These are the comments from 3830Scores.com... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ N4DU SOCW HP 6,840 2015-06-06 20:35:44 N4ZZ worked in 24 counties, without N4ZZ the AQP would have been a bust in SW GA, he was strong everywhere in the state. K4ZGB was the next best heard /M at my QTH. Thanks for the qso's. Jim N4DU A3S for 20M, Vertical's for 40 and 80M. 500w via KPA500. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ N1CC SOMixed LP 15,288 2015-06-06 20:53:01 Station: Elecraft K3/100 100W to Force 12 C3 @64' and 80/40 Fan Dipoles at 50',one broadside NS the other EW. Pro-1B Loop needed on 80 to reduce noise to copy the few strong enough to get through lots of atmospheric QRN. 20 Meters was barely workable most of the day, and signal levels were poor. 40M was open after 2000 UTC and finally 80M after 0200 UTC. Nothing heard on 15 or 10 closer to me than KP4-land. Propagation for short skip very poor indeed all bands. Found N4ZZ only ten times and no other mobiles more than twice. WA1FCN, WQ5L, and WX$RUS worked on 40 and 20 both modes ... no others. Even with lousy conditions and the appearance of lower activity I did get 3X my 2014 score, more than double the contacts, and 40% more multipliers. Less jamming this year - some on phone only - all jamming signals from the SE USA and stronger than AL signals, suspect VA, NV, SC, and FL as the source. As is becoming the norm, had 38 stations NOT in AL call me and try to get me to give them a report. Since I was always calling directional and after a run is going saying "Alabama Only", I can only presume that they can't properly fill out a ballot when -if - they vote. Incompetence as an operator is only an indicator. (I Don't log or QSL these folks who can't follow instructions.) K9NW SOMixed LP 1,846 2015-06-06 20:58:42 Thanks for the QSOs! 73, Mike K9NW -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- W6SX SOCW HP 2,100 2015-06-06 21:08:07 K3, ACOM 2000A, wire antenna at 46 feet with Matchboxes and MB-V-A, N1MM K4AB SOMixed HP 37,830 2015-06-06 21:13:06 Thanks to the chairman, president, CEO, secretary, treasurer, and chief technology officer, Jim KC4HW, for putting this on every year. Always fun! 73, Larry K4AB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NN4K SOCW QRP 1,850 2015-06-06 21:13:44 Thanks for the Qs, part time operation. Atlanta Hamfest was on the agenda for the first part of the day. Glad to make Qs with the cw ops. Thanks to Don, N4ZZ for pulling my QRP signal out for a contact. Enjoyed it and looking forward to next year. 73 NN4K Mac ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ KG4IGC SOMixed LP 1,650 2015-06-06 21:13:52 Got a late start, hung out for about an hour or so but the bands were in terrible shape. Decided to try a little bit later in the evening, and man what a difference! Got on 40 around 01:30 and Alabama was all over 40 meters. Worked as many as I could find S&P and then moved to 80 meters where I found a couple more on CW. Don't have an antenna for the upper part of 80 meters so no phone contacts. It sure was an exciting ride for the last couple of hours, really enjoyed it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WA1FCN/4 SOCW LP 35,868 2015-06-06 21:17:44 Part time effort to give out Walker county. I hope ya all had fun. Enjoyed the time I did have available tho. 73 BoB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AL9A SOCW HP 952 2015-06-06 21:18:54 Just handing out the AK mult to the deserving. Worked a few before and after doing some yard work. Poor band conditions, only handful of CW ops. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- N4KG SOMixed LP 34,770 2015-06-06 21:29:38 Activity seemed to be LOW. I could NEVER generate a pileup on SSB with only 100W while AB4B seemed to be doing quite well (presumably with power). Tom N4KG in Limestone County Alabama -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WQ5L/4 SOMixed LP 66,256 2015-06-06 21:43:27 TS-2000, 100W, Alpha Delta DX-CC hung in back yard pine tree ~35' Condx a lot like last weekend. Long skip. This would have been tough from home in MS. 10 meters = useless 15 meters = okay early, bad in afternoon. interestingly, CQs near my sunset were picked up by a bunch of EU skimmers, but could get no live action 20 meters = many loud TX & FL, and points further, but too long to work mobiles in AL 40 meters = gangbusters from dusk onward 80 meters = surprisingly quiet for this city QTH, but not many takers Thanks for the Qs! -- Ray WQ5L ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NS9I SOCW HP 7,676 2015-06-07 03:17:57 Good job to the mobiles! Tnx to all for the Q'S. 73 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- W1END SOCW LP 2,548 2015-06-07 04:02:29 Conditions from NH were so-so. Fifteen meters could have been