This year for the North Carolina QSO Party I had the opportunity to operate the Morse code (CW) position at the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society’s (RARS) N4RAL bonus station. As one of the sponsors of the contest, RARS was asked to operate as a bonus station (more points for stations who contact us) and submit a check log for the contest.

N4RAL N1MM log windowN4RAL log window from N1MM.

RARS president Fin Gold NC4FG hosted the station at his QTH. There was plenty of room to accomodate a two-operator phone station and a single operator CW station. Additionally, there was space for people to congrate, snack, and chat. Sandwiches were provided for lunch and the snacks provided a nice break from the radio. It was a lively place midafternoon.

N4RAL StationRARS club members gathering at the N4RAL station. Photo courtesy Nancy Torborg KB2TNR.

Preparations were made well in advance to ensure we hit the ground running at 10AM on Sunday at the start of the contest. Both phone and CW positions made use of the club’s Yaesu FTDx10 portable HF stations. The week before, phone and CW station equipment was set up, connected, and tested. This included updating the logging computers, testing them with the radios, and linking them using the N1MM Logger+ logging software. Using networked N1MM allowed both computers to share a common log, and with computer aided transceiver (CAT) control configured, we could see each position’s operating frequency/band.

The phone station was set up for a logger/operator team. The logger ensured QSOs were entered correctly while the operator conducted the QSOs. Many hams, new and experienced, rotated through the phone station first serving as logger, then operator.

N4RAL phone stationFin NC4FG and Chuck K4RGN operating the phone position at N4RAL. Photo courtesy Tom Lewis N4TL.

The CW station used a WinKeyer USB plugged into the logging PC, a Bencher BY-1 paddle, and a Yamaha CM500 headset. The CW station ran the whole contest at 25 WPM, slowing down, when needed, depending on the speed of the calling station.

N4RAL CW stationBrantley K4CBW operates the CW position. Photo courtesy Tom Lewis N4TL.

Antenna options were plentiful. For the phone station, two HF antennas were available on a tower: an Alpha Delta DX-CC fan dipole and a homebrew 525-foot loop antenna for 80-10m. Because these two antennas were on the same tower, it was not possible to use them simultaneously at both CW and phone operating positions.

The CW station primarily used a TN07 SFP-102 vertical and a homebrew 40m dipole (crafted by NC4FG specifically for this contest). The dipole worked wonderfully. The TN07 worked decently. A dipole for every band would have been preferable, but the TN07 can be tuned by the FTDx10 on all bands (no external tuner required), resulting in simpler antenna logistics and quick band changes. During the last two hours of the contest the high bands shut down and contest activity concentrated on 40m and 80m. At that time, both phone and CW stations took turns swapping feed line connections between the loop antenna on 80m and the homebrew dipole on 40m.

N4RAL antenna layoutN4RAL antenna layout.

I operated the CW station solo and netted 513 contacts, although this number might go up slightly due to N1MM+ flagging some portable or mobile stations as dupes. This number was down slightly from the 547 QSOs (-6.2%) I made last year operating with my own callsign in the In-State Low Power CW category. This was a little bit surprising due to the improved solar conditions and because we were a sought after bonus station.

NCQP 2023 NCQP 2024 Delta
Solar Flux Index 1 (avg) 159.2 186.8 +17%
Solar A Index 2 18 TBD TBD

FTDx10FTDx10 and Winkeyer ready for use. Note the frequency. Photo courtesy Tom Lewis N4TL.

From N1MM

Here’s the N4RAL Score Summary:

Contest: NC QSOPARTY
 Band   Mode  QSOs     Pts  Mul  Pt/Q
   3.5  CW     104     312    0   3.0
   3.5  LSB     39      78    1   2.0
     7  CW     194     582   42   3.0
     7  LSB    273     542   49   2.0
    14  CW     181     543    7   3.0
    14  USB    147     294   16   2.0
    21  CW      33      99    2   3.0
    28  CW       1       3    0   3.0
 Total  Both   972    2453  117   2.5
Score: 287,051
1 Mult = 8.3 Q's

Below is the Run Summary.

