NEBRASKA QSO PARTY
NE QSO PARTY: ROVERS AND FT8!
A record eighty six (86) stations submitted logs for the 2018 NE QSO Party held the weekend of the 21st/22nd of April. The previous high was 55 logs.
Notwithstanding the very poor propagation conditions, many people across the county followed Paul and Denise (using call WB9QAF), Bob and Lorna (using W0BH), and Fred (using NE0QP) as they activated 63 of Nebraska's 93 counties.
A highlight of the event was the effort of Paul and Denise. Starting from Omaha on Saturday morning, they ran counties south to Pawnee, then west to Red Willow (McCook), and on through Hitchcock and Chase up to Lincoln (North Platte). On Sunday, they headed southeast and followed a route going east just south of I-80 to Filmore (south of York), and then north to Madison (Norfolk). They operated nearly continuously both days, SSB while in motion and CW on county lines.
We were also thankful for Bob and Lorna's efforts, coming up for a day from Wichita, to help with the county activation. Fred activated counties in the panhandle and the Sand Hills.
Several active fixed stations were lead by Joe, W0DB, from Gretna who had 886 QSOs using all modes (CW, SSB, and Digital) principally on 40m and 20m, and by Bob, KC0JRW, from Kearney. Several new fixed stations this year included Matt, KA0BOJ, and Art, K0AIZ, both from Lancaster County.
The out-of-state winner, for the 3rd year in a row, was John, N6MU, from California. John will receive a gift certificate to Omaha Steaks, our equivalent to the wine prizes in the Cal QSO Party! John, by the way, is also a multi-year winner in the August KS QSO Party.
As far as in-state awards go, Paul and Denise placed first in the rover category, Joe, W0DB, was first overall in-state, and Darren, K0SZ, from Hastings was first in the digital category operating primarily FT8. Darren worked 130 grids.
Two clubs participated in the QP-- the Aksarben ARC and the Bellevue ARC. Bellevue, the defending club champion from 2107, was dethroned by a solid effort from Aksarben. Aksarben operated from the Greater Omaha Marina (USS Hazard, WW-II Minesweeper) in Freedom Park.
A unique feature of this year's QP was the incorporation of FT8. Thanks to an inquiry last September by Darren, K0SZ, on whether FT8 would be allowed in the 2018 QP, the rules were written to allow a different exchange for FT8 QSOs (but only for FT8 QSOs). The different exchange allowed for FT8 was s/n (taking the place of RS/T) and grid square (taking the place of state/province/country for in-state operators or county for out-of-state operators). In the scoring, grid square counted the same as s/p/c or county depending upon the station (in-state or out-of-state).
We believe the NE QP, to date, is the only contest to incorporate FT8 and keep the original unique data exchange of FT8 as an integal part of the contest scoring. However, since there are only 49 states available for the s/p/c multiplier of a NE station using traditional modes, but many more grid squares than 49 available for those using FT8, the scores of in-state FT8 stations were skewed. Awards were determined with this in mind, generally separating traditional mode scores from those primarily using FT8.
The addition of the FT8 mode attracted several new NE participants to the QP (some that operated FT8 exclusively). Because in many ways FT9 operation is relatively simple and modern (low power, simple antennas are adequate, computer oriented) FT8 may be a good mode for introducing new hams to HF. We would surely incorporate FT8 into the QP next year.
Fred (using KB0LF) operated on Saturday evening from Chadron on FT8 which is grid square DN82. At that time there had been no confirmed contacts from DN82 in the ARRL Grid Chase. So the NE QP also helped provide some rare grids for the folks competing in the Grid Chase.
Finally, a special thanks go to Paul and Denise, and Bob and Lorna, for providing so many contacts and activating many counties.
For a listing of the stations submitting logs and their scores, see www.qcwa.org/chapter025.htm.
Tnx, 73,
Fred, KB0LF
DX NEWS
This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by
AA4NC, K1ZZ, WB2TJO, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, DXNL, Contest
Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites.
Thanks to all.
FIJI, 3D2. Jim, WB2TJO is QRV as 3D2JS from Taveuni Island, IOTA
OC-016, until March 13. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters using CW, SSB
and some digital modes. QSL to home call.
VIET NAM, 3W. Trung, W6TN is QRV as 3W9T until January 11.
Activity is on 40 and 20 meters using CW. QSL via LoTW.
SAMOA, 5W. Atsu, 5W1SA is QRV with special call 5W20SAMOA during
all of 2018. QSL via LoTW.
SOMALIA, 6O. Operators Ken, LA7GIA and Adrian, KO8SCA are QRV as
6O6O until January 16. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW,
SSB, RTTY and FT8. QSL via M0OXO.
BHUTAN, A5. Pat, N2IEN is QRV as A52PD until January 14. Activity
is on 80 to 10 meters using mostly CW and various digital modes.
QSL via NR6M.
