad, K3TD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4BAI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 110,656 FT1000MP, 100W, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee, "t" vertical. 10M ws open to TX, LA, and AR for the first few hours. Just before the contest started, I heard a NC station there too. 15M was very strong to the western W5 area, W6, and W7. 20M was pretty long at the start, but shortened up a lot late in the afternoon. 40M was a puzzle this year. Skip seemed OK, but I seldom could get much going there. 80 and 160 were very noisy. Almost all my QSOs on those bands were made using my 40M dipole as a receiving antenna, since it was much quieter than the transmit antennas. Congrats to NX5M and KW8N for being DX for me on 160M this year. Worked HQ9R and KP2M on 20 and 80 for NA DX. PY2NY, our regular outside NA participant. Thanks Vitor. Several Hawaii stations worked on 15 and 20, but no Alaska this time. Worked no ND, VE6, VE7 or VO stations, but did hear a VE7. Thought I had a VO station calling once, but it turned out to be one of those callers who thinks it is best to say only his suffix. Thanks to all for the QSOs. 73, John, K4BAI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4BK Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 8,540 Rig: Yaesu FT 897D Ant: Hustler 5 band vertical, ground mounted Inverted Vee Logging Software: N3FJP's NAQP Contest Log ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4JNY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 4,212 Great to be back on the air after moving to W6. Will hopefully get some more ant up soon. TNX for all the qsos, Jeff K4JNY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4NO Class: M/2 LP Total Score = 174,038 Thanks for the QSO's and QSY's Greg K4NO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4OD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 12,900 Rig: FT-897D 100 Watts Output Ant: Dipole @ 65 Feet All Wire dipole antennas on 160-10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4WES Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 9,408 I had to quite a little early, since the loud static crashes were getting to me and most had a tough time hearing me on 80m and 160m. I really need to improve my 80m and 160m antennas. Last year I did much better (250 QSOs) and I only spent an extra 2 hours, so the bands were worse than last year. I had a great run on 20m and even did pretty well on 80m for a short while. I was surprised how many weak stations I pulled out on 80m. The static crashes were intense on 80m and 160m though. It was tough pulling out quite a few stations, but somehow I managed. ;-) My NA DX worked were HQ9R, KP2M, and XE1KK. Hopefully the August one will have better conditions. 73 de k4Wes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5ER Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 69,390 If I had known the bands would get better late, I'd have done my "off time" earlier. Thanks for all who stopped by to make it another fun contest. First time on a team. Thanks CTDXCC for the invite! Putting NORTH Louisiana on the contest map. See you in Dayton. 73! Mark ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5KA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 19,200 All S&P 73, Ken K5KA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5RC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 62,244 What a difference a week makes. 15 died almost immediately. Couldn't get through the QRN to the east coast on 80 and 160. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K5TR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 200,066 Most of my (admittedly limited) SO2R experience is on CW ... and I found it really challenging to get my head in the full two-radio mode for this one. I didn't move folks nearly as aggressively as in last weekend's CW test, and know I missed some easy stuff. But the early rates on 20M (and then 40M) seemed just too good to leave! Oh yeah, I stayed in the seat for the first 8 hours (less two quick pit stops) which is a personal record that I'm not tracking. Thanks again to George K5TR for generously allowing me operate two back-to-back contests from his super Texas Hill Country station. Good stuff. Larry K5OT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6AM Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 155,848 15 meters was very good for the first hour or so. I had both radios on the same band so as not to miss anything before it closed. And it did, in fairly short order. Then found a nice quiet spot on the high end of 20 and kept it for about 5 hours. Just about the best run ever on 20. Took some time off while waiting for 80 to wake up. It finally did but not until about 0400 so I was able to rack up some mults on 40. Line noise and poor propagation killed me on 160. Not many ststions could even be heard. Thanks to all for the Q's and especially the moves. CU in the next one, John, K6AM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6CSL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,617 No excuse, but the "Brown Stork" brought my new FT-450AT Thursday afternoon. I disassembled and then reassembled my station with the new rig. I've had only a couple of hours with the rig and the users manual and absolutely no prior experience with a fully digital rig. I started the NAQP SSB with the manual in front of me, and I'm still trying to figure it all out. Hopefully I'll be in better shape for ARRL DX CW. 73's to all, and to all a good night. Bert, K6CSL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6GEP Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 403 I let down my team. I had a cold and sore throat that weekend, and I have no voice keyer. Not all QSO's were on 80. Not worth breaking down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6LA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 160,710 Never heard a W1,W2 or W3 on 80m and never heard a W1 on 40m. The most frustrating was hearing W6TA, who is about 20 miles from me, running stations for hours on 15m, and I couldn't hear 90% of them. I'm at the bottom of a bowl, and he is on a hill. ARRGGHH. 73, Ken, K6LA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6LL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 189,584 15 and 20 were fine, but things went south when I hit 40. Answers to cq's were light. I thought I might be early (2330Z) so I took a break. It didn't help. I took another break. Then I thought I might be late! I never did figure it out. Anyway, the 40 score was suboptimal. I left 1.5 hours op time for 80 and 160, but those bands were very noisy and generally crappy. Maybe the low bands were a low-angle affair, as evidenced by N6NF's fine score (on the ridge). Anyway, it was fun. These NAQP's are great contests! Dave Hachadorian, K6LL Yuma, AZ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6MM Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 73,970 Great conditions throughout the day, but stayed on 20M a bit too long. Never heard Rhode Island. Very enjoyable contest. Thanks for the polite exchanges and all the Qs. 73, John K6MM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6ST Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,892 Fun, played around on 80m and 160m for a couple of hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6TD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 7,567 Limited time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K7ZSD Class: M/2 LP Total Score = 208,620 Last year we made around 1800 Qs, this year 1140 Qs. Propagation at 45 degrees north was poor on all bands. We heard California running stations on all bands we could not even hear a peep out of. It seemed the south from California to Georgia had good conditions. Aside from the lack of adrenalin rushes, we had a great time. Many thanks to Hank, Mark, and Kevin for hanging in there for the whole 12 hours. Four operators changing off regularly made for a good time even with the long periods of unanswered CQs. It was great fun getting together with plenty of food and some HD TV. My dear wife Ruth ran herd a few times finding 3 of us in the living room watching the tube asking who was in the second chair in the radio room. Once again, the operators everywhere were just fantastic. Thank you to all for the Qs, and we will see you next year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K8MR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 65,100 Rather poor conditions, other than a nice early run on 40 meters of lots of very casual or non-participants. Got all the eastern mults on 40, but the band was closed when I got back on later, so missed all the 7-land mults. Found a couple of FL stations on 10 meters. I then decided to check six meters, and found N4BP up there for the EL96 mult in the VHF SS. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9CT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 59,736 Basketball game in prime time so worked the wrong hours for a good score! Condx not as good as CW but trudged through it. Enjoyed the friendly qso's and new hams. 10m did not show up and 15m was sparse. Noisy low bands precluded higher participation and rates. Tried SO2R on SSB for the first time and got a few extra qso's. Used dirferent setup variations to see how it went. N1MM and MK2R+ to 7800 and Pro III. Antennas 160/80 vertical, 80 and 40 Inv. V, MonstIR yagi. Tnx for the qso's! - Craig ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9GX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 120,742 I had to keep checking my outdoor thermometer. The low bands were so noisy I was sure it had to be August. The thermometer said "8" so I was relatively certain it wasn't August. My brain is still rattling from the QRN. