by Tom Frenaye, K1KI – frenaye@pcnet.com
Writeup | New England Scores | Scores from Outside New England | Breakdowns of Top Stations | Soapbox Comments
Introduction
Thanks for another successful New England QSO Party weekend in 2015 – we received 414 logs, with 38 from DX stations, 13 from Canada, 224 from the USA, and 139 from New England. The combined logs had 61,100 QSOs included!
There were 421 different New England stations reported from 66 of the 67 New England counties – no one was on from Martha’s Vineyard (Dukes County). Three stations managed to work 66 counties – Paul/N4PN, Bob/WN1GIV, and Charlie/NF4A. Bob/WA1FCN worked 64 counties using low power as did Chris/K5LH with 63. Vic/K9UIY logged 61 with his QRP entry, and Dima/UA3AGW found 61 from his Moscow location.
Propagation
There were no big storms during the 2015 NEQP but it wasn’t completely clear sailing either. Propagation is always best when the K-index is at 0 and it hovered at 2-3 for most of the contest period. This led to poorer east-west conditions but the stations from the southeastern USA seemed to have the best of it all. Even so, totals on 15 and 10 meters were down considerably as sunspots also declined.
| Valid QSOs | 80m | 40m | 20m | 15m | 10m |
| QSOs made by W1s | 2,882 | 15,675 | 21,064 | 2,537 | 63 |
| Different stations worked | 394 | 2,180 | 4,019 | 743 | 45 |
| QSOs made by non-W1s | 1,065 | 5,685 | 8,865 | 873 | 3 |
| Different stations worked | 81 | 191 | 364 | 113 | 3 |
Mobiles
NZ1U/m was the callsign used in the Barnstormers Contest Group’s multi-operator mobile effort, with Jay/W1UJ and Kim/N1WK on a long distance trip through 32 counties in four states, smashing the record they set last year by visiting 9 additional counties and increasing their score by 14%. Oh yes, they set record scores in 17/32 counties as well.
Bob/WA1Z/m and his driver Kurt/W6PH made QSOs from 22 counties and came close to his own record with more than 1400 QSOs, but fell just a bit short of besting his low power mobile record set in 2013. His QSO total was the highest of any stations in the NEQP.
Other active mobiles included Jeff/WC4E operating K1M/m through 21counties in much of MA, some of SW New Hampshire and most counties in Vermont. This was Jeff’s first trip through much of New England after moving to the Boston area. Dave/KM3T/m took the time to tour 15 counties, Dick/N1RLR/m parked on the state line of MA/NH and gave out one county in each state, while Roger/W3US/m found a quiet spot in NW CT to spend time on the side of the road handing out QSOs.
Outside of New England, Dave/N9FN/m and Mel/KJ9C/m made a bunch of W1 QSOs while they participated in the Indiana QSO Party, and Dick/K4XU operated N7XU/m in Oregon for the 7QP doing the same.
Thanks to all of the mobiles!
USA/VE/DX Results
Check here for detailed results –> Score detail
and for band-by-band info for the leaders –> Band-by-band
USA Outside New England
Paul/N4PN finished first in the single operator high power category once again, but his 504 QSOs and 66 counties (51,546 points) were challenged closely by second place finisher Bob/N4BP who operated as WN1GIV and worked 444 stations in 66 counties for 49,962 points. Bob was just 15 CW QSOs or 30 SSB QSOs behind Paul. Charlie/NF4A pulled in third with 348 QSOs and 66 counties and 38,412 points. All three missed working Dukes County MA (Marthas Vineyard) where there was no activity for the first time in a NEQP.
The southeast was the place to be in 2015 as Hal/N4GG came in fourth in the high power category. Bob/K2DSW secured fifth place from Iowa, and Bob/K5KPE was 8th out of Arkansas. Bud/AA3B grabbed ninth place from close-in Pennsylvania, while Hank/W6SX was the top west coast participant, coming in 12th.
