NC QSO Party Results - 2022

 2022 Full Results - Stats - Soapbox - Bonus Station Sweeps

by Marty Young W4MY

Chairman, North Carolina QSO Party

The NC QSO Party was held again this year in fine fashion. As in years past, the hams of this state got on the air and lit up NC for the world.  I can safely say that, because one of our first place finishers came from, literally, the other side of the world!  As I operated NC4QP this year, the calls just kept rolling in. I thought it would never end.  But alas, it had to, and another NCQP is in the books!

Here we are, again, exceeding 500 logs for the second year. There's always more work to do, and we're not resting, but I have to say it’s because of the tremendous support afforded by the ham radio community towards NCQP. Your participation speaks volumes. Thank you, and keep up the good work.

Looking at the results spreadsheet we can see the effort that has gone into this event by our volunteers.  Author of Logbot automation with scoring and storage, Andy, AA9P, is wholly responsible for that.  Marc, W4MPS, picks it up from there for the manual manipulation of the raw data into a form we can all understand.  Everyone should know this is a result of many hours of work done on their part.  These are definitely volunteers you want on your team!

The spelling bee had fewer letters and although not exactly a slam dunk our 1x1 ops were certainly out there making a sweep much easier.  This year we had some new 1x1 bonus stations getting their feet wet with this sort of operation.  I thank each and every one of them for setting aside their own call sign and ambition in order to give back to NCQP.  There were 197 sweeps in all representing a whopping 30+% success rate for those entering.  This was significantly higher than last year, and the improvement was not just because of the better band conditions.  That played a part, but the hard work and ability of these bonus stations being on the air and available made it happen.  Be sure to check out the website main page blog to see the profile of the 1x1 stations this year to learn who you worked.

The soapbox this year is filled with great stories and comments.  One very touching one is from Laci, OM2VL.  He lost his father just two days before this event and participated nonetheless.  A tribute to his dedication.  I have to say, reading the soapbox comments is one of my favorite things to do!

The first place finishers this year will be receiving an all new plaque, designed with some really cool features.  They will look great on any shack's “wall of fame”.  It’s still a wood based unit in the shape of North Carolina, we didn't change that.  Second place finishers get a special hard copy certificate, as usual, sent in the mail commemorating their accomplishment.  

Enough rambling , lets check out the results! 

 

Expedition / In State / Mixed / LP  (5 Logs)

For expeditions this year the story was county line operation.  Part of winning this category is taking advantage of the special rules afforded and optimizing them the best way possible.  Steve, AA4TI did just that.  Moving to a new location is always an advantage.  Not only did Steve do that, but he made each QTH a TWO county line operation taking this advantage to a new level!  In a completely different way of operating, Mark, KG4ZOI, set up a portable operation from Person County and just cranked out lots of QSOs for the second place finish.  Completely different strategies took first and second place.  One interesting observation can be made looking at the results in this category, and one we have been talking about in the committee.  There is a big difference in the score between 1st and 2nd place this year.  Mark's operation, I imagine, could be characterized much like a POTA activation.  One guy, one radio, at a park.  Steve, on the other hand, optimized his station for moving quickly, planned two strategic locations, a true contester centered operation.  We like to see both, by the way, in NCQP.  But, are they enough different to have separate categories?  A new “POTA” class expedition (one person, one radio, one antenna, one county portable) category?  Please make your comments about this to me or the committee this year if you think there would be any interest in this new category.

Mobile / In State / HP (2 Logs)

Mobiles are always the backbone of any state QSO party and we are no exception in North Carolina.   This year we had two submit their logs.  What we lacked in number of mobiles was made up it in sheer quantity of QSO's between our first place finisher, Bert/Jim, N4CW, and second place mobile Tad/Jim, K3TD.  Nearly two thousand between them to be exact.

