2011 Soapbox Comments

Writeup | New England Scores | Scores from Outside New England | Breakdowns of Top Stations | Soapbox Comments

W/VE Stations Outside New England

AA3CS – Had a great time, hope to do more next year.

AB5XZ – Good contest except for logger setup error at first.

AE4O – Ten Tec Eagle @ 90W to horizontal loop up 50 feet

AI4PY – Next year I plan to work the contest and will run a separate contest log. I had not planned to work this years contest as much as I did, but I just kept running across stations.

K3MD – Quite difficult at times with 7 area contest, IN contest, QRP contest, ARI, microwave sprint all going on at
same time.

K3TW – Greetings from my new QTH in Florida where there is a huge propagation advantage to New England compared to my former Maryland QTH. With just an 80m dipole antenna, everyone is strong here, so at times activity from the 7th Area QSO Party dominated the bands. Special thanks again to the mobile stations for activating rare counties and to the many fixed stations who found time to participate.

K3TX – Activity – at least CW – didn’t seem very good this year.

K4GOP – New Hex Beam = More Contacts

K6CSL – I never found ME. Oh, well. It was fun anyway.

K7LFY – We concentrated on the 7QP contest and worked what we could hear including some NE QSOs. We did notice that there was a LOT of activity in the NE party and thought that you guys were having good participation.

K7NJ – Great fun. Looking forward to next year.

K8MR – Too many contests on Saturday. Sunday I was on the edge of propagation on 20 meters. Not much daytime activity on 40. So it was pretty slow, but I kept plugging.

K8VFR – Too many QSO parties on at the same time,, plus Mother’s Day! I’ll do better next year.

K0GEO – NEQP is such a fun QSO Party! Thank you very much for the Q’s, see you next year and 73.

KA8HDE – I had fun participating for a limited time.

KE4KY – I had fun chasing the NEQP guys around….on CW only. Wish I could have worked more counties.

KE5FXE – I had a wonderful time!!! See you in NEQP next year!

KE6IUE – Thanks for the opportunity to explore NE from California!

KK5NA – Always a fun event. Rig K3 Ant EDZ @ 55′

KQ1X – Interesting challeng this year with great band conditions. Europe and west coast were as strong as east coast!

KV8Q – Operated the three QSO’s parties simultaneously using the N1MM IN7QPNE module. Then sorted everything out using Excel. Started at 1300UTC with the 7QP and pulled the plug around 0400UTC with 400 QSO’s. A very interesting method of wearing the knobs off the radio. Never got on the NE Party on Sunday. Thanks to everyone for all the Q’s and the fun. Hope to see you all next year.

N2WN – Well, could have been worse but it wasn’t. QSO number not too horrible, but lack of band choices and not being able to catch many mobiles early on hurt multiplier count. K1KI did his usual outstanding job. Managed a couple with W1VE and K1JB provided a number of need multipliers. KX9X and K1DG were also worked.

N4ARO – Missed working Sunday due to Mothers Day company and festivities.

N4PN – Great QSO party as always… Thanks to all that came out to the party… Thanks to the mobiles lef by Tom, K1KI. Tks Joe, K1JB, for back-tracking to give me my last one for the sweep …

N4RWH – Great Contest. Mother’s Day interfered with Radio time but it was still a great contest and a great Mother’s day.

N6AN – Happy to help out the participants. Thanks for the Qs and New England mults.

N6WIN – NEQP was a lot of fun. Thanks for putting together such a nice QSO Party.

N7TP – Need more Maine and Vermont counties!

N7VPN – Had fun in the contest. First time using WriteLog. See you next year.

ND3R – Had alot of fun. Could only work it for a limited time due to other engagements but still a great contest. See you all next year.

ND6S – Lots of FUN. Hope I worked a few new Counties. Thanks to ALLeven the 7’s. Lotw and eQSL to all

NO2D – Mother’s Day weekend activities took precedence, but I did manage to make a few contacts. As a former New Englander, one of my favorite cw events. Thanks.

NQ2W – Had a great time once folks started using 40 meters…don’t have an antenna for 80 meters yet so I missed out on any possible contacts there. Signals were strong and plentiful during the last hour of Part 2 of this great QSO party. Thanks to all the participants that heard my QRP signal and thanks to the organizers. Hope to hear you all again and more next year.

NU6N – Fun!

NW5Q – Thanks for a fun contest!

VE3HUR – For some reason I make a lot of really dumb mistakes in this contest!