better if more stations were active there. Nothing heard on ten anywhere. Seemed like a lot more counties were found after signals picked up in late afternoon. Worked 40M in the evening and checked 80M but went to bed before anyone showed up. I'm not a night owl. Thanks to all for coming out to play. As usual the mobiles provided a lot of activity. FTdx5000 and Butternut HF6V. Eldon - W1END ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- W4NZ SOCW HP 6,586 2015-06-07 05:25:08 Thanks N4ZZ, K4ZGB and N4QP. These were the only mobiles I found on cw. Wish I could have been there, too! 73, Ted W4NZ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NV4B SOMixed LP 58,080 2015-06-07 05:52:22 Conditions were poor compared to past years with no sporadic-E to make the high bands fun, and activity did seem to be down a bit overall, but I still managed my best score since 2011. It was hard to keep a rate for very long, and I never had more than two stations call at once, but I'm still pleased with the QSO total and score. I enjoyed a number of short chats and being called by a number of DX stations, including Region 1 Field Day portables. The biggest disappointment was not working a single W7 on phone. I tried to run on 20m phone late, but it was completely unproductive. Maybe if I had tried earlier, I wouldn't have missed out on some easy multipliers. This was my first full-time contest effort in quite awhile. Thanks to Jim Johnson, KC4HW and the Alabama Contest Group for continuing to make this QSO party a fun event. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KS4YX SOCW QRP 504 2015-06-07 06:10:03 It was tough finding CW stations to work. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K4WI SOSSB HP 28,325 2015-06-07 06:38:57 15 and 10 mtrs were completely dead here but 20 was very good. I was able to sit on 14254 and run for the whole 6 hours! Fun contest tnx for all the qso's Cort K4WI --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KS4L SOCW LP 16,160 2015-06-07 06:59:57 Elecraft K3/100; 44' vert. dipole; 80m inverted vee. Very enjoyable. Thanks for the activity and for the QSO's! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K4ZGB/M Mobile Solo OpCW LP 41,538 2015-06-07 07:05:36 Thanks for following me through 11 counties. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AB1J SOMixed LP 5,640 2015-06-07 07:15:43 This is my first ALQP for Cycle 24 and the first time I've ever sent in a log. A part time effort on a slow Saturday. Overall there was less going on than I'd hoped for. Nothing on 10m and 15m and I don't have an 80m antenna. 22 of my 76 Qs were with N4ZZ. What's with the four letter county abbreviations when three would easily do? There are few three letter conflicts and they can be easily solved in an intuitive way. This would be a nice 10 minute project for someone. Thanks for the contacts. 73, Ken, AB1J FT-2000 N1MM+ WinH8 Attic dipoles and outdoor 40m stealth wire ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KD8IGK/P SOSSB LP 510 2015-06-07 07:24:40 Thanks all the Q's I went to Palisades Park, near Oneata, AL. What a beautiful location. It was on a bluff overlook about 1300 feet ABSL. A very nice clean park. I got a late start due to distractions at home and stopped about 8 PM because it was getting dark. Not many QSO's but many were from operators that have not had Blunt County in their logs before. Many commented on how loud I was so, so I was getting out OK. But only had one 20M double bazooka dipole. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KC4TEO SOMixed LP 48,555 2015-06-07 07:46:56 Band conditions only fair to poor, lots of noise here. I never really heard anyone on 75 meters. However, the contest was fun and look forward to next year with perhaps a new rig with better noise suppression. Props to all of the people who supported the contest, including a handful of DX stations. IC-735, A3S for 20/15/10, wires for 80/40. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KY4F SOCW LP 14,416 2015-06-07 08:11:39 Only had a few minutes here and there to operate. Fun time. Wish I could have made a bigger effort. 73, Doug KY4F ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NX4N SOCW LP 1,054 2015-06-07 08:58:39 Fun QP - N4ZZ, KN4Y and the other mobiles made for lottsa fun! Cleaned the shack in between QSO's. The more I operate QSO Parties the more I like them. vy 73, Chris, NX4N ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ W4UT SOMixed QRP 1,925 2015-06-07 09:12:33 Thanks to all that could hear me, especially N4ZZ mobile even when I was running 1 watt. Rig: Elecraft KX3 @ 1 & 5 watts. Ant: Dipoles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ W7WHY SOCW HP 308 2015-06-07 09:23:01 Conditions not very good here. Thanks for the Q's and 73 Tom W7WHY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ W8JA(WA8HSB) SOMixed LP 3,069 2015-06-07 11:07:53 Operator: WA8HSB (John) I added a visit to my family in St. Albans, WV to a business trip. Knew I would miss the QSO party from my home QTH but, managed to get some operating time in at my brother's nice station. It was a part time effort in between visiting family so missed some prime late afternoon windows. 