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K9NW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 10,877 Too much noise.... 73, Mike K9NW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KA1ARB Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 72,189 This was one of those days that was both painful and fun at the same time. The highlights included my best run ever! I spent 2 hours with very few CQs - people were calling in as fast as I could work them. And this was on 80 meters, with S9+ noise plus static crashes. Lowlights were many mechanical breakdowns - bad mic cable, bad mic, bad 40 meter dipole, and bad antenna switch - that were all topped off by our well pump dying just as the contest began and leaving us with no water. So far, I have fixed them all but the water pump. Even with the high noise, 80 meters was the hot band here. I never could get anything going on 15 meters, and I missed much of the daylight operating due to all the problems. I milked 20 meters for all I could before it died, but I didn't get to 40 meters until well after dark. There were mostly west coasters by then, and I missed all of the in-close 40 meter mults. Had a few short runs on 40, but mostly bounced between 40 and 80, S&P and running. Loaded up my 80 dipole for a few 160 QSOs and mults. Several times I had to force myself to keep at it, and I kept telling myself that I promised Team VoxLox that I'd give a full effort and I didn't want to let them down. It felt like going to the gym - I don't always want to go, but I'm always glad that I did. Next time, besides having my station and my house working for the contest, I'm going to hit the low bands a bit before dark to pick up those mults, and I will make a list of the tougher mults to ask them to move to other bands. But, all these challenges keep it interesting and fun. Thanks for all the QSOs! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KA1CQR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 14,270 IC-746 non-Pro, 80m doublet worked great! Had a great time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KC4HW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 51,336 40m was the band for me. I really could never get anything going on the other bands. Heard the West Coast station on 20m late, but they could not hear me.. Nevertheless, had a good time on 40! Maybe conditions will be better next time. Thanks for the QSOs. Jim/KC4HW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KC5R Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 117,300 Mardi Gras is early this year (Feb 5th), so parade season starts early. So January is full of pre-parade events such as the Costume Balls, etc. The XYL's krewes Ball happened to fall on the same night as the NAQP SSB Contest, so I had basically 6 hours of operating time available until I had to clean-up, fill up the "flasks" and go. Really it wasn't a bad deal giving up screaming into a mic for going to a party with a 540 member women's mardi gras krewe....I guess we all make sacrifices... Anyhoot, I figured I'd give QRP a rest and let it rip with the "whole 100 watts". Started out on 15 at around 1815z and found the band quite odd - W4 was booming in here, almost like e-skip. Worked a bunch of stuff, and the usual west coast skip. Rate was ok, but nothing to get jazzed up about. I managed to interleave in a few 10 mtr QSOs, as I figured the odd-ball condx on 15 was a sign that there was some life on 10. I worked some close in stuff there too (more W4s - NC and FL). Then "I went to 20 to make some money". I managed a super rate, with a 193 hour including a few 5 Q/min runs. It's nice for a change to go from fighting to keep a frequency at a reasonable QRM level when you're QRP, to having a super quiet freq to pull out the weak ones. Next, I went to 40 early and had a 138 hour (QRM limited), with the band just right into the NE/Midwest. Also worked CA/WA quite early on 40 (2320Z). Finally, I went over to 80 a bit sooner than usual, to grab some easy pickens and mults. Worked everything in the contest but MT and HI as far as states, and missed PEI, NS, AB, and "NT land" in Canada. No real major strategy to maximize score, just wanted to see what I could crank out. With good rates, I didn't get much chance to listen on the other VFO anyway to find some odd mults or catch all the 10 mtr activity. CU! -Al Here's the mult list: Sect Total AK 4 AL 8 AR 9 AZ 18 BC 2 CA 47 CO 25 CT 6 DE 1 FL 14 GA 28 HR 1 IA 11 ID 3 IL 52 IN 34 KP4 1 KS 5 KY 21 LA 2 MA 12 MB 4 MD 8 ME 7 MI 36 MN 43 MO 15 MS 2 NB 2 NC 22 ND 3 NE 2 NH 8 NJ 22 NL 1 NM 3 NV 2 NY 34 OH 32 OK 10 ON 41 OR 14 PA 46 QC 4 RI 5 SC 7 SD 5 SK 2 TN 42 TX 28 UT 6 VA 25 VT 7 WA 20 WI 25 WV 9 WY 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KD5J Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 3,198 2008 North American QSO Party KD5J SINGLE-OP-LP QTH = AR Band QSOs QSO pts. Mults. -------------------------------------------- 80m 61 61 20 40m 14 14 13 20m 7 7 6 -------------------------------------------- TOTALS 82 82 39 Claimed score = 3198 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KE1FO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 11,594 Started out feeling fairly serious about this one, but knowing that I was at a large disadvantage on Phone due to my low antennas. Things started out fairly well on 20 - found a spot up high at 14320 and was able to get a little run going, with several 40M 2nd radio q's interspersed. Worked 23 in the first 40 minutes (I know, not much for rate, but from my station, it was pretty good). At 1841Z I worked somebody on 40 who needed a fill - can't remember who. I found that my DVK was working, but when I tried to use the mic on the 2nd rig, all that would be transmitted is a raspy hum. Decided it was time to install one of those audio isolation transformers that have been in the junk box for almost a year waiting to be installed. Out came the tools and I had the problem rectified by 1915Z. From 1915z-2015z I had 65 q's. Very good on phone with my station. Mostly on 40M at 7244, and as that slowed I did some dueling cq's on 20 as well, way up at 14345 that yielded a few q's. At 1953Z that ended when KP2M moved in and started a run. Found a spot on 40 at 7184 (had been S&P on 40 while running on 20) and started calling CQ as I S&P'd 20. At 2004z I worked my only 15M q when W6NL asked me to move down from 20M. It was an easy Q, but didn't hear any others on the band, so stayed on 20. 2015z-2115z was another good hour with 50 q's in the log, mostly S&P on 20 and found a spot at 7208 on 40 and had a slow run as I continued to search on 20. 2115z-2215z was slower, only 30 q's. 2142z started a final sweep of 20. Found a few new ones as I searched. Took a break for dinner at 2203z. At 2334z I came back to the rigs and decided to check 80. Worked N3AD, who barely could hear me. Decided to stick with 40. Duked it out on 40 S&P until 0055z, with only 21 more q's in the log in that 1.5 hours. Couldn't get a run going, and it took many calls and repeats to be heard. Worked my other 80M q at 0019z with W8DA. Started another project and checked back every now and then. W5MX heard me on 40M, KP2M was easy on 40, as was HQ9R. Finished by working K5ER at 0336z on 40M. Checked the bands again at 0430z to see if the propagation had changed and I could work some 40 or 80. Swept both bands for about 20 minutes and only heard four stations calling, all dupes. Put the rig on 160 and heard 2 more stations, but with no 160 antenna, loading the 80M vertical on 160 resulted in no responses. Turned off the rig and went to bed. Total of 187 valid q's and 62 mults. Station setup: 2x TS-940 WriteLog 10M: Force 12 C3S at 30 feet 15M: Force 12 C3S at 30 feet 40M dipole on 3rd harmonic at 25 feet 20M: Force 12 C3S at 30 feet 20M Inv-V at 25 feet 40M: Dipole at 25 feet HF2V Vertical with 4 raised radials 80M: HF2V Vertical with 4 raised radials 160M:No antenna Lessons learned: Check the DVK AND Mic before the contest. I had rearranged the station this week and obviously introduced a new problem with a ground loop. I had tested the DVK, but not the mic before the contest started. I lost 1/2 hour of prime time due to this problem. I need a better 2nd antenna for 20 or 15. When I was on 20 and wanted to check 15, I had no good options. The 20M dipole just would not sustain the run, but the 15M dipole didn't hear things that the beam did. I could barely hear N6ML on the 15M dipole, but he was an easy mult with the beam. Maybe a fixed wire beam for 15 that I can put up when I want to. Figure out what the heck happened on 40 after dark. My 40M dipole is up 25 feet, so it is hard to believe that it was easier to work the DX stations (KP2M, HQ9R) than anything stateside (although from here, those might be closer than w6?). It definitely worked well before sunset - even to the west coast working 1 W7, but after it was a disaster. 