Bob/WA1FCN in Alabama topped the single operator low power scorers with 397 QSOs and 64 counties worked for an even 40,000 points. That was just eight CW scores short of the record set by WN1GIV the previous year. Chris/K5LH from Texas was close behind for second place, followed by Paul/W8TM, Steve/NA4K and Mark/KI0I. Steve/NA4K also earned the distinction of having the largest number of QSOs with no errors in his log, earning the Golden Log plaque again this year.
Vic/K9UIY continued his dominance of the QRP category with 228 QSOs and 61 counties, improving on his score from the previous year. Dave/WN4AFP and Ron/W4UT grabbed the second and third place positions.
The San Diego Contest Club team at NX6T led the multi-single entries with 197 QSOS in 52 counties, up from their 2014 score.
Canada
Claude/VE2FK doubled his 2014 effort with the top single operator high power score and another Quebec record with 10,948 points) while Alan/VA1MM had 10,500 points to comein first among the low power entries.
DX
Dima/UA3AGW operated through some tough conditions to earn the top DX single operator high power spot from his Moscow location, with 218 QSOs, 61 New England counties and 26,047 points.
He was followed in second place by Jan/SM5DJZ from Sweden with 15,168, then George/UA6LCN with 14,256 points. Sam/LY5W from Lithuania was the low power leader with 221 QSOs, 60 counties and 24,840 points (a new low power DX record), followed by Axel/DL6KVA from Germany with 10,584 points.
A number of new records were set, and a couple of logs came in from countries we had not received logs from before.
Asians Andrei/RZ0AF, Yoshi/JA9CWJ and Mehmet/TA5FA all beat their own previous high power records with their 2015 scores. European high power records were set by Jarmo/OH2BN, Chris/LA8OM, and Jack/YO3GNF, and low power records by Dimitar/LZ2FM, Marco/I1EIS, and Michal/OM3DX. Marco/XE2S set a new record from Mexico as well.
For a full list of current records –> Records
New England Results
Bill/K1GQ earned the top spot among the single operator high power operators. His 1110 CW QSOs and 94 multipliers built a 208,680 score. Bill even worked 61/67 New England counties along the way. Tom/K1KI from Connecticut was second with 174,700 points, just edging out Paul/N1BUG who had a score of 171,424, making 974 QSOs from rare Piscataquis County ME. Dale/AF1T came in forth with 1,367 SSB QSOs and 136,700 points from NH. Both K1GQ and AF1T had 100 multipliers in their logs to top all entries.
The biggest category was single op low power, with 82 entries from New England. The leader was Sandor/NB1N from Middlesex County MA who topped the list with 624 CW QSOs and 89,856 points, just ahead of Mark/K1RO at 86,549 from NH and Ed/K1GGI at 82,786 from Cape Cod MA.
All new England states were represented in the very competitive top ten low power scores. Dave/N1IX in NH was fourth, Karl/K1KX was fifth from Kent County RI, followed by Lenny/KB1W from western Massachusetts, Rick/N1DC who is in Norfolk County, south of Boston, then Dan/W1QK from Fairfield County CT, Bob/W1EQ in CT and tenth was Zach/K1ZK from VT.
The top New England QRP score was generated by Tom/AA1CA from southern New Hampshire. He caught the attention of 228 others for 21,056 points.
John/W1XX and Bob/K1XA teamed up for the leading multi-operator entry with 529 CW and 1260 SSB contacts totaling 264,252 points from Rhode Island, edging out the NE1QP crew at K1TTT in western Massachusetts who had 847 CW and 392 SSB QSOs.
There were nineteen New England records set from home stations in various categories,, plus another 25 by mobiles. Check out the NEQP records page for details –> Records
Club Competition
The Alabama Contest Group took first place for the second year in a row, just ahead of the Tennessee Contest Group. Bob/WA1FCN and Charlie/NF4A led the way for the ACG. Joel/NA4K and Dick/N4ARO led the TCG effort.
