Comments on: 2010 NAQP CW Contest Summary

By: Max

Max — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:50:14 +0000

Dave, came across your blog when looking for NAQP stuff via google… nice blog. I worked you in the Nov 2009 Sweepstakes. I’m glad you are out there working CW contests, but I have to say I was surprised to see you using a CW decoder??? I never envisioned someone on the other end not copying the code I’m sending in their head. A serious tip for you… toss the decoder and just eek it out in a contest and use your ears, you will be much happier in the long run and derive so much more satisfaction out of using your ears to copy the code. Plus your rate will go way up and you will be in a much better position to run and not just pounce on the guys running 30-40 wpm. Anyway, my two cents… sill gald to have you active though handing out Q’s!

Good Luck!

73 de NG7M

By: Tim N3QE

Tim N3QE — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:30:41 +0000

Nice write-up of your effort. Looks like somehow we avoided each other in the contest :-(.

Only three states that I didn’t get at all were Hawaii, Vermont, and North Dakota. Usually there’s some Hawaii participation (and in fact I heard KH6MB in the hour before the contest) but I didn’t hear them. I worked three different Alaska stations on 20M.

Conspicuously missing from my list of Candian provinces worked was BC. I heard them working others on 20 and 40 but somehow I never worked them.

Like you, I scoured 20M (and I did 15M too) for the first 4 hours or so of the contest.

By the time I switch to 40M at 5PM local time it had already “gone long” and while I worked the midwest and west states over and over again, I somehow missed out on almost all the East Coast multipliers. When I tried 40M later circa 8PM the NAQP activity had pretty much dried up.

I had a really good rate going on 40M but it was interrupted by ice skating and making supper :-).

80M was the meat and potatoes band, just like my previous NAQP efforts. Someday I’m going to get a rig that’ll do 160M. My rate on 80M just went up and up and up through the night… I had kinda expected it to plateau and then drop down. Towards the end many many west coast stations worked on 80M, they weren’t loud, and I had to ask for several repeates on some, but they were workable.

Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
——————-
160:
80: 328 47
40: 116 35
20: 110 27
15: 16 6
10:
——————-
Total: 570 115 Total Score = 67,830

By: K2DSL

K2DSL — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:03:31 +0000

Thanks for the comment Scot. If I look at the overall contest, the top states worked were:

CA 36
FL 22
TX 18
CO 18
TN 17
PA 17

On 15m these were all contacts:

CA 3
OR 2
NM 1
ID 1
FL 1

On 20m the top states were:

CA 21
TX 11
CO 10
FL 9
AZ 7

On 40m the top states were:

CA 12
FL 8
WI 7
TN 7
CO 7

On 80m the top states/providences were:

PA 13
ON 9
TN 9
IL 8
OH 8
IN 8
GA 7
WI 7

By: Scot R. Morrison

Scot R. Morrison — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:03:17 +0000

A task well executed and an excellent score given interesting conditions as Cycle 24 continues creeping upward.

I note short haul propagation east of Mississippi in your numbers on the low bands contrasting against high band activity. My 20m production extended as far east as Texas with sectional multipliers 1, 2, and 3 virtually non-existent. However long haul propagation on 40m made a difference in my score.

A job well done and best going into ARRL International DX season.

73
KA3DRR