Results 2021
NC QSO Party Results - 2021
2021 Full Results - Stats - Soapbox
North Carolina QSO Party 2021 Results
by Marty Young W4MY
Chairman, North Carolina QSO Party
I know I say this every year, but yet again, this is one for the books. I've always said if we ever get to 500 or more logs submitted, we will have made it! At 598 logs this year, well, we made it! HI. In reality, we haven't, as there is always more work to do; we're not resting on our laurels. But I have to say I'm in awe of the tremendous support afforded by the ham radio community towards NCQP. Your participation speaks volumes. Thank you, and please keep up the good work.
Speaking of good work, take a look at the results spreadsheet. The data was collected by our automatedLogBot. Andy, AA9P, is wholly responsible for that. Once collected, Marc, W4MPS, manually manipulates the raw data into a form we can all understand. Everyone should know this takes many hours of solid, conscientious work on their part. These are volunteers you definitely want on your side!
The spelling bee wasn't exactly a slam dunk this year. We had some new 1x1 bonus stations getting theirfeet wet with this sort of operation. I thank each and every one of them for setting aside their own call sign and ambition in order to give back to NCQP. Some of the letters may have been easier to get than others, but everyone did a fantastic job. They combined to log over 5,000 QSOs. There were 54 sweeps in all, representing a 9% success rate for those entering. Some say it could have been a little higher, and maybe there's room for improvement next year; we'll work on that. This is a sport and we just keep on trying to improve. Be sure to check out the website main page blog to see the profile of the 1x1 stations this year so you can have the opportunity to learn who they are.
The soapbox this year will be filled with great stories and comments. Some will make you laugh and some are tales of overcoming amazing adversity. Folks go to great lengths just to participate. Just ask mobile team W4AN from Georgia about adversity!
Here is the summary of the category winners. The first-place finishers all receive wood plaques which outline the state of North Carolina. Second place finishers get a special hard copy certificate sent in the mail commemorating their accomplishment.
Single Op / Out of State / Phone / HP (34 Logs)
John J, Lamb, W3JJL, is the winner of the phone only category. John got his ticket in 1997 and has been in and out of QTH's a number of times limiting his activity. The last couple of years though, he has settled in Pennsylvania and has a good station up and running. The proof is in the pudding with this very impressive win. John had about 30 more QSO's than second place finisher Shannon Shelburne, KK4HHP, of Virginia.
Single Op / Out of State / Phone / LP (106 Logs)
LogBot reported 4,141 QSOs generated by everyone in this and the HP phone category above. 140 logs submitted by phone only ops is worth mentioning, and is quite a feat. Fred Tollin, AC3LZ did it and took first. Are you sure you didn't have some help from the “Shack Rats” Fred?
In second, a mere 400 points behind (and with actually more QSOs than Fred) was David Zablocki, N3SIQ. David had 51 mults vs. the first place finisher's 55, so it was a real squeaker. Honorable mention goes to Eric Carlson, AJ4LN, of Virginia who had 107 QSOs, coming in third right on the heels of these guys.
Single Op / Out of State / CW / HP (29 Logs)
CW has always been a strong category in NCQP, and continuing thattradition is the winner of this CW blowtorch category, Don Karvonen, K8MFO, from Ohio. Don is very active with a great
group of Ohio hams and he will be proud to have this plaque on his shack wall. Coming in a very close second was Oklahoma ham Ed Gilliland, W5TM. Ed's signal generated by his Flex 6600 and KPA 1500 from west of the Mississippi came into NC like gangbusters. The two scores were 27,900 and 27,312 respectively. Both were in it for the win!
Single Op / Out of State / CW / LP (99 Logs)
Leading the pack of 99 logs submitted in this category (the second largest number) is Andrew White, K9CW, hailing from central Illinois. Andrew didn't need a lot of power to rack up 135 QSOs, 59 NC counties, and a clean spelling bee sweep to boot. I have to say that I am impressed with Tom, KV8Q's second place finish from Ohio. Tom must be in an HOA restricted QTH as he beat out 97 other entrants with his mag loop antenna in the attic. Wow! That says a lot for Tom's CW ability as he was only 20 QSO's down from Andrew's lead. And he got a clean spelling bee sweep too! Congrats to both.
Single Op / Out of State /Digital (2 Logs)
Digital is emerging in NC QSO Party as a viable mode, as activity continues to slowly increase. The springboard for this category will be when the FT-8 software is configured for QSO Party contests. Jack, KD5ILA and Joe, KA1PPV had 28 QSO's between them to round out the entries in this category. A lot of patience was exhibited by these two Ops. That alone deserves a plaque and certificate between them.