80M was a total wash. Don't know why. I could hear folks loud and clear, but they were not hearing me. Heard mostly east coast and midwest on 80, so maybe the takeoff angle on the vertical is too low. Maybe adding an 80M element to my fan dipole would help (even though the takeoff angle would be very high). The Vertical is tuned for the low end of 80 and I need to get my tuner for 80M setup in the shack. It is currently out by the antenna switches near where the feedlines come into the house. Running back and forth to make tuner adjustments is no fun. Except for the after sunset disaster, had a fun time. The format for NAQP is great for me. Mults count on all bands, which makes things fun moving mults or being able to run on a 2nd band and have everything be new. Also a 12 hour contest makes it easier to split time between family and radio. Perfect! See you down the log. 73 de Al, KE1FO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KI4GUO Class: M/2 LP Total Score = 24,375 Operated multi-single. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KI9A Class: Single Op HP Total Score = 29,988 Ugh. Bands were el-stinko. Can't believe I could not hear an IL station on 40 or 80, and I LIVE IN ILLINOIS! Bands seemed to waaay long, real fast, then they got noisey. Real tough to do with poor antennas, low power, and poor condx. Sucks to have W6's CQ in your face on 20. However, I did learn more about my GAP Voyager on 40/80. I certianally made QSO's on both bands, that I could not have with my 45' high G5RV, and the same in reverse. I made Q's on the G5, that I could not have with the vertical, so, it so far has been a successful addition...Sure wish I had room for a tower, so I can get my tribander off of the roof tower. Also learned more about the new PRO 3 I bought this fall. It gets a bit warm, not hot, while running wide open 100 watts. I always use an amp ( when allowed) in contests, so never had it cranked up more than 50 w or so. Cured it by blowing a muffin fan at it, but, got aggrivating hearing the fan. Oh well. This contest is a BLAST when all bands are open, can't wait for the next couple years to get by! 73- Chuck KI9A ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KK1L Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 106,134 I had been hoping to put my heart into this one, but life has been just so busy I found myself distracted most of the time. As a result I was not very aggressive, but did have a good time with the rates on 20m. 40m was only fair compared to what I expected. I was surprised that 160m was less noisy than 80m. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KN3A Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 13,203 Very rough conditions - especially on 160 meters. Still fighting pneumonia so didn't have as much operating time as I would have liked. 73 Scott KN3A Kenwood TS 450SAT G5RV @ 35 ft. N1MM Logger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KO7X Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 34,160 Got a few fellow Flakes in the log. Conditions seemed a bit weird with 15 and 10 nearly completely dead. I heard one weak signal on 10 but no QSOs there. We had a short opening to the northeast on 15 but only two QSOs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KR4F Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 45,495 Mostly S&P. Couldn't get any good runs going due to local high noise level. Apologies to those I couldn't hear who tried to answer my CQs! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KS8O Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 6,060 Not as good conditions as with the NAQPCW, but fun. 80 and 160 was alot of fun but alot of qrn at this station. Had fun and thanks for all the contacts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KT0DX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 46,046 Having not done a SSB contest in a long time I thought NAQP would be a good one to break back in. Had some good runs on 20 meters and found all the operators who called me to be very friendly even if they were not in the contest. I will be back to operate in the next one. This would have been a great contest if the bands would have been a bit better shape, and the FCC would do something about KZ8O (ex ND8V) who I found going up and down the band around 14.275 running off anyone trying to operate near "his" frequency. I felt sorry for the N7 station that was on 14.278 into a good run only to have KZ8O start calling him a "scumbag" for about 5 minutes until the N7 station had to move. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU8E Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 101,170 100 watts and wires class ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KY5R Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 113,774 Fair amount of activity noted hr. Gave it a try wih lingering "creep crude" hacking cough but soon realized I just wasn't up to any big effort. Took 1.5hr break shortly afer sunset to rest voice and din-din. Went to 80/160 directly to plow around in the train wreck of prop at that time. Had a gud time plus checked out new radio in this mde with only a few mishaps(wrong button pushing). New beveraes wrkd quite well despite higher than normal QRN levels on 80/160. Great to see gud efforts by fellow Alabama Contest Group (ACG)members K4AB, N4OX, K4NO, KR4F, KC4HW, N4NM, K4ZGB. Congrats to all who participated. Tim KY5R alias Al in Alabama ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0BUI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 26,505 This contest seemed like work. The cw contest last weekend seemed to go quite a bit easier...bands seemed to be in better shape last weekend. Thanks for the qso's. 73, Mike N0BUI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0EOP Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 13,300 Enjoyed the contest. I have to get a better antenna. Thanks to all for the contacts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0OJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 6,156 Unfortunately very small contest effort due to unexpected obligations. First time operating in this contest as well as first operating with the GMCC. Did have issues with operators getting my first name wrong (Ryan vs. Brian) so next time I might have to do something different. Thanks to all those I worked and those who stuck through the pileups so I could get a QSO! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N0POH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 9,858 First attempt at an HF contest other than Field Day. 100w with a 40m dipole at 25'. Got to get some better antennas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N1SZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,170 This was my 1st NAQP. Didn't have much time to enjoy the contest, but sure liked what I saw. What a fun format, I look forward to the next one! 73, N1SZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N2UT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 6,630 Trying out a couple of new 80-mtr antenaas, and spent only a few minutes on the other bands. Even when on 80, I spent too much time doing A/B comparisons ;-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N3BM Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 10,920 Lessons Learned: 1. This is an antenna contest 2. I don't have one! 3. I need my amplifier. Normally I can work just about everyone that I can reasonable hear. That was not the case during this contest. I heard many more stations than could hear me. It was very noisey and with low power and my inverted delta loop I just wasn't cutting it. Very frustrating but still fun. I'm looking forward to the CQ WW 160 with POWER! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N3ZL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,050 I didn't think I'd be around to make even 1 Q in this one because I was going camping, but with the freezing rain and incoming snow we decided to head back home Saturday night after dinner. I got on and made a few QSOs before getting a phone call which forced me QRT for some time. I finally got back on for the last full hour or so. 73 de Greg N3ZL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4PN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 242,408 Started with high hopes that 10m would be open only to work two TX stations. So..recap - 10m was 10m..went to 15m to find it wide open to about half the U.S. and Canada. Louisiana/Mississippi stations were a surprise S9 and even N4XL/SC was good copy. First hour rate - 121. Worked two Central America stations - both Honduras - HQ9R and HR2J. Checked 10m at 1933 UTC on 2nd radio and still wide open to only TX. QSY'd to 20m at 2000 UTC and found a clear spot at 14.244. Stayed there awhile with almost no QRM. Short skip into SC, NC, FL, TN, MS, & LA + open to the rest of North America made this a fun band. Went to 40m at 2300 UTC with 653 Q's in the first five hours. Forty was like it has been for awhile, wide open all over. KE4NU called in at 0022 UTC from Montana followed a few minutes later by W7GKF in WA. Dick, W6TK was first CA at 0036 UTC. Thanks Bruce, VP9/K0ARY and HQ9R for the mult. Left 40 for 160m at 0230 UTC. It was brutal due to storms..even on short beverages, the noise was never less than S9. About the best "DX" was MN and ears had had enough after an hour and only 65 Q's. Went to 80m for the first time at 0325 UYC and just like 160, first Q was Bob, (Dude), W4MYA. Was able to hear much better on 80 and found a somewhat clear freq. at 3826. Many stations called that I just could not get the complete call and/or name...best "DX" on 80m was W0MU in CO..did not work a single W6 or W7 on 80 or 160!! Ouch.. Took first break at 0130 to 0230 and second hour at 0450 to 0550.. Thanks to all who called and called - I just could not find any antenna that I could pull you thru on. The SSB test is a lot more fun being able to plead for anyone who comes across the freq. to call in. "Only need your name and state." And, of course, the call might help too. Ears still ringing but it sure was fun. 73, Paul, N4PN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4VI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 22,194 Started 1 1/2 hours "late" and never heard anything on 10m. Did manage to scare up a few contacts on 15m, otherwise it was 20 and 40m. Didn't seem to get out as well as during the CW version. Conditions were obviously different. See you in the Sprint. 