Operation NEQP: 1 Million or Bust!

Contest occurs: May 7 – 8, 2011

Attention all CTRI members: This is a call to arms for an all out assault on the all-time club score in the New England QSO Party (NEQP). To be successful will require the effort of each and every club member to contribute to the best of his or her ability.

Why NEQP? The New England QSO Party is our QSO Party. Stations outside of New England look to work us. It’s the closest thing to being rare DX as you can get. NEQP has a great following of hams stateside and DX that will be looking for you.

What’s the present club record? Actually, CTRI still holds the club record from 2004 with 8 entries and 418,603 points. Since then NEQP has grown much more popular. We can do much better than that.

What’s the goal? With the support of all club members we can score a total of one million points to set a new club record. What about YCCC? YCCC is considered “The Home Team” and is not in the club competition. We have several club members who have in the past posted very big scores in this contest. They are committed to giving it a full effort for CTRI.

But I’m a little pistol. To make the one million points will require we all pull together: Big guns and Little Pistols alike. You can operate SSB phone, CW/digital or both. See the attached rules.

I have trouble staying in the chair. That’s the beauty of NEQP. It starts at 4 PM EDT Saturday (May 7) and runs until 1 AM EDT Sunday (May 8). Then there is an off time when you can go to sleep. It opens again at 9 AM Sunday morning and runs until 8 PM EDT Sunday night: A maximum of 20 hours.

I don’t have an HF station. If your HF station is equipment challenged or you have limited contest experience, NEQP is just the right ticket for you. CTRI will run a multi-operator station as W1DX at the W1AN QTH, Ledyard CT which will be open to you. NEQP is ideal for gaining contesting experience. And W1AN’s is the ideal no-pressure venue. Please advise John (W1AN) on the reflector if you intend to operate at his QTH. This will help the club score immensely to reach its goal. No club member should have any excuse not to participate in this club venture.

What’s the exchange info? Signal report, county and state. Send 59 or 5NN to everyone. See the attached list of county abbreviations. You can work anyone, either in or out of New England. Stations outside New England will send you signal report and state/province or “DX.” Work stations once per band per mode [but no CW/digital QSOs in the phone bands].

I don’t have a logging program. You have enough time before the contest to get yourself a logging program. Ask any club members for their recommendations. Probably the simplest to learn in the short term is: http://www.n3fjp.com. If you still don’t get one, keep a paper log. After the contest, someone in the club will transcribe it into an e-submission format.

Where do I get more info? An NEQP package of rules etc. will be distributed at the March and April CTRI meetings. Please try to make at least one of these meetings. You don’t want to miss the “pep” talk. Any questions can then be answered. You can download the same material on www.neqp.org, if you can’t make a meeting.

Notice to members with non-1-land calls: If you think it would be advantageous to use a 1-land call, there are club members who are trustees of club calls that may be available. For example, if someone in Rhode Island would like to use KA1RI that can be arranged. Post on the reflector the availability of calls or if you desire one.

Will you commit to operate? As the club’s Contest Manager, I respectfully request that you let me know that you are with us for NEQP. Please e-mail me at:
w1xx [at] cox [dot] net
If you would like to indicate how much you expect to operate, that would be fine too. If you have any needs such as equipment, advice, etc., we’ll see what we can do for the club to help. Don’t hesitate to ask. This will be a fun event. And remember, it’s ONE MILLION OR BUST and bust is not an option! 73!

— John Lindholm, W1XX
CTRI Contest Manager

3/7/2011