2005 Results

On the other hand, the solar weather deteriorated on Sunday.  That was the real story of the weekend.

The number of logs jumped slightly to a total of 299, with 133 from New England and 166 from non-W1 entries.  The number of QSOs reported was 38,719, down 22% from 2004.    All 67 New England counties were active again, and logs from nine mobiles showed 115 counties - in increase over 2004's 86 counties.

The contest got off to a good start with pretty decent conditions. Within a couple of hours the K-index moved from 3 to 4 to 5 then 6 as a significant solar storm arrived. When the contest restarted in the morning, the K-index was at 7 and stayed there for several hours before dropping to 4 for the last several hours. What is the K-index? Check here: http://son.nasa.gov/tass/magnetosphere/ob_kp.htm

When the K-index gets to 5, a geomagnetic storm has started, and HF propagation deteriorates.   At K=6, aurora should be seen in northern VT NH and ME.  A K-index of 7 should generate auroras as far south as Massachusetts.   Reports from stations in northern New England indicated blackouts and very poor propagation, while in southern New England it was a little better, but propagation was still quite poor for much of the contest.

The strong storm was the root cause for the decrease in overall QSOs, with 15m and 10m suffering the most.    Sunday was particularly slow with little east-west propagation.   From New England it seemed like the only stations available to work were W4s.    The final results show that those in the southeast took many of the top spots.

The graphs below show that the hourly totals for everyone suffered because of poor conditions.   For an interesting comparison, these same two charts were included in the 2003 results.

W1NY/m sets new NEQP Record!
(unofficial for now but…)

On May 7th & 8th Steve, N1SR and myself set out to put our club call in the record books. I don’t know if this rates up there with the W1NY VHF scores in the past but we had a great time. Steve (now known as Mad Max) drove while I sat at the table in back of his E-150 van and tried to work at least one station in each county we visited. The old record for maximum number of counties activated was 24. We had a route that ‘should’ take us though 34 counties. We felt that was both attainable and high enough to ensure success.                

N1SR (Mad Max) at the wheel!   -->

Well, propagation was not our friend and neither was the weather. Cold, windy & rainy outside Saturday and a geomagnetic storm on Sunday were the major challenges. When all was said and done, Steve drove 1202 miles over the two days, we made 140 contacts (about 60/40 phone/CW) and visited 39 (yes 39) counties! What didn’t go to plan? Lots of ignition noise hampered us and a noisy computer power supply didn’t help either. Band conditions really dropped off Sunday and we were only hearing the strongest of stations. The plan was to end up in Nashua, NH at 8:00 PM on Sunday. What did go right? Steve did a super job of driving (accident & ticket free I might add), the rig/computer/software worked FB and we managed to exceed our goal by 20%. Oh, one more thing. If you ask us we will tell you we ‘really did’ want to visit L.L.Bean, that’s why we ended up in Lisbon Falls, ME at 8:00 PM Sunday!

I hope everyone had a chance to work even a few contacts during the contest. We listened for everyone but only managed to work NE1C in Essex, VT for a few contacts Saturday evening. Don’t forget to turn in your logs so you will have a chance at the HCRA sponsored plaque. Thanks to Tom, K1KI and friends for putting together a great QSO party. Our goal next year — 45 counties!!
Steve, N1SR & Jim, KK1W

USA/VE/DX results

Check here for detailed results -->  Score detail
and for band-by-band info for the leaders -->  Band-by-band

Check here for detailed results --> Score detail
and for band-by-band leaders -->  Band-by-band

Andy/K2LE/1 came out on top of the single operator high power results this time with 125,330 points, making 755 CW QSOs and working 83 multipliers from Bennington County VT - he says he never did work anyone else in his own county.  Mark/K1RX edged out Dave/K1ZZ for second place by a 89,700 to 88,750 point margin.  Dale/AF1T put in a big effort with 1057 SSB QSOs for the fifth spot, just behind Ken/K1EA in fourth.

Randy/K5ZD was the operator at AK1W, in the single operator low power category with nearly 700 QSOs and 86,317 points.  Good efforts from Pete/W1RM at 69,000, Mike/W1JQ at 67,080 and Joe/NY1S at 60,200.    W1JQ appears to be working his way up the list - tenth in 2002, seventh in 2003 and 2004, and now third in 2005...     Two single operator low power husband and wife teams made a splash this year, with Anne/WB1ARU edging out OM Tony/WA1ENO with one less QSO and one more multiplier, and Barry/WB1EDI ahead of YL Mary/N1OZF.

The single operator QRP category in New England was captured by John/KO1H with 126 QSOs and 17,368 points - while setting a Rhode Island record.   Why is he called "the bubafish"?      Second place went to Pi/K1RV in Massachusetts at 8,052 and third to Steve/AA4AK in Maine.

State records were set by K1FQ(+N1FQ) for their multi-operator effort, K1JB's SOHP entry, and AA4AK's QRP score - all three from Maine.  As mentioned before KO1H has a new RI QRP record.   The team at NE1C established a multi-operator record from Vermont. 

Despite the poor conditions, there were more than 50 records set in various categories in different New England counties.   For a closer look, check out the NEQP records page  --> records

Who worked all of the counties in each New England state?

Congratulations to N4PN for working all 67 counties in New England - for the third time, and no one else has done it once! K1GU/4 and WA1FCN/4 found 63 of them, N4BP/WN1GIV found 62, and N4CW snagged 61.   SOLP-mobile KA0GGI/m worked 52 of them, and QRP K4LTA was able to put 51 of them in his log.