Single Op / Out of State / Mixed / HP (50 Logs)
Long time contester and avid dxpeditioner Ray Sokla, K9RS, picked up the win here with 312QSOs via 72 NC counties. A very impressive win topping all the winners in the Out-of-State categories. Not surprising was second place finisher, OM2VL, Laszlo (Laci) Vegh from the Slovak Republic. That's a long distance to be finishing in second place. Ray got the spelling bee sweep, but Laci was one short, and we heard about it. That's the way it goes sometimes. We do the best we can to get those spelling bee stations on the air and active. It’s all in good fun, and I'm positive Laci will be back next year in earnest chasing the next spelling bee stations. I guess everyone has figured out most of the committee members are from the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area (TARHEEL, WOLFPACK, …?, anyone want to guess the 2022 word? HI!)
Single Op / Out of State / Mixed / LP (101 Logs)
This is the oldest, and longest running NCQP category I know of, along with its In-State counterpart and Mobile. There was no disappointment this year with strong support from all over North America. Stations from Washington, Idaho, Florida, Arkansas, Minnesota, Kansas and Texas are among them, along with many states close in. You can do a lot with 100 watts; these participants sure have. Leading the pack are two Op's who are no strangers to QSO Parties. Jeff Hartley, N8II, in West Virginia and Bud Governale, W3LL, from Maryland. Jeff won with just shy of 300 QSOs working 73 NC counties. Bud was a very respectable second place finisher working 189 Q's and getting 65 county multipliers. I know Bud from my activity in PVRC, and can tell you that he is the top of the top when it comes to contesting and character. Same with Jeff. I think the call N8II is in every state QSO party log of mine since I started doing mobile and expeditions all over the southeast many years ago.
Single Op / Out of State / Mixed / QRP (14 Logs)
QRP Ops are a very unique group and surely a pleasure to know and work on the air. Both ends of the QSO are a challenge to get done. Kudos to all the QRP Ops and those that worked them! This year we congratulate Michael Sorton, WS2E from Milford, PA. With 145 QSOs, 63 NC county mults, and a clean spelling bee sweep. You wouldn't know Mike was QRP from those impressive numbers. Thomas Warren, K3TW, a “True Blue Dxer”, came in second working his Christmas light bulb power station from the ARRL WCF section of Florida. Honorable mention goes to third place finisher, Michael Snook, W7LG, for getting the spelling bee clean sweep. Not an easy accomplishment for anyone, let alone in this challenging category.
Single Op / In State / Phone / HP (6 Logs)
James “Rodney” Bridgers, N4BNO is the winner of the high-power phone category this year. I know two
things about Rod, his avid love of CW and his Christian faith. I was surprised to see him in a phone category, but not surprised with his achievement. Rod may not remember, but I was a fledgling CW op just in the infancy of my contesting interest. He mentored me on a CW station during a Field Day event years ago. We later worked together at a pharmaceutical plant in Rocky Mount before he retired in the late 2000's. I haven't heard from N4BNO in a long time and am glad to see him still in the thick of it. Ron Beaver, WB4OQL, from Clyde, NC took Haywood county to new heights with the second-place finish. It was well behind Rod's score, but well ahead of the four other finishers in this class.
Single Op / In State / Phone / LP (51 Logs)
This category had the largest number of submissions from NC in state Ops. Topping the list is Charles Ed Pitts, K5OF. He was clearly ahead of the rest of the pack with a score of 157, 280. I'm sure the salt marsh of Carteret county helped Ed out, but to get a score like that so far ahead of everyone else, his operating ability surely was the difference. Joel W. Perry, KN4EWI, in Dare county came in a distant second, but ahead of 49 others. A big signal from Big Covington Island, NC.
Single Op / In State / CW / HP (8 Logs)
No stranger to the top spot in this category was John Getz, AD8J, as he takes first place in the CW high power division. 747 QSOs along with 40 mults and a few of the bonus spelling bee's put John on top. Close behind was second place finisher, Jim Starfert, NA4J activating Forsyth county in a big way. CW high power was just opened up this year and we're glad to see strong participation in this category.
Single Op / In State / CW / LP (13 Logs)
The second longest running category in NCQP history is CW only low power. Vlado Karamitrov, N3CZ led the pack with a clear victory, posting a respectable score of 166,634. A former Spelling Bee 1x1 station, Vlado always puts others first before his own interests in NCQP. His selfless contribution is greatly appreciated by the committee. Forsyth County was the QTH of the second-place finisher in this category, Jim Atkins, W4UX. He placed second for the certificate beating out perennial top high finisher Louis Alexander, K4BYN. Good job guys! The selfless character of guys like these are what makes NCQP what it is today!
