HamSCI Teams in the January, 2022 North American QSO Party

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Gary Mikitin, AF8A

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Dec 2, 2021, 6:12:43 PM12/2/21
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All - There has been occasional chatter about a HamSCI contesting initiative - combing the fun of competitive ham radio with scientific endeavors.  Other topics have taken precedence as of late…but in early 2022, there’s an opportunity for some HamSCI-branded contesting fun:  The January 22, 2022 running of the North American QSO Party, SSB. It is a 12-hour contest, though most participants operate as time allows, making anywhere from 1 to 1,600 QSOs during the contest period.   It is one of the few contests with a 100 watt power limit - so an ‘average Joe’ or ‘average Jane’ station can be competitive.  The contest exchange is quite simple:  Name and state (or province).

The NAQP sponsors encourage team participation - so let’s consider forming one or more HamSCI teams.  Teams consists of 2 to 5 members registering their team name and station callsigns with the sponsors, prior to the contest.  There are no membership or geographic limitations on who can join a team.   Many organizations field multiple teams, with creative names such as…

  • HamSCI Grapes
  • HamSCI Tangerines
  • HamSCI Eclipse Watchers
  • HamSCI SuperDARNs … you get the idea.

As the name of the contest implies, the focus is on North America, though DX stations are welcome to call in and make contacts.  Single operators (as in one person with one radio, that’s not an indication of marital status!) and multi-op setups are valid, per the rules.  New for 2022 will be a single-op assisted category, for those who wish to monitor the DX clusters and skimmers for stations and multipliers to work during the contest. Results appear in the National Contest Journal:  http://ncjweb.com/current-naqp-ssb-results/ 

Contest rules:  https://ncjweb.com/naqp/

We have some well known contesting operators in our midst and some rookies too, for whom this could be their first contest entry.  School stations are ripe for multi-op entries (the Case ARC, W8EDU, was listed in the August, 2021 results).  While I prefer to operate CW, I’d sure be motivated to find my microphone and make a hundred or more SSB QSOs to raise my HamSCI team’s score.

It’s far too early to register teams (I volunteer to take on that task in January), but it is not too early to make your calendars for Saturday, January 22, 2022, 1800z - 0600z, for some SSB, on-the-air, work-your-fellow-HamSCI-members kind of fun!

73 de Gary, AF8A








Brad Brooks

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Dec 3, 2021, 8:32:22 PM12/3/21
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I am sure there are others here who are more qualified, but please feel free to ask me questions about NAQP or any other radio contesting questions If anyone is so inclined. It can be really fun to engage in NAQPs especially! There is a "contest within a contest" called the Collegiate Challenge:  NA Collegiate Championship – The Society of Midwest Contesters (w9smc.com)

I like contesting because there is a "flow" element that one experiences with a good computer game. You know, the kind where you "come to" hours later where it only feels like it was 15 minutes--subsequent "oh crap" moments not withstanding. What a rush! I find contesting FASCINATING as it affords me to experience incrementally the HF daily solar cycle, and all of the amazing predictability AND surprises that come along with it. HF sky-wave propagation is a wonderous thing! Also, it tests my systems optimized to contact as many people, as far away, in as short a time possible, and ALL the applied technology that goes with it.

Its a fun and informative game with radio! 

Brad WF7T 
Nashville TN
Amateur Radio: Service, Science, Skill

Bill Kelsey

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Dec 3, 2021, 8:36:20 PM12/3/21
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I haven't been too involved in contesting since my stroke, but sign me up for a HamSci Team. It should be fun!
73 - Bill - N8ET

Ward Silver

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Dec 5, 2021, 10:41:04 AM12/5/21
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This would be a great opportunity for the many college club members on the HamSCI list to be active in the NA Collegiate Championship - both the Phone (Jan 17th) and RTTY (Feb 28th) contests are included. I will probably be hosting a multi-op for the Phone contest and so won't be eligible for a HamSCI team but if I wind up solo, we'll sign up :-)

The idea for the grape / tangerine / eclipsers / SuperDARNs team names is excellent :-)

Don't forget that the 10 Meter Contest is the coming weekend and at this point in the sunspot cycle, the band can simultaneously feature F2, sporadic E, meteor scatter, tropospheric, TEP, and other types of propagation - even airplane scatter!  Small and medium-size stations can make a lot of contacts in this contest with simple antennas - get on and see what you can work!

