New England QSO Party - 2021
Call: N8II
Operator(s): N8II
Station: N8II
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: WV
Operating Time (hrs): ?
Summary:
Band CW-Dig Qs Ph Qs
------------------------
80:
40:
20:
15: 31 1
10:
------------------------
Total: 253 178 Mults = 67 Total Score = 45,828
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
Sorry, log was 4 party parsed, no band by band breakdowns, but 40 was by far my
best band.
Saturday, I was suffering from a bit of QP close loss PTSD. Condx did not look
promising as scatter signals from NE were quite weak until an improvement at
sunset which allowed me to work mainly only the "very big gun"
stations. Activity was okay on 40 with good condx especially around sunset, but
I was just afraid someone was going to best me in the 7QP unless I focused on
that party, so I did. I stayed up until 0430Z working lots of 7's on 40 and 80,
but missing many NEQP Q's by staying on 40 when NE was skipping over me which
happened from 0130Z onward. I was so busy, I didn't even check 75M SSB at all
for any QP.
Sunday, I was expecting the usual el stinko condx on 20 and up and having some
off time to relax when everyone was on 20 and I had worked the few I could.
Then, the ionosphere played its best hand I can ever remember in any NEQP,
sporadic E on 20 from about 1410-1910Z (5 full hours!) and on 15 from 1524-1820Z
(in and out, sometimes almost closed)! The bad news was 20M CW and SSB activity
was not as high as I would have expected especially on SSB with such good condx.
A good part of the time CT, RI, and WMA signals were either weak or in the noise
on 20, but EMA, NH, VT, and ME were solid for long stretches sometimes very
loud. My SSB running rate was never fast for more than a few Q's. On 15M, the
SSB ops were "asleep at the band switch"; I worked the one young op
who dared to try his/her luck. On CW, eventually all parts of NE were workable
with at least signals a few db above the noise, but VT, NH, and ME were favored.
The CT stations came in on 15M about 1600-1640Z and at first they were louder
than stations farther away, the opposite of normal Es.
The other big unforgettable event was SWEEP! I emailed Bob, WA1FCN and he said
he has only made one sweep in many attempts. Congrats to Bob for his LP victory,
20M was better for him, 80/40 better for me. We both broke the WN1GIV LP record.
The 20M/15M opening allowed me to catch up on the counties I missed Saturday. My
last 3 were W1NVT, in Grand Isle, VT at 1906Z on 20 CW, and then two who
answered my 40M phone CQ's: K1WDY at 1923Z in Dukes, MA, and KB1TCD at 2029Z in
Lincoln, ME.
Thanks very much to the mobiles: K2UA was worked many times in some very rare
ones; he had the best mobile signal by far and worked 40M in at least most
counties. NZ1V was weak most of Sunday, but loud at the end, and N1E was good
for several rare ones; he even called me on 15!
I ended up a very happy camper and would have been even happier with more NEQP
time Saturday. Many thanks for the Q's and calls.
73, Jeff
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