40m was the money band from here as 20m signals were rather weak. I got to play with my brother's K3 & P3 plus some real aluminum in the air rather than my normal wires in the attic at home. What a blast! One AL station got WV as his last state for WAS. Log has already been uploaded to LOTW! Thanks to all the mobiles who traveled about the state of Alabama doing a great job of handing out contacts. Rig: K3 @ 100 watts to Force 12 (40-10m) and 80m dipole, P3, microKeyer II, and N1MM+ for logging. Although he has an amp, I never really needed to turn it on. No problems being heard. 73, John WA8HSB Home QTH: Mobile, AL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ K4BAI SOMixed LP 2,184 2015-06-07 11:58:12 IC756Pro, 100W, dipole, inverted vee. Thanks to Jim, WX4JIM, I was privileged to operate the station at the Russell County (Phenix City, AL) EMA for about 4.5 hours Saturday afternoon using the Russell County Radio Club club call, WX4RUS. We did a M/M from there using that call in 2008 and the plaque is hanging on the wall. Got home from attending the theatre with my wife with 1:47 left in AQP and worked everyone I could hear from AL. Band conditions seemed much improved from those I experienced early in the afternoon. Thanks for all QSOs. Will post the WX4RUS score in a few hours. Thanks for all QSOs. 73, John, K4BAI. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ N4KH SOMixed HP 22,055 2015-06-07 12:05:05 Conditions weren't the best but plenty of fun nonetheless. It was nice to work so many of my friends around the area and state. Thanks for the qso's. Jim N4KH ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WN4AFP SOMixed LP 7,020 2015-06-07 12:11:22 I improved my score over several thousand points from last year.. I was shooting for the phone award, but couldn't find 100 AL phone stations... The cw activity was good with N4ZZ (12 Qs) and K4ZGB. It was difficult on 20m and tough on 40m until the evening. Thanks for all the Qs. Join us on 091915 for the South Carolina QSO Party. We've added 2 bonus stations and much more... Join the SCQP Party in September. 73's Dave WN4AFP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K8MR SOCW LP 624 2015-06-07 12:23:38 I showed up in the next to last hour to pass out a few qsos to the AL gang. See you in the Ohio QSO Party in August! 73 - Jim K8MR ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- N4UC SOCW LP 34,320 2015-06-07 12:42:00 I really didn't mean for this to turn into a full time event, but I was initiating my new K3 and just went with it. (actually the yard needed mowing and it was hot as blazes outside, so....) Anyway, bands got a little flat in the middle but came back later and all worked out well. Thanks for all the Q's,! Now on to Field Day! 73, N4UC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WX4RUS(K4BAI) SOMixed LP 17,280 2015-06-07 13:02:11 Icom756Pro3, 100W, Alpha Delta all-band dipole. Many thanks to WX4JIM, Jim, for being my host at the Russell County EMA for part of Saturday afternoon in AQP. Wish it could have been a full-time effort, but I had too many other commitments for this Saturday. We did a multi-multi from WX4RUS in 2008 and the plaque is hanging on the wall. The area is noisy, but the rig's noise reducer helped a lot. Band conditions seemed very poor, but there were some highlights. First QSO was with Dima, UA3AGW, on 15 CW, who very kindly reminded me that I should be sending "RSSL" instead of "RUSS." I knew better than that, but had set the program up with "RUSS" instead. Bands seemed to be improving when I had to QRT and were pretty good when I was able to get on from home in GA for the last 1:47 of AQP. Thanks to all, particularly the mobiles and the sponsors. And thanks for all QSOs. QSLs should go to WX4JIM at his address on qrz.com. 73, John, K4BAI. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ KR4AE SOMixed QRP 2,160 2015-06-07 13:14:21 Elecraft K3 QRP 5W 80M Doublet Being so close to Alabama the higher bands were out of the question so 40m was about the only game in town. Was surprised I didnt hear more traffic on 40 & 80. The biggest surprise was both 40 & 80 were extremely quiet last night.Sounded like a January night with no static crashes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AB9CA/4 SOCW LP 18,144 2015-06-07 14:38:12 Part time effort. But fun afternoon and evening. Thanks to everyone for the Q's. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WØBH SOMixed HP 26,158 2015-06-07 20:11:45 I missed the 7QP because of a wedding, so decided to put in (almost) full time into Alabama if conditions were good. They were for the most part, and the thunderstorms stayed away (at least in Kansas). The first two hours were the best with three bands open and three contacts made per county with N4ZZ/m who had a nice predictable band rotation and frequency. It's always fun to follow the mobiles around, and they did their usual good work! 49 N4ZZ/m (sorry for the dupe at the end!) 18 KN4Y/m 13 K4ZGB/m 08 KK4TE/m 05 N4RNR/m 02 WA4JA/m 01 N4QP/m 01 KM4JA/m My top two fixed stations were WQ5L/4 with 7 contacts and N4KG with 4 contacts. Many thanks to rest who I heard most every pass through the bands. 80 was open but really noisy at the end. I tried CQing on 80 for awhile and got no takers, or perhaps I just couldn't hear. Overall, I worked 57/67 counties in mixed mode. I know I missed ESCA and CHMB, but the bands weren't open to those parts of the state when I knew the mobile was there. I found all the mobiles listed on the web page except one. Missing counties were: BARB BULL CHOU CHMB CLAY CLEB COFF COOS ESCA MACO A little history is always interesting: Year CW--M--PH-M--Cty--Score in Time ------------------------------------- 2015 132*51 55*31 (57) 26158 in 09:43 58 unique calls 2014 160*51 68*28 (55) 30652 in 10:37 46 2013 210*60 45*35 (64) 44175 in 11:29 43 2012 180*55 76*35 (60) 39240 in 11:36 82 2011 195*62 72*33 (64) 43890 in 11:42 71 2010 243*62 51*26 (63) 47256 in 11:34 73 2009 137*56 93*36 (63) 33764 in 10:35 93 It sounds like KC4HW/m stayed parked this year, but enjoyed chatting with Jim from his home and also at the club station. Thanks to you and the Alabama Contest Group for your continued hard work in making the AQP a really fun event! You're all invited to come play in the Kansas QSO Party later this summer. This year we changed the date to the non-Labor Day fifth weekend in August - Aug 29-30. Like the last three years, we should have all 105 counties on both CW and SSB. See you down the log! 73, Bob, w0bh ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ N4ZZ/M Mobile Multi-OpCW LP 122,728 2015-06-07 20:27:56 Another enjoyable AQP mobile adventure for the N4ZZ/m team is now complete. This was our 5th time entering the contest, and ended up as our second best finish (the top was in 2012 with 300+ more contacts). Seemed like propagation was not as good as in past years, and also participation may have been a down a bit. But we sure had fun. We had high hopes for 15m, but it did not pan out (just 10 contacts). But both 40 and 20m were decent day and night. We had our 80m Hustler on hand, but did not need to put it up (would have lost 20m if we did). Don and I operated in 3 hours shifts. W0BH Bob worked us the most, he was really booming into AL during the entire 12 hours. He seemed to have no problem following us around as we changed counties and bands, and sometimes moved us to 15m. W4NZ Ted and K9OM Dick worked us a bunch as well. Here are the top 12 in our log: W0BH(50) W4NZ(36) K9OM(36) KQ3F(33) N4DU(32) N4VV(31) NS9I(29) NU0Q(29) N2MM(27) AD4RE(25) W1DWA(25) AB1J(21) For the DX stations, DK3BN Jurgen and UA3AGW Dmitry had great signals which were easy to copy even during some of the large NA pileups. Here are the top 5 DX stations in our log: DK3BN(11) UA3AGW(11) HK3Q(8) DL3DXX(7) OK2EC(7) The most surprising contact was 9K2NO, Muhammad in Kuwait, who came out of nowhere with a really strong signal. Had him send his call several times just to make sure he really was 9K2, thanks for the QSO Muhammad. We appreciate everyone who worked us, even those that just worked us once. The pileups were a blast to work thru, especially during the last half of the contest. Thanks to KC4HW Jim Johnson for all your work in making this contest happen. And special thanks to my wonderful wife Melody KI4HVY, for navigating and driving Don and I all over Alabama (550 mile route). We really appreciate your help. 73 from the N4ZZ/m team: Jim - AD4EB Don - N4ZZ Melody - KI4HVY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- KN4Y SO Mobile+DriverCW LP 89,424 2015-06-08 06:54:59 Operated from 16 Alabama counties, total trip covered 812 miles (include to and from Florida)Yet QSO numbers were down 20% from previous years. Signals would fade away leaving my signals unheard, then signals returned with vengeance. 15-meters never materialized. But had some good charcoal fired possum with greens and black eyed peas at the crimson throated grill and beer emporium. A plus was great weather and not much traffic on the back roads. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- N4WE SOMixed LP 18,737 2015-06-08 18:23:30 Very poor band conditions.