73, Ward N0AX

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Gary Mikitin, AF8A

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Jan 21, 2022, 7:23:03 AM1/21/22
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Greetings on the eve of the NA QSO Party, SSB.  I'm pleased to report that, so far, 11 stations have expressed interest in joining one of the HamSCI teams.

It is not too late for others to join in - I will be registering the teams on Saturday morning, around noon EST, just before the contest.  We welcome new ops, grizzly old-timers, full timers and part-timers who may get on the air just long enough to make just a few contacts.  Even if you are unsure about your plans, go ahead and sign up for a team.  I suspect that if you get on the air, and listen around a bit, you'll want to jump in to the fray.

If I've missed anyone, I apologize, please contact me and I'll add you to a team.  For those who will be operating, don't forget to read the rules https://ncjweb.com/naqp/ prior to the contest.

Note that it is important to keep a log of your contacts, and to send them into the sponsor after the contest.  I can answer any questions you might have, before or after the contest.  

N8ET
VA3CBN
WF7T
KJ4OAP
W2NAF
VE3KTB
KB3LTT
KD2UHN
WK2Y
W1BPM
AF8A


73 de Gary, AF8A
<af8a> at the domain <arrl.net>

Gary Mikitin, AF8A

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Jan 22, 2022, 12:33:12 PM1/22/22
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Thanks to all who have joined one of the three HamSCI teams, as well as to all of those who will be on the air making contacts.  Three teams have been registered; details below.

- You do not have to do anything special in your Cabrillo log submission to indicate team status.  The contest sponsors hold that information in their database and will automatically use it during the scoring process.

- If you change your mind, and decide to enter in, say, the Multi-Two class, that's fine.  The contest sponsors will recognize that when scores are calculated and your score will not be credited to a team (only single-op, and single-op assisted stations are eligible to be on teams). 

- After the contest, please consider entering your score in the after-contest database at 3830scores.com

- Most of all, have fun, enjoy the quiet conditions (Kp=2 at the moment), though the low solar flux (<100) might hold down scores, as 10 and 15 meters may not be productive - but always check those bands.  A point is a point, and a multiplier is even better!

Should you have any stories or anecdotes from your operation, make notes and please share them with me after the contest.  I hope to do an after-contest writeup here, or perhaps on the HamSCI website.

73 de Gary, AF8A
<af8a> at the domain <arrl.net>

Thanks for registering your NAQP SSB teams.

Team Name: HamSCI Grapes
Team Members:
AF8A
N8ET
VA3CBN
WF7T

Team Name: HamSCI SuperDARNs
Team Members:
KJ4OAP
W2NAF
VE3KTB
KB3LTT

Team Name: HamSCI Tangerines
Team Members:
KD2UHN
WK2Y
W1BPM
KD2LOF

Registrations recorded at: 2022-01-22 17:17:51Z

On Thursday, December 2, 2021 at 6:12:43 PM UTC-5 Gary Mikitin, AF8A wrote:

Ben Martin

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Jan 22, 2022, 1:42:16 PM1/22/22
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Thank you!!!

73,
Ben W1BPM

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 22, 2022, at 12:33, Gary Mikitin, AF8A <gmikit...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks to all who have joined one of the three HamSCI teams, as well as to all of those who will be on the air making contacts.  Three teams have been registered; details below.
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Brad Brooks

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Jan 23, 2022, 1:16:49 AM1/23/22
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QSOs with N8ET Bill, W2NAF Nathaniel, and VE3KTB Pierre! Had a good run on this one with my modest station! I am eager to hear how others did as well. As is customary to do at my home radio club Tennessee Contest Group, I have copied what I posted to the 3830scores contest scores website below. 

Thanks Gary for coordinating the teams, and thanks HamSCI for letting me play...Go Grapes!