Non-New England Club Scores
| Club | Entries | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama Contest Group | 6 | 105,731 |
| Tennessee Contest Group | 12 | 100,579 |
| Florida Contest Group | 5 | 74,975 |
| Potomac Valley Radio Club | 10 | 62,014 |
| Mad River Radio Club | 8 | 56,322 |
| Society of Midwest Contesters | 9 | 51,713 |
| Georgia Contest Group | 1 | 51,546 |
| Swamp Fox Contest Group | 3 | 36,423 |
| Heart of Texas DX Society | 1 | 36,036 |
| South East Contest Club | 3 | 32,677 |
| Frankford Radio Club | 4 | 26,431 |
| Vytautas Magnus University Radio Club | 1 | 24,840 |
| San Diego Contest Club | 1 | 17,472 |
| Northern California Contest Club | 6 | 16,374 |
| Metro DX Club | 2 | 11,770 |
| Contest Group du Quebec | 2 | 11,173 |
| DFW Contest Group | 3 | 10,515 |
| Maritime Contest Club | 1 | 10,500 |
| Arizona Outlaws Contest Club | 7 | 9,540 |
| Beemster Contest Club | 1 | 9,400 |
| Kentucky Contest Group | 2 | 9,286 |
| Mississippi Valley DX/Contest Club | 2 | 9,093 |
| Central Texas DX and Contest Club | 1 | 7,854 |
| North Coast Contesters | 2 | 7,584 |
| Candlewood Amateur Radio Association | 1 | 7,488 |
| Kansas City Contest Club | 1 | 7,240 |
| Yankee Clipper Contest Club | 3 | 7,188 |
| Louisiana Contest Club | 1 | 6,474 |
| L’Anse Creuse Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 6,200 |
| Mother Lode DX/Contest Club | 2 | 6,177 |
| Lafayette DX Association | 2 | 5,952 |
| Notheast Wisconsin DX Association | 1 | 5,624 |
| Vasterbergslagens Sandar Amatorer | 1 | 5,460 |
| Contest Club Ontario | 1 | 5,396 |
| Croatian Contest Club | 1 | 5,358 |
| South Texas DX and Contest Club | 1 | 4,968 |
| ORCA DX and Contest Club | 2 | 4,674 |
| Bavarian Contest Club | 2 | 4,516 |
| South Jersey Radio Association | 1 | 3,960 |
| QSY Society | 1 | 3,672 |
| Gloucester County Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 3,640 |
| Iowa DX and Contest Club | 1 | 3,328 |
| Minnesota Wireless Association | 2 | 3,213 |
| Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 3,069 |
| Radio Club of Redmond | 1 | 2,784 |
| Louisiana Contest Club | 1 | 2,640 |
| QCWA Chapter 91 | 1 | 2,580 |
| Rochester DX Assoc | 1 | 2,450 |
| Southern California Contest Club | 2 | 2,094 |
| Colorado QRP Club | 1 | 2,080 |
| Radiosport Manitoba | 2 | 1,946 |
| USS Wisconsin Radio Club | 1 | 1,914 |
| SP Contest Club | 1 | 1,672 |
| CW Operators Club | 1 | 1,518 |
| Oshen Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 1,380 |
| Balaton Radioamateur DX Club | 1 | 1,334 |
| Central Oregon DX Club | 1 | 1,330 |
| Central Texas DXCC | 1 | 1,050 |
| Arkansas DX Association | 1 | 918 |
| Pottstown Area Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 910 |
| Southeast Contest Club | 1 | 850 |
| Willamette Valley DX Club | 1 | 741 |
| North Carolina DX & Contest Club | 1 | 696 |
| Bergen Amateur Radio Association | 1 | 640 |
| Idaho DX Association | 1 | 528 |
| Queen City Emergency Net | 1 | 435 |
| Botkyrka Radio Amatorer | 1 | 336 |
| Nortex QRP Club | 1 | 288 |
| Radio Club of Tacoma | 1 | 264 |