VE9DX – Just too many things going on this weekend. It’s now 30 – 50 watts max and verticals. HFV9 and a MA160v + a low dipole on 80.

W2UDT – I only opeerated Sunday between various chores. My wife came home Saturday from a week in Delaware and wanted to go out for dinner. Of coourse I said “Yes, Dear” and that’s why I was able to operate Sunday and am still around to submit the log! CU all next year!

W4JHC – Thanks. Great contest.

W4UCZ – Well, that was fun! Conditions from Georgia permitted easy contact with the Yankees at any time on some band. With 85 unique stations in the log there was plenty of them to work – although Sunday afternoon was sort of a dead hog in a pirannha pond for the “fresh meat” stations. Hats off to the omni-present cotillion chief Tom, K1KI, for 16 QSO’s and
for getting all the debutants out of the powder room and on the air. I was licensed in 1958 but in all my time-in-grade have never worked Suffolk County, Massachusetts (Boston, emmm, ‘proper’) … maybe 2012.

W6ONV – 2nd year in the NEQP, beat my 2010 score and had a great time!

W6PH – Curtailed operation due to Mothers’ Day commitment.

W7HO – I was working the 7QP but made several contacts with folks working the NEQP.

W8KNO – Worked outside both days of the QSO Party so I was not a big player. Worked phone on Saturday and CW on Sunday. Three new counties to show for my effort. Thanks to everyone who worked me or made the event possible.

W9EWZ – What a great contest weekend. Great fun. Thank for all your efforts.

W9QL – I had a good time again this year, scoring a little better than last year with a good run right at the end. It’s always fun trying to operate the NEQP along with a couple other QSO parties at the same time. Hope to see you again next year.W0PQ – 5 watts, K1 & G5RV up 40 ft

WA1FCN – Started out as single op non assisted, but after a couple hours decided to go assisted. I rarely op assisted so this was fun. seemed like the number of mobiles was not what they usually are. Also it seemed like I had to work harder to get Q’s. I thot 10 would produce some qso but no luck there either. Lost one tower in last weeks storm but main one still fine.

WA4JA/m – Worked a few while going and returning from work.

WA5SWN – I got a clean sweep – worked at least one station in all six New England states!

WA6KHK – We spent most of our time on the 7th Call Area QSO Party this year so that I could get as many of those counties worked as possible (353 QSO’s). I had to quit 4 hours early because of Mother’s Day family gathering. We managed to break 10,000 before we had to leave. Thanks to the NE ops who spent time on 15 meters. Let’s try to get 10 meters going next year!

WB0TEV – Worked all 3 QSO Parties. First time to use a logging program (N1MM)

WC7S – Great fun, seeing friends, and meeting new. Props were great. Thanks to all who make this possible.

DX Stations

DM3ZF – only one new county, but nw Maine as full house for USCA – tnx for all contacts – cuagn next year.

EA3LD – See you later in the next NEQP 2012

EA6AZ – Great conditions to EA6, 73

ES1WST – Very nice conditions this year, at least compared to 2010: 31 QSOs vs. 2 QSOs in 2010. 15m and 20m were still open to NE the first night near midnight local time. Added a hexbeam which helped a lot in many ways including reduced ARI interference. Still QRP, however (FT-817). Tnx for the enjoyable contest!

HA2MN – Due to poor propagation status in the firs hours of the QP I did not see much hope to have at least 25 Q’s this year. Fortunately condx changed a bit so more and more NE stations could be logged even though a good number of them stayed as well on the edge later on. 15 m brought new Q’s but no new counties though 40 m did. I heard some more mobiles but for a very short period that was not enough to operate them. All bands were operated by the same end-fed 21 mtrs long wire antenna. I may also try fone next year if condx improves. Many thanks for Q’s, see you next year! Rig TS-530SP 100W ant: end-fed wire, 21 mtrs long above flat roof.

IV3AOL – RTX Yaesu FT817 5 watt, antenna G3TXQ Hex Beam for 10/15/20, dipole for 40/80

JA9CWJ – Thanks QSO, See you next year 73 “yoshi”

LA3RK – Nice to hear so many W on 20 m with nice signals. No problem to get thru with my 100 W and vertical.

PG2AA – Again great fun during the QSO party. Good activity on the bands. Lots of mobiles with new countries to fill the logbook! Used a FT897D and 40W and a dipole antenne.

New England Stations

AB1FY – Man, that was a great time. 320-something qsos, 41 different areas, and I’m getting dozens of qsl cards. Pretty cool. Appears that I was the only guy putting Waldo County on the map, I could be wrong….

