Activity was down. We saw a decrease in the number of mobile stations and a decrease in the number of stations entering from outside of the state. I think the mobile activity might have been affected by snow, as just prior to WIQP happening on March 10, a snowstorm and freezing rain moved across upper Wisconsin. Soapbox comments, and my frail memory bank, reminded me that it was cold and snowy late in the week before WIQP. I think that might have changed some plans about some mobile stations taking to the highways, who probably stayed home and operated as a fixed station instead. I know the weather kept N0IJ from traveling into Douglas County as he usually does, to do a Field Day type of operation. Perhaps others had similar changes of plans. I looked at the paths of our 25 mobile stations, by coloring in each county they traveled through. I found that the entire southern two-thirds of WI was completely full of color. Aside from Door County in the NE, the far NW counties of Burnett, Polk, St. Croix, Pierce, Pepin and Buffalo were the missing ones, along with the upper central counties of Clark, Taylor and Oneida. Seems to me that I remember thats where the snow belt went. So perhaps, northern Wisconsin's weather pattern changed a lot of mobile travel plans?

I also think that band conditions played a role in the number of out of state stations that were able to work into Wisconsin. I looked at the out of state stations, as to what bands they operated on. From soap box comments, and reading between the lines in the logs compared to previous years, my guess is that band conditions prevented making the usual number of contacts on the higher bands. It seems that 40 meters was the work horse band this year. With so much activity on 40, it might have prevented the out of state stations from being heard, and that might have been another part. The closer-in stations seemed to concentrate on 40 meters and to some degree, 20 meters. Bottom line, my analysis seems to show that farther away stations probably had a more difficult time getting a signal into Wisconsin. Activity from within Wisconsin certainly was not lacking. That leads me to conclude that band conditions kept farther away station's totals down. I know we are on the downward side of the solar cycle. Our out of state entries have sort of mirrored the sun spot cycle over the last 7 years.

Overall, WIQP did very well on March 10, 2002. Lots of fixed and mobile stations on. Our mobile count was down to 23 this year, although they did still activate 62 counties, compared with 34 counties activated by fixed stations. I would say that overall, we had an average year, considering all of the above discussions about the weather and band conditions.

I need to make some comments before I proceed with the statistics. This year I was asked a lot of questions about WIQP rules. This might be because we have newer operators who are not familiar with WIQP rules. So, I will mention some pertinent points that might need saying:

1. Multiple ( Multi ) Operator categories are an area that needs expanding on. Multi Operator categories mean one of two things - a multiple number of operators operating ONE transmitter, OR a multiple number of operators operating MULTIPLE transmitters. Whether an entry belongs in "MULTI Op" or "MULTI-MULTI Op" depends on how many transmitters are on the air at the same time. For "MULTI OP" that means only ONE signal from ONE transmitter at a time. For "MULTI-MULTI OP" that means ANY NUMBER OF TRANSMITTERS TRANSMITTING at the same time. Some examples - an HF and a VHF entry, with each transmitter having its own operator. If the HF station is transmitting, then the VHF station cannot transmit until the HF station is done with its QSO. Or two HF stations, each with its own operator, the same thing applies - only one HF transmitter on the air at any one time. Remember it this way - any time that there is more than one transmitter on the air at the same time - the entry needs to be MULTI-MULTI. Or perhaps we should just rename the "MULTI OP" categories to MULTI-SINGLE to make it quite clear?.

2. A station entry can be either mobile or fixed OR BOTH. If an entry wants to do part of his operation part mobile and part fixed, that is ok with us. The trick is - the ENTRY NEEDS TO INDICATE which category they want to be in on their entry form - MOBILE or FIXED. The total number of contacts should be shown in a chronological list in the log, with county changes clearly indicated for the mobile operations. Be sure to add bonus points for changing counties. We have had a lot of entries in past years that did both mobile and fixed, as well as entries that were fixed entries that also changed counties during WIQP, once or more.

3. Power level. You must choose which power level you want to enter - HIGH, LOW or QRP. You cannot move back and forth. For example, any contact made in HIGH power, means that ALL CONTACTS are considered high power, even if you do a portion of them QRP.

4. Club entries. All entries for a specific club need to follow the 50 mile rule we have had for years and years. All club entries need to be within 50 miles of the club center, except for mobile entries for that club. Portable stations must also follow that 50 mile rule, as portable entries are really fixed entries, for the purpose of being included with a specific club score. Mobile stations are the only exception to the 50 mile rule.

5. 3 letter identifiers. We would prefer that all stations stick with our 3 letter identifiers so that all stations know where other stations are. However, it is most important in the case of mobile stations, that are constantly changing counties. This is perhaps the most mentioned comment I have from entrants "please encourage all mobiles to sign the 3 letter county identifier versus just using / M. By using the county ID, others know right away whether they need the mobile in that county on that band and mode. This saves time for both parties." In my view , mobile stations need to announce that they are mobile and the county they are in EACH TIME THEY CALL. On phone its easy. On CW, all it takes is sending something like K9KR/RAC each time. If they are mobile and changing counties, you will soon know that by hearing another county ID being sent. If they are fixed, and you try to work them again, it will be a dupe. I get really frustrated when I work a station who does not say he is mobile, and then later find out he is mobile - but that's another matter. On phone, mobile stations need to make it clear they are mobile. On CW it will take care of itself by using the above method.