73 Chris, n4vi ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4XL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 103,149 As usual, had a blast! Thanks for all who dropped by. Worked a local SC station being remote controlled from Wisconsin. Noise on 80 & 160 was horrible and my head is pounding. Loops helped. First time my 80 mtr QSO count was higher than any other band. FT1000MP MkV Field Skyhawk @52' A4S @ 25' 80/40 Vertical 272' Horizontal Loop, 80 - 10 Inv L for 160 Two K9AY Loops N1MM and microKEYER Kevan N4XL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4YDU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 17,928 I was on and off for the first five hours. I made a short low band stint late after going out to dinner and watching a movie, but it was disappointing to hear all of the noise! 73, Nate/N4YDU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6HC Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 124,879 What a difference one week can make. Compared to the CW version of the NAQP, I had no ten meter opening, minimal activity on 15 meters, almost no activity on 160 meters and, consequently, a significant decrease in the number of multipliers for this contest. This was, for all intents, a two band contest (20 & 40) for me. The rates were breathtaking at times (190+/hour rates) mixed with periods of sheer boredom. The pile-up on me was like being the object of a DXpedition at times! (Good training for the TX5C upcoming DXpedition 8>) ). My 80 meter inverted Vee is resonant in the CW subband, so I needed to use an antenna tuner on 75 meters. There was significant RF in the shack from this mismatch causing the computer to hiccup frequently. It was fun to communicate with all the usual suspects and a pleasant surprise to find some new calls joining this contesting fraternity activity. Thanks for all the Qs. See you in the next one! Best regards, Arnie N6HC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6KI Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 168,672 Many Qs on 15 mtrs but few mults and not much success moving mults to 15 mtrs ( Ditto for 80 mtrs due to mediocre antennas and lots of ambient noise ) Heard very few stns on 160 ! Had some spectacular short runs approaching 200 Qs per hour with a couple of hours averaging 140 QPH on 20 and 40 mtrs ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6MJ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 9,308 I was kinda bummed that I couldnt put in a full effort in this one. I had to work til 23z, so I could only put in a few hours at my dads QTH. I hope to be back next year. 73, Dan N6MJ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6WG Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 6,210 The contest started out ok, but went downhill rapidly. 15m died just after noon here and 20m died a lot earlier than I had expected. 40m went long early, but signals were weak, making my QRP signal hard copy at the other end. Then the noise level went up--and up--and up. Sounded like some combinations of local and solar noise. I could reduce part of it by turning my receiving loop, but the other part was a very loud static sounding noise that neither my noise blanker or DSP could reduce. By 7PM local, I threw in the towel and went in the house to read a book. I had really enjoyed the contest until the noise became unbearable. To keep up our tradition, W6OAT and I stepped through all bands for 6 quick QSOs. Hope we have better conditions for the CQ 160 this weekend. Thanks for the Qs. 73, Bob N6WG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N7RQ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 129,195 Party guests never arrived on 10 meters, and only a few wandered into the 160 noisebox. Nice to hear familiar voices again this year, and a few new operators dipping their toes in the contest waters. Highlight was a call from Pete W0CM -- 95 years young -- on 80 meters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N9RV Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 30,576 A busy social weekend here, no time to operate. Conditions were strange, very different than CW. Heard lots of Californians on 15 late in the afternoon. 20 stayed open later, 40 never opened at all in the late afternoon. When I got back on late in the contest things sounded really bad. But these team things make you operate more than you normally would. - Pat N9RV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NA4BW Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 33,350 Really unusual to start a contest from this QTH with snow on the ground! It sure made the slow times a little more tolerable seeing a different background out back though. While it was nice to look outside, it was tough inside on the radio. Making my 1st q on 80 @ 2343z was kind of the story in this one. 40 was way long and QRN made things really hard on 80 and 160. Normally I can get folks like W9RE and N4PN to hear me on 160, but not this time - so 160 was a bust. Did work NX5M on 5 bands and HQ3R on 3 bands. Tnx for the q's. 73's, Brian with an I. NA4BW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NA4K Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 75,465 QRN from the cold front passing through and deep fading on the low bands made it interesting at the end. Steve NA4K ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NB7V Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 11,648 conditions not all that great, bands were noisy. I felt naked without the amp on,I prefer hp. My 40m antenna is still down and using the 160m inverted L on 40 didn't cut it. I enjoyed the "Gentlemans Contest" anyway! Thanks for the Q's! Dave NB7V I'm writing this on 1/21/08 It is -33 degrees here this morning, Its the perfect time to fix the 40m antenna! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NC4KW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 107,338 What a difference a week makes ! Our first real winter storm of the year decided to travel through the area today, actually starting about 1 hour after NAQP. Now this was not a storm at all if viewed by Northerners, but for us folks in the WARM SOUTH it sure slowed us down. My 15 meter and 20 meter stats were just about the same as CW, with 15 coming up a bit. Propagation was strange however. Signals were not loud, most had QSB and many had some type of flutter. Then came the snow and ice. Well this is my first experience with linear loaded antennas in these conditions so I don't know if this is normal. My resonant frequency on my Force12 2 ele 40 dropped from 7.083 to 6.820. Needless to say the SWR went way up. Good thing the FT1000MPs have internal tuners, because I don't own any external units. Moving on to 75 and 160. The noise level here on 75 was about S9. On 160 it was peaking at 10db over S9 with a constant around S9. Even with that, 75 was my best band from a RUN perspective. Sure proves beverages (wire variety in this discussion) are mandatory! The noise was so extreme I don't have a single 6 or 7 land QSO and only one from 0 land in the log for 75 and 160. One more item. About 2 hours into the contest I decided to go for a short walk with my wife. The snow was falling and it looked so nice outside. That combined with last week’s NAQP CW, this week’s NAQP SSB, next week’s CQWW-160 and … the week after that the NA-Sprint CW, I thought it was in my best interest. However, stupid me! The total “off time” was only 28 minutes. I NEVER LOOKED AT THE CLOCK so I had 28 minutes off that did not count as a break. Just 28 minutes without any Qs ! ! ! LID LID LID ! ! ! Oh well - so much for the 'ain’t it awful' corner. Thanks to all for the QSOs and the MANY repeats. Also sorry for those that I just could not pull out beyond a letter or two. One request - MUCH better conditions for CQ-WW 160 CW next weekend!!! 