2014 New York QSO Party

SOAPBOX

Here’s what people had to say…

(Random order as pulled from sources)

New York MOBILES & ROVERS (thanks to you ALL!)

NJ1F/M -- A big THANK YOU to my XYL for doing the driving in the rain while i did the operating.

W2LC/M -- Glad I made the long drive to Clinton county, I had a bit of a pileup going on 20m. I'm having some QSL's made up with a popular NNY attraction. What you ask? The “Golden Knight” of course, located outside the hockey arena at Clarkson University. I went to the hockey game as I usually do, but they got whipped by Vermont. Oh well still fun to go.

I stayed a bit ahead of schedule in order to spend extra time in Clinton County. I'm disappointed with Lewis county, not too many Q's there. I stopped in a nature park just over the county line, but it must not be a good spot.

My best QSO total and best multiplier total, and most counties worked too.

If I was weak that's because I was running 5 watts using FT-817, along with 40m and 20m ham sticks. It all works pretty well though. I taped 4 radials to the outside of my car, using black wire and black duct tape, that helps a lot. I got a couple of funny looks when I stopped. At Clarkson that may not be the nerdiest thing that you see. Clarkson University is primarily an engineering school, need I say more?

Both my son and youngest daughter are Clarkson graduates. My daughter has some good stories on the looks she gets when she tells someone she is an electrical engineer.

Activity seemed pretty good, I had to move around a bit whenever I thought I was getting covered up.

Thanks for all the QSO's, I had 26 DX QSO's, SP9LJD in 4 counties. About 450 miles of driving including the trip home. I drove to the Oswego/Jefferson county line before the contest so I could get to Clinton County earlier. It all worked out well. 73 Scott

N2CU/M -- Two weekends in a row of mobile contesting = FUN! I operated 6 of 7 scheduled counties; NY counties are big, plus good friend WB2ABD was covering the last one I was going to do. I felt operating the high bands to give our DX and west coast friends some QSOs was more important and it allowed me to double back a couple of counties to operate 80/75m. Surprised to work WA6KHK on 10m CW although I checked several other times and it had no activity. 15m was a pleasant surprise too; sounded dead until I called CQ and signals came booming in.

Kudos to the special ops that nabbed me at least once in every county: N4PN, NW0M, OM2VL, WA3HAE and WN4AFP.

QSO leaders: WA3HAE 12, K2SSS 11, OM2VL and W2FU 10, N4PN 9, W2LK and NW0M 8, K0RI and WN4AFP 7. Bonus: OM2VL on 80m CW

48 counties, 45 state and province, and 1 DX multipliers worked.

I appreciated all the thank you’s for being out there mobile from Saturday's participants and also from many PA stations for last week's.

A big shout-out to N2ZN and NW2K who coordinated the event and to ALL who participated!

K3/100, Eliminator screwdriver, N1MM (legacy), 24 oz. coffee, McD's cheeseburgers and a can of peanuts. 73, Tom

W2M/M -- W3NO (Doug) is from Cecil, PA and AD8J (John) is from Asheville, NC. We try to combine forces to operate both the PA and NY contests. This year we decided to try going mobile instead of our usual M/M operation from YAT with wire antennas. Our plan was to hit 9 counties, and then repeat 3 of them on 80 meters after dark. We allocated 60 minutes for each county visit and were able to stick pretty close to that schedule. We did have some rain during the day with pretty heavy rain the last two hours. At least by then we were on the Interstate and heading back to the hotel in Olean. The shack was a 2008 Honda Accord with Hamsticks on a custom roof mount. The rig was a Kenwood TS-480SAT driving a Heathkit SB-220. Power was supplied by a 3.6 KW generator mounted on a trailer hitch platform. Everything worked well and we never had to employ any of the backup gear that we carried. We had an eyeball with K8MR/M in Tompson County and were able to chat and take some pictures. Thanks to everyone that kept working us as we changed counties. It's always interesting to note that many times the QRP stations are stronger than the fixed stations. It's also amazing at the number of EU stations that can easily beat out many US stations in the piles.

K8MR/R -- Helped along by a plea by NW2K, my wife & I headed up to New York for the weekend to visit former neighbors in Pittsford, and for me to spend a day driving around the Finger Lakes and making a few QSOs in the NYQP.

I did this two years ago, and it was a beautiful way to spend a day. Unfortunately this year was cloudy, windy, and short but frequent rain showers. But the radio was good. I operated only while parked, using the “33 Foot HamStick” on 40 and 15, and the seven foot HamSticks on 20 and 10. Actual operating time was about 5.5 hours, 3.5 hours of driving and putting the antenna up and down (less than 10 minutes per operation), and I was back home by 0030Z to be sociable.

