It's a typical Saturday in April.  The weather in Michigan is warming as spring takes over from winter's icy grasp on the state.  Outside, a few dedicated individuals are starting their yard work.  A few even more dedicated individuals are testing the weather out on the golf courses.  But the most dedicated of them all are ignoring the attractions of the warming weather outside and are preparing for the 2004 Michigan QSO Party.

All over the state, Michiganders ready their stations.  Some, like the W8PIF team in Menominee County, the N8OS team in Cheboygan County, or the solitary N8EA in Tuscola County are readying wires hung from trees and other portable setups.  Some, like the K8MR, AF8A and WT9U rover teams are driving in from out of state to race around Michigan and activate multiple counties.  Some, like WB8ICU and KF8F in Bay County, K8UO in Macomb County, or K8MHO in Oakland County are readying MiQP operations from their club stations, in some cases for the first time.  But for many, getting ready for MiQP simply meant walking into the shack with some snacks to last the duration, switching on the gear, and getting ready to make QSOs.

At the start of the contest, WWV was reporting a solar flux of 123, with a K-index of 2, an A-index of 7 with a geomagnetic field that was quiet to unsettled.  There were few, if any thunderstorms nearby so the potential for quiet low-band conditions was good.  The big unknowns were the high bands; old Sol gave MiQPers some flux for the weekend, would the high frequencies (particularly 21 MHz) come through like they did in 2003?

Results

The results of the 2004 MiQP show the number of entries received were down 13% versus 2003 (178 vs. 206), but this is still the second highest number of entries received in modern era of MiQP.   Almost the entire drop came in the number of single-op logs (145, down from 178 in 2003). Multi-op entries (17) matched 2003, but the number of mobile rovers almost doubled (15 vs. 8 last year).  There was one checklog.

The number of unique callsigns appearing in the 2004 MiQP logs recovered slightly from 2003 - from 2418 to 2466.  The number of reported QSOs dropped from 29,840 in 2003 to 27251 - a 9% decrease.  Here is the breakdown of QSOs by band:

Compared to 2003, the biggest drop came on 40M SSB; almost 1700 QSOs or 18%.  80M CW was up 300 (16%) but 20M CW was down 600 (also 16%).  But by far the worst hit was 15M, dropping from 961 QSOs in 2003 to only 91 this year; a loss of 870 QSOs or 91%.  In 2004, CW took back some of the lead that it's historically held over SSB with regards to total QSOs, but the results still show a pretty even mix of activity.

While some of the activity metrics may be down, scores certainly weren't.  New scoring records were established for the in-state Multi-Op and Single-Op-QRP categories, while 26 new fixed station and 11 new mobile records were set this year at the county level.  New records were set in both the in-Michigan and outside-Michigan Club Competitions.  A new overall QSO record of 1315 was set by multi-op station W8MJ, and a new overall multiplier record of 212 by multi-op station K8AQM.  The K8MR/m rover station made 1052 QSOs - the first time ever the 1000 QSO milestone has been broken by a mobile.

For the fifth year straight we can report that all 83 Michigan counties were active during MiQP.  The five most active counties were Lenawee, Oakland, Washtenaw, Menominee and Livingston.  Four of those are repeats from 2003, with Livingston taking the place of Lapeer.  The five least active counties were St. Joseph, Allegan, Benzie, Newago and Luce. It's interesting to note that none of these were on the "least active" list last year.

From the out-of-state areas, QSOs were reported with 52 of 63 on CW, 59 of 63 on SSB and 59 of 63 overall.  This is almost identical to 2003. The five most active out-of-state areas were FL, PA, CA, WI and OH. Four of the five are repeats from 2003, with FL bumping IL and taking top spot.  The "no show" list dropped to four this year as one lucky MiQPer snagged a QSO with NF, while YB, PEI, NU and YT were still nowhere to be found.

Single Operator

Michigan High Power

High power wasn't very popular during MiQP this year as several of the usual participants moved into other categories.  Nonetheless, it was Duane Puro, K8AO operating from his home station in Delta County who took advantage of his louder signal to score the highest single-op score of the contest.  Second place goes to Neil, NX8C operating from home in Washtenaw County, while third goes to Cletus, K8TLT whose portable operation put rare Presque Isle County into a bunch of logs.

HOW THE WINNER DID IT: K8AO made most of his QSOs (255) on 40M SSB so we can't blame Duane for the contest's QSO shortfall on that band.  While 80% of his QSOs were on SSB, he worked enough CW to get a good mix of multipliers.  He was active the entire contest.

Michigan Low Power

The Michigan low power category was again a real battleground this year, with 41 entries and new faces in the top spots.  This year's winner was Doug Robotham, N8NX continuing Oakland County's winning streak in the category.  However, in second place was a station from the other side of the Detroit metro area, Paul, K8AAX from Washtenaw County.  Third place went to a MiQP first-timer, Earl, N5TU operating from Wayne County.

HOW THE WINNER DID IT: None of the top three stations put in full time during the contest.  N8NX had slightly less than eight hours, K8AAX slightly more than eight hours, while N5TU was under five hours.  All three focused heavily on 40M, but the big variation was in their choices of operating modes.  N8NX worked more SSB than CW, while K8AAX had more CW than SSB and N5TU was close to balanced between CW and SSB.

