Contesting Surprise For CQ WW SSB As N5TJ Re-Enters The Single Op Arena; QRV As CR2X

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted October 18, 2010

To some new contesters, the call of N5TJ does not conjure up many memories at all. But if you look through the CQ WW Contest Records and see that Jeff Steinman owns the Single Operator records in both SSB and CW, you will understand why his return this year will generate a lot of interest.

"CR2X from the Azores with Jeff, N5TJ at the helm," trumpeted a CQ WW announcement issued last weekend by Radio Arcala, the Finnish-based contest group headlined by Martti Laine OH2BH.

"This is my first SOAB since 2003. And on SSB since 2002 @ KP3Z," Steinman told radio-sport.net via email.

"Since then I have done a few multi-ops but, for the most part, been inactive in ham radio," he added.

It was back in 1999 that Steinman, operating as EA8BH, set the CQ WW SSB record which still stands today, as he finished with 25.6 million points, shattering the record that had been set in 1998 by Rich Smith N6KT at HC8A, who had logged just over 17 million points a year earlier.

To give you an idea of how big N5TJ's score of 25.6 million was in 1999 - and still is eleven years later - only two other contesters have ever gone over 20 million, Jim Sullivan CN2R/W7EJ and Alexander Teimurazov D4B/4L5A.

A year after his record setting performance in CQ WW SSB, Steinman set the world record in CQ WW CW - again from EA8BH - finishing with just over 18 million points.

Ten years later - that CQ WW CW record still stands as well. The closest anyone has come was Jose Nunes CT1BOH, when he tallied 15.9 million points from P40E in 2003.

Steinman downplayed his marks, saying that "1999/2000 were good years for propagation."

"A number of multi-band records from then still stand including SOAB SSB and CW for the USA, and both M/M world records," N5TJ added.

More Than Just A WRTC Veteran

Steinman's return in the 2010 CQ WW SSB contest is notable on another front, as it will be the first qualifying contest for the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship, to be held in New England.

Three different times - in 1996, 2000 and 2002 - Steinman teamed with Dan Street K1TO to win the WRTC title.

"We became close friends in the first WRTC as roommates and have kept in contact ever since," said Laine OH2BH. "Jeff is a member of Radio Arcala for a reason!"

Steinman hasn't been totally out of the contesting game, as he's been part of multi-ops in certain contests in past years from both VP2E, VE3EJ and K5MR.

One other CQ WW SSB record that Steinman owns include the Single Op Assisted mark in North America from VE3EJ in 2001.

He also operated VP2E in a Single Band entry on 20 meters in the 2008 CQ WW SSB Contest, setting the North American record at 2.59 million points.

When that operation was listed on 3830 two years ago, some contesters weren't even sure it was real, since Steinman had been away from the contesting game for a number of years at that point.

"Never heard of him. Must be SLIM," N5OT joked on CQ-Contest.

But What About 2010 From CR2X?

In 2009, Toni Linden OH2UA showed that the upgraded CR2X station in the Azores could be very competitive outside of Europe, as he finished fifth in the world behind HC8A, CN2R, 8P5A and 4O3A.

While Steinman hasn't run a SOAB HP effort in years, there's no reason to think he can't sit down at the controls of CR2X and come up with a special score, as contesters have just seen a similar situation the last two years.

In 2008, it was Rich Smith N6KT coming out of "retirement" to win the SSB title from HC8A. He then repeated that feat in 2009, and now holds the record with nine victories in CQ WW SSB.

Could 2010 be the year that Jeff Steinman N5TJ comes back to CQ WW and rides off to victory?

"Those who have seen him operate, know that his attention to planning, forecasting and goal achieving is unequaled," wrote Felipe Hernandez NP4Z on CQ-Contest back in 2008, who added that Steinman's "abilities are not normal."

"By the way Jeff, please don't bore us with single bands and showing up every 3 or 4 years is not healthy for the sport," NP4Z wrote.

This year, NP4Z - and many others - will get their wish.

Stay tuned to radio-sport.net for all of the latest contesting news as we count down to this year's CQ WW SSB Contest.