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QSO PARTY CHALLENGE


Previous Years

2023 Soapbox

Latest Soapbox

Mar 16 & 17, 2024
Virginia
Will NQ2W #4839
VAQP - Not a lot of time during the second day. I liked the later op time Saturday evening local time for 80m QSOs. Mobiles did a great job copying my station. Serial numbers added some challenge to the exchange. 73, Will, NQ2W
Chris KU4A #1960
Managed to double my QSO count from last year. But it took a lot of BIC (butt in chair) time, and I had to give up a couple hockey games to do it. Anything for science!
Brent WT4U #9019
I considered running up to VA for this one, but it's a long drive and I had too much going on. Beat last year's 52 by 2. If they'd have kept it going another hour or two I might have doubled that, as the real action for me was on 40 and 80m in the evenings and a good chunk of my Sunday Qs were when I was able to get back to the shack for the final 15 minutes of the event.
Ernie N2DGQ #11090
Since I am in NNJ, 40 Meters was only the band for me. I occasionally went to 80 Meters but heard nothing there. Unfortunately having only one band to work, once you have worked those stations, that's it. Many stations parked themselves on 40 and did not move.
I did notice there were several Virginia stations moving from county to county. I did not work them again as I used the common rule of work once per band.

Earlier Events

Mar 9 & 10, 2024
Oklahoma, Idaho, & Wisconsin
Bob N2EIM #10373
OK and ID were difficult to reach from NJ.
Chris KU4A #1960
Idaho becomes the first contest this year that I had fewer QSOs than last year, 9 vs. 10. But otherwise I am well ahead of last year's QSO count. Love those sunspots.
Stan K3PW #9637
This was a tough weekend for me. Storms rolled through on Saturday with some lightning close by for a while so that was lost time. Also, ID gave me a lot of problems. All of the ID stations I heard on my vertical were just above the noise and most with pileups. I did outlast pileups a couple of times to make the required two contacts. One thing for sure is that hunting for contacts at QRP power levels is teaching me patience. It also makes the victories pretty sweet!
Will NQ2W #4839
OKQP - Like most QPs I was in and out of the shack when I had a few minutes. Lots of OK participants. The mobiles did a great job!
IDQP - More than doubled my QSO count from last year. Worked 3 of the 4 bonus stations. Never heard a dit or a dah from K7P.
WIQP - Seemed like good participation from WI folks. Mobiles did an awesome job!
Steve NI8W #11335
Conditions on 20m were challenging here, which made ID especially difficult. 10m was much better and provided most of my ID QSOs. OK was about the same as last year, but my WI count was way down. Fortunately 40m to WI picked up in the late afternoon. There seemed to be more big pileups than usual, and patience was definitely a virtue.
Ernie N2DGQ #11090
I worked all three SQP's. I didn't work too many stations from Idaho. But OK, & WI was very active at my QTH. It was a challenge to differentiate each state with my desktop logger.
Looking forward to the VA QP this weekend, and making a move up from my current ranking.
Don VE3DQN #5846
It was "casual" operating for me this weekend. But the thrill was working ID--3000 km from my QTH--on three bands, 15, 20, and 40. The magic of working stations at that distance at QRP power to a low dipole never ceases to amaze and thrill me.
Brent WT4U #9019
I wasn't getting ID until I tweaked the RBN settings and chased them that way. Didn't get much radio time after making sure I had my multipliers, but WI stations were plentiful any time I spun the dial. Finally sat down Sunday evening and made half my QSOs in the last 30 minutes of the WI Party.
Feb 25 & 26, 2024
South Carolina & North Carolina
Will NQ2W #4839
SCQP - In and out of the shack throughout the day. Enough activity to keep it interesting but it seemed like in-state participation was a little sparse. I like the per band multiplier rule because it invites stations to try all the bands.
NCQP - I only had the latter part of the day to participate. Lots of activity and the mobiles were moving from county to county at a decent pace. Seemed like there was always someone new to work.
Steve NI8W #11335
I found a lot of activity for both of the Carolina contests and was able to better my scores for both compared to last year. I, too, like the format of having one on Saturday and the other on Sunday.
