Solar Flare Not Wanted For NAQP SSB; NR5M, KR2Q, Team K5GO Lead NAQP CW Top Claimed

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted August 15, 2010

As the August 2010 NAQP SSB Contest arrives this weekend, contesters don't want to see a repeat of the start of the NAQP CW from earlier this month, as the sun decided to throw out a decent-sized solar flare just as that test was getting underway.

"The M2 Flare certainly killed 15 and 10m dead for us!" said Chuck Jones N7BV, whose team still grinded out 808 contacts overall, but just 71 on those two high bands.

"Guess we should be happy with the sun's activity even when it hurts," Jones added on 3830.

The flare did not snuff out this contest, as big scores were still registered from some of the usual contest suspects, as sunspot numbers remain limited in 2010.

"My kinda contest," said Paul Newberry N4PN after the NAQP CW earlier this month, saying there was "plenty of activity" on the bands.

While conditions "seemed fairly good" to top finishers like Howie "Al" Hoyt N4AF, a number of operators said after NAQP CW that too many people seemed to be stuck on 20 and 40 meters.

"Think 10 was open but not many went there," said Steve Bolia N8BJQ, a refrain that's been repeated a lot in recent years.

The problem is that while 10 meters may be open, the rates are low - sometimes very low - and the lack of activity in a contest with a ten hour time limit for single operators can cause someone to quickly move to 15 or 20 for some action.

But for those who grinded out the QSO's, the reward was there.

"Great to have some sporadic E on 15 and 10 meters," said Randy K0EU, who was one of the few to make over 1100 contacts in NAQP CW, finishing with the 5th highest claimed score in the Low Power division.

For those not familiar with NAQP, the strategy of multipliers is important, as the contest mixes the mults of all US states and Canadian provinces, along with the DXCC countries of North America, with all of those mults available on all bands.

So, while a state like Wyoming or Rhode Island might be important to move, so too are some DX stations - among those appearing in NAQP CW logs, OX3XR and ZF2DO won a lot of kudos.

"Dave ZF2DO was busy handing out mults on 20 40 and 160," said Ralph K1ZZI.

"The highlight was working Cayman Islands on all 4 bands," wrote Jerry VE6TL on 3830. "He called me right at the end of the contest on 80m."

80 meters received a lot of mixed evaluations, with some saying the QRN was high, but others saying they had very good conditions there and on summertime Topband.

"I was surprised at all the activity on 160M, usually there are only a handful of stations on top band," said Ian K8MM on 3830.

"Nice to see that people are figuring out there are q's and mults to be had on the band even in the summer."