1998 CQP Results
by AD6E

Official Results
Summary
California
Clubs
US
DX

Claimed Results as of 7 December 1998:
(see the Official Results above, after log checking)
California
US & Canada
DX

Bold entries in these tables indicate logs received by AD6E.

This year's California QSO Party has again set new participation records. A record 538 logs were received this year, or about 10% more than last year. From California, we enjoyed a great opening to Europe, and the Japanese were out in force again.

The biggest score by any station any where was the massive N6O effort put out by the Radio Oakley M/M folks. This team operated five transmitters and netted an astounding 4,933 QSO total. That’s 17% more than their previous record setting score last year. Congratulations to N6RO, N6BV, K3EST, K2KW, and K6AW. County hunting was made much more exciting with two major mobile competitors roaming the state. K6AQL wandered through 25 California counties, and WW6Z rumbled through an amazing 34 counties. Given the large size of California, working this event from 34 counties is a truly amazing feat. Another CA mobile, K6MO operated from a boat in the middle of San Pablo bay right at the point where Marin, Solono, Contra Costa, and Sonoma counties meet. N6KZ was also a mobile in Kern county. All in all, mobile stations made 1,410 QSOs.

With all this activity, no less than 30 stations outside CA managed a complete CA sweep. Compare that with only 14 sweeps last year! The very first sweep was made by WO4O when he worked W0EAX/6 in Yolo county at 23:35Z. That’s only 7 hours and 35 minutes into the contest. Congratulations!

Sweeps of all CA counties:

VE7NKI	WA0AVL	KE2VB	W4CAT	W5GCX
VE1JX	NB1B	WB2OSM	WO4O	W5MN
VE3OBU	KE1FO	W8GN	K4LTA	K5CWR
AB5SE	W8MJ	WA3HAE	W9WI	KO7X
K4EA	K0GSV	K3WW	N5DO	N6HR/7
N0AC	K5KG	WT9B	W5ASP	N9PQU

In CA, 49 stations found all 50 US states plus the eight Canadian call districts for sweeps.

K6BZS	N6ED	W6EEN	W6KFV	NI6T
NF6S	KC6X	W6TKV	W6ISO	WX6M
WM6A	K6RO	K6NO	N6BZA	N6AHA
W6DQ	K6RIM	W6UT	AE6Y	NN6NN
K6KM	W6KC	K6UT	W0YK	K6SDX
K6DW	W6OSP	N6KI	K6RB	NM6Q
W6BSY	W6EU	WN6K	K6BZ	WB6YIK
N6TNX	KI6CG	NT6K	K6EL	N6PL
N6O	N6HC	W6TK	W6MAC	AC6T
K6LA	KF6T	NC6CC	K6RC

California County Expeditions are Field Day style operations from rare counties, or at least a nice location that is off the beaten path. This year saw 18 CCE operations in locations from San Diego to Trinity counties. NF1J/6 set up three different times putting Colusa, Lake, and Yolo counties on the air. There were three separate expeditions to Lake county alone.

County Expeditions:

NF6S	K6Z	WA6FGV	W6G	K6III
N6LL	K6XV	N7CW	NF1J	W6ESJ
N6PL	N6DE	K6SRZ	N6YEU	K6LRN
K6RC	K6BJ	N6YEU

RECORDS –

Although the top scores were not record breakers themselves, a total of 31 new records were set this year. 12 county records fell. 16 out of state records fell including the 5 year old South American record. So many new records were set this year that they are now tabularized below.

I do want to give proper credit to Gary, VE7NTT, for his all time high score from anywhere outside CA last year. That very significant achievement was under reported in last years’ results. At 164,604 points I expect that high standard will last for some time. Certainly no one came close this year.

New Records in California

Butte	K6KM	203,899
Calaveras	W6BSY	196,156
Humboldt	W6JTI	183,056
Los Angeles	K6LA	310,938
Marin	K6RIM	234,117
Napa	W6OSP AD6E op	199,305
Riverside	W6TKV	189,080
San Luis Obispo	W6TK	237,713
Santa Cruz	W0YK	277,965
Shasta	K6BZ	243,774
Siskiyou	NI6T	241,106
Sonoma	N6AHA	157,296
Novice/Tech	KA6PUW	76,868
Most CW QSOs	N6TV	1,237
Multi-Multi	N6O @N6RO	655,023

Out of State new Records

Alaska	WL7KY	69,720
Arkansas	AB5SE	80,127
Iowa	N0AC	103,443
Massachusetts	NB1B	107,155
Michigan	W8MJ	128,006
Ohio	W8GN	112,868
Pennsylvania	WA3HAE	110,084
South Carolina	W4YDD	68,292
Tennessee	W4CAT K1KY op	125,483
Maritime	VE1JX K6HNZ op	61,480
Quebec	VE2CUA AG8L op	78,432
Saskatchewan	VE5SF	38,558
South America	LU9AY	33,700
Low Power	W8MJ	128,006
Most CW QSOs	K9BG	427
1st to 58	WO4O	7:35

THE STATISTICS –

This growing information age we live in continues to affect CQP. The number of "soft logs", or logs submitted that can be read by computer (email or floppy) almost doubled from last year to 213 (40%) out of a total of 538 logs. Virtually all of the top scoring stations used computers to do logging and submitted soft logs. There were two logs that were manually typed! Only 130 logs (24%) were written by hand with pencil or pen. 117 logs (22%) looked to be computer generated, but the owners didn’t see fit to send in a machine readable copy; only a print out. We’ll have to work on those guys next year!