Don VE3DQN #5846
I approach these SQPs casually, but somehow, once I'm on the air I get drawn in. Maybe with the next QSO I'll work a new country :-) For the SCQP I wonder if I'll work a county where my in-laws live. [Richland, I didn't.] The highlight in the NCQP was working Brent WT4U in Madison Co. He had a solid strong QRP signal here in eastern Ontario, as he was perched up on a bluff 500 ft above a river. Good work, Brent!
Ernie N2DGQ #11090
My wife and I take our annual trip to Orlando Florida during the SC and NC QP. We stayed in a Hilton Resort in Orlando, unlike last year where we were on the top 15th floor, this year we are on the 14th floor so I had to lean my QRP Guys vertical on the balcony railing. See picture in the March Newsletter. For the SC QP I only worked the first hour and last hour unfortunately no one heard my punny signal. But for the NC QCP that was a different story. I had good results with the "sloping" vertical @ 5W and SWR of 1.2:1.
Brent WT4U #9019
Worked a few in SC, but had a busy day and wasn't able to get on in the evening.
Sunday I drove across the border to NC and hiked up a mountain. A few technical difficulties, but it turned out to be a good spot with 170 QSOs in a little over 3 hours. The POTA spot and rare rural county helped. Was tickled to work Don and a few other NAQCC friends.
Feb 3 & 4, 2024
Vermont, British Columbia, & Minnesota
Chris KU4A #1960
The "season" is off to a good start for me. I improved my QSO count in all three (MN, BC, VT) vs. 2023. I'm hoping band conditions stay good so I can smash my totals from last year.
Bob N2EIM #10373
MNQP - Was great. VTQP - very few stations heard in central NJ. BCQP - made most of my contacts in the last 2 hours.
Ernie N2DGQ #11090
QSO Parties are a sign of warm weather to come, so therefore I'm glad to start the QSO Party season. I was able to work the MN and BC Parties, but I could not hear any VT on 40 Meters. I am in NJ so the higher bands will not work. I think most of them were working only phone QSO's. I was able to attain the silver level last year. I'm Looking to advance to the next level of Gold.
Will NQ2W #4839
A busy weekend of SQPs. At times it was tough to decide where to concentrate my limited radio time. MN and BC were quite active. VT was a little sparse here but I was able to get it LoTW confirmed on 20 and 15m getting me closer to 5 band WAS QRP CW. Unfortunately, I was just too weak to complete a 10m QSO with a VT station. It's always fun trying. Thanks to the SQP organizers for the opportunity.
Steve NI8W #11335
Band conditions were very noisy here all weekend, but I was still able to beat my last year score for MN. The number of BC and VT stations I could hear and work was way down from last year. Still, it was a good start, and I'm looking forward to a fun year of contests.
Don VE3DQN #5846
I'm glad I spent time at the beginning of the VTQP on Friday evening to catch the early starters. VT being so close to my QTH, my only chance is to get them on 40m or 80m. (I didn't try 160m.) I got the multiplier for all three parties, but I'd forgotten that the MNQP was Saturday only, so missed the chance to rack up points. Glad to hear good activity from BC; I have the impression they got more stations on the air this year compared to previous years.
Brent WT4U #9019
No luck hunting VT on the low bands Friday night, but had no trouble grabbing all 3 events when I got back on late Saturday morning. All the action was on 15 & 20m, and the easiest pickings were BC.
Stan K3PW #9637
Even though I've been a member of NAQCC for some time, I'm a new CW operator and a new QRP operator. After 6 months of consistent practice and increasing proficiency, in December I decided 2024 was the year to go all in. I had a great first weekend and got a big charge out of working BC from ME with only 5 watts and a vertical. Not a lot of contacts for the first weekend, but I learned a lot and looking forward to the next bunch of parties!
Ron VE3SIF #10033
It was fun hunting stations from the three QSO parties. I had the best luck with MN on both 40 and 20. VT stations seemed few and far between for me but managed to contact a few. Only three contacts with BC, all on 20. I was using my FTDX10 at 5 watts into an end fed half wave. For the next SQP I might try the QRP Labs QMX transceiver.