2002 MiQP Results

There was excitement in the air as Michigan operators prepared for the 2002 running of the Michigan QSO Party. Interest was peaking just as the contest arrived, as the number of announced operations approached new highs and several new groups were poised to participate for the first time.

However, old Sol the sunspot master tried to throw MiQPers a curve ball in the form of Aurora on Friday night and the prospect of disturbed radio conditions for the weekend. Perhaps to make the point of what might be to come, as the K8CC/m and W8UE/m rover teams made their way up I-75 towards Mackinac City on Friday night, they were treated to an incredible Aurora show. Rover K8MR/m joked that perhaps he should have brought a 144 MHz beam instead of his array of HF mobile whips.

In the end, Old Sol's threat turned out to be pretty benign, although the 21 and 28 MHz bands saw poor conditions and reduced activity from recent years. However, 7 and 14 MHz during the day, and 3.5 MHz at night saw tremendous amounts of MiQP activity and in the end, the radio conditions did not hamper the contest very much at all.

Results

This year the MiQP committee received 122 entries, roughly a 10% increase from last year. Each of the major categories saw increases in entries: 102 single ops (95 last year), 8 multi-op teams (6 last year) and a whopping 12 mobile rovers (9 last year). The number of mobile rovers is particularly impressive, and is comparable to or better than other well-established state QSO parties with longer histories and larger number of overall entries.

To many participants, on the air activity in MiQP 2002 seemed a lot higher than a 10% increase in log entries would suggest. Perhaps the disturbed conditions, which tended to drive participants lower in frequency made the participants more "visible" to each other. In any case, the statistics from the logchecking confirms what many participants sensed - the total number of unique callsigns appearing in MiQP 2002 jumped 32% from 2001, to 2521 stations. The number of QSOs reported by MiQP entrants took a similar jump to 23,440 QSOs; an increase of 36% over 2001! This makes 2002 the fourth year in a row that MiQP activity has increased since the rules were revised in 1999.

	80	40	20	15	10	Total
CW	1402	7555	3216	56	2	12231
SSB	999	7107	2847	240	16	11209

As if to underscore the level of activity this year, new scoring records were set in every in-state category except mobile rover! (In mobile rover, the record was set in a prior year by a multi-transmitter entry; the rules now restrict mobile rovers to a single transmitter. Under these rules, the top 2002 mobile rover score indeed set a new high for the category.) In the Michigan Club Competition, the record was more than doubled! Furthermore, for the first time since the MiQP rules were revised in 1999, the 1000 QSO barrier was broken - by multi-op entry W8PIF from Menominee County with 1020 QSOs.

For the third year straight we can report that all 83 Michigan counties were on the air during the 2002 MiQP. The logcheckers almost scored a dual mode clean sweep this year - QSOs were reported with all 83 counties on CW, and 82 of 83 on SSB. The five most active counties in terms of QSOs reported were with Oakland, Lenawee, Grand Traverse, Lapeer and Menominee. When checking that list against the locations and names of Michigan clubs which scored well in the Michigan Club competition, it's clear what's behind those high levels of activity. The five least active counties were Lake, Mecosta, Luce, Keewenau and Muskegon. Note that only two of these are UP counties, a testament to the fine job of coverage the UP rovers did this year.

As for out-of-state multipliers, QSOs were reported with 49 of 63 on CW, and 57 of 63 on SSB for 58 of 63 overall. The five most active out-state areas were OH, PA, FL and IN, while no QSOs were reported with LB, NU, NWT, PEI or YT. The list of "no shows" is pretty consistent from year to year. Any suggestions for stimulating activity from these areas would be helpful.

Single Operator

Single operator entries form the vast majority of MiQP entries. 95 of the 110 (86%) of all MiQP entries were single op. With all the categories (high power, low power and QRP) to choose from there is something for everyone - and there was fierce competition for some of the awards.

For in-state entries, new records were set in all of the single-operator categories. The opposite was true for out-state entries - no single-op records were set, although there was some strong competition.

Michigan High Power

The Michigan single-op, high power winner is Ken Rogner, N8KR from Oakland county. Ken made QSOs on 80M/40M/20M, relying heavily on SSB (86%), balancing this with enough CW to lead all single-ops with 173 overall multipliers. His best hour was 02Z with 100 QSOs. The station includes an FT-1000MP and a Titan amplifier with computer logging. Outside, the antenna farm consists of a tribander, and dipoles for the low bands.

Finishing in second place for the second year in a row is Duane, K8AO from Delta county. Duane was another with a heavy emphasis on SSB, but he worked enough CW to increase his multiplier and thus more than double his score from 2001. In third was Bill, AA4R from Benzie county who made all but one of his QSOs on SSB.

Out-State High Power

Out-state high power single-ops were led by Pat Collins, N8VW operating station K8MK in OH. Inside, the station has an IC-765 transceiver and an AL-1500 amplifier, with a TH7 tribander and wires doing the radiating outside. 7 MHz was the big band for Pat, accounting for 204 of his 215 QSOs.

In second place was John, AD8J in PA operating in his first MiQP. While most of John's QSOs were on 7 MHz, he had a good balance of 3.5 MHz and 14 MHz QSOs as well. Dick, K9OM operating station NO4S finished third from FL. Being further away, Dick's big band was 14 MHz, making 60% of his QSOs there.

Michigan Low Power

In a VERY close battle, the top Michigan single-op, low power station is Brian Cox, N8TC from Grand Traverse county. Brian's winning score beat the existing Low Power Single Op record by virtue of a category-leading multiplier total and a slight preference for CW over SSB. A little over half of Brian's QSOs came on 7 MHz, but he made good use of 3.5 MHz and 14 MHz as well. Check out the soapbox to read about Brian's setup and trevails to get on for MiQP.

Second place goes to Barry, K8BK also operating from Grand Traverse county, missing the top spot by only 268 points, or 0.2%. Barry had the highest QSO total in the category, and only 3 fewer multipliers than the winner but finished in the runner up spot due to a larger percentage of SSB QSOs. Third place goes to Sean, K8KHZ from Oakland county in his best MiQP finish to date.

Out-State Low Power

In another very close finish, the top out-state low power entry from the Eastern/Central time zones comes from Keith Pederson, WA3HAE in Pennsylvania. Keith made all of his QSOs on 80M and 40M. He did not have the highest low-power QSO total, but tied with high power station K8MK for best out-state multiplier total. His 60/40 mix of CW to SSB QSOs proved to be the margin of victory. Keith also has the highest overall out-state score.

In his first try at MiQP, second place from the Eastern/Central time zones goes to Larry, K7SV operating from Virginia. Larry had the highest out-state QSO total and just missed the top spot by 248 points (0.5%). Like WA3HAE, Larry had a 60/40 CW to SSB mix of QSOs; with one more multiplier the finishing positions would have been reversed. Third place goes to last year's runner-up Jim, AD1C in Massachusetts who found MI QSOs on 40M difficult from his QTH until darkness fell.

The top out-state score from the Mountain/Pacific time zones comes from Phil Goetz, N6ZZ in New Mexico. All of Phil's QSOs were on CW, mostly on 20M. In second place was Paul, WN6K from California.

Michigan QRP

Last year's out-state QRP winner decided to try it from in-state this year. Todd Fonstad, N9NE/8 set up shop portable from Baraga county and wound up taking home the plaque for top in-state QRP single-operator. 75% of Todd's QSOs were on CW, mostly 40M but some 80M and 20M as well. His setup was an Elecraft K2 and an 88' doublet.

Second place goes to last year's QRP leader Buck Switzer, N8CQA operating from Washtenaw county. Once again Buck was at the controls of the K8CC contest station while its owner was mobiling around the state. His CW to SSB ratio was approximately 2:1. Once again Walt, K8CV from Oakland County takes the third place spot with another all-CW effort.