AD1L – Great fun! My continued thanks to all who make it happen year-after-year. Next year we might be cruising toward the peak of the solar cycle, which could add additional opportunities; a wide open 10m band would be a gas.

AE1T – Limited operating time due to other commitments. But, fun while it lasted. More time & SSB next year.

AJ1G/m – I was just “playng’ in the NE QSO party, and did not keep a log. All contacts were made using an Elecraft K1 at no more than 5 watts on 40 and 20 from a mobile setup in my Volvo Cross Country with a Hamstick clone on the roof rack. QRP mobile rocks!!! I’ll have to start being more serious about the logging…in the last few hours I have giving out the AJ1 mult on 20 in the CW WPX, again with the K1 in the mobile…lots of fun…..the K1 RX is incredible….

AK1W(K5ZD) – Couldn’t spend much time, but did try to get on as much as possible.

K1BV – Conditions were only fair, but the contest was fun as usual.

K1DG/m – Very casual operation…threw the 706 on the front seat, plugged into the cigarette lighter, plopped the 20M mag-mount/hamstick on the rear deck of the car, and drove around for a few hours in 5 counties Sunday afternoon from 5 PM to the end of the contest. About 125-150 Qs, paper logged, and only a few while in motion. Surprised to have several Europeans call in. Also surprised when N4PN said I was as loud as some of the fixed stations. Was getting ready for a dash to BELNH to help my pal NF4A get his sweep, but he got one while I was still in MA. Some day I will do this for real.

K1DNX – I have to get a logging program, it must save hours.

K1HT – It was a pleasant surprise to be called on 15 by Europeans: 1 in the 22Z hour on Saturday and 7 in the 21Z hour on Sunday (especially since my antenna was pointed west). I had time only for a limited effort (2 hours 18 minutes).

K1KEK – Thanks again for a great contest!

K1KI/m – Nice weekend, saw one moose, one turkey, one rainbow, one hillside with hail, one flooded road, snow in NW Maine. Trip went along some very nice scenery along northern Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Saw Quebec two miles away. Stopped in several nice places for meals. Very nice trip before tourist (and bug) season!

K1LPS – Lots of people with Mother’s Day activities, etc. I had family company, and other distractions myself. Overall… there was plenty of activity, including from the other QSO parties… and even some in the ARI and other DX looking for counties.

K1MQ – QRP getting harder each year. Too many high power stations. Better than last year, but not by much

K1PU – Didn’t gat the chair time I wanted (10 hrs) due to Mothers day. Not a record setting score but not to bad for limited time. In all a real nice NEQP for 2011.

K1RX – XYL was away all weekend and was left to my own devices (not good)! Conditions were good the first day but rather poor the second day. 15 had some life on occasion. Never worked so many WA state guys in my life! Ran into a few equipment problems which as annoying but hey, its only a QSO Party! Thanks for all the QSO’s and hope you enjoyed yourself this weekend!

KA1WPM – After last year’s contest I promised this year would be different. I haven’t been working HF in a while now and had to get used to operating again. At first I was having low output problems like last year, but after tuning up the rig a little more carefully I was back to normal. 20 meters gave me little joy this year, but 40 meters was a completely different story. In one evening I operated every state in New England, which I had never done before. I had several contacts in Rhode Island, which has always been elusive for me. Rhode Island and New Jersey have filled the holes for WAS on the east coast. I may be a little pistol when it comes to contests, but it is always gratifying to be able to give someone that last county. This was probably my most succesful contest yet! See you next year.

KB1QYS – This was my first contest. Wish me luck!

KB1VIB – First of all, thank you for organizing such a great contest. This was really my first contest since getting my ham license (again) earlier in 2011. While I was very active when I had my previous license (as a kid), I just got back into Ham Radio and this contest was great. I was able to work my remaining states for WAS (mixed), and I’m only waiting on one QSL card to submit it. Now, I’m onto trying to complete my WAS on CW and SSB — I know that if I get close, I can count on the NE QSO Party next year!! I had a great time. I wish the conditions were a little better the 2nd day, but it was great to hear how open 40M was on Saturday night. I was running a barefoot rig (Kenwood TS-480SAT) with 3 Dipoles – 40M 1/2 wave for 40M and 15M; G5RV Jr. for 20M; and 80M 1/2 wave for 80M — all of them are up between 15 – 25 feet…..so, I was really happy with my score!