73, Bruce - N1LN aka: NC4KW) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: ND0C Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 22,320 This one was pretty brutal, especially on 75 - the noise levels were terrible and it was very tough going for 5 watts! Thanks to everybody for your patience and good ears. 20 was pretty good for awhile and I was able to get some runs. Interestingly a well known big gun contester (SW US) called me to ask if I knew that he was just a kHz up from me - actually he was 1.5 kHz away. - But come on - he's whining because my 5 watt signal is bothering him 1.5 kHz away - on 20 meters no less? Gotta be kidding.... And I had asked twice if the frequency was clear before I called CQ - unlike a lot of guys unfortunately. (What is happening to operating ethics?) See ya in the next one! 73, Randy, ND0C Station: Yaesu FT-897D - 5 watts out; 3 el. tribander at 50' and dipoles at 45' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NJ8J Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 21,844 Equipment: 100' sloppy doublet off-center fed with ladderline LDG AT-11MP Automatic Antenna AND MFJ-969 manual tuner Alinco DX-77T CT 10 Well, we're at least back on the air here at Bedsprings Brigade Manor. I expected this to be a part-time effort, but Metro-Atlanta snow kept me at home, allowing a full-time effort. My score is a bit less than half my first Jan NAQP Phone back in 2001, but the big difference seems to be in my scores on the high bands, so I'm going to blame the sunspots (or lack of them). My combined 40/80 score here beat my 40/80 score from Jan 2001, but on 20/15/10, it went the other way, which made the difference. I was glad to find 15 open when I got on at 1851Z, though it didn't seem to last long. One nice thing about the wide phone bands on 80/75 is that it's now possible for even us Bedsprings Brigade stations to find a place to run. I had one run of over an hour and another of maybe 30 mins, which is a good part of the reason that 80 ended up being my best band (as opposed to 2001, when 40 was my best band. The rate meter topped out at about 78. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NN4F Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 5,500 Well I knew I was going to have a late start due to running a VE session at 1pm, headed home after that and got to the QTH with 10 hrs left to operate, on arrival home, no power... turns out that in the heavy rain we were having someone left the road and took down a power pole abour 3 miles up the road. Power company finally got a new pole up and restored power with about 3 1/2 hours left, didn't want to let the team down, so made the best of the worst band conditions. 40 was almost unusable, 80 was just as bad, we had a severe thunderstorm sitting about 15 miles off the coast and that was producing static crashes at s9+40, so thanks a bunch to all that hung in with the say agains... Paul - NN4F - SECC Team #3 FT1000MP MkV 100watts 160m Dipole, 80M Inverted V, 40M vertical 80m Recieve loop Ridgeville, SC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NS3T Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 8,576 Sheesh, that seemed like a lot of effort for not many Q's. During the time I was on the air, I worked the bands until things got slow and then I switched over to VHF and worked the Jan ARRL contest for a little while. The usual family stuff got in the way along with kids puking, the XYL's birthday, a pre-contest antenna party and work, so I was just happy to turn the rig on and hit the transmit key. Congrats to the big guns as always. Your stories and photos are welcome over at my radio-sport.net contest web site on this and other tests. 73 Jamie NS3T http://www.radio-sport.net Your home for ham radio contest news ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NU5DE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 3,420 Spent a little too much time on 10, as the band was in and out. All other time spent on 20M. Total time worked was about 3 hrs. Effort of the Naturist Amateur Radio Club in McDade, TX. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NX5M Class: M/2 LP Total Score = 552,960 First time to do the January NAQP in about 3 years. Decision was not officially made until about 4 days before. The hold up was work on a new 160m beverage system. My goal was to at least get 3 of the new beverages operational in time and accomplished that Tuesday night....so we gave it a go. Sorry to some of you east/west guys that called on 160....the E and W beverages are up but not yet operational. I sure could have used them for some of you as I had to struggle to pull some of you out that were out in AZ. The other three, which are NE, NW and SE have pretty sharp patterns so hearing due east and due west was difficult. It got a bit frustrating to call people that I could hear pretty well only to have them never hear me. Discovered Saturday morning that the 80m phasing switch was acting funny. Finally concluded that it was a connector problem on the control line so with little time to make repairs I did the next best thing....opened up the box, went into the shack and soldered a pigtail control line directly to the relays, took it back out and just cut the connector off and hardwired it together. All was well after that. Whew. Everyone arrive here a littel over an hour before the contest so we went and had lunch, as planned, at a local restaurant. No one got into an operating chair until about 5 minutes before the start. Several people were nice enough to follow us thruough the bands. Several made the 6 band sweep...mainly from FL and other points in the SE states. See you again in August. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NX7TT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 48,990 Well I got to work 7 of the 10 hours so not to bad... condx were up and down...qsb was herendous. But did not do to bad.. Even got KO7X in the log.. got all the states except UT, NV, ND... Worked on 20 and 15 only..short skip was good towards dark and was fun. Did work one other from Idaho but hear others working inot Idaho but did not recognize the calls.. Wsa a fun contest. Looking forward to the new towers and antennas especially for the low bands.. C U next year. NX7TT Idaho Falls, Id ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3DF Class: Single Op QRP Total Score = 8,580 Took my off time early in the contest so I could work late on the low bands, did I ever get a surprise! Really can't tell you how I felt about all the QRN.... As usual, it's a jungle out there when you run qrp! 73, Doug VA3DF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA3DX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 78,912 A bit of a cold, voice gave out , gave the old MFJ-432 voice keyer a workout... Glad SSB test is over ..... Points for the CCO club.... Glenn VA3DX ( Glen in the contest ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VA7ST Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 475 Got on for just a few minutes each on 20, 40 and 80M. With the CW/RTTY band antennas turning 100W into rather insignificant ERP in the phone segments, some very big signals could only barely tell I was in there. A puny signal and mediocre conditions made for not much fun, so it was hard to justify putting in any time. A few other VE7s were on, so I didn't think BC would be a tough find. On the upside, I'm closer than ever to being SO2R-enabled (OK, not yet brain-wise) thanks to the scads of extra time I was able to devote to building stub filters :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3AD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 15,276 Condx gud, ops gud, lopts of fun ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3CX Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 52,029 Very noisy bands... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3GLO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 2,800 Poor conditions this neck of the woods, lots of QSB. Bob/VE3GLO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3NB Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 19,095 Between having the shack totally torn apart and all equipment removed for contractor work, was able to piece together the radio equipment. Bands were very noisy. 73, Mark VE3NB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3RCN Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,518 Only had 1.5 hours to play. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE3RZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 20,148 Noisy.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE4EAR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 30,030 Not a full out effort. Certainly conditions were much worse on the lower bands here compared to last year. I was late starting due to an extended shopping trip with the XYL. T^hen another 2 hour break to take the family out for dinner. Just when 40m was starting to open up too. The family didn't seem to understand (or care) about the optimum window for domestic 40m communications or the changing skip zones. Trying to guilt them into delaying dinner was not going to work on them! When I returned, 80m was a mess. high QRN and no place to try and run. Tried running several times at different spots but no one could hear me I guess. So 80m was strictly S&P. Couldn't even hear the boys in MN on 80! 160m was better than 80 for receiving. I could hear hundres of signals, very few heard me. I was using the 80m horizontal dipole so it is no wonder. Next year I will have a better antenna for 160. I was planning on stringing something up for this one, but the -42 deg C temps sort of changed my mind. Thanks for the Q's and the patience! Ed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE5CPU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 22,308 Battled a cold for 6 hours, but in the end the cold one. Thanks to all those who dropped by and exchanged QSOs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VE6CNU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 4,300 I didn't think I'd be on at all for this contest but managed to find a couple of hours near the end (about 7:30PM to 9:30PM local MST). 