Out-State QRP

A callsign relatively new to MiQP shows up at the top of the out-state QRP competition. Well-known contester Charlie Fulp, K3WW throttled his transceivers back to 5W and led all of the out-state QRP contingent. 81% of Charlie's QSOs were on CW, mostly 40M activity. In second place was Ken, N2CQ with an all-CW log from New Jersey while third place goes to Bob, N4BP from Florida.

Most Counties Worked Out of State

This award is given each year to encourage out-state activity by giving the entrants something different to work for. While other stations are calling CQ and looking for rate, the operator who likes to tune for DX can focus on working new counties. Often, the winner of this plaque comes from the ranks of the high scorers, but you never know when there might be a "tuner" lurking on the bands who comes up with the most counties.

In 2002, the battle for most counties worked from out of state was the closest its ever been, with the top five stations all within four counties! Relying on years of state QSO party experience, the plaque goes to Keith Pederson, WA3HAE with 74 Michigan counties. In second place, only one behind Keith is Jim, AD1C with 73 counties followed by Gary, AF8A operating W8EDU at 72. Rounding out this extremely competitive top five was Pat, N8VW operating K8MK at 71 counties and Larry, K7SV at 70 counties.

Multi-Operator

2002 saw a big growth in the number of multi-operator stations in MiQP. Some the stations are MiQP multi-op regulars, while others are first timers, and others are the result in intra-club competition. Many of these multi-ops made huge contribution to their club's total in the Michigan Club Competition.

The number one and two multi-ops from 2001 swapped positions this time. Congratulations to the K8JM team from Lapeer county for their first win in the multi-operator category. In second place was the W8PIF team from the M&M ARC, operating from Menominee county. The K8JM and W8PIF efforts offer a study in contrasts. K8JM ran two stations using large home-station antennas, while W8PIF had three stations, but operating from a portable site Field Day style with smaller antennas. As mentioned earlier, W8PIF is the first (and so far only) station to break the 1000 QSO barrier since the MiQP rules were revised, and indeed had almost a 200 QSO margin over K8JM and a small edge in total QSO points. However, K8JM made up some of the difference with more CW and kept the margin close on total QSO points so that their 21 more multipliers proved to be the difference.

Third place went to the team at K8AA from Lenawee county, just ahead of their fellow AARC members operating from K8XXX, also in Lenawee county. This intra-club rivalry no doubt inspired both teams to push hard - the result showed K8AA leading on QSOs and mults, while the K8XXX team tried to make up the difference with more CW.

Mobile Rover

2002 saw a record twelve mobile rover teams compete in the MiQP - an increase of 33% over 2000. The rule change limiting mobile rovers to a single transmitter did not seem to have a major impact. The mobile stations made over 5,000 QSOs during the 2001 MiQP - almost one fourth of the total number of QSOs reported.

Once again we had a number of mobile rover teams come from out of state to participate in MiQP. Another interesting development in this category is the number of solo entries, where one person does the driving, navigating, and operating chores.

With perennial mobile juggernaut K8XXX choosing to enter the fixed station multi-operator category as the result of the mobile rover rule change, the competition for top mobile entry took on a different flavor. When the dust settled, the winner was the K8MR/m mobile team (ops. K8MR and W8DRZ) who lead the category in QSOs and overall score.

Second through four place was a close horse race, with the K8CC/m (+W8MJ), W1NN (solo) and W8UE/m (+WX3M) teams all within a 4% window. The K8CC team struggled the entire contest with QRM from their laptop's inverter power supply, which hurt them QSO-wise with respect to K8MR/m and left them with a reduced multiplier total. In third place is W1NN/m with a 10% increase in QSOs over 2001, despite having lost one page from his paper log somewhere in route. The W8UE/m team learned from last year, gritted their teeth and spent more time operating SSB this time. While their multiplier was up and their QSO total is higher than W1NN's, they still lost third place on the basis of multipliers.