---

North American QSO Party, SSB - January

Call: WF7T
Operator(s): WF7T
Station: WF7T

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: TN
Operating Time (hrs): 10

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   10     8
   80:  220    40
   40:  321    46
   20:   83    34
   15:   48    16
   10:           
-------------------
Total:  682   144  Total Score = 98,208

Club: HamSCI

Team: HamSCI Grapes

Comments:

That was fun! Thanks for the Qs, it was great to hear old friend and new!

Started late on 15. Stations were pretty strong until 2000z. I wish that 20M was
more productive for me. I just couldn't really get anything going, but 20M is my
weakest band. 40M was really fun with great signals and a long run until I
stopped for dinner.

80M was weak, but I had my G5RV in Marconi-mode (my contest 160M config). After
15 mins I ran out into the mean Southern winter and reconfigured back to G5RV.
Much better, and I enjoyed a nice run for an hour. Went to 160 with 10 minutes
left to finish out my time for a few more Qs and multipliers.

I felt like I left some contacts on the table on 20M. Again, my weakest band. I
am not going to complain, as it was fun for this CW op to play SSB. So many
great operators. Thanks again for the QSOs!

Thanks to Gary AF8A for coordinating the HamSCI teams...Go Grapes! Check out
HamSCI: https://www.hamsci.org/

Wishing you and yours health and safety. See you in another one!

73 Brad WF7T
Nashville TN EM66
Confirmation: 1950306.naqp-ssb

---

IC7600 @ 100W
20/15/10: 2-el triband @ 35' agl
40: Dipole @ 50' agl
80: G5RV @ 55' agl
160: Inv. L - 55' vert, 80' horz


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/

Dr. Nathaniel A. Frissell Ph.D.

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Jan 23, 2022, 8:31:54 AM1/23/22
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Thanks for putting this together, Gary!

 

I had a really good time yesterday, and enjoyed working N8ET and WF7T. I also enjoyed helping Veronica KD2UHN get on the air. We got her up and going with my old FT-857d and the OCF 80 m dipole she has, and I know she made at least 50 Qs, probably more.

 

I wasn’t able to be on the whole time, so maybe my QSO count isn’t as high as it could be, but I made it to 160. My score summary posted to 3830 is below.

 

73 Nathaniel W2NAF

 

 

 

                    North American QSO Party, SSB - January

 

Call: W2NAF

Operator(s): W2NAF

Station: W2NAF

 

Class: Single Op Assisted LP

QTH: Spring Brook Twp, PA

Operating Time (hrs): 6

 

Summary:

Band  QSOs  Mults

-------------------

  160:    0     0

   80:   59    28

   40:   41    15

   20:   60    27

   15:          

   10:          

-------------------

Total:  160    70  Total Score = 11,200

 

Club: Frankford Radio Club

 

Team: HamSCI SuperDARNs

 

Comments:

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Bill

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Jan 23, 2022, 12:33:28 PM1/23/22
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Hi -

I had a lot of fun in this contest too. It was about the right amount of time for me at my older age! Now I've got to figure out how to get the function keyS loaded and working on Phone. My voice isn't what it used to be.

I worked both W2NAF and WF7T.  When I worked Nathaniel, I did not at first recognize who he was because I missed the W2  in his call when he called in. When I got the W2 part of his call, and he said his name was Nat, I really got things messed up, and it took me a while to straighten the log up!

WF7T was late in the test, and we had a nice chat for a few minutes.

I missed Gary  AF8A  but 20 meters just wasn't very good for propagation between Findlay and Cleveland!

I had the team lists in front of me the entire contest, but I don't think I heard anyone else. Sorry if I missed any of you calling, but I have a very high noise level here on 80 and 40. I've got to track it down and kill it!

       Band     QSOs     Pts  Sec  Mt2  Pt/Q
         3.5     245     245   38    0   1.0
           7     100     100   32    2   1.0
          14     144     144   27    2   1.0
          21      50      50   14    3   1.0
          28       1       1    1    0   1.0
       Total     540     540  112    7   1.0

Just wait til next year!

