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The NAQCC Milliwatt Challenge Final Results: Call QSO pts Certificate Prize W3IK 82.0 1st Rockmite Kit, Enclosure, Crystals K1YAN 48.0 2nd KB3AAG 39.0 WY3H 31.5 N8XMS 28.0 KC2EGL 24.0 W2JEK 21.0 VK4JAZ 5.0 K3WWP 5.0 K7ZNP 4.0Soapbox: WY3H - Fellow QRPers. In regards to the NAQCC January Challenge: Make as many QRPp (milliwatt) QSOs as possible, I have decided to submit my final score early and see if anyone tops it (and I hope at least several people do). As of Jan. 20 I had exactly 31 QRPp QSOs, one for each day of January. Two were duplicates. I worked one station three times and another twice. In all I worked 14 SPCs: DE, GA, MA, MD, MI MS, NC, NH, ONT, PA, PR, SC, TN and VA. The shortest QSO was 8 minutes and two of the longest were 32 and 30 minutes respectively. QRPp QSO No. 30 was with KJ4BUQ, in Kinston, NC for 30 minutes. I had a QSO with John, K3WWP, that lasted 32 minutes. My QRPp effort garnered five new FISTS numbers and also I managed to collect 12 Area Code numbers for the FISTS "Phone CW Challenge" (now there's an oxymoron for you). If you don't know what the FISTS "Phone CW Challenge" is, visit thte FISTS Website. (The NAQCC will also present its own special award to the first NAQCC member to collect 100 Area Codes and apply to the FISTS award). There was one QSO I found rather amusing and that was with KU4AF, John, in Pittsboro, NC. John was running a K2 at 12 Watts when we hooked up. i told him I was QRPp at .800 Milliwatts. I think he may have questioned my power level becasue right after our initial exchange of information he asked me to stand by while he went QRP to 5 watts. From the get-go John had a solid 599 RST(at the 12-watt level). When he went QRP to 5 watts tehre was absolutely no change in his signal strength andi told him so. So then he went QRPp to 700 Milliwatts. Only then did his signal strength drop - but only a bit. i gave him a solid 579. If John wasn't a "believer" before our QSO, I'll bet he is now. By the way, i am sending a QSL card to everyone I worked in the challenge. Each card will have a small label offering free membership in the NAQCC and is printed with the NAQCC's URL. As an NAQCC officer I am not eligible for the QRPp Challenge prize, but any non-officer is. Whoever turns in the greatest number of QRPp QSOs made in January, 2009 receives a RockMite 40 and a hookup kit free of charge. Who will the winner be? It could be YOU! Best 72 to all, Tom K3WWP - Heavens, I almost blew it. I had forgotten you needed 5 points to get a participation point until Mike KC2EGL and I looked at the rules yesterday. No big deal. I got on around noon today (1/26) and made 3 QSO's easily in about 45 minutes with my 930 mW output power. That plus 2 earlier in the month gave me the participation point, keeping my record perfect. That was all I was shooting for since the month has been just too busy to try to challenge for the most mW QSO's. My best mW QSO during the month didn't count since it came in a contest. I worked NM5NM in New Mexico in the NAQP for state #47 with mW power, leaving only(?) ND, AK, and HI for a mW WAS. Hey, I just had a great idea. How about the overall winner of a challenge gets to do all the bookkeeping and web site work for the NAQCC during the following month. Then I'd have a lot more time to actually get on the air. HI HI :) KB3AAG - Lots of fun! I found that i worked the same areas that I normally work! SoIt seems the half watt gets out just like 5 watts! Most all were replies to my CQ on 7.111 and a few when I moved due to the broadcast noise. I feel a good showing for just a few hours on nine days of the month. Fourteen states on a penny whistle! Even QRPP works out of this holler. By the way I worked a 90 year old and finished with a fine half hour rag chew with KC9BSP a recent new NAQCC member! Whats up fer next month John? Frank N8XMS - I made 28 QRPp contacts at 900 mW, mostly on 40 meters, with no duplicates or contest QSOs. Many of them were solid ragchews. I worked 16 different states and my greatest distance was with N7EF in WA, 1911 miles away from my QTH in MI. That's good for about 2124 miles/watt. N7EF later sent me a digital video of his end of our QSO and it was a lot of fun to actually hear my own fist on the air! After seeing and hearing the video I can definitely say that the real credit for a QRPp contact should go to the one on the receiving end with the great "ears!" The QSO that I enjoyed the most was with WA2WIW. I was his first contact in 23 years! He gave me a 579 and was amazed at what 900 mW could do. I always love those "gotcha moments" when I finally tell a QRO station the power that I am running! K1YAN - A total of 47 contacts, consisting of 1 DX ( France ), 17 states and 3 provinces using 500 mW and a half size G5RV at 30 ft. About a third or so of QSOs were from my CQs. Calling other stations who were S8 or better ( with a 100 watt, S8 station, my 500 mW should be around S4 ) resulted in about 80% answers. For signals much below S8 the response rate really dropped off quickly. I think that a few of the QRO guys were surprised at my 500 mW power since I got a few " UR PWR AGN ? " comments. Hope to see this event again with some better band conditions so we can chase some DX on the higher bands to add to the totals. VY 72/73, Gary W3IK - What a lot of fun, especially working Hawaii on 40m, Alaska and Denmark on 20m, Puerto Rico on 30m, and Bahamas and Canada on 80m. How ironic, here I am running half a watt, and the guy in Hawaii is running a kilowatt with a yagi on 40m! I am beginning to think 500 milliwatts is too much power; because generally most of the stations I called --- I worked. Eighty meters was the best overall band with great conditions. I worked 80, 40, 30, 20, and even a short Sporadic E opening on 10m. Here's a suggestion: Why not a QRP-P-P Event with less than 100mw? That would be a fun challenge too. See you all in the next contest. John W3IK, Gray, TN NAQCC# 150. VK4JAZ - Thanks for running such a 'challenging' challenge. Not many cw ops in my city and making any contact is really challenging. Anyway, got my 20m RockMite and 80m Pixie 2 out and had a ball. Only made 5 qso's but all were good. Wonderful to use milliwatts again. My usual rig (most powerful) was out of the question because it boasts 3W, so too powerful. Attached are some pics of my 100% QRP station in Brisbane, Australia. (I'm trying to get Grant to let us use those pictures and make him one of our featured members for April - K3WWP) Regards that thanks once again. Grant KC2EGL - This month's mW challenge was a blast. Some local ham's give me the 'ole' double take when I tell them how well mW power works. And they nearly faint dead away when they hear that I have made a few QSO's at 500mW or less. They respond by saying " I thought the bands were dead?" I reply with " they are if you are trying that other mode that requires a hand thingy" Hi-Hi!!! I did fall 7 QSO's short from last years total. That was because I was involved in a month long special event with my other CW club. I am the W3 coordinator for that group and January is a very busy month for me. I still had plenty of time for hamming it up on the air. 73 Mike W2JEK - lots of fun. had 16 qso at 900 mw. five were rag chews of 14 to 17 min. learned how to best use my tuner to minimize hash generated by nearby bc stns that made 80m a mess for my ohr-500. 72 and 73 don younger w2jek #1135 PREMISE: Very simple. Make as many QSO's as you can using milliwatt power (less than 1 watt) and a simple wire antenna. TIME FRAME: Jan 1, 2009 0000Z through Jan 31, 2009 2400Z RULES: By Tom WY3H. Make as many QSO's as possible using milliwatt power at any time during the month on any band(s). IMPORTANT: This time, NO contest or sprint QSO's count with the exception of our NAQCC monthly sprint (and our special 160M sprint). All other QSO's must be regular QSO's. No running up totals with scheduled QSO's with a local friend either. Point value: A QSO with a USA or Canadian station - 1 point A DX QSO as follows: Caribbean or Central America - 1.5 points Europe or South America - 2 points All other continents - 3 points These point values are geared to United States and Canada stations. Should we get entries from any other country (we usually don't), we'll consider adjusting those point values accordingly for that entry. All QSO's must be INITIATED and finished with milliwatt power. No starting with higher power, then reducing to milliwatt levels. AWARDS: A certificate goes to the two members making the most QSO points. PRIZE: A RockMite 40M transceiver kit along with all the connectors, etc. to make a complete rig goes to the non-officer member who makes the most points. This prize is made possible by generous monetary donations from club members. On top of that, Rich N4ESS of Expanded Spectrum Systems is donating a set of crystals for 11 different frequencies in the 40M band. IN CASE OF A TIE, THE WINNER WILL BE SELECTED IN A DRAWING. PARTICIPATION AWARD AND WEB LISTING: You must make at least 5 QSO points and send in a report to get a Participation Point and a web listing. LOGS: For your report, list the stations you worked, the power you used, and your points total. You may also include comments about the challenge. Please preface any comments you want posted with "SOAPBOX:" so we will know what you want posted and what is private. Send your results to: E-mail:  You must type that address into your email program. Subject must read: (your call) NAQCC (month) Challenge For example: K3WWP NAQCC June Challenge Postal mail: John Shannon, K3WWP 478 E. High St. Kittanning, PA 16201 All entries must be RECEIVED before Feb 10, 2009 at 2400Z. |