Conditions were good. Forty was good at the start, but not much activity on 20. By mid-afternoon that had switched, excellent short openings on 20 to places as close as Ohio and WPA, while 40 meter activity seemed to drop off somewhat. It was good to have a number of DX stations following me around - I hope more EU will take up chasing us relatively weak mobiles around the counties in our QSO Parties here in the States.

Neatest QSO: while approaching Ithaca I heard a car horn and noticed a car parked alongside the road with a couple of whips. Sure enough, it was AD8J and W3NO, operating W2M. I pulled over, had eyeball QSOs, and one QSO on 20 CW for the TOM multiplier.

The weather added injury to insult shortly after. While set up in a city park at the south end of Cayuga Lake, a storm blew in. I noticed the antenna whipping a bit, but then a bit later I QSY'd to 15 meters to find a horrible VSWR, with an antenna laying on the ground with the DK9SQ fiberglass mast broken where it passed through the tripod mount. So I packed up and proceeded home, stopping for a few QSOs in Cayuga and Seneca counties on the way home.

It was still a good trip. Next time if it's raining maybe I'll stop at a few of the 20 wineries (and couple of brew pubs) I passed on the way.

Next stop: off to West Virginia tomorrow to help out in their W1AW/8 operation, from the very excellent QTH of WT8V. 73 – Jim

K2QY/M -- Limited effort after morning ARES meeting. Operated in Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Greene and Albany on the way back.

N2ZN/M -- Another successful year mobiling in the NYQP. This year, NW2K joined for the trip which enabled us to share driving and operating responsibilities, which allowed us to be on the air for the full 12 hours, and moving continuously. Thanks to Dean for joining me this year; in addition to being a great operator, he obviously has a high tolerance for BS to sign up for a trip like this one.

We had no major equipment problems, just a small RFI problem with the CAT control cable for the radio, so we abandoned the CAT control for the duration and made band changes manually. No other equipment hiccups otherwise.

In past years, I never had an 80 meter antenna, so this year, I think adding one to the setup. We also had a screwdriver antenna that was left tuned to 20, and the 80/40 antenna hooked to a coax switch allowed for band changes without having to retune anything, so that probably sped up the show a bit.

No major issues out on the road, either-we managed to avoid deer and state troopers; the only encounter we had with a pig was an ACTUAL piglet running across the road upon our entry into Madison County-we stopped in the nick of time to avoid turning him into sausage patties.

We are a bit short on mults because we spent most of the time CQing and not tuning the bands much; we also decided to forget about SSB, because with less efficiency on SSB from this setup, CQing would not really work too well, and the overall rate wouldn't be as good by tuning and working people on SSB, as opposed to running on CW for twice the points. We are not at all displeased with the final score.

Thanks to all who called us this weekend, especially those who stopped by for multiple QSO's as we changed counties and bands...calls like N4PN, K1ZZI, NW0M, K2SSS, W2FU/0, N2LQ, K2ZR, WA2VYA, W5ASP, AA2U, OM2VL, DL5ME, DK2OY, and many others come to mind here.

Also, congratulations and thank you to the other mobiles and rovers who took to the roads this weekend to make the NYQP experience that much better for all of us...guys like N2CU, WB2ABD, W2LC, NT2A, WJ2O, W3OAB, AK2X, W2M, K8MR, and others for putting some rare counties on the air.

We intended to put 22 counties on the air, and ended up doing that, but we added one that we weren't supposed to go to because of a wrong turn (Yates), and missed our final planned county (Livingston) because we ran out of time to get there. We ultimately did end up in Livingston to drop Dean off at his house, but after the contest ended (I'm sure that doesn't make anyone happy who missed Livingston).

We worked 36 out of 62 counties, and ended up activating a number of counties that we never worked ourselves.

Looking forward to next year already! Thanks again to everyone for all of the QSO's. 73, Ken N2ZN & Dean NW2K

G3ZRJ -- GLAD TO WORK SO MANY NY STATIONS. LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT NYQP.

HB9ARF -- For my first participation i made a lot of new counties. Thanks to all for QSO

PG2AA --Setup: Rig 40W ant dipole.

SP6JOE -- no computer, no internet, worked from my summer-house, always work using straight key

OM8VL -- Missed counties: GRE, LEW, LIV, REN, SUL, WAS. Thanks for the mobile activity:

N2ZN 15/12 (QSO/Cty)
W2M 11/8
N2CU 10/6
NT2A 7/5
NJ1F 7/6
K8MR 5/5
W2LC 3/3
WB2ABD 3/3
WJ2O 3/3

10/15m was open here, tried SSB RUN, but unfortunately only 1 SSB QSO on 15m and nobody on 10m. On Sunday I was QRV during and before the IL QP - I made on this band many stations from NY - thanks MURPHY :) 73 Laci

U.S & Canada

K3TW -- "Greetings from my new QTH in Florida."