On to the statistics. We had 124 entries from within Wisconsin, and 68 from outside the state, for a total of 192. 26 states sent in entries, 4 Canadian Provinces and we had an entry from Lithuania, the Netherlands and from Germany. We had entries in each of the categories this year except for our Multi Operator Technician category. In Wisconsin, 4 stations operated QRP, 4 operated HIGH power and the rest were LOW power. Out of state, it was also 4 QRP, and 8 in HIGH power, with the rest at LOW power. Our most popular WI category is Single Operator Fixed with 84 entries, followed by Single Operator Mobile with 12, Multi Op Fixed with 9, Multi Op Mobile with 7, Multi Multi Fixed with 6, Single Op Technician with 4 and both Single Op Novice and Multi Multi Mobile with one each. And yes, all the 50 states and all the Wisconsin counties appear in the logs.

The highest single operator scorer in Wisconsin, was Chad Kurszewski, WE9V, who operates from Kenosha County. He did a really bang up job, to a new record for a Single Operator Fixed station. Chad made 265 CW QSOs, 441 phone QSOs, with 58 WI counties, 41 states and 5 Canadian Provinces, all while using LOW power. This effort gave him a new WIQP standing record of 148,563 points in the SOF category. Chad won our 1998 WIQP operating from W9JA, and our 1999 and 2000 WIQPs operating from his home station. Congratulations Chad.

The highest single operator scorer from outside of Wisconsin, was Mike Tessmer, K9NW, from Ohio. Mike traveled to N8BJQ's superstation in Ohio to operate. Mike operated LOW power making 163 CW QSOs and 144 phone QSOs with 57 Wisconsin counties, for a total record breaking score of 40,185 points for Out of State stations. Congratulations Mike.

This year we had 23 WI clubs enter. Our winning Wisconsin club this year is the Bay Area Wireless Association. They had 9 total entries for a combined total club score of 627,279 points, just a scant bit under the standing record set last year. Congratulations to Bay Area Wireless Association members for their win. This is their first win in WIQP Wisconsin club competition.

Our Single Op Mobile winner is Jeff Bechner, W9MSE, who took to the highways and pounded out 584 LOW power CW QSOs from 16 counties. He scored 107,864 points but not a new record. He still holds the SOM record he set last year. Congratulations Jeff.

Our Single Op Novice winner is Alex Jasper, KB9TTO, who operated QRP mobile from 16 counties, making 51 phone QSOs, for a score of 2448 points. Congratulations Alex.

Our Single Op Technician winner is Steve Lamers, N9SGG, who operated LOW power mobile from 11 counties, making 129 phone QSOs, for a score of 10,031 points. He still holds the SOT record that he set last year. Congratulations Steve.

Our Multi Op Fixed winner is Paul DeWitte, K9OT, who set a new record for this category. Their 3 operators made 232 CW QSOs and 208 phone QSOs for a new record total of 91,728 points, from Lafayette County, compared to the old standing record of 78,300 set in 1999. Congratulations.

Our Multi Op Mobile winner is Harold Burt, W9HB, who drove from Illinois to Wisconsin to set a new record for this category. Their 3 operators made 590 CW QSOs and 24 phone QSOs from 19 WI counties, for a new record of 134,114 points, compared to the old standing record of 112,875 set in 2001. Congratulations.

Our Multi Multi Fixed winner Paul Bittner, W0AIH, also set a new record in this category. Their 8 operators made 401 CW QSOs and 1103 phone QSOs from Eau Claire County. The total score was 348,615 points, which betters the old standing record of 335,556, set last year. Congratulations.

Our Multi Multi Mobile winner was N9KS, who made 530 CW QSOs and 215 phone QSOS, in 23 counties, for a total score of 152,525 points. Not a new record though. Congratulations.

I know I have said this before but it bears repeating. The mobile stations really help make WIQP as popular as it is. I think that our mobiles putting 62 counties on the air exemplifies that. I think there are lots of stations outside of Wisconsin looking for counties, besides the WI stations, hoping to work the mobiles over and over. I think having a good mobile turnout helps a lot each year. Please be sure to thank all the mobile operators for their efforts. I do. In fact, I might even try a mobile operation next year, so I can experience what it is like. Perhaps you might want to also? And don't forget to thank the fixed stations too.

And lastly, I say again and again - thanks to all the many, many stations, both mobile and fixed, in Wisconsin and out of Wisconsin, who through their efforts, make WIQP what it is each year. Without all the signals on the air for the seven continuous hours of WIQP, WIQP would not be what it is - the BEST QSO PARTY in the USA. Please thank all the participants whenever you get a chance. Without all of their efforts, there would be no Wisconsin QSO Party.

See you next March 9, 2003 for WIQP, the good Lord willing.

Lynn Tamblyn,