20m was almost dead by that time and then while on 40m my FT-1000MP decided to develop a new problem. While in the middle of a transmission the output suddenly was zero. I tried turning the rig off and on and this worked for a little while, but something was definitely intermittent and I haven't been able to find it yet. Without a backup rig in place I went to 80m and found the band condx even worse than 40m. In fact, the conditions in general seemed much worse than for the CW contest last weekend. Every now and then I was able to go back to 40m for 1 QSO before the output would die again. Anyway, still had a bit of fun and managed to work 100 QSOs. 73, Jerry VE6CNU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VO1HE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 8,900 Stayed on 15 too long I guess. Had some chores to do around the house and when I got back, 20 was dead. I don't like 40 phone unless it's to SWL to European broadcast stations and 80 was not great. 10 never opened at all. Better than last year though so onward and upward. Thanks for the Qs. 73 -- Paul VO1HE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: VO1KVT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 13,542 Band conditions were not all that good,but it was a nice way to pass away the afternoon making a fews Qs. 73 Ken,VO1KVT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0BH Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 165,804 The QRN made this hard work, but the rates made up for it. 15 was open to 4-land off the top and stayed that way for a couple of hours, but my attempts at running there obviously didn't pay off. Did catch KH6 just before the band closed for good. Nothing on 10 except for local. 20 was great for rate but mult-poor even though I spent lots of time there hoping that would change. The whole central US -- one, two, and sometimes 3 states away from KS were just not there. Finally hooked up with W9RE in IN for my one lone Q there on 20. I usually do better on 80 than 40 here, but this time I went to 40 early enough to do some damage. 80 was rough and I was missing most of the southeast until N4OX moved for me in FL. Decided I really needed the mults on 160 and maybe you all did, too, so took the rate and ear hit for as long as I could. Ouch. Overall, worked all states combined (AK on 20) and BC SK MB ON QC NB NF north. Very little DX. Thanks to those of you who moved for me .. everyone was great about trying, but the bands weren't very helpful this time. It sounds like we all survived, but just barely. Thanks for the fun anyway! 73, Bob, w0bh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0ETT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 58,760 20m was the place to be in this one. Had some good runs on 40m despite signals not being real loud. 15/80/160 were good for some multipliers as enough signals but sometimes had to copy due to poor condx. Glad to work GMCCers: KO7X, W0MU, K0EU all bds, K0RF, N0POH, K0UK, N0KE. 73 Ken, W0ETT Rig: IC756pro3 to HF yagis and 80/160m verticals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0MU Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 153,605 The lowbands were funky. 15m was open but nobody was on. Probably went to 40 too late. Missed ID on 75... Never heard ND, NE or ME and lots of VE's ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0RAA Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 35,428 Fun contest. New rig (FT-950) performed marvelously and I got many "great audio" reports. Had a power outage for 1 hour, 15 minutes, so lost some time, but it was fun, and my first SSB contest. I am more a RTTY & CW contester. I'll be back in 2009. Thanks to all who gave me a contact. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0YK Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 25,826 Wasn't able to get on until after work. Although it was late, 40 was a pleasant surprise with more to work than I expected. 80 and 160 were also a surprise, in the other direction. Thanks for the contacts. 73, Ed - W0YK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W1STT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 23,976 Great team hope to do again . I had a ball. See you guys next year! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3TD Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,421 Fritzel FD-4 Windom with add on coil and stinger for use on 160 meters. Center at 40 feet with ends at 10 feet. Coil consists of 130 feet of 14 ga wire wrapped on a 2" plastic conduit, with 9 foot of wire hanging out the end to make it resonant at 1900 khz. Result, works on everything from 10 to 160. 73, Dave W3TD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4BW Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 87,543 The NAQP is such a great contest with a good combination of operating time + good participation + strategy options to make it really interesting and fun. And this was no exception with plenty of participants. I think this is the most fun one I have with my 100w and 12-gauge antennas (hung in the trees of course). The only negative was plenty of noise here on both 80m and 160m. We had a winter storm (ok - a southern version at least!) blow though Atlanta Sat am and there was still quite a bit of noise left by late Sat night. Thanks for all the repeats I had to ask for. Bob - W4BW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4KAZ Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 41,552 "What a long, strange trip it's been...." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4LT Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 139,776 Rig : Kenwood TS850S/AT Antennas : TH3JRS @ 30 ft, Dual band trap inverted Vee @ 28 FT Software: N1MMLogger v7.12.2 Tremendous FUN!!! Missed HI and ND this time. AK called me twice. I had a productive run going on 20 when the WX radio went off to tell me we were under a tornado warning. Looked outside, lots of wind and rain... and serious lightning! Unplugged everything and had to stop till the WX cleared. It was wonderful to have 10 and 15 useful for a change, as it certainly helped my totals! These short 100 watt contests are a great! I did mostly runs and was quite successful not having to work around megawatt stations. I would find a band open, work all available stations, then pick a place and run till the rate dropped into the yellow on MM's display, move, then start the process again. I had piles on 40 and 20 4-5 stations deep for multiple minutes. I held run frequencies for over an hour at a time with respectable rates. I actually felt loud in this test... A new experience for me from my meager station. For example: 2008-01-19 1953 - 2352Z, 14293 kHz, 292 Qs, 73.3/hr W4LT 2008-01-20 0041 - 0319Z, 7195 kHz, 270 Qs, 102.2/hr W4LT I know you high power guys do this all the time, but this was a truly intoxicating experience for a low power Search and Pounce operator like me! 80 was trashed by QRN from the squall line that passed during the test. Too bad, I think I could have broken 1000q's if I could have actually HEARD on 80! -lu-w4lt- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4MR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 36,192 Shakedown cruise on SSB for new SO2R setup- Lots of bugs uncovered and worked out. A computer glitch caused random switching between the 2 radios. Sorry to those I dropped in mid-QSO when it switched! Good to see a lot of new calls on the air for this one. I took time out in the evening to go watch my NC State Wolfpack defeat Miami. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4PTS Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 5,775 Casual S&P, but had fun...15 was good for a while, then gone...80 was rough at night due to the line of storms that went through...lots and lots of QRM. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4SVO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 110,604 Contest started off good. 113 first hour. Bad weather came in later with a tornado watch. 80 and 160 very noisy because of storms.Still had fun though, but thought I would do better on 80. 160-Inv "L" 80-Wire vertical 40-3/8 Wire vertical 20- rectangular loop at 40 feet 15- 49' vertical wire fed with an L/C network. 10- 20 mtr loop OMNI VI+ Mark W4SVO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4WTB Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 134,460 Did not plan to operate at all this weekend .... But weather turned bad, We had light snow all day ...... very unusual for this part of NC ..So at 18:11 UTC, I decided to participate .... I wasn't really in the mood for 10 hours of contesting... but after a couple of hours ... I made a half-hearted effort and started having fun ..... and the rest is history .. Hi Hi !! Hour/UTC QSO's 18 42 19 91 20 10 21 125 22 85 23 40 00 55 01 115 02 104 03 109 04 19 05 35 Best Rates 30 min 81 Qso's 60 min 153 Qso's 120 min 238 Qso's ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W5WMU Class: M/2 LP Total Score = 606,621 What a contest! This was the 3rd time Pat has invited me to operate M/2 with him in SSB, and its always fun. We finally got things together this time around. I didnt park in the Extra band too long, didnt chat with everyone too long, and all the other things that I've learned from Pat. We started on 10 and 20, figuring we'd have enough time to work 15 in between. My run on 20 meters started with Keith, W3KB and I figuring who was going to keep the frequency. Thanks to Keith, he yielded to me which began a run that lasted until 5:30 local time, on one frequency. 