Michigan QRP

Activity in the Michigan single-op QRP category was up this year with some very fine scores.  Leading the way was Steve Murphy, N8NM operating from Oakland County with a new MiQP record for the in-state QRP category.  In second place was Ted, W8UE operating W8KW, the club station at Eastern Michigan University in Washtenaw County.  In third was last year's QRP leader  Ken, KC8LTL from Grand Traverse County.

HOW THE WINNER DID IT: The station setup at N8NM was a IC-765 throttled back to 5W, a TA-33 tribander at 40' and low band wires.  About 80% of Steve's QSOs were on 40M, and about 80% on CW.  W8KW, on the other hand, had about 50% on 40M with the rest evenly split between 80M and 20M.  Both stations had more than 11 hours operating time.

Out-State High Power

There are a lot of familiar callsigns in the out-state high power category, but the winning score in 2004 came from one that's perhaps unfamiliar to MiQP.  Jerry Chouinard, K5YAA from Oklahoma put together a clear leadership in both QSOs and multipliers to take the crown.  In second place is Dick, K9OM from FL , while John, K4BAI in GA slipped a notch to third after his runner-up finish in 2003.

HOW THE WINNER DID IT: K5YAA's OK QTH was far enough away from MI to allow 20M to work (75 QSOs), ideally positioned for 40M (103 QSOs) particularly as the contest wore on, and not too far away to take advantage of 80M (26 QSOs).  About 2/3 of his QSOs were on CW.  K9OM did better on 20M, but worse on 40M and 80M and could not keep up with Jerry's mults.  Both ops came close to putting in full time in the contest.

Out-State Low Power

This year, the out-state low power category was again the largest in the MiQP with 59 entries!  At the top of that tremendous pile of logs (again) was Keith Pederson, WA3HAE operating from PA.  In second place was transplanted Ohioan Ethan, K8GU operating from superstation W0AIH in WI while third place went to Jim, N9JF operating from neighboring IL.

HOW THE WINNER DID IT: The top three stations followed almost identical strategies - maximize 40M, get what was available on 80M at night, and almost no high band QSOs.  All three operated the full contest period, or close to it and were very close in the number of unique multipliers worked.  Even the band-by-band breakdowns were remarkably similar.  N9JF led in QSOs, but WA3HAE had a higher percentage of CW QSOs resulting in a slight lead in QSO points.  W0AIH wound up behind in QSO points, but tried to make a race of it with multipliers.  In the end, Keith's edge in QSO points and a clear lead in multipliers proved to be his margin of victory.

Out-State QRP

The out-state QRP category was led this year Paul Kirley, W8TM operating from neighboring OH.  In second place was Dave, K5MQ from (relatively) far away LA.  Third place went to Bud, WA2BQI from NY.

HOW THE WINNER DID IT: The old saying "There's no meters like fourty meters" pretty much sums up W8TM's winning effort.  All of Paul's 103 QSOs were on 40 CW.  The fact that his rig was an Elecraft K1 (which only works 40 CW) had something to do with it, along with an OH location which made it all work and more than eight hours in the operating chair.  Being further away, K5MQ had to rely more on 20M for the bulk of his QSOs, but Dave tried to make a race of it with QSOs on 40M and 80M as well, and on both CW and SSB.  WA2BQI made most of his QSOs on 40M and a few on 80M.

DX Single Operator

In 2004 we continued to see an increase in DX participation in the MiQP, and the highest DX score ever made in the modern era of MiQP.  That score belongs Helmut Krause, DL5MC operating from Germany, who lead all DX entries for the second year in a row.  Second place goes to Marco, I4IKW from Italy.  Tadeusz, SP4JWR increased his score almost 70% from 2003, but had to settle for a repeat finish in third place.

HOW THE WINNER DID IT: Time on the air is a major factor for the DX entries.  DL5MC had 7:30 operating time, while I4IKW had 5:23 and SP4JWR had 4:07.  The amount of time the bands were open to MI might have been a factor, as both DL5MC and SP4JWR made their first MiQP QSOs in the 16Z hour while I4IKW's first QSO came in the 18Z hour.  All three stations were making QSOs at the end of the contest.  One major advantage for DL5MC was his 11 QSOs on SSB (almost all multipliers) while his competition only ran CW.

Out of State Regional Competition

While the score listings shown above chronicle the out-of-state competition in terms of high, low. and QRP power, the MiQP recognizes that propagation in our event favors participants in the eastern half of the USA and Canada.  For this reason, the MiQP awards separate plaques to the top out-of-state single operator in the eastern (Eastern/Central time zones) and western (Mountain/Pacific time zones) regions.

The top single-op winner for the eastern USA out-of-state is Jerry Chouinard, K5YAA from Oklahoma.

The top single-op winner for the western USA out-of-state is Larry Lewis, K0RI from Colorado.

The MiQP committee congratulates both Jerry and Larry on their awards.

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.  When shooting for a top points score, the out-of-state op has to maximize QSOs and multipliers, in many cases trading one against the other.  This award allows the patient, DXer type who enjoys searching and digging for multipliers to shine.

In 2004, the winner of the award for the Most Counties Worked From Out of State is Keith Pederson, WA3HAE operating from PA who managed to get 76 of the 83 MI counties into his log during the contest (which, by the way was the top low power out-state score as well).  Only two counties behind in second place was Jerry, K5YAA with 74.  Ethan, K8GU operating W0AIH and Jim, N9JF were tied for third with 73 counties, followed by Jim, K4AMC in fourth with 72.  Honorable mention goes to Paul, W8TM who worked 67 MI counties from his OH location using only 40M CW with QRP, no less.

Multi-Operator

In-State