The contesting season is opening up
with a big bang this year as we see the sun waking up! Its been a
long time coming and by February it should be even better. I was
reminded during CQWW/SSB a few weeks ago that Europeans do, in fact,
have frequency privileges on 10 meters!
So, what’s new with the QSO Party? The
website is updated for 2022, we’ve added some structure to the
committee, new spelling bee bonus, Marc has the new Facebook group
going, and, of course, this will be the first year sans paper logs.
Lets dive right in!
I do want to mention that we received a
record number of logs last year in no small part due to the support
and dedication of all participants, but especially to our NC ops. I
just want to put out a “Job Well Done” to those that got on the
air and submitted a log last year. Check out the website and make
your plans for 2022, we’re looking forward to even better!
Some housekeeping was in order this
year in the committee personnel. Steve, W4MGT, has taken over the
website administration job, and started out as a WordPress novice.
But, no longer. What a great job he has done and has taken to it
like a fish to water. Thanks Steve! Marc, W4MPS, our tried and true
logs manager, was promoted to “Vice Chairman” status. A new NCQP
advisory committee will consist of three non voting members of the
amateur radio community with experience holding positions of
leadership. They will be our “consultants” when issues arise
needing a broader spectrum of knowledge and experience. The process
of forming is going on now and it should be in place by next
February. As time goes on, we want to ensure the long term
viability of NCQP irrespective of who is in the office.
The spelling bee bonus has been a tremendous hit in the past and we’ve got another great one lined up for 2022. The word is “DUKE” this year in keeping with the Tarheel and Wolfpack college theme. What is everyone’s opinion for having Appalachian State’s Yosef for 2023? Anyway, the ops are already lined up and 1×1 call signs secured for the event. NC4QP will also be QRV this year rounding out the bonus situation. Don’t want to give away who the op or ops will be for that, but I hope my fist holds up under all the activity! 😉
Marc has spearheaded the move away from the general social media Facebook site in favor of “Facebook Groups” See the W4MPS post on this blog earlier. Its a more private group of those that are interested, much in the vein of our e-mail reflector list of yesteryear. I think its a good move.
It was well announced that 2021 was our last year accepting paper logs. We encouraged everyone who was still using paper to work on making the transition. Out of 598 logs received last year, only a handful were paper. It looks like everyone is making the effort to get changed over. If you are one of those in this small minority that are using paper, we still want to accept your log. You’ll have to help us out this year by using the link on the right sidebar “Create Cabrillo File from Paper Log” and then upload the new file. Thank you for your support in doing this!
I hope everyone and their respective
families have a safe and prosperous holiday season. Please be sure
to upload your NCQP plans to the website using the County Activities
tab and form once you know what you’ll be doing. It really helps
everyone out.
And finely, last but not least, thank
you to all of our sponsors who make all of this happen. Please feel
free to contact me if you have any questions concerning the rules,
strategy, or anything else. I’m good on QRZ.com.
73 Marty W4MY
NCQP Chairman