A number of the other mobile rovers deserve mention. WT9U/m teamed up with another ham to drive for his first MiQP to finish fifth. At the last minute, KU8E/m jumped into his car in Columbus, OH and drove by himself to Michigan to compete solo; he was rewarded with sixth place and led the category in multipliers. AA8U/m recruited his wife Diana to drive while he operated to a close seventh place finish ahead of K5OT/m who drove from Wisconsin to activate several needed counties in the Upper Penninsula. For the K8IR/m team, this was their first crack at mobile contesting and they did well to finish ninth. The mobile scores of N8KV/m, K8MW and N8FYL provided a number of valuable MiQP multipliers to many participants.

Michigan Club Competition

The Michigan QSO Party Club Competition for Michigan clubs is designed to encourage activity in the contest and recognize those clubs whose efforts have contributed towards the MiQP. The table below shows the results for Michigan clubs receiving credit for two or more entries:

Club Name	Entries	Score
Eastern Michigan ARC	6	680,364
Adrian ARC	6	434,463
M&M ARC	4	329,700
Cherryland ARC	8	216,919
MI State Univ ARC	2	128,740
Hazel Park ARC	2	77,910
L'Anse Creuse RC	5	14,263
Michigan QRP ARC	2	11,813

The number of Michigan clubs having scores attributed to them dropped from twelve clubs in 2001 to eight clubs in 2002. However, the number of entries attributing their score to a Michigan club increased slightly. Congratulations to the Eastern Michigan Amateur Radio Club for their win as champions in the Michigan Club Competition for 2002. Second place goes to the Adrian Amateur Radio Club who matched EMARC for the number of entries, followed by the Marinette and Menominee Amateur Radio Club who made their best ever club total in MiQP, but could not withstand the onslaught from EMARC and AARC.

Awards

The following individuals and organizations will receive a 2002 Michigan QSO Party plaque for winning their respective categories. The remaining top five entries in each category will receive a MiQP Certificate of Accomplishment. Congratulations to all of the winners!

Awards should be in the hands of the winners no later than the end of January 2003.

