VE3DZ Looks to Spring Another August Surprise in 2007 NAQP CW

By Jamie Dupree NS3T 

Looking for another "rare" NAQP win from Canada, Yuri Onipko VE3DZ hopes he can catch lightning in a bottle for a second straight August in the North American QSO Party CW version.

"In previous years I never made it into the top ten," says Onipko, "mostly because of my modest set-up at home, but also because I was learning."

The 2006 winner says he likes the NAQP format. "You need some special strategy for this contest which depends on your station set-up, location and band conditions" said Onipko.

Hot on VE3DZ's trail again this year will be Mike Wetzel W9RE, who says the down band conditions actually give him a better chance to compete for the top spot.

"In the last few years I have been able to compete because 10 and 15 have been rather marginal - thus no big q numbers for west coast guys," said Wetzel. "I can make up ground on 80 and 160 that are traditionally tougher going for west coast stations."

A check of the numbers bears that out, as Wetzel had by far the most contacts on 160 meters (111), more than his QSO totals combined on 15 and 10 meters (84 combined.)

"The location here (in Indiana) is not too bad," says Wetzel. "I can work the East Coast population areas almost full time on 40 meters and occasionally get short skip to the East Coast on 20 and 15."

As for the strategy in this contest, there is a lot of it, as operators move mults from band-to-band.

"The NAQP is probably the best contest for SO2R," says Wetzel W9RE.

"The use of a second radio is critical in this contest," says Onipko VE3DZ. "If you want to win, you must try to move multipliers from band to band, even if you think the band is dead."

"Without a second radio in this contest, I would say one should not count on finishing in the top ten or even top twenty," Onipko says.

In the QRP category, Al Sinopoli KC5R will be back to try for a repeat. "I like QRP because I feel I was always good at scraping up QSO's using wire antennas and low power," said Sinopoli, "and operating QRP was a better fit for those skills."

"The QRP category gives the 'other guy' a chance to compete."

It's no longer all wire for the Lousiana contester though. "I enhanced my station dramatically in February 2006 with a tower and some aluminium in the air, so now my skills benefit from some better hardware," said Sinopoli.

As for QRP strategy, Sinopoli says you do need to think differently during a contest. "You need to konw when to give up and give in when calling/searching since you are more at the mercy of QRM and propagation."

While the multi-two stations can operate the full 12 hours of the NAQP, the single operators face the daunting decision of when to shut the rig down for two hours.

"I have won the NAQP when I had to take off 2 straight hours in the afternoon to attend an engagement party," said Wetzel, "but in general that is not a good strategy."

The Indiana ham says the best answer is probably to take your off time in half hour segments, "so as not to miss a band opening or mults that again just get on for a short time."

"Just take a break when the rates are low and you need a rest," says Sinopoli KC5R, who won last year's QRP category. "In Louisiana during August, thunderstorms usually dictate when that is."

"I just took a half hour break in the middle of the contest," said VE3DZ, "Purely because I wanted to go to the washroom and have a coffee, hi!"

While Onipko hopes to do well again this year, he will be operating from his home QTH, instead of VE3SY's QTH, where he won from in August of 2006.

"I think I would be extremely happy to make it into the Top Ten."