5 and a half hours later, 20 began to die (early!!) and so I moved. It was an excitement for me that I've never experienced in RTTY contesting. All I did was shout at the mike and type in calls, THATS contesting! Pat ran 10 until it was dead, switched to 15 and ran it for a while, and then went to 40 early. Who ever heard of 40 meters at 3:30 in the afternoon?! However, there were stations there, and he worked them one after another. He popped around bands until I finally gave up on 20 and decided it was time to run 40. For the most part, I never moved from 40 the remainder of the contest. When it was over, we'd cracked 1100 q's on 40, which was just what we figured we'd need to compete. With only 2 guys in the shack, we're always lacking in the mult category. We dont have a mult spotter, and so we're left with making it up on rate. We need a mult spotter! For the most part, I ran both 20 and 40 with the antennas split NE and NW, never switching from that config on 20 and only switching on 40 if the noise was higher then the stations being worked. Signals would be gone one second and back the next, so sometimes antennas didnt help at all. It was just a matter of waiting a few seconds and the station was back. Pat said the noise on 80 and 160 was terrible, no beverages (that work) so it was hard fought the whole way. Things I noticed: Lots of dupes even early on. SSB lends to working stations out of order (I guess). That was my first ever pileup (like DX!!), so hopefully I handled it ok. I ususally caught the tailender, but as Pat and I talked today, I should have answered the tailender with the exchange. Instead I'd answer with the partial at which time they'd come back with the call and exchange, and thus throw the rythmn of the q out. Next time, partial with exchange, his exchange and qrz, 3 instead of 5. 20 died too early. Its hard to type when its cold (for Louisiana!) Worked several new upgrades! Congratulations to all of the /AG's out there! I congratulated them each time I worked a /AG and welcomed them to contesting, hopefully this means more contesters! Thanks to Pat for the invite, and thanks to all of yall for the qso's! 73 Charlie KI5XP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6NL Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 224,492 NAQP is still my favorite domestic contest. 80 and 160 were difficult this year. 15 was open but not much activity. The W6NL station played great and all the main antennas survived the big winds from a few weeks ago. Many thanks to Dave and Barb for hosting me at their fantastic station and for their support in preparing for this contest. 73, Rich, N6KT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6YX Class: M/2 LP Total Score = 261,280 Fun contest with conditions favorable on 15, 20 and 40 for the duration of our activities. 80 and 160 were a challenge until darkness settled in. We planned for a M/2 effort and just barely pulled it off with two station operators present. We probably missed a few mults that we could have pounced on had we been partnered with a spotting station or two. Thanks for the Qs and spots. See you at the NAQP RTTY event. 73, de N6CCH aka Rebar QSO/MUL by hour and band Hour 160M 80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total Cumm OffTime D1-1800Z - - - 92/30 110/26 - 202/56 202/56 D1-1900Z - - - 109/13 31/2 - 140/15 342/71 D1-2000Z - - - 100/2 43/6 1/1 144/9 486/80 D1-2100Z - - - 106/2 40/3 - 146/5 632/85 D1-2200Z - - - 79/3 55/2 - 134/5 766/90 D1-2300Z - - 54/29 72/6 4/0 - 130/35 896/125 D2-0000Z --+-- --+-- 124/11 50/1 --+-- --+-- 174/12 1070/137 D2-0100Z - 7/6 85/5 - - - 92/11 1162/148 D2-0200Z - 30/12 23/2 - - - 53/14 1215/162 D2-0300Z - 34/4 38/0 - - - 72/4 1287/166 D2-0400Z 14/7 25/3 21/1 - - - 60/11 1347/177 D2-0500Z 9/2 23/3 40/2 - - - 72/7 1419/184 D2-0600Z 1/0 - - - - - 1/0 1420/184 Total: 24/9 119/28 385/50 608/57 283/39 1/1 160M 80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total HR 1 1 K 24 116 370 561 265 1 1337 KH6 1 1 1 2 5 KL 1 3 4 KP2 1 1 PY 1 1 VE 2 13 43 12 70 XE 1 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7WHY Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 1,792 OK, now lets get back to the good modes :-) 73 Tom W7WHY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W7ZR Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 68,400 Oh the humanity of it! What a struggle. Maybe more fun in August? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W9RE Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 198,645 This was almost like work, tough conditions which included very long skip, atmospheric noise and line noise. If there would have been anything else to do I might have given up on this one. The cold temps (2 degrees at the end) really brought out my line noise problems on all bands. On 15 and 20 there were several mults that just couldn't hear me (even trying for 5 minutes or so). On the positive side worked a lot of Newbies, tried to sound friendly and encouraged them to come back. Thanks for the stations that moved for me that really helps my mults (remind me at Dayton and I'll buy you a beer). Probably worked more NA DX stations in this one then ever before but missed an easy XE on 40 and 80. Thanks for the Q's and the competition. W9RE January 2008 NAQP HOUR 160SSB 80SSB 40SSB 20SSB 15SSB 10SSB TOTAL ACCUM ---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- ----- 18 0 0 0 50 33 5 88 88 19 0 0 39 13 1 0 53 141 20 0 0 21 13 5 0 39 180 21 0 0 57 41 1 0 99 279 22 0 0 39 34 1 0 74 353 23 0 28 10 27 1 0 66 419 0 0 70 6 0 0 0 76 495 1 8 111 16 0 0 0 135 630 2 57 27 7 0 0 0 91 721 3 52 30 3 0 0 0 85 806 4 23 29 4 1 2 2 61 867 5 14 86 6 0 0 0 106 973 TOTAL 154 381 208 179 44 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA0KDS Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 125,120 Kenwood TS-850SAT; KT36XA at 60 ft; 40M2L at 65'; 80m Inv Vee; 15 and 80 seemed to me to be very poor this weekend. I did have two KH6 call me on 80M though. This is a FUN contest because by the time you get going it is over. Love these short contests. 73, Ron WA0KDS Arizona USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA2MNO Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 4,830 All I can say is we should have scheduled this contest for another weekend. Conditions where horrible from my QTH. Lots of QRN, very poor propogation to almost everywhere and to top it off computer problems that caused me to lose a few hours at the beginning of the contest. Then when I got on the air a few people advised me that they heard distortion on my signal. Tom/K3MRG said he would stay with me to allow me to try a few things to see if it helped clear up my signal. That was supremely nice of him to take 10-15 minutes of his contest time to help identify the problem. Thank you Tom !!! Another fine example of Ham Radio friendship among hams who have never even talked before. Thanks for Greg/K0OB, Jim/KE0L, Neill/NR0L and Bert/WB0N I was able to work and pick up some additions mults on 160-10M. Thanks guys! Many people would say "Gee, how surprising, another Dave from MN". While all the while they knew MN ops were honoring our dear friend Dave/KT0R now SK. 73 - Bob WA2MNO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WM3T Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 286 Too many commitments, not enough time. Bad band conditions caused a premature exit. Until next time! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WN6K Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 76,398 Had some family thing so I didn't sign up for a team but the beginning was the most fun. When I got back on, the low bands were extremely noisey and my lack of anything functional on those puney antennas caused me to suffer through Pig Farmers's Nets, Static Crashes and general malaize. Thanks for those that suffered through with me, WN6K, Paul - CA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WO4O Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 50,568 TU FER QSO. 73 RiC wo4o ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WW9R Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 72,064 Wow, That was a rough one. The first 5 hours were great fun and then the bands went long. 80 mtrs was brutal on the ears, 160 was even harder. If it was for all the old friends we get to work in the contests, it would have been un-bearable. Yaesu Mark V Gap Voyager for 40, 80, and 160 Gap Titan DX for 15 & 20 N4FJP software See you all in the 160 mtr contest next week. Pat WW9R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WX3B Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 47,483 Got to put a few hours into this one. Started off in late afternoon on 20m. For those of you calling on 20m and wondering why I couldn't hear you, the S9 noise floor of QRN stopped me from working any weak signals! I am optimistic that this problem will be solved in the near future. The low bands supported good propagation however I had terrible noise on 40/80/160. Still had a good time, and I enjoyed listening to WK4Y Roy run W4MYA's station on 75 meters. They had a bottomless pit of callers and I was envious! Hope everyone had a good time. 73, Jim WX3B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WX5S Class: Single Op LP Total Score = 169,155 Many thanks to my host N6RO! Index of Calls Call: AA4LR Class: Single Op LP Call: AA9DY Class: Single Op LP Call: AB4GG Class: Single Op LP Call: AC0W Class: Single Op LP Call: AD8J Class: Single Op LP Call: AE6Y Class: Single Op LP Call: AI4ME Class: Single Op LP Call: K0EJ Class: Single Op LP Call: K0EU Class: Single Op LP Call: K0FVF Class: Single Op LP Call: K0GAS Class: Single Op LP Call: K0KX Class: Single Op LP Call: K0OU Class: Single Op LP Call: K0RH Class: Single