N1NN -- 5TH NEW YORK QSO PARTY

W2FB -- MY FIRST NYQP, OPERATED FOR ABOUT 2.5 HOURS ON 40M SSB LOW POWER AND HAD A GREAT TIME. I PLAN ON RETURNING NEXT YEAR.

W2UDT -- only was able to operate part of the contest but still had a good time looking for needed counties. I did get one, Chemung, thanks to KA2LIM. That makes 2 more left (Clinton and Montgomery). So, CU next year.

VE3DTI -- Rig KX3 @ 5W - Ant PAR EF-10/20/40 @ 45 Ft.

K6RB -- Enjoyed it.

N1CC – Elecraft K3/100 Force 12 C3 @64', 80-40 Fan Dipole E-W @50'. WriteLog SW. Conditions seemed good. Not a lot of stations to work and with the total congestion of the RTTY band no attempt to operate with the other RTTY contest going on at the same time. Did not hear many mobiles on 20-15-10 and found a few late in the day when 40M opened well enough to NY from Texas. Not much activity from the Albany area, most from the Rochester area. The other state QSO parties were in the minority, not much heard from them so that was not detrimental to the event. WAG and the RTTY Contest were a big downside. 73

WN4AFP -- I almost doubled my score from last year. I had fun with the NYQP! As always, the mobile stations made me stay in my chair... Thanks to all of them that worked me...K8MR, WB2ABD, N2ZN, N2CU, WJ2O, NT2A and W2M. I missed only 9 of the 67 counties. Looking forward to next year. 73's Dave

VA3GKO -- Great qso party NY. See you all next year. Greg

N4PN -- Nice one day event....lots of fixed and mobile stations...Fun chasing Tom, N2CU and Jim, K8MR again this weekend...last weekend it was PAQP... Thanks to all who made it out to the party....hard time trying to match voices with the 1x1 calls... Missed the sweep by one....SULlivan....Never heard it, but someone was probably there... Many thanks to N2ZN, w/NW2K, for a yeoman’s job of mobiling all over the place. Hope everyone has fun next weekend in the CQ WW DX Contest. 73, Paul

K0RI -- IC-7700 @150w to Force 12 C-19XR @ 68ft, 40m OCV DPL and 80m Delta Loop. First NYQP - Really got hooked with all the NY activity. 10-15m were great bands. Made many new friends. Thanks to all NY stations

W2PIP -- ICOM 7600 Outbacker antenna. I need to find some way to operate SSB and watch college football at the same time!

N3HEE -- Just playing around handing out some Q's. Fun!

VE3CV -- First time entry...thanks for the invitation. Lots of fun on a rainy day. Thanks for the Qs...73 Jeff

K4BAI -- FT1000MP, Alpha 91b, 1 KW, TH6DXX, zepp. Pretty good conditions 40, 20, 15M. Worked AB3CX for the only QSO on ten meters. Thanks for all QSOs and particularly the mobiles, who did a fine job. 73, John

K2LE -- GOT INTO IT REALLY DURING THE LAST 3 HOURS...SORRY ANDY

WA6KHK -- I got a few on 10 CW and 40 PH! NY guys running to 80 meters phone to early and camping there. Shuts out the west coast guys! Put those counties out on 20 first then run there!!! Good contest guys!

N9VPV – TS-430S 100W

W2FU/0 -- Played IA and NY QSO parties....mostly NY, much more activity. 2 dipoles nothing higher than 30'. K3 400' Beverage to the East. N1MM+ for IA QSO Party, N1MM for NY, on one computer and monitor.

W3DYA -- Not a serious effort, just trying to get Jefferson for last NY county (3rd), but didn't. It was spotted on 40M but never heard any NY stations except 20 and 15M. Also wanted to make contacts with operators who return the favor throughout the year. Lot of good spotting all day! 73, Norm

VE3GFN -- Used the K3 on CW, and the TS590 on SSB, each with its own logging PC. Updated each log as necessary by importing logs as .ADI files, then re-scoring the contest. This confirms my idea of switching contest stations in time of disaster. N1MM+ worked a treat, and made this operating very simple.

N1EN -- Too many contests, too little time.

KC0DEB -- Was not planning on being on the radio much this weekend, but once the rig was turned on....... Thanks for a FB QP!

W2GR -- Lots of activity...wish I had more time to play...as "they" say...there is always next time!.. Thanks for the contacts.