Soapbox

Many thanks to my XYL Diana for doing the 12 hour driving shift that allowed me to make many more QSOs - AA8U I initially had no intention of spending so much time in the contest. My goal was to work my last three counties in MI, which I accomplished thanks to K8CC (Alpena), WT9U (Cass) and K8MW (Mason). Then my goal was to work as many new ones on CW as I could (finished all but Wexford). Then my goal was to break 200 QSOS. Condx were good on 20 but tough going on 40 until the sun went down. Thanks to all the mobiles who make these state QSO parties interesting. Congratulations to WA3HAE who was about 50 QSOs ahead of me towards the end of the contest. I broke for a couple of hours to get dinner and hang out with the wife, so missed a few counties and some QSOs - AD1C Apologies for the QRP. I had things et up well ahead of time, and when I came in the bands were very poor. Fortunately by sundown, most of the mobiles could hear me fine, after working the five or six loud guys calling them in each new county - K3WW Solo excursion to seven counties in the U.P.; saw more deer than cars! Great fun - Ill be back next year - K5OT/M Where do the mobiles go when they disappear? Funny how some guys were easy to find and others were always a surprise - K5ZD Condx really terrible, but all the sharp mobiles running around made it a lot of fun. I hadn't given any thought to operating the contest, but after running into it downloaded the WL module and was off and running - K7SV Great contest! Lots of activity. Hope to be involved next year - K8AO Band condx made contacts difficult but we had fun. We'll do better next year - K8CHR Was a beautiful day for a drive. Just getting back into HF mobiling - K8MW Won't bet on my typing skills, but had a great time passing out LIVI to the gang. Even had one Q wanting a QSL from LIVI - K8SIA This is my first attempt at using TR. I was operating from a fixed portable location (second home) in Leelanau county - K8SZN Was portable in Iron county - KE9S/8 Lots of fun again this year - everybody was loud! Much better conditions than last year, but still very strange. Took a two hour break at 1800Z and went outside and reconfigured by 40M dipole with plastic masts and clothesline rope. Made a big difference and worked great! - KW8W First MiQP. No propagation on 20M and low activity on 75M - N2BJ Great mobile activity. Thanks for all the FQP QSOs the following weekend! - N4AO I can't say I had a great time. Conditions a bit rough; during the day the mobiles were in the noise on 40M and all but the U.P. were skipping over on 20M. About sunset, we may have had some Es on 20M as wll were loud for about 1/2 hour. Activity not the greatest, nothing like PAQP. TRLOG had trouble with STCLAIR & STJOSEPH which I think I finally wrangled into submission - N8II Radio died five days prior to contest. severe storms passed through two days prior and took out the antennas. THE CONTEST MUST GO ON! Pulled the TS-50 out of the car (no CW filter - ugh!), put up a G5RV and an 80 meter dipole at 25 feet and all ran smoothly throughout the test. Great competition in GRTR, and next year I'll have a CW filter in the backup radio - N8TC Rig was an Elecraft K2 to 88 ft. doublet up 25 ft. Operated outdoors in 30 degrees F temperatures from the 'North Woods' of the western UP (21 degrees F and heavy frost at sunrise...either it was late winter or next winter!). Beautiful predawn aurora curtains signaled propagation troubles for the test. 40M was the workhorse band, and nothing was heard above 20M. SSB QSOs were difficult to make as was picking up western states and provinces for multipliers. Benefitted greatly from the good 'ears' of the mobilers as they went from county-to county What would this contest be without the many excellent CW operators? Thanks for the fun and the Michigan geography lesson! - N9NE/8 Condx on 20M where all the CW stations were calling were very bad here in South Texas with high QRN. Every QSO was a struggle especially with the mobiles. The few stations I worked on 15M were 599 with little QRN. I listened periodically on 15M but no one was there. Great fun though - enjoyed working WT9U and K8MR in several counties. Hope conditions will be better next year - NO5W I got to try out my new FT-817 portable. Fun rig for a fun contest! See you all next year! - VA3JFF Great activity. Many thanks to the mobiles - W1END This is so late because I copied on paper and had to manually enter the log. What a job. But I just can't see logging on computer while driving, whereas logging on paper is not too hard. This was a solo operation in a rental car, and getting set up was a pretty big job. Fortunately, I had a great place to work in K8CC's driveway on Friday afternoon. I thought I was ready for Saturday but I had problems with my 40 meter antenna and fixing this cost me a lot of time. I had only 78 Q's during the first two hours. I also missed a turn in SHIA and found myself in GENE, way off of my scheduled route. Going back would have meant spending too much time in SHIA, so I had to alter my scheduled route and had to drive most of the last three hours. This actually worked out fairly well and I was able to hit three counties in my last hour for 92 contacts, which made up a little bit for the lousy first hours. There are 15 minutes unaccounted for between my first and second counties, so it appears that I may have lost a logsheet. Another problem with logging on paper. Someday I'll get my act together and hit 750 contacts in a solo operation in this event, but the K8MR team raised the bar so high this year that it now seems nearly impossible for a solo op to win against the two-man teams. Still, it's fun trying. Congrats to all the mobiles and thanks to the MRRC for sponsoring a great contest event! See you all in Ohio in August - W1NN Operated at QTH of W1CW near Tampa, FL where I was for a Sunday club meeting. I enjoyed using the fine station that Bob, Ellen/W1YL and Jim/K4OJ have built up. Logged with NA for the first time - had to copy the ADIF file off a floppy and onto my WriteLog software so I could e-mai the entry upon my return home to Miami. It was great fun following the mobiles across Michigan. Thanks for putting on the miles guys! - W4SAA Bad band conditions - W8TCM Great Participation! - W9RE I received a radiogram and an e-mail reminding me to participate. Yep, I had fun this year too - WJ9B Another one in the bag...but it was very hard to work with ol Sol playin games - WN6K