| Daviess County Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 210 |
| Lilly Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 55 |
| Black River Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 42 |
| Niagara Frontier Radiosport | 1 | 2 |
New England Club Scores
| Club | Entries | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Yankee Clipper Contest Club | 59 | 2,923,455 |
| CTRI Contest Group | 9 | 483,525 |
| The Barnstormers Contest Group | 1 | 149,472 |
| Contoocook Valley Radio Club | 2 | 136,750 |
| Merrymeeting Amateur Radio Association | 3 | 52,015 |
| Meriden Amateur Radio Club | 3 | 34,047 |
| Hampden County Radio Association | 4 | 32,868 |
| Nashua Area Radio CLub | 1 | 15,876 |
| Granite State Amateur Radio Association | 1 | 9,225 |
| YO DX Club | 1 | 7,840 |
| Potomac Valley Radio Club | 1 | 7,659 |
| Saint Albans Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 3,648 |
| Northern California Contest Club | 1 | 2,322 |
| Barnstormers Contest Group | 1 | 1,562 |
| Straight Key Century Club | 1 | 936 |
| Piscataquis Amateur Radio Club | 1 | 546 |
| Falmouth Amateur Radio Association | 1 | 364 |
| WPI Wireless Association | 1 | 49 |
Activity by County
| County | QSOs | Stations |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | ||
| Fairfield | 612 | 27 |
| Hartford | 1175 | 31 |
| Litchfield | 96 | 11 |
| Middlesex | 144 | 5 |
| New Haven | 337 | 23 |
| New London | 541 | 11 |
| Tolland | 662 | 11 |
| Windham | 310 | 3 |
| Massachusetts | ||
| Barnstable | 632 | 17 |
| Berkshire | 1133 | 9 |
| Bristol | 262 | 13 |
| Dukes | 0 | 0 |
| Essex | 412 | 23 |
| Franklin | 68 | 4 |
| Hampden | 495 | 23 |
| Hampshire | 317 | 12 |
| Middlesex | 1365 | 48 |
| Nantucket | 110 | 4 |
| Norfolk | 1291 | 27 |
| Plymouth | 607 | 11 |
| Suffolk | 201 | 7 |
| Worcester | 781 | 30 |
| Maine | ||
| Androscoggin | 85 | 5 |
| Aroostook | 84 | 4 |
| Cumberland | 457 | 10 |
| Franklin | 51 | 1 |
| Hancock | 45 | 2 |
| Kennebec | 188 | 6 |
| Knox | 61 | 2 |
| Lincoln | 62 | 6 |
| Oxford | 488 | 4 |
| Penobscot | 352 | 9 |
| Piscataquis | 541 | 6 |
| Sagadahoc | 213 | 4 |
| Somerset | 42 | 2 |
| Waldo | 64 | 3 |
| Washington | 57 | 3 |
| York | 104 | 4 |
| New Hampshire | ||
| Belknap | 82 | 6 |
| Carroll | 626 | 5 |
| Cheshire | 160 | 9 |
| Coos | 83 | 3 |
| Grafton | 195 | 11 |
| Hillsborough | 550 | 23 |
| Merrimack | 301 | 12 |
| Rochingham | 1489 | 25 |
| Strafford | 361 | 10 |
| Sullivan | 419 | 5 |
| Rhode Island | ||
| Bristol | 342 | 8 |
| Kent | 467 | 10 |
| Newport | 747 | 11 |
| Providence | 491 | 22 |
| Washington | 617 | 9 |
| Vermont | ||
| Addison | 132 | 6 |
| Bennington | 348 | 4 |
| Caledonia | 35 | 4 |
| Chittenden | 335 | 7 |
| Essex | 154 | 3 |
| Franklin | 111 | 3 |
| Grand Isle | 34 | 3 |
| Lamoille | 332 | 4 |
| Orange | 80 | 3 |
| Orleans | 351 | 3 |
| Rutland | 72 | 3 |
| Washington | 323 | 6 |
| Windsor | 73 | 5 |
| Windham | 274 | 3 |
Certificates!
Digital (Adobe PDF) certificates will be emailed to everyone who made at least 25 QSOs. If you want a paper certificate, please let us know. We hope you’ll be back again in 2016 to earn another one!