So how active was the ’98 CQP?

There were 63,587 CW QSOs (34%) and 124,459 SSB QSOs (66%) reported in all the logs received. This generated a total of 24,380,814 points. However, that is not the whole story. By analyzing the soft logs received, there appeared to be about 5,684 valid, non-unique call signs in use during CQP. These ranged from 4N1DX to ZS6XL. That means only 10.5% of CQP participants sent in logs. We really need to work on those other guys to send in their logs next year!

Log checking was tackled by AD6E, W6OAT, NF6S, W6ISO, N2ALE, N6DE, and K6III. Log checking rules were established by the team as follows: Any simple copying error such as wrong NR, wrong QTH, or wrong call was penalized by reducing the score by ½ of a QSO. Double copying errors (ex: wrong call and wrong NR) or worse were penalized by removing the QSO. The team used extensive search software to be as accurate as possible. Only QSOs that were either proven to be in error, or had a very highly probable error were reduced.

Over all, log accuracy was very good. Claimed scores were reduced by an average of 1.89% and resulted in changing the outcome of final standing in only a few cases. The good news is that only five logs had greater than 10% score reductions due to errors. There were many "perfect" logs where no errors could be found. As one would expect, CW QSOs were reduced more than SSB QSOs: 1.86% compared to 0.82%.

My thanks go to the log checkers who put in many hours of effort to get these results out. Their efforts have made these results more credible. Anyone who submitted a "soft" log can get a check file that details each and every deduction. Please send your request to cqp@contesting.com.

A Personal Note –

I would like to give my personal thanks to Bruce, W6OSP for letting me use his station to set a new record in Napa. This is my first record, and I now understand the exhilaration of planning such an assault, meeting the challenges that Murphy throws in your path, and succeeding.

This story could take a few beers to tell, and if you find me at the DX convention I’ll be glad to tell the tale. I now have the greatest appreciation for Wendel, W6FSJ who held that record for 9 years. I’m already thinking about the next challenge.

Check logs were received from WB6YAW, IK2MLY, KQ6QW, and N2HHT.

SOAPBOX –

You gents at NCCC did a SUPER job of putting ALL the counties on the air! Made a 'clean sweep'. Heard of several other 'clean sweeps'! ... A fun contest. Your WEB pages were also very useful and another super job! ... N6HR/7

Very different from this side of the country. ... K4XU/7

This was my first real contest and I had fun! ... KB9THU (Alyssa, age 9)

I put up a new antenna yesterday morning. Your contest was a great way to test the performance. Next year I'll block out some time to compete for score. ... KB9PQV

Thanks to NCCC for the effort required to sponsor this event. My third CQP and first SWEEP. Last county was Imperial... Thanks ... KQ6QW

Great contest. SF found me late..tnx N6RA. Had fun with Joel. His first time on radio. KD5ETC (Daniel) and Joel are brothers.... Could not find Yolo for sweep. ... K5KB (M/S: K5KB, KC5NYE, KD5ETC age 13, Joel age 10)

One guy told me 'get 100 QSOs for a shirt'. So I went for it. Getting ready for our (PA) QSO Party on the 10 + 11th. ... KB3AGE (101 Qs)

Had I known how close I was to the TN record for this game I may have played longer, harder and smarter; but, nevertheless, I had FUN as usual. There were other unknowns, too. TR Log wasn't correctly tracking Mults worked, so I played this entire game not knowing which Counties I needed! Actually, it was kinda fun flying by the seat of my pants. Later, I realized the misconfiguration of TR Log was due to my copying the TN QSO Party file and forgetting to edit it. Duh. I could've manually tracked the Mults, of course, but it just didn't seem to be that important. After 500+ Qs, a good night's rest and before going to Sunday school, I reconfigured the log. ... WO4O

Had a great time this year. Conditions on the bands were great, and the score was way up thanks to some big runs on 10M and more CW qso's (thanks to those who put up with my constant asking for repeats!). 20M was not really great on Sunday, everyone was on 10 and 15! Finially worked Del Norte county Sunday afternoon for the sweep, but I wasn't first this year. Oh well. Looking foward to next year. Thanks to all the California stations, NCCC for the great contest, and NB1B for the great competition. ... KE1FO