Single Op / In State /Digital (5 Logs)
Winner Jim Howard, W4SDJ, lived in my own stomping ground of central Florida before retiring to the western mountains of NC in 2009. His self-described simple station is in Murphy, NC and was enough for him to squeeze out the win in this category. Chuck Till, K4RGN will be getting the second-place certificate. Congratulations to both for this great effort. We appreciate the digital guys sticking with us despite not having FT-8. Maybe it will be coming in 2022. We'll have to see if the software programmers get something out in time.
Single Op / In State / Mixed / HP (13 Logs)
A recent resident moving to western NC in 2020, Steven Schwab, KT4Q took the top award in the mixed high-power category. This was his first attempt in the NC QSO Party as an in-state participant. I'm sure the plaque he gets will be prominently displayed when he puts up the new pictures of his shack in NC on his QRZ.com page. Bill Axelrod, K3WA, a Northern Illinois DX Association Ham of the year finds himself in the second spot for this category. Congratulations, Bill, the certificate of your accomplishment will be on its way soon! Your participation in NCQP is greatly appreciated. Worth mentioning in this category is David Long, KB4W, with the only spelling bee clean sweep, from Blowing Rock, NC. There weren't many sweeps by the in-state ops this year and, in actuality, that’s a good thing. If everyone in state is calling CQ (which we encourage) then the sweep becomes more allusive. It looks like David balanced calling CQ with an S&P effort in order to get the sweep. Well done !
Single Op / In State / Mixed / LP (24 Logs)
Out of the 24 entrants, PVRC member and former WRTC participant/referee Will Roberts, AA4NC, was the winner in this mixed mode category. 619 Q's along with 99 multipliers resulted in a first-place score of 161,917. Will did it from his Surf City QTH in Pender county. Operating prowess and salt marsh are a winning combination for sure! I had the distinct honor of participating with Will as a mobile op in the Florida QSO Party a number of years ago and got to see firsthand how a WRTC caliber Op does it. It’s nothing short of amazing and truly athletic in its nature. I suspect the NC QSO Party wood will get lost on Will's wall of fame among all his other prestigious awards, but well deserved just the same. The second-place finish not too far from Will's impressive score is Bob Lukaszewski, K4HA, a radio man's radio man. Bob has had the great opportunity to have radio involved in both his vocation and avocation. His score of 154,750 with 100 mults is nothing to scoff at. Bob, you might have won if you weren't sharing the category with a former WRTC competitor.
Single Op / In State / Mixed / QRP (5 Logs)
Ah, the QRP group. Did I mention how much I love these guys? Dick Hayter, N4HAY, is the big man with the small signal. He earned his wood plaque at this position with 194 QSOs, despite it being fewer than Chuck Ward, KJ4RV, who had 210. The difference was in the mults. Dick found 60 distinct other places to work as opposed to Chuck's 41. That made an almost 10,000 point difference in their score's. Find those mults guys, they were the difference here. Job well done goes out to Dick and Chuck as well as all the QRP ops that sent in their log.
Expedition / In State / Mixed / LP (10 Logs
Ten Expeditions this year. Wow! Half of the groups took advantage of moving their location, or conducting a county line sitting operation, a popular strategy for sure, as it is common among top finishers. N4D (NC4NP), WNC Ham Activators consisting of ops John K4SGR, Cozette KL4RL, Howard WB4GUD, and David ND1J were the Ops in this top finishing effort. These are a seasoned group of SOTA/POTA activators and it’s a natural for them to enter in this category. There's a nice note in the Soapbox about their operation from the Jackson/Swain county line and everyone should check it out. Dick Goodwin, K4JJW also did a two-county swing in Pamlico and Craven by himself, but not from the line. A good showing. These two guys, as well as third place finisher Cameron, AJ4TW, all scored north of 500 QSOs, so this was definitely a close finish.
Multi Op / In State / Phone / LP (4 Logs)
WW4DC, The East Davidson Repeater Group, lighting up Caswell County, took first place in this category. There weren't many multi-op efforts this year understandably due to the pandemic. WW4DC, KF4QDS, and KF4OVA found a way to do it within the existing rules. Racking up a score of 56,210 was enough to take the plaque, congratulations! In second was the Blue Ridge ARC out of Hendersonville, NC. Ops KK4JFO and NA4X successfully operated “together” safely, and got it done. I'm looking forward to maybe having one or both of these groups on a future “Ops in Focus” to tell us how they managed the Covid-19 requirements.
Multi Op / In State / Mixed / HP (1 Log)
The one log submitted for this category was by the team of Brad O'Dell, KK1LL and Rachel Brown, KC4RMB. Using Brad's call, they racked up 422 QSO's all on 40M phone. They met the minimum requirements of 25 Q's for sure to be eligible for the plaque uncontested. Thanks for participating guys.
Multi Op / In State / Mixed / LP (0 Logs)
No logs were received in this category this year. I imagine that the local leaders of past multi's directed everyone to go out and do a single-op in light of the Covid-19 situation. It is good to see everyone making the locally appropriate decision that pertained to their local situation.
Mobile / In State / Mixed / LP (5 Logs)
Mobile is near and dear to my heart as this was the method that exposed me to my first NC QSO party in I joined my good friend Robin, WA4WPD (SK) as his CW op. We drove around in his mobile going from Hardees to Hardees restaurants in different counties, eating cheeseburgers and working Q's. Great memories, I'll never forget it. I don't know if Jim, K8MR, our mobile winner this year likes Hardees cheeseburgers, but something gave him the energy to squeeze out the win in this category with very formidable competition. Jim came up from Florida to participate with us this year. I guess he was using it as a ”shakedown cruise” for his run in the GA and FL QSO Parties in April. Glad to have you Jim and hope to see you again. Roving in 13 counties with 855 QSOs was enough for the win. Having been mobile in FQP I know the rates can get insane there. I hope Jim got the same feeling with his 146, 814 score here.
In second place gallivanting around the Tarheel state, breaking windows and causing bedlam, was team W4AN,
John Laney, K4BAI, and Jeff Clark, KU8E. The breaking windows reference is no joke. Be sure to read the soapbox about their first “adventure” to NCQP! Talk about crazy, these guys get the tenacity award, if there ever was one. Going down the road with a shattered and open broken rear window, just to make QSOs? Hi! Reminds me of Sherriff Buford T. Justice’s police car in the movie “Smoky and the Bandit.” Again, be sure to read about these real troupers in the Soapbox.
I would be remiss in not giving a shout out to third place finishers Tad Danley, K3TD and Jim Jordan, K4QPL, operating as K3TD mobile. These guys were a former 1x1 spelling bee bonus station, and I can tell you they will be asked again. They took the opportunity this year to compete and did an outstanding job activating 13 counties and scoring 97,822 points.
Special mention goes to team W4TMO. They did something extraordinary. Frankly, I don't know if it has ever been attempted. Bert, N4CW, operated from home, remotely, connecting to the W4TMO mobile wirelessly, while Jim drove the remote radio station around the state! Let that sink in for a minute. The technical obstacles must have been tremendous, but these guys pulled it off. They were in constant communication by mobile phone. I don't know all the specifics of how they accomplished this tremendous feat, but look for a special “Ops in Focus” feature about them in the near future. This is so outside of the rover paradigm that they realized their submission did not comport strictly with the rules, and they gladly removed themselves from competition for an award. This really was not about that. They themselves weren't even sure it could be done. But in the end, they made a lot of QSOs and visited many counties. Thanks for the tremendous effort guys. They really pushed the envelope of what is possible. If ever there was a “MacGyver” award in NCQP, these guys would surely get it! I don't know if a “Remote Mobile” category is in the future of NCQP, but you never know!
To the rest of the mobiles, K4DOM and W4DEX, Thank You! It was fun following and working you guys.
Top DX
It is no surprise -- OM2VL, Laci Vegh won handily. He was the Top DX station logging 220 QSOs with NC stations, and topped all other DX entries. I was also very pleased to see a submission from JO7WXN, Toshihisa. With logs coming in from Asia, that makes us officially global ! Laci was also the second- place finisher in the Single-Op / Out of State / Mixed mode / HP category. A stylish wood plaque will be mailed to the Slovak Republic in the near future.
$150 GigaParts Certificate Winner
With the sunspots (supposedly) returning now that we are on the upswing side of Cycle 25, the committee wanted to spur some activity on the upper bands with a special prize. The in-state entrant who worked the most QSOs on 20 meters and above is James (Rodney) Bridgers, N4BNO. He will be receiving a $150 GigaParts gift card. Rod was the winner of the high power in state phone category as well; a double whammy! Staying on 20M long enough to get 256 Q’s, plus one on 10M, was enough for this win. Good job! I’m sure the guys in Washington and Idaho appreciated Rod sticking around on the upper bands.
Final Thoughts
I hope everyone's experience on the air was a positive one and fun filled. If you met your personal operating goals this year - congratulations! If you fell short, take what you learned this year and apply it to your next NCQP effort. What we do here is all about fun, sportsmanship, and good cheer.
With warm regards to all, let’s make the most of our wonderful hobby during these stressful, uncertain times.
73,
Marty / W4MY
March, 2021