The 2026 running of NCQP is now in the evaluation stage.  What a great year.  Activity was as big as ever, maybe more!  Band conditions were excellent.  My heart was very warmed seeing my rig’s waterfall chocked full of signals!  Great credit goes to the hams in our Tarheel state!

From what I see so far in the logs submitted, all 10 bonus counties were represented.  Outstanding!  Running NC4QP this year, I had contact with 48 states, 7 Canadian provinces, and 3 DX entities.  A new one for me was working KL7 (Alaska) in the party!

Be sure to get your log in.  From what I can see, so far, it’s going very smoothly.  You’ve got until March 15 one minute before midnight (EST).  This is our first year without Marc, W4MPS, log analyst extraordinaire, so I’m now tasked with Excel for the final results.  If the final report isn’t as fast as Marc made common, you’ll know the reason!  I wish Marc the best at his new home in South Carolina.

Please submit your Soapbox comments in your Cabrillo or to me via email when you get the chance.  We’d like to know especially about combined NCQP and POTA activations.  I know I worked a good handful of y’all.

Just wanted to say thanks, again, and if you ever see me out and about at a hamfest or something, please introduce yourself and tell me about your past NCQP operations.  I’m always delighted to hear QSO Party stories!

OK, now back to work on these results.  Keep‘m coming!

73, Marty, W4MY, NCQP Chairman

Coming up for the 2026 event on March 1 next there are a few plaque sponsorships coming available. If anyone has been thinking of participating please get in touch with Marty, W4MY, the committee chairman. (email good on QRZ.com) All are welcome and priority is given to active NC clubs, the backbone of the NC ham community. The cost is $50 usually due by Jan 1 of the event year. Once participating, you are acknowledged on the plaque text, listed in the “Sponsors” page of the NCQP website with a link, and given priority to renew in subsequent years. I am repeatedly blown away about the support and generosity of our sponsors each year. We in NC are truly blessed.

The 2026 running of the North Carolina QSO Party will take place on the air Sunday, March 1, 2026.  We’ve come a long way since the initial event in 1970.  The committee has met and we’ve hammered out another round I’m sure you will find exciting!

First thing everyone should do is to take a few minutes to read over the rules.  For the newbie and old timer there’s a lot of good information there.  If you have any questions please get in touch with us for any clarification.  If we have missed anything, we sure would like to know about it!

I’ll get to the important administrative changes first.  The FT-8/4 Weak Signal Showcase now allows the out of state ops to participate.  They submit their ADIF log just like the NC stations do.  Secondly, we have cleaned up the rules concerning Portable and Expedition category.  No more complicated explanations about what equipment can be used for what category.  Folks go out to the field with their regular radio gear using whatever suits them.  Simple.  We keep the level playing field by limiting Expedition to one fixed location (Field Day style) for the duration now.  Portable can go to multiple QTH’s as before, just have to be stationary while operating.  Any QSOs made while moving makes you a Mobile.  It’s important to note that Portable ops use the same physical equipment (radio, antennas, and accessories, etc.) after moving for the duration of the event.  This protects the level playing field by disallowing two independent teams from coordinating a “leap frog” operation using the same call sign and identifying it as one operation.

Now for the much-anticipated bonus announcement.  “Rarest of NC Counties” is the name.  Ten least active counties have been identified.  (see rules)   Working anyone operating from these counties yields a 10X factor in QSO points scored for each contact made for the op outside of there.  Those are points scored on every QSO made, and added before the MULTs are calculated.  Note this is for ops outside of these counties only.  Nothing extra for the ops operating from there, but these will be highly sought after QSOs.  Operating from one of these counties should include calling CQ a lot as everyone will be looking out.

We’re hoping that improving conditions will get more stations on the air operating.  Looking forward to everyone carving out some time in their busy schedule to get on the air and have fun!

The event for 2025 is behind us and what a whirlwind.  Conditions were pretty decent and the NC ops were out in force.  The log deadline has passed and we’re crunching them now.  As is usual, we’ll have them out shortly, we just want to double and triple check our work.  Everyone did a great job of submitting their logs with a minimum of complications.  We had a couple of issues, but they were quickly resolved.  Not making any promises, but we plan to announce the results and have the plaques ready in time for RARSfest in early April so the winners that attend can pick them up. Looking forward to shaking some hands!  Keep an eye out here for the results! Marty

Everyone has been waiting for the Bonus station announcement for this year’s event. Here they are! Fifty extra points each for putting these call signs in your log.

K4MN Cape Fear ARS Cumberland County

WA4TRS The Roadshow ARC Buncombe County

W4YK Blue Ridge ARC Henderson County

K4EG Alamance ARC Alamance County

WA4J Watauga ARC Watauga County

W4YSB Ashe County ARC Ashe County

NI4BK Azalea Coast ARC New Hanover County

NC4OC Onslow ARC Onslow County

WW4DC East Davidson Repeater Group Montgomery County

W4DW Raleigh ARS Wake County

AA4RV Franklin County ARC Franklin County

Although not a bonus, NC4QP will be on the air also!