MOZAMBIQUE, C9. Daniel, CT2GXZ is QRV as C81DL from Maputo. His
activity of late has been on 40 and 20 meters using SSB. QSL via
operator's instructions.
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, DA. Special event station DQ800HRO is
QRV until July 31, and then from September 1 to December 31, during
the celebration of the founding 800 years ago of the Hanseatic city
Rostock. QSL via DL5KVV.
GUADELOUPE, FG. Burt, FG8OJ is now QRV on 160, 80 and 40 meters.
QSL via F4AVX.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA, HL. During the Winter Olympic Games, until
February 28 all South Korean licensed stations and operators may
change the number in their callsigns to 23.
PANAMA, HP. Will, AA4NC will be QRV as HP1/AA4NC from January 10 to
24. Activity will be holiday style on 160 to 6 meters using CW,
SSB, RTTY and possibly other digital modes. QSL direct to home
call. In addition, look for operators HP1MAC, HP1RIS, HP1YLS and
HP1DRK to be QRV as H91IT from Taboga Island, IOTA NA-072, from
January 6 to 9. QSL via HP1RCP.
THAILAND, HS. John, ZB2JK is QRV as HS0ZIQ from Phuket Island, IOTA
AS-053, until January 10. Activity is on the HF bands. QSL to home
call.
JAPAN, JA. Take, JA8DKJ is QRV as 8J8SSF from Hokkaido, IOTA
AS-078, until February 12 during the Sapporo Snow Festival. QSL via
bureau.
PERU, OA. Members of the Radio Club Peruano are QRV with special
event callsign 4T18PAX during all of January to commemorate the
Apostolic visit of Pope Francis. Activity is on all HF bands using
CW, SSB, CW, RTTY, PSK31 and FT8. QSL via OA4O.
ANTIGUA, V2. Randy, WW6RG will be QRV as V25RA from January 8 to
10. Activity will be holiday style with QRP power on 20 meters
using SSB. QSL to home call.
BELIZE, V3. Jim, W2JHP is QRV as V31TA from Turneffe Atoll, IOTA
NA-123, until January 10. Activity is in his spare time on the HF
bands using mostly SSB, and possibly some digital modes. QSL direct
to EA5GL.
CHAGOS ISLANDS, VQ9. Jim, ND9M is QRV with special call VQ920JC.
He is generally active on 17 meters using CW. QSL to home call.
LAOS, XW. John, KK4FB is QRV as XW4FB from January 9 to 23. QSL
via LoTW.
COUNTRY NAME CORRECTION. As reported in 2017 DX News Bulletin
ARLD052, the correct country for the RI50ANO operation from
Bellingshausen Base on King George Island, IOTA AN-010 is South
Shetlands, not Antarctica.
THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL RTTY Roundup, Kid's Day SSB
Contest, NCCC RTTY Sprint, QRP 80-Meter CW Fox Hunt, NCCC CW Sprint,
PODXS 070 Club PSKFest, World Wide PMC Contest and EUCW 160-Meter CW
Contest are all on tap for this upcoming weekend.
The CWops Mini-CWT Test, Phone Fray and QRP 40-Meter CW Fox Hunt are
scheduled for January 10.
The ARRL International Grid Chase runs during all of 2018.
Please see January 2018 QST, page 89, and the ARRL and WA7BNM
Contest Web Sites for details.
OO Report
Bil Mc Collum KE0XQ OO Coordinator
KE0XQ 85 Hours KE6DZD 60 Hours KB0ZZT 30 Hours WB0WXS 21 Hours WB0CMC 20 Hours W0RWH 27 Hours N0XY & KB0DNP No report No cards sent
Nebraska Section Traffic Manager
NET Reports
Nebraska 40 Meter Net Sessions 15 QNI 162 QTC 2
Nebraska Cornhusker Net March Sessions
Nebraska CW Net Sessions
Nebraska Morning Phone Net Sessions
Nebraska Storm Net Sessions
One Sixty Meter Weather Net Sessions
West Nebraska Net Sessions
QCWA Chapter 25 Sessions
Buffalo County ARES Sessions
Dodge County ARES Sessions
Eastern Nebraska ARES Net Sessions
Mid-Nebraska ARES Net Sessions
NPPARC Sessions
Platte Valley 2-Meter Net Sessions
W0IRZ Memorial ARES Net Sessions
Elkhorn Valley ARC Sessions
· Net Report Legend: Sessions=Number of times net called, QNI=Number of Station Check-ins, QTC=Formal Traffic Count
Nebraska Section Nets
Net name frequency meets time CDT time utc 40 Meter Net 7.282 Daily 1300 1800
Cornhusker Net 3.982 Daily 1230 1730 CW Traffic Net 3.540 M-F 1900 0000
Morning Phone Net 3.982 Daily 0730 1230
One Sixty Weather Net 1.995 Daily 1930 0130
Storm Net 3.982 Daily 1830 2330 or 0130
West Nebraska Net 3.950 M-S 0700 1200
Notes from the Section Traffic Manager:
Looking for any historical notes you may have about any of the Nebraska Section Net’s. Please send me your articles, stories, remembrances, pictures or anecdotes you may have. We will add to the monthly summaries.