Multi Op / In State / Mixed / LP (3 Logs)

W4YK, Blue Ridge ARC lighting up Henderson County took first place in this category.  There weren't many multi-op efforts this year despite the easing of Covid-19.  Maybe it will be one more year before things are “back to normal.”  With a very close second place finish, the Cape Fear Amateur Radio Society, K4MN, activated their Cumberland County QTH on Fort Bragg. This was the closest first to second place dual in the contest this year.  In looking at it closely, Cape Fear actually had ten more QSOs overall, but were deficit four mults compared to the top finisher Blue Ridge.  That made all the difference.

Multi Op / In State / Mixed / HP (1 Log)

Carl, W8WZ and John, KG4AKV, teamed up to do this high power multi from Wake County.  The W8WZ team scored a respectable 300+ contacts with a 74 count multiplier.  The clean sweep of 1x1's was certainly a bonus! (pun intended) Having one super CW op, Carl, and one super phone op, John, made for a natural mixed entry.

Multi Op / In State / Phone / LP (3 Logs)

The East Davidson Repeater Group operating in Thomasville, NC came on top of their category getting one QSO shy of 400 for WW4DC.  A strong showing putting Caswell County on the map.   Congratulations guys!  In second place and getting the certificate is the Stanly County ARC.  These strong phone operators are always in the top part of the stats each year and we really appreciate their effort.

Single Op / In State / CW / HP (7 Logs)

No stranger to the top spot in their category was Jim Sarfert, NA4J, as he takes first place in the CW high power category.  668 QSOs along with 90 mults and a spelling bee sweep put Jim at the top.  Close behind with the same number of mults but about 100 QSOs fewer is second place finisher Randy Farmer, W8FN activating Polk County in a big way.  This is the second year for CW high power and we're glad to see the strong participation in this category continue.

Single Op / In State / CW / LP (22 Logs)

CW only low power category has a very long running in NCQP.  Vlado Karamitrov, N3CZ led the pack again this year with a clear victory putting up a score of 162,936.  Vlado always puts other ops first in his considerate operating style and vibrant personality.  Wake county was the QTH of second place finisher Louis Alexander, K4BYN.  Lou was in third place last year and I'm glad he'll be getting a certificate for his efforts this time.  Speaking of third place, I'd like to mention the strong showing of Dave, N4CWZ.  He was within a whisker of second and actually had more QSOs than Louis, but with fewer mults.  Again, that made the difference.  I'll bet we see more of Dave in the future.

Single Op / In State /Digital (2 Logs)

Another repeat winner, Jim Howard, W4SDJ, operating from the most western county, Cherokee, came up with the digital win. There is no second place certificate this year.  Although KX4IU did score next highest in this category, he did not meet the minimum 25 QSO requirement to receive an award.  This brings up a subject we've been dealing with on the committee these whole 10+ years of leading it for me.  With FT-4/8 not fitting in and consistently very low participation since it’s been part of NCQP, major changes in digital are afoot for 2023 and beyond.  Stay tuned, there will be more coming.

Single Op / In State / Mixed / HP (8 Logs)

The highest scoring winner in ALL of the categories in the contest this year, including the multi-ops, is Nate, N4YDU.  I affectionately refer to Nate as a “QSO machine”.  We're honored to have a WRTC competitor in with us in NC to hand out QSOs to the folks.  Nate is also one of our strongest supporters of NCQP helping us many times as a bonus operator whereby recusing himself selflessly.  If I'm not mistaken, Nate holds the all-time high scoring record in all of NCQP, but his score this year didn't top it.  Let's pick it up, Nate, you're slacking!  The second place certificate will go out to Scott Douglas, K2SD, who operated from Ashe county.  Boy, do we ever need Ashe activated and Scott did it in a big way.  281 QSOs from this much sought after county in the rugged mountains of the northwestern part of the state.  I remember working Scott while operating NC4QP and having a short “real” QSO with him.  Great op and look forward to more of his operation from Ashe.  I think the NC4QP bonus log only had one Ashe and that was him.

Single Op / In State / Mixed / LP (19 Logs)

My neighbor, Bob Lukaszewski, K4HA, took the top award in the mixed high power category this year.  Congrats Bob, the 573 QSOs you got from your home in LEE county show you made a tremendous effort.  Steve Lympany, WA3TMR heralding from Wake County was a close second.  Both of those guys got the Spelling Bee sweep.  As a matter of fact, the top eight ops in this category all got sweeps, as did 11 out of the top 12.  Great effort by all these that put QSOs on the board in all the modes.

Single Op / In State / Mixed / QRP (6 Logs)

Ah, the QRP group.  Did I mention how much I love these guys?  David Ledford, W4JL, is the big man with the small signal this year.  He achieved the newly designed plaque working 203 QSOs surpassing the N4HAY win last year with 193.  Being a casual QRP'er myself I know exceeding this number by 10 is the result of a significant effort.  Thanks David, you did well.  Second was Cly White, N4CLY, from Cleveland County.  Both top spots in the peanut power category are out of Cleveland.  Hmmm, is there something in the soil there we don't know about?  In any event, 72 HOPE TO CU AGN NEXT YR

Single Op / In State / Phone / HP (14 Logs)

With 1 QSO shy of 1000 Steve Schwab, KT4Q put up a significant run to gain a clear win in the in-state phone category using high power.  In his effort from the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC (Clay County) Steve had no close competitors in this category.  Second place goes to Joe, K4REB, who led an interesting race of the 2-3-4 position holders along with KZ1X and KN4BIT.

Single Op / In State / Phone / LP (60 Logs)

This category has had the largest number of submissions from NC ops both last year and this.  Topping the long list is Cameron Conover, AJ4TW.  He was clearly ahead of the rest of the pack with a score of 135,882 with the next score below being 79,650 from Chris Ray, K4FMI.  Cameron is my friend from my public service days with the bike-o-thons and Chris is my neighbor here in Harnett county.  It’s great having a close connection to these two top finishers.

Single Op / Out of State / CW / HP (38 Logs)

CW has always been a strong category in NCQP and holding that tradition up is the winner, Ed Gilliland.  W5TM making his Flex/KPA1500 signal heard in North Carolina very Well.  Ed was last year’s second place contender barely missing the win but moving to the head of the line this year.  So good progression, Ed, first place well deserved.  Coming in a very close second this time was New York op Mike Cotton, K4RUM.

Single Op / Out of State / CW / LP (111 Logs)

Leading the pack of 111 logs submitted in this category (the highest number in the contest) is Andrew White, K9CW, the second year in a row for him.  Andrew didn't need a lot of power to rack up 141 QSOs, 48 NC counties, and a clean spelling bee sweep to boot.  I'm impressed with Jim, KM4AMC's second place finish from neighboring Tennessee.  Clean sweep “DUKE” bonus was earned by both.  Congrats you guys.

Single Op / Out of State /Digital (3 Logs)

If you read my earlier comments above about the digital category you know that this is in a state of flux going forward to 2023.  We appreciate all three entries from these out of state op's.  Unfortunately, no one met the 25 QSO threshold to receive an award.  KD5ILA did make the most QSOs, however, with 16 beating out KA1PPV and N4FWD.  Keep an eye out for the changes next year concerning digital.

Single Op / Out of State / Mixed / HP (39 Logs)

Our out-of-state winner in mixed high power this year is a DX station.  Since we don't have a Really-Really-Out-of-State category, we had to put him here.  Getting his signal all the way across Europe, over the Atlantic Ocean, and into the Eastern USA deserves credit.  To actually win a category in a preeminent state QSO party in the USA from such a long distance, is a feat in itself.  So, congratulations go out to Laszlo (Laci) Vegh, OM2VL for taking first place.  Taking second, and a respectable job deserving of mention was Roy Sokola, K9RS operating out of Delaware this year. Ray is a top tier contesting veteran of Caribbean DXpeditions among many other accomplishments. We really appreciate his participation.

Single Op / Out of State / Mixed / LP (69 Logs)

This is the oldest, and longest running NCQP category I know of, along with its In-State counterpart, and Mobile.  There were no disappointments this year with strong support from all over North America.  Stations from Washington, Idaho, Florida, Arkansas, Minnesota, Kansas, Texas were among them, along with the many states close in.  You can do a lot with 100 watts, and these participants sure have.  Leading the pack are two op's no strangers to QSO Parties.  Jeff Hartley, N8II, in West Virginia for his second win in a row this year (and many others in the past) and David Pritchard, W9QL, from Illinois. Jeff won with just shy of 254 QSOs working 78 NC counties.  David was a very respectful second place finisher working 153 Q's, getting 59 county multipliers.

Single Op / Out of State / Mixed / QRP (16 Logs)

QRP ops are a very unique group and surely a pleasure to know and work on the air.  Both ends of the QSO are a challenge to get done.  Kudos to all the QRP ops and those that worked them! This year we congratulate Alan Sykes. KR4AE from Cleveland, GA.  I guess it helps to be just a short distance outside of the NC line in the northeast Georgia mountains.  With 135 QSOs, 56 NC county mults, and a clean spelling bee sweep, you wouldn't know Alan was QRP.  Alan doesn't even own a 100W or greater rig, so he's very experienced in this low power mode.  Thomas Warren, K3TW, a “True Blue DXer”, came in second again this year with just 5 QSOs shy of the winner.  With 54 mults this was a really close shave working his low power station from the ARRL WCF section in Florida.  I'd like to give an honorable mention to Curt, WB8YYY regarding his third place finish.  He got the spelling bee sweep and exceeded 100 QSOs from Maryland.

Single Op / Out of State / Phone / HP (16 Logs)

Another close race was in this phone category.  Jeramy, KC8QDQ, was really on top of his game getting the NC multipliers because he finished ahead of second place holder John Schroeder, K4QQG, with 9 fewer Q's but 6 more NC mults.  In more than one occasion this year, mults were king in determining the winner in a very close QSO count.  Jeramy must have squeezed everything he could out of his home brew amp to make a connection with the greatest number of NC counties.  Scott didn't do a bad job either, both were well ahead of the pack of 14 other contestants in this category.

Single Op / Out of State / Phone / LP (95 Logs)

What a list of great entries.  95 in all.  Being at the top in this category is certainly an accomplishment of the highest order.  Four out of the top six finishers here were from Virginia.  An interesting fact, I think.  Andy Higgins, KK4ADQ pulled out the decisive win, and congratulations go out to him for winning the plaque in this highly contested category.  There was a horse race for second worth mentioning also between Jerry, K1SO from Virginia and Buzz, K3GWK, in Georgia.  Four QSOs and four mults were the difference here between the two.

Top DX

It’s no surprise OM2VL, Laci Vegh, won handily the Top DX station with his first-place finish in the Out of State Mixed HP category.  Reading Laci's soapbox comments, we all learned of the passing of his father, OM3TCG (SK), just two days prior to the NCQP event.  In my correspondence with Laci, he told me it was very difficult for him but wanted to participate in his father's memory.  He said it was what his father would have wanted him to do.  OM3TCG was instrumental in Laci's ham radio upbringing and was always cheer-leading him to do his best in the state QSO parties.

 

Final Thoughts

I hope everyone's experience on the air was a positive one and fun filled.  Take what you learned this year and apply it to the next one.  It’s all about fun, sportsmanship, and good cheer in what we do here.  With sunspots coming on-line and propagation increasing for the next couple of years, it is only going to get better!  See you in the next one!

With warm regards going out to all.  Let’s make the most of our wonderful hobby.

 2022 Full Results - Stats - Soapbox - Bonus Station Sweeps

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