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Pierre Fogal

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Jan 23, 2022, 3:31:52 PM1/23/22
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Hi Brad,

Thanks for the Q!  I always enjoy the NAQPs and it was fun to operate as part of a HAMSci team. Kept my eyes out for other HAMSci operators. Not that it matters, I will work everyone I can :-)

It was a bit of a mixed bag for me, I topped 200 contacts and almost made 20,000 pts.  Things started okay, but then I missed most of the prime time on 40m to hang out with the family. Details of my score are on 3830scores.com.

Flex6400, SteppIR BigIR vertical and Pixel receiving loop.

73,

Pierre VE3KTB

On 23/01/2022 01:16, Brad Brooks wrote:

You don't often get email from brad...@gmail.com. Learn why this is important

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Alan Yuscavage

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Jan 23, 2022, 6:42:46 PM1/23/22
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Gary,

Thanks for organizing this event. I had a great time. I have been off the air for a while, and this gave me the incentive to move my station to a better location in the house and get it set up. 

I live in the middle of town on a postage stamp size lot, so antennas are always an issue. My open wire fed doublet follows the contours of my roof and would make an interesting case for antenna modeling! I am able to tune 10 thru 40 with a Johnson Matchbox feeding my FT-450D.

I operated 8 hours of the contest and my goal was 50 QSO's. I exceeded that and made 81 with 50 mult's for a score of 4,050. I did search and pounce which I enjoy as it gives me an idea of how far my signal goes and how the antenna is doing. My setup seemed to go long as my closest station was Ohio. My furthest station was TI2CC in Costa Rica on 40M. Propagation for me seemed to favor south and west. No stations to the northeast at all.

I hope we get to do this again. I enjoyed getting ready for the contest almost as much as operating it. Station building is half the fun.

Alan Yuscavage, KB3LTT
Luzerne PA

Brad Brooks

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Jan 23, 2022, 9:26:38 PM1/23/22
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Thanks for the QSO Pierre! Yes, off-hours are always an interesting trade-off, but you did great regardless! 73 

Brad Brooks

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Jan 23, 2022, 9:28:12 PM1/23/22
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Great work Bill! 73 Brad

Gary Mikitin, AF8A

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Mar 16, 2022, 8:47:21 PM3/16/22
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All - The preliminary results for the January 2022 NAQP SSB Contest have been posted.  Three HamSCI teams are duly noted in the results:

HamSCI Tangerines (KD2UHN)                                                     893 points     (Yes, it is mathematically possible for one operator to be a 'team')

HamSCI SuperDARNs (VE3KTB,W2NAF,KB3LTT,KJ4OAP)       37,028 points

HamSCI Grapes (WF7T,N8ET,AF8A)                                             155,778 points


Special mention goes to Veronica, KD2UHN, who placed in the middle of the pack of the 'Youth' (under 25 yrs of age) operators, in what I believe is her very first ham radio contest operation!

I will post a link when the final results, including the contest writeup by the Contest Manager, Bill, AC0W, are published.

Congrats to one and all for your efforts in the inaugural HamSCI Contesting  League event!

73 de Gary, AF8A


Dr. Nathaniel A. Frissell Ph.D.

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Mar 17, 2022, 8:22:13 AM3/17/22
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Thank you again for organizing this, Gary! It was really great to get on the air for this!

73 Nathaniel W2NAF


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Sterne, Kevin

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Mar 17, 2022, 11:24:15 AM3/17/22
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I’ll second this!  Thanks a bunch for organizing this!  I’m looking forward to the next reason to get on the air for a little bit.  Go SuperDARNers!

 

73,

-Kevin KJ4OAP

 

Kevin Sterne | Research Associate

SuperDARN HF Radar Lab

 

Virginia Tech | Space@VT

1185 Perry St., Room 453

Blacksburg, VA 24061

 

540-231-3706 | kst...@vt.edu

Brad Brooks

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Mar 18, 2022, 1:14:55 PM3/18/22
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As well...thanks for coordinating the teams! I had a lot of fun. See you in another one! 73 Brad WF7T
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