Please report your individual traffic monthly totals to me at: nf0n@arrl.net I also check in to several net’s daily, you can send to me on the net. I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Mike, NF0N
AKSARBEN ARC http://www.aksarbenarc.org
Amateur Radio Association of Nebraska (used to be: Hastings ARC) http://www.w0wwv.org
Ashland ARC http://ashlandarc.org/
Bellevue ARC http://www.bellevuearc.org
Boyer Valley Amateur Radio Club (IA) http://www.bvarc.net
Buffalo County ARES http://www.bcares.info
Douglas County ARES http://www.mdares.org/home/
Elkhorn Valley ARC http://www.qsl.net/evarc
Heartland Amateur Radio Association http://www.qsl.net/hara
Heartland DX Association http://www.hdxa.net
Lincoln ARC http://www.k0kkv.org
Midway ARC http://wØky.kearney.net/
Midwest Home Brewer's & QRP Group http://www.qsl.net/hbqrp
Nebraska EMA http://www.nema.ne.gov/
Pine Ridge ARC http://www.pineridgearc.org/
Pioneer Amateur Radio Club http://www.k0jfn.com
Strategic Air Command Memorial ARC http://www.sacmarc.org/
Quarter Century Wireless Association http://www.qcwa.org/
Society of Wireless Pioneers http://www.sowp.org/
South East Nebraska Radio Club http://www.senrc.farmpond.net
1Ø-1Ø International http://www.ten-ten.org/
3900 Club http://www.3900club.com
Other Links of Interest
ARRL DX Bulletins http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/dx/
ARRL Propagation Bulletins http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/
ARRL Keplarian Elements http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/kep/
ARRL Transmission Schedule http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html#w1awsked
ARRL General and Special Bulletins http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/
ARRL Emergency Communications http://www.emergency-radio.org
SICK CALL
These are Amateur Radio Operators who are ill and need our support. Please send get well cards or QSL cards with your best wishes on them as they recover from their illnesses or surgeries. I will post along with their names what they are recovering from only with the permission of the families or the member themselves.
SILENT KEYS
While we celebrate the friends that they were, it is with sadness that we recognize the loss of these hams from our fold.
2013
WØADK - Lambert (Burm) Burmester
WDØFCK - Floyd D. Scholl
KFØFO Jim Peterson
KØSDG Paul Heiser
2012
WØAEX - Bob Rennolet, Sr.
KØAQQ - William Sprout
WAØASM - Steve May
KAØBTY - Robert Musil
KCØEHX - Roger Wilmont
WØHNW - Garry (Hoss) Cartwright
KØJPP - Berl Damkroger
KØKES - Joe Nanos
KBØOZD - Tadhg (Tag) Jackson
WØQOU - Martin Klein
WDØQVX - Henry Missel
ex-KAØREX - Claudius Shoniwa
KØRPC - Raymond M. Pohl
WØRVQ - Verne Voss
WØSZF - Verle (Moe) Francis
KAØTDN - Glen A. Roberts
2011
KAØFZW - Raymond E. Sheridan
WØGFQ - Leo Meyerson
WØJCB - William A. Rice
WØJCP - Dick Dyas
WØJJL - Jim Monk
KCØKOG - Jim Nitz
WØKQX - Ronald L. Frame
KI0KS - Robert Dunn Jr.
KAØLAR - Dan Tinkham
KBØLLZ - Bud Watson
KA2NIC - John Mark
KA0S - Doug Mibourn
WCØP - Don Duckett
KCØQR - Jerry Robb
KØTVP - Stanley Prokes
KØUDB - Gaylord Ottun
KBØWIC - Richard W. Harter
NØWWO - James Kuehn
KØYAB - Dick Moen
KCØYE - Robert M. Hill
NØXII - Steve Peterson
KCØYFU - Steve Rudolph
NØZRV - Vernon (Vern) Berggren
WEB RESOURCES
ARRL External Noise Handbook
HAMFESTS AND CONVENTIONS
ARRL Listing
Nebraska Section Convention: http://www.lincolnhamfest.org
VE TESTS
When attending a VE session, make sure you bring the following: your original license, a photocopy of your original license, 2 forms of identification (one with a photograph of you), any CSCE's and $15.00 cash or check.
NEBRASKA
http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml?State=NE
Lincoln Amateur Radio Club
First Thrusday of every month at 7pm CT, T&R's Garden Restaurant, 5250 Cornhusker Highway, Lincoln. For more information, the club website is http://www.k0kkv.org.
IOWA
http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml?State=IA
NOTICE
You may reprint items from this webpage/newsletter without prior permission if attribution to this source is provided.
Matthew N. Anderson
ARRL Nebraska Section Manager
ka0boj@arrl.org