New York

K2FX (WAY) -- It's been many years since I've worked a contest, but I made the time to participate, even though I had to work 5-hours in the middle of the day. Nevertheless, I managed to put in about 5-hours, and did nearly 400 Q's. Not too bad for very limited time. I had big pile-ups on 40 & 80 Meters. Worked W2FU/0 on both bands, and took some time for JOTA Operations who stopped by to ask if I could talk to the kids for a few minutes. I did very little Search & Pounce, rather I just held the frequency and banged away. No CW since I didn't get my Winkey yet, but had a great time on SSB working Single Op unassisted. Thanks to all RDXA Members who made contact. I managed 47 of the 62 Counties.

K2NPN -- I sure enjoyed the NYQP - 2014. I look forward to 2015's QSO Party. A big thanks to all of the Rochester QSO Party Volleys!

K2QU/2 -- OPERATED FIXED PORTABLE FROM THE BARN ATTIC AT THE NY LOCATION. HOME QTH IS NJ.

K2YGM -- Tried to S&P counties only at first. After a few hours of that, it was a free for all. Enjoyed operating my KX3 QRP with excellent filtering. Made things much easier for my ears. Great operators. Looking forward to next year already.

KD2DLL -- First time in the NYQP. Had a great time

NQ2W -- Loads of fun! Thank you to all of the participants and the organizers. Great job!

W2CCC -- 47 states worked, good showing across the USA

W2EG -- ~8K more points than last year: 83 more Q's but 7 fewer mults. Conditions not all that good. Thanks for all the Q's, and thanks to those who spotted me.

W2VM -- My first NY QSO party. Thanks to the OPs who sent QRS for me! Looking forward to next NYQP and improved results. 73, Craig

W2SFD -- Hats off to RDXA, total success!

W2T (W2TZ) -- Couldn't take a pit-stop because I didn't know when N2ZN would come up with a new county. Tnx to W2M for STE - I'd swear CW is dead in STE!

K2SSS -- Great Contest. Great Activity. TNX to everybody for qso's.

K2QO -- Participation was good and the K3 cut through some noisy bands with ease. No one seemed to have trouble copying my QRP from the black hole of WNY. Murphy hit with 30 minutes to go. The WinKeyer USB ran out of battery power. I have the old style with the jumper inside. Lost some time and could not make my goal of 350. Once the pre-Stew got rolling on 160 I almost defected as conditions on 160 sounded really good :-) K3, Force 12 C4E at 55\', Dipole, Skookum Logger

K2ZR -- RIG: K2 @ 95W ANT: 425' EF WIRE 660' CF WIRE HX-5Bi Hexbeam. Thanks to all the mobiles for running around the state. 73, Dick

NY6DX -- My first NYQP. Not a lot of NY digi ops. Yaesu 1000mp mark v 100 watts, hustler 5 btv at 25ft. Enjoyed it a lot see you all next year.

WN2R (WB2AIV) -- K3 running 95 W into a 80m OCF Dipole at 35'

AA2U -- I enjoyed giving out Rockland County. Pardon my 80m signal; I used a 4om vertical...

N2BEG -- Thanks for all the Q's and patience. See you all next year!

KG2V -- By far my best effort. The shocker was 20m. Was running when all of a sudden all of the Northwest came in, MT, OR, WA, ND, AB, SK, and then off the back of the beam ZS, DL, SP started responding to my CQ!

NX2X -- Missed the first 5 hours due to a conference and my daughters JOTA (they did a great job!). Also lost my 80 meter antenna and tuner the night before. Still. I handed out Columbia County to a bunch of folks and had a great time!

NM2O -- First activity from new QTH in Fulton County. The mic adapter was not with the Heil Headset, so I missed SSB contacts. Great to work W2FU team members N2ZN and K2SSS and the boss, W2FU/0.

KF2MR -- Operated VHF/UHF only on all bands from 50 - 1296 MHz. It was somewhat unconventional for a QSO Party, but why not? Having counties as multipliers is a natural fit with VHF/UHF operation and the mobile/rovers who participated. Thanks to RDXA for sponsoring the event.

KD2FIX -- This was my first NYQP since getting my license a little less than a year ago. It was a lot of fun. Wish I could have put in more time but I had to play in a baseball game during the contest. Will be back next year hopefully with an Extra class and shorter callsign. 73 Leo KD2FIX (11 years old)

W1END -- This activity gets bigger every year. Thanks to the organizers. Best band was 40M; being close to NY it was rough sledding on 20 and 15M. I'll bet the mobiles had some nice scenery it being peak foliage season. Thanks everyone. Eldon

W2SO -- Better than last year! Strange propagation mid-day led to a rush on the low bands later. Lots of fun and a great club effort with a good mix of new and seasoned ops.