Op LP Call: K0TG Class: Single Op LP Call: K0UK Class: Single Op LP Call: K0WA Class: Single Op LP Call: K0WHV Class: Single Op LP Call: K1VU Class: Single Op LP Call: K1ZW Class: Single Op LP Call: K1ZZI Class: Single Op LP Call: K3IU Class: Single Op LP Call: K3LL Class: Single Op LP Call: K3MD Class: Single Op QRP Call: K3RWN Class: Single Op LP Call: K3TD Class: Single Op LP Call: K4AB Class: Single Op LP Call: K4BAI Class: Single Op LP Call: K4BK Class: Single Op LP Call: K4BP Class: Single Op LP Call: K4JNY Class: Single Op LP Call: K4KO Class: Single Op LP Call: K4NO Class: M/2 LP Call: K4OD Class: Single Op LP Call: K4WES Class: Single Op LP Call: K4WW Class: Single Op LP Call: K4ZGB Class: Single Op LP Call: K5ER Class: Single Op LP Call: K5KA Class: Single Op LP Call: K5NZ Class: Single Op LP Call: K5PI Class: Single Op LP Call: K5RC Class: Single Op LP Call: K5TR Class: Single Op LP Call: K6AM Class: Single Op LP Call: K6CSL Class: Single Op LP Call: K6GEP Class: Single Op LP Call: K6III Class: Single Op LP Call: K6LA Class: Single Op LP Call: K6LL Class: Single Op LP Call: K6MM Class: Single Op LP Call: K6QK Class: Single Op LP Call: K6ST Class: Single Op LP Call: K6TD Class: Single Op LP Call: K7UP Class: Single Op QRP Call: K7ZSD Class: M/2 LP Call: K8MR Class: Single Op LP Call: K9BGL Class: Single Op LP Call: K9CT Class: Single Op LP Call: K9GX Class: Single Op LP Call: K9NW Class: Single Op LP Call: KA1ARB Class: Single Op LP Call: KA1CQR Class: Single Op LP Call: KA1VMG Class: Single Op LP Call: KA2D Class: Single Op LP Call: KA4OTB Class: Single Op LP Call: KA6SGT Class: Single Op LP Call: KB3LIX Class: Single Op LP Call: KC4HW Class: Single Op LP Call: KC5R Class: Single Op LP Call: KD5J Class: Single Op LP Call: KE0WO Class: Single Op LP Call: KE1FO Class: Single Op LP Call: KE5OG Class: Single Op LP Call: KI0F Class: Single Op LP Call: KI4GUO Class: M/2 LP Call: KI4VEU Class: Single Op LP Call: KI9A Class: Single Op HP Call: KK1L Class: Single Op LP Call: KN3A Class: Single Op LP Call: KN4Q Class: Single Op LP Call: KO7X Class: Single Op LP Call: KR4F Class: Single Op LP Call: KS2G Class: Single Op LP Call: KS8O Class: Single Op LP Call: KT0DX Class: Single Op LP Call: KU8E Class: Single Op LP Call: KY5R Class: Single Op LP Call: N0BUI Class: Single Op LP Call: N0EOP Class: Single Op LP Call: N0IJ Class: Single Op LP Call: N0OJ Class: Single Op LP Call: N0POH Class: Single Op LP Call: N1BAA Class: Single Op LP Call: N1HRA Class: Single Op LP Call: N1IW Class: Single Op LP Call: N1SZ Class: Single Op LP Call: N2BZP Class: Single Op LP Call: N2ESP Class: Single Op LP Call: N2MUN Class: Single Op LP Call: N2SQW Class: Single Op LP Call: N2UT Class: Single Op LP Call: N2WK Class: Single Op LP Call: N3AD Class: Single Op LP Call: N3BM Class: Single Op LP Call: N3ZL Class: Single Op LP Call: N4NM Class: Single Op LP Call: N4OX Class: Single Op LP Call: N4PN Class: Single Op LP Call: N4RZ Class: Single Op LP Call: N4TCP Class: Single Op LP Call: N4VI Class: Single Op LP Call: N4XL Class: Single Op LP Call: N4YDU Class: Single Op LP Call: N4ZZ Class: Single Op LP Call: N6CK Class: Single Op LP Call: N6HC Class: Single Op LP Call: N6KI Class: Single Op LP Call: N6MJ Class: Single Op LP Call: N6NF Class: Single Op LP Call: N6QQ Class: Single Op LP Call: N6WG Class: Single Op QRP Call: N6XT Class: Single Op LP Call: N7RQ Class: Single Op LP Call: N8AA Class: Single Op LP Call: N9FC Class: Single Op LP Call: N9RV Class: Single Op LP Call: NA4BW Class: Single Op QRP Call: NA4K Class: Single Op LP Call: NB7V Class: Single Op LP Call: NC4KW Class: Single Op LP Call: NC7J Class: Single Op LP Call: ND0C Class: Single Op QRP Call: NE9U Class: Single Op LP Call: NG9R Class: Single Op LP Call: NG9T Class: Single Op LP Call: NJ8J Class: Single Op LP Call: NN4F Class: Single Op LP Call: NP3D/W2 Class: Single Op LP Call: NS3T Class: Single Op LP Call: NT0F Class: Single Op LP Call: NT4D Class: Single Op LP Call: NT6X Class: Single Op LP Call: NU5DE Class: Single Op LP Call: NX5M Class: M/2 LP Call: NX7TT Class: Single Op LP Call: VA3DF Class: Single Op QRP Call: VA3DX Class: Single Op LP Call: VA3WR Class: Single Op LP Call: VA7ST Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3AD Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3CX Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3DZ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3EJ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3GLO Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3HG Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3JI Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3JM Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3MGY Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3MIS Class: M/2 LP Call: VE3MPT Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3NB Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3OBU Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3RCN Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3RZ Class: Single Op LP Call: VE3UTT Class: Single Op LP Call: VE4EAR Class: Single Op LP Call: VE5CPU Class: Single Op LP Call: VE6CNU Class: Single Op LP Call: VO1HE Class: Single Op LP Call: VO1KVT Class: Single Op LP Call: W0BH Class: Single Op LP Call: W0BR Class: Single Op LP Call: W0ETT Class: Single Op LP Call: W0MU Class: Single Op LP Call: W0RAA Class: Single Op LP Call: W0YK Class: Single Op LP Call: W1KLM Class: Single Op QRP Call: W1STT Class: Single Op LP Call: W2OO Class: Single Op LP Call: W3TD Class: Single Op LP Call: W4BCG Class: Single Op LP Call: W4BW Class: Single Op LP Call: W4GHD Class: Single Op LP Call: W4KAZ Class: Single Op LP Call: W4LT Class: Single Op LP Call: W4MR Class: Single Op LP Call: W4MYA Class: M/2 LP Call: W4NTI Class: Single Op LP Call: W4NZ Class: Single Op LP Call: W4PTS Class: Single Op LP Call: W4SVO Class: Single Op LP Call: W4WTB Class: Single Op LP Call: W4XO Class: Single Op LP Call: W5WMU Class: M/2 LP Call: W5WZ Class: Single Op LP Call: W6EB Class: Single Op LP Call: W6NF Class: Single Op LP Call: W6NL Class: Single Op LP Call: W6NOW Class: Single Op LP Call: W6OAT Class: Single Op LP Call: W6TK Class: Single Op LP Call: W6YX Class: M/2 LP Call: W7TMT Class: Single Op LP Call: W7WHY Class: Single Op LP Call: W7WW Class: Single Op LP Call: W7ZR Class: Single Op LP Call: W7ZRC Class: Single Op LP Call: W8DA Class: Single Op LP Call: W8MJ Class: Single Op LP Call: W9RE Class: Single Op LP Call: WA0KDS Class: Single Op LP Call: WA2MNO Class: Single Op LP Call: WA4OSD Class: Single Op LP Call: WB1DX Class: Single Op LP Call: WC4V Class: Single Op LP Call: WM3T Class: Single Op LP Call: WN6K Class: Single Op LP Call: WO4D Class: Single Op LP Call: WO4O Class: Single Op LP Call: WW9R Class: Single Op LP Call: WX3B Class: Single Op LP Call: WX5S Class: Single Op LP Call: WZ8P Class: Single Op LP Index of Calls organized by Class Class: M/2 LP Call: K4NO Call: K7ZSD Call: KI4GUO Call: NX5M Call: VE3MIS Call: W4MYA Call: W5WMU Call: W6YX Class: Single Op HP Call: KI9A Class: Single Op LP Call: AA4LR Call: AA9DY Call: AB4GG Call: AC0W Call: AD8J Call: AE6Y Call: AI4ME Call: K0EJ Call: K0EU Call: K0FVF Call: K0GAS Call: K0KX Call: K0OU Call: K0RH Call: K0TG Call: K0UK Call: K0WA Call: K0WHV Call: K1VU Call: K1ZW Call: K1ZZI Call: K3IU Call: K3LL Call: K3RWN Call: K3TD Call: K4AB Call: K4BAI Call: K4BK Call: K4BP Call: K4JNY Call: K4KO Call: K4OD Call: K4WES Call: K4WW Call: K4ZGB Call: K5ER Call: K5KA Call: K5NZ Call: K5PI Call: K5RC Call: K5TR Call: K6AM Call: K6CSL Call: K6GEP Call: K6III Call: K6LA Call: K6LL Call: K6MM Call: K6QK Call: K6ST Call: K6TD Call: K8MR Call: K9BGL Call: K9CT Call: K9GX Call: K9NW Call: KA1ARB Call: KA1CQR Call: KA1VMG Call: KA2D Call: KA4OTB Call: KA6SGT Call: KB3LIX Call: KC4HW Call: KC5R Call: KD5J Call: KE0WO Call: KE1FO Call: KE5OG Call: KI0F Call: KI4VEU Call: KK1L Call: KN3A Call: KN4Q Call: KO7X Call: KR4F Call: KS2G Call: KS8O Call: KT0DX Call: KU8E Call: KY5R Call: N0BUI Call: N0EOP Call: N0IJ Call: N0OJ Call: N0POH Call: N1BAA Call: N1HRA Call: N1IW Call: N1SZ Call: N2BZP Call: N2ESP Call: N2MUN Call: N2SQW Call: N2UT Call: N2WK Call: N3AD Call: N3BM Call: N3ZL Call: N4NM Call: N4OX Call: N4PN Call: N4RZ Call: N4TCP Call: N4VI Call: N4XL Call: N4YDU Call: N4ZZ Call: N6CK Call: N6HC Call: N6KI Call: N6MJ Call: N6NF Call: N6QQ Call: N6XT Call: N7RQ Call: N8AA Call: N9FC Call: N9RV Call: NA4K Call: NB7V Call: NC4KW Call: NC7J Call: NE9U Call: NG9R Call: NG9T Call: NJ8J Call: NN4F Call: NP3D/W2 Call: NS3T Call: NT0F Call: NT4D Call: NT6X Call: NU5DE Call: NX7TT Call: VA3DX Call: VA3WR Call: VA7ST Call: VE3AD Call: VE3CX Call: VE3DZ Call: VE3EJ Call: VE3GLO Call: VE3HG Call: VE3JI Call: VE3JM Call: VE3MGY Call: VE3MPT Call: VE3NB Call: VE3OBU Call: VE3RCN Call: VE3RZ Call: VE3UTT Call: VE4EAR Call: VE5CPU Call: VE6CNU Call: VO1HE Call: VO1KVT Call: W0BH Call: W0BR Call: W0ETT Call: W0MU Call: W0RAA Call: W0YK Call: W1STT Call: W2OO Call: W3TD Call: W4BCG Call: W4BW Call: W4GHD Call: W4KAZ Call: W4LT Call: W4MR Call: W4NTI Call: W4NZ Call: W4PTS Call: W4SVO Call: W4WTB Call: W4XO Call: W5WZ Call: W6EB Call: W6NF Call: W6NL Call: W6NOW Call: W6OAT Call: W6TK Call: W7TMT Call: W7WHY Call: W7WW Call: W7ZR Call: W7ZRC Call: W8DA Call: W8MJ Call: W9RE Call: WA0KDS Call: WA2MNO Call: WA4OSD Call: WB1DX Call: WC4V Call: WM3T Call: WN6K Call: WO4D Call: WO4O Call: WW9R Call: WX3B Call: WX5S Call: WZ8P Class: Single Op QRP Call: K3MD Call: K7UP Call: N6WG Call: NA4BW Call: ND0C Call: VA3DF Call: W1KLM