Plaques and Special Awards
Special plaques have been awarded to these top scorers:
| Category | Donor | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| USA – single operator | Yankee Clipper Contest Club | Paul Newberry, N4PN |
| USA – single operator low power | Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, in memory of Laci Radnay, W1PL | Bob Beaudoin, WA1FCN |
| USA – single operator QRP | Vern Brownell, W1VB | Vic Shields, K9UIY |
| USA – single opr (W5-W7-W0) | Huckleberry Mountain Contest Club | Bob Panek, K2DSW |
| USA – single op (W2-W3-W8-W9) | Jim Monahan, K1PX | Bud Trench, AA3B |
| USA – single opr low power (W2-W3-W8-W9) | Whit Carter, K1EO | Paul Kirley, W8TM |
| USA – single opr low power – W7 | Michael Therrien, N1MD | Michael Steene, W7GF |
| USA – W4 – any category | Gerry Hull, W1VE ex AK4L | Bob Patten, N4BP (WN1GIV) |
| USA – California/Nevada | Calif QSO Party – Northern California Contest Club | Hank Garretson, W6SX |
| USA – multi operator – single transmitter | Will and Pam Angenent, K6ND/K6NDV | San Diego Contest Club – NX6T (N6KI, N6CY, N6ERD, W2PWS, W6JBR, NN6X, K4RB, oprs) |
| USA – single operator – CW only | K1EL Keyers | Chris Rust, K5LH |
| USA – single operator QRP (AR-LA-MS-TN) | Steve Kercel, AA4AK | Ron Duncan, W4UT |
| Canada – single operator high power | Chris Terkla, N1XS | Claude Duberger, VE2FK |
| Canada – single operator low power | Gerry Hull, W1VE/VE1RM | Alan Prosser, VA1MM |
| Canada – single operator – CW only | Bud Hippisley, W2RU | Harry Kosterman, VA3EC |
| DX – single operator | Yankee Clipper Contest Club | Dima Zaslavsky, UA3AGW |
| DX – single operator low power | Pete Chamalian, W1RM, in memory of John Thompson, W1BIH/PJ9JT | Sam Zalnerauskas, LY5W |
| DX – Russia – any category | Dmitri Y Jikharev, N2OW/RA9USU | Dima Zaslavsky, UA3AGW |
| Golden Log – no errors | Jim Spears, N1NK | Steve Woods, NA4K |
| Top Club | Florida Contest Group | Alabama Contest Group |
| New England – single operator | Yankee Clipper Contest Club | Bill Myers, K1GQ |
| New England – single operator – low power | Dave Hoaglin, K1HT | Sandor Toth, NB1N |
| New England – single operator – QRP | Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club | Tom Doubek, AA1CA |
| New England – mobile | Boston Amateur Radio Club | Bob Raymond, WA1Z/m |
| New England – mobile (rookie) | Bob Raymond, WA1Z | Jeff Bolda, WC4E (K1M/m) |
| New England – mobile – multi-single | Brian Szewczyk, NJ1F, in memory of James Szewczyk, WB1EYM | The Barnstormers Contest Group – NZ1U/m (W1UJ, N1WK, oprs) |
| New England – County Expedition Award | Huckleberry Mountain Contest Club | MASSRADIO – WW1DX (KK1W AA1YW W1MSW N1FJ, oprs) |
| New England – multi-single | Tom Frenaye, K1KI | John Lindholm, W1XX (+ K1XA, oprs) |
| New England – school club | Chris Terkla, N1XS | Northeastern University Radio Club, W1KBN (KB1REQ KC1DTB N1QD, oprs) |
| New England – single operator – CW only | Andy Bodony, K2LE | Bill Myers, K1GQ |
| New England – single operator – SSB only | Fred Reed, KK1KW, and Woody Beckford, WW1WW | Dale Clement, AF1T |
| Connecticut – single operator high power | Candlewood ARA | Tom Frenaye, K1KI |
| Connecticut – single operator low power | Mikey Mavor, W1MKM, memorial sponsored by the Barnstormers (NZ1U) | Dan Fegley, W1QK |