QSO Parties (US and Canada) - 2024-02-25 1500Z to 2024-02-26 0059Z - 993 QSOs
N4RAL Runs >10 QSOs: for computer named: FIN-Y700 <-- CW

2024-02-25 1500 - 1559Z,    7047 kHz, 70 Qs, 70.9/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 1604 - 1700Z,   14047 kHz, 82 Qs, 86.8/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 1728 - 1734Z,   14047 kHz, 11 Qs, 98.0/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 1742 - 1800Z,    7047 kHz, 15 Qs, 50.5/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 1830 - 2000Z,   14047 kHz, 60 Qs, 39.7/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 2039 - 2101Z,    7047 kHz, 30 Qs, 80.6/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 2108 - 2130Z,   21047 kHz, 18 Qs, 48.0/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 2134 - 2151Z,    7044 kHz, 33 Qs, 116.6/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 2202 - 2215Z,   14047 kHz, 15 Qs, 70.1/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 2245 - 2257Z,   14040 kHz, 14 Qs, 67.6/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 2320 - 2339Z,    7042 kHz, 23 Qs, 72.7/hr K4CBW
2024-02-25 2351 - 0044Z,    3544 kHz, 98 Qs, 109.6/hr K4CBW

QSO Parties (US and Canada) - 2024-02-25 1500Z to 2024-02-26 0059Z - 993 QSOs
N4RAL Runs >10 QSOs: for computer named: FINLEYGOLDPC <-- PHONE

2024-02-25 1514 - 1530Z,    7248 kHz, 18 Qs, 70.2/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 1532 - 1557Z,   14260 kHz, 35 Qs, 82.5/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 1607 - 1617Z,    7263 kHz, 19 Qs, 115.2/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 1621 - 1729Z,    7245 kHz, 77 Qs, 68.2/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 1740 - 1821Z,   14260 kHz, 40 Qs, 58.1/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 1827 - 1955Z,    7259 kHz, 69 Qs, 46.5/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 2013 - 2137Z,   14272 kHz, 71 Qs, 50.4/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 2234 - 2243Z,    7215 kHz, 16 Qs, 109.9/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 2323 - 2337Z,    3875 kHz, 11 Qs, 46.4/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 2345 - 2356Z,    7214 kHz, 16 Qs, 87.8/hr NC4FG
2024-02-25 2359 - 0021Z,    7220 kHz, 32 Qs, 86.9/hr NC4FG
2024-02-26 0049Z - 0059,    3880 kHz, 11 Qs, 63.1/hr

N1MM reported no off times for the station. This makes me think that N1MM doesn’t distinguish between the two operating positions (phone & CW). I was the only CW operator and definitely took a 15 minute lunch break.

Conclusion

Overall, I was pleased with the performance of the N4RAL bonus station. This was my first time operating in a multi-transmitter station (not counting Field Day). N1MM networked together was very cool. Antenna agility ruled the day. Preparing for and operating for ten hours as a run station is no small task. I’m now looking forward to Field Day when I’ll once again break from my QRP CW POTA routine and return to the air with a whopping 100W (hihi).

Once the contest results are published, it’ll be interesting to see what percentage of stations we worked (of those that submit logs). As a bonus station, our goal is to work 100% of the stations participating in the contest.

Notes for Next Year

  • Arrange to operate as a club (again). This was fun!
  • Bring a headphone amplifier for folks who want to listen in to the CW QSOs. Plenty of visitors were curious.
  • When the rates slow down midafternoon, have guest operators participate by logging CW QSOs.
  • When the rates slow down midafternoon, search and pounce. (suggested by W8WZ)
  • Leave the TN07 antenna at home. Build and use a fan dipole.
  • Goals:
    • 600 CW QSOs (+10% from 2023, +17% from 2024)
    • More CW operator participation

  1. https://www.spaceweather.gc.ca/forecast-prevision/solar-solaire/solarflux/sx-5-flux-en.php ↩︎

  2. https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/section/geomagnetism/data-products-services/geomagnetic-kp-index ↩︎