Thanks and good luck to all! 73

Greetings and Salutations to All!

In appreciation of the contributions our North Carolina amateur radio clubs make to NC QSO Party we are putting them front and center this year. The usual spelling bees with their 1×1 calls are put aside in favor of club call signs populating the air waves. We want as many of them as possible! So, what are we doing for 2025?

Club stations, who wish to participate, are the bonus stations! Both in and out of state ops who work a participating bonus club station get 50 extra points. We are not putting any limitation to the number of clubs that are a bonus, its just we have to go through a small process to get your club approved and on the bonus list ahead of time.

Club stations operate as they normally would, nothing special is required. The objective is just to get on the air and put out our usual North Carolina hospitality. Since there will be nothing extra for gaining a sweep, no need to cover all the modes if this isn’t usually done.

What are we looking for in a club that is eligible for this bonus status? -It be a club in North Carolina having regular public meetings and providing amateur radio service to the community; -It be open to all amateurs for membership, and; -It has officers, committees, members and a structure we are all familiar with serving amateur radio interests.

How does a cub get to be a bonus? Send an email to Marty, W4MY, at w4my@reagan.com requesting to be a bonus station for 2025. Include the name of your club, call sign that will be used, a link to your website and any other information helpful in showing your club is of the type described above. You will get an answer as to your clubs bonus status and be listed prior to the contest if approved.

Of course, clubs are not REQUIRED to do this. We still want you to get on the air in the usual multi category nonetheless. But let me reiterate, your bonus status must be approved prior to the event. I’m putting a February 1, 2025 deadline on the request so we can prepare.

ONE MORE THING! This post is getting long, but one more important item. Participating bonus clubs will not be recused for competition! All the “bonus clubs” will be put in a new one-time category for 2025. Operating under the same rules as Multi-op/Mixed/Low Power these stations will be ranked with their score in the results and a first place plaque and second place certificate will be awarded. So this one time you can be a bonus and still compete!

Looking forward to hearing from the Clubs this year!

73 Marty W4MY

NCQP Chairman

The committee has been wrestling with this very popular digital mode for some time and not been able to get it integrated into the event. Other state QSO parties have tried with mixed results. We are going to explore from a different angle, as a separate event happening at the same time as NCQP. There’s more information to come, our IT guy Andy, AA9P, is spearheading it. For those interested, please stay tuned for more information to follow.

The purpose of this co-activity is to gauge interest and explore future possibilities of this mode for NCQP in future years.

FT-8/4
A special activity will be tried using FT-8/4 mode this year. All stations may participate, but only NC stations are permitted to submit their special ADI log file for an award.

Stations make regular FT-8/4 QSOs as is customary in usual operation during the time frame and date of the regular NCQP contest. For NC stations only: Submit FT-8/4 log in ADI format separately using the special form to be set up on the NCQP website specially for this purpose.

DO NOT INCLUDE FT-8/4 QSOs in the regular Cabrillo log. Making QSOs in this activity does not change the category status of a station participating in the regular contest. (i.e., A single-op/CW/Low Power station DOES NOT go into the Mixed mode if they participate in this special activity)

The main purpose in NCQP is to have fun and we want to include those that enjoy this mode. We encourage everyone to DO BOTH if they want!

The following is a list of stations who have qualified for a Clean Sweep of all NCQP 2024 Bonus Stations, as of March 13, 2024. If you don’t see your callsign on this list, and feel you have qualified, please email  w4mps@nc.rr.com  and we’ll double check your log.  Certificates will be issued to all qualifiers.

AA3R

AJ4HP

DL3DXX

K2QO

K3QP

K3ZA

K4DCP

K4KB

K4MN

K9CW

KA5VZG

KB4OI

KE4YOG

KN4HGI

KN4RFT

KS4S

N3KN

N4DLT

N4Z

N6NT

N8II

NS2S

OM2VL

VA3IDD

W2LC

W3AJL

W3JJL

W3LL

W3US

W4CHI

W4JL

W4MR

W4YK

W8BZY

W8FN

W8PI

W9QL

WA2JQK

WA3TMR

WB2PJH

WB4SAB

WB9AYD

WD4OIN

WJ1T

WN4OFI

WO4O

Just a reminder that logs are due March 11 at midnight, so be sure to get yours in! We’ve had a tremendous response this year and we want to be sure and include everyone that participated! Thanks again for the tremendous support of NCQP! …Marty W4MY

As promised, here is an update of the bonus lineup for this year’s QSO Party

N4RAL – Wake county home of Fin Gold, NC4FG, (Wake County) staffed mostly by members of the Raleigh Amateur Radio Club and guests. Note: they won’t be at a POTA park, but are representing RARS, the QSO Party sponsor. Thanks, Fin, for heading this up!

Work N4RAL and the other five for a clean sweep! All bonus stations will be QRV on both phone and CW.