KB1T – First ever participation in NEQP, as normally away 1st w.e. in May. Sorry to find apparently no multiplier credit of any kind for working other NE counties. That would make it more fun and encourage community within the NE states.

KI1M – Enjoyed operating in the contest again this year, but my operating time was severely shortened due to mandatory Mothers Day visits!!

KK1KW – Had a real good time ,even went past the operating dead line, wasn’t watching the clock and stations kept calling me, hi !..

KM1G – My first serious concert effort in 30 licensed years, and I learned more than there’s space to say. Many thanks to patient stations for QRS when I tried to run them on CW.

KX9X/m – Just wanted to let you know how much fun I had in the NEQP. I’ve always been busy with other commitments to truly participate, but being in NH for the weekend made it possible to put forth an effort. The mobile category was much more fun than I anticipated. The pileups I had from Orange, VT and Grafton, NH were really excellent. 213 QSOs from 5 counties in about 7 hours of op time. My decision to go mobile was a last-minute one and I didn’t have much success getting logging software up and running, so I logged on paper this time. This was a good time.

N1AIA – Planned on spending more than 15 minutes in the contest, but family first. Happy Mother’s Day!

N1API – Wow! Some good runs on 20 meters and one pretty good one on 15 meters Sunday afternoon. 10 meters disappointed again, but this has got to be a personal best for me for two bands only. The 7QP and ARI were a big boost Saturday.

N1ABY – Had a great time! Most counties ever and second best score. See ya next year!

N1DC – Thanks to Tom and all the NEQP organizers and award sponsors for another fun event. I had very limited time on Sunday due to mother’s day (didn’t get started until 4:30 PM EDT). I would like to lobby for a permanent move away from mother’s day weekend going forward. I was on pace to set a new Norfolk county record and perhaps a repeat of the SOLP MA and New England wins from 2010. I came close to last year’s score with a lot less hours. It will be interesting to see how the score holds up. I was hoping for better conditions on 10/15 this year. What happened to the sunspots? Surprisingly, 15M sounded very quiet on Sunday around 2200, but calling CQ provided about 15 QSO’s including several S9+ west coast stations. Never heard anything on 10M, but wished I could have tried mid-day Sunday. Saw the rate meter hit 154 for the first time. I worked 5 stations during the same minute at one point. Great fun trying to pick out calls in the QRM. Thanks for all the QSOs and extra effort by many DX stations calling through QRM. Station: TenTec Omni 7 running 100W Antennas: 10/15/20 4 element @ 35ft, 80/40M dipoles @ 40 ft Computer: HP Pavillion running CT (Maybe the last contest for this old workhorse)

N1EVK – First attemp in the NEQP. This is the first contest that I’ve entered since 10-X in the late 80’s. Yaesu FT-901 DM, 100 Watts 20M Attic mounted dipole.

N1FD – WB1ADR Lee, and 10 year old harmonic KA1RON Aaron had a lot of fun on 20m SSB together. Aaron got the rate meter up to at least 60 Q’s per hour! A big thank you to the contest organizers!

N1JW – Finally got CT logger to work 4 hrs into the QSO party. thot I had it working the day before! Logger would not accept 5 char section, only 4, ansd needed to copy state first (CTHAR not HARCT) to recognize the section.

N1MD – Last year I was in Iraq war zone — no radio for me! This year back in US but in Washington, DC so worked the contest from the OTHER side! Great time and nice to hear all my friends and YCCCers!

N1NN – 4th New England QSO Party

N1ORK – Only was able to operate 07:46:36 hrs, but had fun.

N1OXA – Did better than last year, only worked 9.5 hours. Which I could have don’t more. My goal is todo WAS in this contest. Maybe next year

N1QLL – Thank you and the NEQP team for the beautiful certificate (2010), now hanging on the wall of my ham shack. I had hoped to compete vigorously using my newly-completed K2 but Murphy conspired against me this year and I only worked 84 stations, at an average rate of 52 per hour. There was one bright spot, though. I have been hunting Hawaii for WAS for more than a year, beaming 100 watts in that direction and begging for a QSO to no avail. Out of the blue during the NEQP my little K2 snagged KH6LC and I almost fell off my chair! WAS (all CW) is in the bag, with DXCC to follow shortly. What a great hobby! And thanks again. See you in 2012, better prepared I hope…

N1SUZ – I had so much fun! I just earned my General’s license last month and this was my first contest! Thanks for putting this great event together!

N1SV – Between yardwork and Mothers day I knew chair time would be in short supply. I did manage to squeeze a couple of yours in late Sunday afternoon though. Sort of crappy conditions but felt like I was fresh meat wherever I went.

N1WXQ – Great time.

NB1N – Thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in this event.

NJ1T – Happy to take part again this year but just couldn’t match last year . . oh well. Not too shabby for a deaf guy haha. 73 and see you all on the air

NK1S – I really enjoyed the contest, and I beat my own personal record! Great participation in the contest, too! Thanks to the organizers.

NZ1U – CW only effort. For the most part, one of the 3 operators were on-board for the full effort on Saturday. NR1X powered through the Sunday action, solo. Thanks for the QSOs and the great activity.

W1BHC – Good QSO party!

W1DYJ – Not as good as last year.

W1END – Was rather busy this weekend. Had a road race plus Mother’s Day dinner on Sunday. Conditions were so so.

W1HIS – One wire antenna, 21m (70ft) long and 6m (20ft) high, for all bands.

W1NG – Having the contest on Mother’s Day weekend really put a damper on my available operating time. Maybe you can consider avoiding that weekend in the future. Thanks for all your hard work and see you next year.

W1NQT – I found conditions challenging.

W1TO – Only limited time available after returning from Hawaii. Hated to miss most of the contest. I managed to get on for a short period to keep my streak of participation alive.

W1UJ – Operated from NZ1U on Saturday, and had domestic/Mom responsibilites on Sunday but was able to get in within the last hour on Sunday. 23:17 Was my first contact, 23:59 was my last contact with W1UE. Thanks for the QSOs.

W1VE/m – I’d say about 350Qs or so, 5 counties activated. I could only operate Saturday as I had Mom’s day commitments. I found activity way down. When I was in BEN VT, could hardly scare up anyone, and I thought that was a pretty rare county. Everyone kept asking me about WNH VT… yeah, kind of confusing. I heard more activity from 7QP than from NEQP. I use hamsticks, but no 80m stick. I went on 80 for a few minutes, and took about 20 feet of wire from the top of the 40m hamstick to a tree. It loaded, and worked about 10Qs. Big Sigs/Good Ears: K1GQ, K1RX, W1UE, NE1QP, N4PN. Heard a bunch of others around the band, but they never called me and I did not find them again. I usually stopped to run guys, but also was doing some operating while driving down the road (laptop over the tranny shift, paddle on my left leg.), however, I don’t recommend doing that.

W1VEH – I know I am way behind the times, but this is the first year that I have used a logging program. I really liked the convenience or entering and keeping track, plus the printing out of the log.

W1WIU – Another great year of meeting old friends and making new ones. Nice to hear many RI stations on this year. Had to take most of Sunday to help the kids and grandkids celebrate Mother’s Day. Got to get the priorities in order Hi Hi. Had lots of stations needing RI for awards. Glad to help. Hope to see you all next year.

W1YRC – I am not a contester. But, it was surely fun.

W1YW – NEQP was a fun contest though. Thanks for making the contest happen.Sure makes more sense than a state QSO party!

W2JU – Thanks for all the Qs!

WA1N – Had fun with a last minute rush on 40m Sunday.WA1Z – W6PH and I had plans to team up this year in the mobile category, but three weeks before the contest my car was involved in an accident in Washington DC (no one was in the car at the time and no one else got hurt). I had hoped to get the car back in time for this weekend, but it was not to be. Back on the road in 2012… Activity was awesome on Saturday. It was a bit slow going most of Sunday. Grabbed the Heil headset and played on SSB when things got really slow. Thanks to everyone for the QSOs and for making this contest a lot of fun. And thanks to K1KI and everyone else involved in making NEQP a great QSO party.

WA1ZAM – could’t get mm to work right after the contest started got help from Dave k1ttt so I got it working then the nascar race start back to the tv and sunday was a Harley Davidson day can’t contest when it’s nice. ic-7000 50 watts into a “home depot special” at 20 ft.

WB1HGA – I wish I had more time. The bands were very good. I really enjoyed this one.

WB1Z – We ended up only setting up one transmitter and kept that sucker running the entire weekend. Had a blast and I have to say that I think this is probably one of my favorite contest/radio events of the year. You really have set this up to be a fun event.

WK1L – All contacts using NVIS antenna. I was only able to operate on Sunday, but I enjoyed the contest very much.

WQ1I – Our most exciting contact that night was Hawaii, KH6LC. First time either of us worked Hawaii. There he was calling CQ, no pileup, very easy contact. Go figure. We had lots of fun but it was draining! I need to work out before the next one.