| Maine – single operator | Larry Banks, W1DYJ | Paul Kelley, N1BUG |
| Maine – single operator low power | Augusta Amateur Radio Assn | George Monti, K1PQS |
| Massachusetts – single operator | Framingham Amateur Radio Association | Al Rousseau, W1FJ |
| Massachusetts – single operator low power | Chuck Counselman, W1HIS | Ed Moxon, K1GGI |
| Massachusetts – Hampden County – single operator | Hampden County Radio Assn | Jeff Bail. NT1K |
| New Hampshire – single operator low power | Mark Pride, K1RX | Mark Wilson, K1RO |
| Rhode Island – single operator | CTRI Contest Group | Karl Wherry, K1KX |
| Vermont – single operator | Bob Raymond, WA1Z | Brian Machesney, K1LI |
| Vermont – single operator low power | West River Radio Club | Zach Manganello, K1ZK |
| New England Club | Yankee Clipper Contest Club | CTRI Contest Group |
If you’d like to sponsor a new plaque for 2016, please contact us at info@neqp.org
Special Awards
The top USA (non-New England) single operator winner: The Framingham Amateur Radio Association has donated a Lobster dinner for two from Legal Seafood of Boston to the USA single operator (non-New England) winner.
For 2015 the winner was Paul Newberry, N4PN!
Log checking
The log checking process found some missed dits and dahs. There were 414 logs overall, a 5% decrease over 2014, with 404 in electronic format (98%) and only 10 on paper.
For non-New England stations, cross checking was possible on 15,265 of the 17,595 QSOs reported (86.8%). Of the QSOs not allowed (6.3%), the breakdown was as follows:
| QSOs | Reason not allowed |
|---|---|
| 163 | Callsign incorrect |
| 482 | QTH incorrect (mostly from stations in the 7QP) |
| 80 | Not in log |
| 249 | Duplicate |
| 5 | Bad mode |
| 5 | Bad band |
| 11 | Time was outside of contest period |
| 1,104 | Total of QSOs disallowed |
For New England stations, cross checking was possible on 21,379 of the 43,504 QSOs reported (49.5%). Of the 1,163 QSOs not allowed (2.7%), the breakdown was as follows:
| QSOs | Reason now allowed |
|---|---|
| 520 | Callsign incorrect |
| 284 | QTH incorrect |
| 110 | Not in log |
| 483 | Duplicate |
| 0 | Bad mode |
| 0 | Bad band |
| 1,163 | Total of QSOs disallowed |
Logging Software
N1MM introduced N1MM Logger+ and more than half of their users switched to the new version, plus a few additional users. N3FJP and Writelog software were still next in the list with another 20 others, none exceeding ten users. Thanks to WA7BNM for adding the NEQP to his list of supported contests
| Logging Software Used | Entries | QSOs |
|---|---|---|
| N1MM Logger+ | 169 | 21,067 |
| N1MM Logger | 67 | 16,757 |
| N3FJP | 63 | 5,964 |
| WriteLog | 28 | 5,140 |
| SkookumLogger | 2 | 1,190 |
| DXLog.net | 2 | 852 |
| WA7BNM Web2Cabrillo | 9 | 464 |
| Win-Test | 3 | 413 |
| Aether | 2 | 376 |
| Win-EQF | 2 | 373 |
| NA Version | 3 | 370 |
| SD | 7 | 332 |
| TR Log | 2 | 330 |
| GenLog | 9 | 272 |
| TR4W | 7 | 269 |
| LOGic version | 1 | 241 |
| (8 others) | 9 | 1,000 |
Soapbox
You can get a real feel for the contest by going through the various “Soapbox” comments from the big guns, the little guns and everyone in between.
Thanks
Thanks to everyone who made QSOs and to those who sent in logs in 2015. A lot of people had a good time finding counties and meeting new friends – hope to see you all again in the 2016 contest – May 7th and 8th!