One of the comments I hear most often is how much activity there is during the Wisconsin QSO Party. For the past several years I have tried to tell you that mobile stations provide a good part of that activity. Well this year, when PA3ARM (... what a nice party, lots of mobile operators ...) and NA3V (...lots of mobile stations for sure ...) made mention of mobiles as part of their soapbox comments, it got me to thinking, and that made me take some time and do an analysis of this mobile activity. What I found surprised me.

Based on the entries we received this year, the FIXED stations in WI provided contacts with 32 of Wisconsin's counties. 32 out of 72. Then, if you look at the counties that the MOBILE stations activated, you will find 70 of the 72 Wisconsin counties represented. OR, to put it another way, there would 38 counties missing without the efforts of those MOBILE stations. That was quite a surprise to me. Needless to say I think you will also be surprised.

I do not think many participants realize the difficulty of mobile contest operating. Neither did I until this year, when WARAC's mobile operator, W9JBE, told me the many problems he experienced. I would hope that you will realize by now just what the mobile part of WQP means to all participants. We all need to thank the 33 MOBILE stations who operated this year, as well as the many other operators who have run mobile stations in past years. This is a part of what makes WQP the BEST QSO Party in the US of A.

For the record, the 2 counties missing were Florence and La Crosse Counties. I do know that those counties were on the air, because super station W0AIH did have a Q in each of them. I do know that no station sent in a log from either of those two counties.

I do not want to forget the many FIXED stations. They are the other part of WQP. The number of their Qs in WQP shows their participation very clearly. The 94 stations in Wisconsin, or the 90 from outside of Wisconsin, with continuous signals on the air for the 7 hours that WQP runs, shows their activity levels. 184 logs received from FIXED stations, with single operator contact rates toping out at 83 Qs per hour average, show me that WQP is a very popular party.

It takes lots of fixed stations, many of whom do not send in logs, to help provide that level of activity. All of this acvitity makes WQP the BEST QSO Party in the US of A.

It is "both" - the FIXED stations and the MOBILE stations that make WQP what it is ! Thank you all so very much for that interest in WQP.

Lets move on to the stats. We had 217 total entries - 127 from within Wisconsin and 90 from outside the state. We had entries from 32 states, 4 Canadian provinces and one each from the Czech Republic, Lithuania and the Netherlands. In Wisconsin there were 81 entries in Single Operator Fixed, 16 in Single Operator Mobile, 1 Single Operator Novice, 5 Single Operator Technicians, 5 Multi Operator Fixed, 11 Multi Operator Mobile, 6 Multi Op Multi Transmitter Fixed and 2 Multi Op Multi Transmitter Mobile.

This year we added a POWER multiplier. It looks like it was well received. We only got 3 comments on the negative side. We got more on the positive side. To give a feel for the power level distribution - in Wisconsin there were 3 High power entries, 6 QRP and 118 Low power, of the 127 total - outside WI it was 7 High, 7 QRP and 76 Low of the 90 total. The power level did make a difference in the total scores, compared to previous years. I think it makes sense to start over with the "standing records," because of how this change in WQP scoring affects those previous "records." Comments are welcome.

The highest Single Operator scorer, in Wisconsin, using low power, in the Fixed category, was Fred Helmstetter, N9FH. Fred made 306 CW Qs, and 255 phone Qs with 60 WI counties, 39 states and 4 Canadian provinces, for a total score of 133951.5 points. Fred has participated in WQP in previous years, but has never won. Fred will receive our WI plaque and the "taste of Wisconsin," as the TOP Single Operator in Wisconsin. Congratulations Fred.

In the WI Single Operator Mobile category, Jeff Bechner, W9MSE, using low power, made 583 CW Qs ( thats over 83 per hour average folks ), with 33 WI counties, 34 states and 3 Canadian Provinces, while mobiling thru 16 WI counties, for a score of 130430 points. Jeff was just 3521.5 points behind the TOP Single Operator from Wisconsin, N9FH. Congratulations Jeff.

In the WI Single Operator Novice category, Alex Jasper, KB9TTO, made 40 QRP Qs, with 17 WI counties, 7 states and one Canadian province, while mobiling thru 15 WI counties, for a score of 2000 points. Congratulations Alex.

In the WI Single Operator Technician category, Steve Lamers, N9SGG, using low power, made 181 phone Qs, with 28 WI counties, and 1 state, while mobiling thru 15 WI counties, for a score of 14873.5 points. Congratulations Steve.

In the WI Multi Operator Fixed category, Steven Kittel, KF9GP, and Jacob Derenne, W9BLI, operating KF9GP, using low power, made 348 phone Qs, with 48 WI counties, 40 states and 3 Canadian provinces, for a score of 48502 points. Congratulations Steven and Jacob.

In the WI Multi Operator Mobile category, John Anderson, AF9T, and Richard Bodine, WJ0M, operating AF9T, using low power, made 377 CW Qs and 96 phone Qs, with 47 WI counties, 34 states and 4 Canadian provinces, while mobiling thru 10 WI counties, for a score of 112875 points. Congratulations John and Richard.

In the WI Multi Operator Multi Transmitter Fixed category, the Bay Area Wireless Association, operating club station N9KI, using low power, made 532 CW Qs and 848 phone Qs, with 62 WI counties, 48 states and 7 Canadian provinces, for a score of 335556 points. Congratulations to the 12 operators - Jeffery Rymer, N9PQU, Tom Hellem, K0SN, Jim Mans, AA9PB, Jim Callow, K8IR, Dwight Bosselman, W9YQ, Scott Francois, W9SF, David Cunningham, KB9WBP, Paul Drees, WC9E, Robert Schrader, AA9GZ, Ed Engleman, KG8CX, Eric Janssen, KG9GH and Mary Rymer, KB9TPC.

In the WI Multi Operator Multi Transmitter Mobile category, Jack Forslund, N9EZ, and Ken Secora, N9KS, operating N9EZ, using low power, made 504 CW Qs and 352 phone Qs, with 45 WI counties, 34 states and 5 Canadian provinces, for a score of 182360 points. Congratulations Jack and Ken. (An interesting note here - the other station that operated in this same category was K9EZ. That must have been confusing to participants - with both stations being mobile also).

The highest Single Operator scorer, outside of Wisconsin, comes from Pennsylvania, with a QRP entry and all CW. Robert Reisenweber, W3BBO, made 155 contacts with 55 WI counties, for a score of 34100 points. Robert will also receive a "taste of Wisconsin" and our out-of-state plaque, as the TOP non-WI Single Operator. Congratulations Robert.

This year we had 25 Wisconsin clubs enter the Club Competition. The winning Wisconsin club this year is a previous winner. Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club had 16 entries that accumulated a total of 639958 points. WT9Q was the station within that club with the highest number of points scored. FLARC, as they are known, are from the Madison area. Four Lakes ARC will receive our plaque for WQP 2001 Club Competition. Congratulations fellows and gals.