Donations are accepted. We appreciate the help!
There have been eight runnings of the New England QSO Party, and eight times, the winner of the Single Operator Category from outside of New England has been the same contester, as Paul Newberry N4PN has been the man to beat since this contest debuted - and again - he'll be in the spotlight in this year's NEQP.
Newberry got a little more of a run for his money last year, as Bob Patten N4BP finished a strong second as WN1GIV.
"Down here in Georgia you learn to take what's left over when Paul's in a contest," said Ralph Bates K1ZZI, who at least beat N4PN on the CW side of things last year.
"Paul's a good friend and he's a fierce experienced competitor," Bates told radio-sport.net. "One on one, head on, you just can't beat him but we have fun trying."
In 2009, N4PN also broke his High Power scoring record that he set back in 2004, pushing it up to over 63,000 points.
He was helped by some openings from Georgia into New England on - of all things - something called 10 meters!
Newberry made 46 contacts on 10 meters and added 60 more on 15 meters. He did most of his damage on 20 and 40 meters.
Newberry and Patten were the only two operators to solve the puzzle and get a sweep of the 67 counties that make up the New England QSO Party - it was actually the first time ever in NEQP that more than one station garnered a sweep.
(67 is actually the most common number when it comes to counties and QSO parties, as the NEQP and three other QSO parties feature 67 multipliers - the others are Florida, Pennsylvania and Alabama.)
For those of you wondering, the NEQP organizers say the five most difficult counties to find in the 2009 test were Lincoln ME, Franklin VT, Suffolk MA, Waldo ME and Bristol RI.
Despite the sour band conditions of recent years, log entries were up 13% in 2009, with 86,000 QSO's reported to the log checkers.
The New England QSO Party has two operating periods - 2000z on Saturday May 1 to 0500z May 2 and 1300-2400z May 2. All stations may operate the full twenty hours. For more information, go to the NEQP web site.
2009 New England QSO Party Winners
But the county hunting is not limited to these three contests, as all 48 hours are also devoted to the Mobile Amateur Radio Awards Club (MARAC) Contests, also on both SSB and CW.
MARAC SSB & CW Contests
0000z May 1 - 2400 May 2;
more on the rules at the
MARAC web site.
7th Call Area QSO Party
1300z May 1 - 0700 May 2;
more on the rules at the
7QP web site.
Indiana QSO Party
1600z May 1 - 0400 May 2;
more on the rules at the
INQP web site.
New England QSO Party
2000z May 1 - 0500 May 2 and 1300-2400z;
more on the rules at the
NEQP web site.