Got on to get a T shirt, had so much fun chasing counties, went for the sweep. Then had so much fun, I kept going most of the rainy weekend. ... K3WW

The bands were great! Over slept Sunday morning. the 40 meter was sick so didn't do much with the vertical. Thanks Jay for VY1A & Rich N7TR, for the only NV. ... NT6K

Conditions poor on Saturday. Couldn't hear the CA stations on 10M. Discovered later a bad connectoron the inline wattmeter.... Oops. (Not my station) ... W5ASP

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!!! I think I could write a book about it! Thanks to AA6UN for giving me my first weep ever in the CQP. The bands were good to me - 10 and 15 meters were like pipelines to CA. Thanks to everyone for making this a super special event. ... WA3HAE

The (CQP) was my first contest, ever. I know my log is kind of messed up but here it is anyway. I had a lot of fun and I know I'll do better next time. ... K9YMY

Great weekend! I was concerned with conditions getting worse as the weekend approached but was surprised to find the bands in pretty good shape anyway. Bravo Cycle 23!!! My best effort to date - broke SLO record of 7 years. ... W6TK

Great QSO Party as always. I planned all year for this event. As it drew near I readied log sheets, dupe sheets and waited eagerly. A few days before the start I caught a cold. Did I let that stop me? No way! Armed with a box of Kleenex, coffee and soda to ease my throat, I sought out CA counties and stations with enthusiasum. I came very close to a sweep of all 58 counties. Maybe next year. Thanks guys! ... AB7PX

Love this contest! Heard (but couldn't always work) just about every CA county on CW this year. Tnx to all the FB ops who dug my flea-powered sigs out of the mud. N6MR, K6LA, N6TV, K6Z, N6O's sigs melted my earphones! ... AA1CA

Though a ham for 5 years and a general class for 2 years ths was my first contest with a real effort, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. What a blessing to have 10 meters wide open for the party. ... KD4VWN

Had a fun time. 15 meters seemed to have the most action here in VT. ... AA1SU

K6PUD said his count was 2062.. I questioned him as well as several others, but he held fast... 219 minutes into the contest. Thats 9.4 contacts per minute. Sorry, but I don't think so. Anyway - thanks for a good time - I really enjoyed it. ...KB5UJY
(ed note: K6PUD operated M/M with three stations. Since they didn't know how to deal with the serial numbers, they started the contest with ser #1 for station 1, ser #1001 for station 2, and ser #2001 for station 3. Next year they said they will do it correctly.. each band/mode starts from ser #1 for M/M)

What a fun contest! My biggest thrill was being able to call for a (fellow) YL during a pile-up. Second biggest thrill was being called by Liverpool England. Thanks for all your hard work. You are appreciated! ... K6MCP

Again a great way to spend the weekend. I have been off the air for almost three years due to TVI and a dead 10 meters. The CQP was a nice way to get going again. ... N9ICH

Operated from Mother-in-Law's driveway in Madison, Ohio. Couldn't put up any wire antennas due to rain all day Saturday. Had to attend wife's 45th Nurse Class reunion Satureday evening, so missed all 40 Meter openings to CA. Sure great to see 10 and 15 open! A great contest. ... K4UK/8

I didn't know abt the CAQP until I heard N6O calling "CQ-P" on 10M SSB. I said to myself "why not join the party?" Had 2 brazen CB'ers call me fm Calif during the contest!! Don't worry, I didn't log them, Hi. ... K8KS

A very enjoyable contest for me, over 200 more contacts than in 1997, my highest QSO total of any contest, and my best hour: 56 - (yeah, many of you might throw that hour back!). This is the first time in my not quite 3 years experience in all-band contests that 10m has been so wide open - my first JA on 10m phone was on Sunday. I hope this is just a taste of things to come. ... KQ6ES

Had a ball. I think this was the first time I put in more than a few hours in CQP. There really were a lot of stations out there calling CA. Next year I'll be a little more serious so I can break 1000 QSOs and work all multipliers. ... N6XI

Thank you for a great contest! 19 of the 41 counties worked were new ones and I will be QSLing those for USACA. Looking forward for next year! ... N0JVR

The bands were full of CA QSO out here.. The conditions were good and bands fully populated. Low power worked great above 7 MHz, slow going on 3.8 MHz. Next year I will try to be in Trinity County.. I did not hear anyone on from there! Contrary to popular knowledge.. Paridise is near to Trinity Trout Streams! ... KH6/WB6FZH

I didn't plan to participate or send in logs this year, but it rained all weekend (almost). Whenever the lightning let up, I'd call CQP. Where were the SF guys at this year? I hope everyone was able to work us here in Nebraska. There was at least 4 or 5 of us on in force! See ya'll next year (if it rains again!). ... K0IL

One of the few (maybe the only) contest where my R-7 vertical does not put me at a tremendous disadvantage and I can actually run stations successfully. I was thunderstruck when VR98BG answered my QRZ? ... W6UDX

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K6Z MM County Expedition: