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N4CF contests

Since getting back on the air in January 2013, I've become interested in operating contests and QSO parties. At first, I was curious to see how well I could do running QRP (5W). QRP works great on CW, but not so much on SSB. Now I run higher power in many contests, which makes a big difference in scores. But I still run QRP in CW contests that offer a QRP score multiplier, or for bragging rights.


Contest Results

I participated in these contests and QSO parties since 2019. Click a contest name under Contests at left to jump directly to that contest.

  • CW: Blue shading
  • SSB: Green shading
  • RTTY: Orange shading
  • Multiple modes: Pink shading
Personal high scores per mode: Yellow shading, double red border

ARRL DX Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Feb. 17, 2024 CW 100W 587 13:00 45 415,596 10m &15m were great!
S&P using backup Icom 746
Feb. 18, 2023 CW 500W 411 7:52 52 230,571 10m was great!
Feb. 19, 2022 CW 500W 420 10:38 40 229,320 S&P
Feb. 20, 2021 CW 500W 379 9:19 41 170,550 S&P
Feb. 15, 2020 CW 500W 485 11:53 41 304,095 S&P
Feb. 16, 2019 CW 500W 615 13:15 46 506,550 S&P, assisted
Feb. 18, 2017 CW 5W 380 18:45 20 170,796
  Award  
Mar. 2, 2024 SSB 100W 342 12:48 27 204,174 10m &15m were good.
S&P using backup Icom 746
Mar. 4, 2023 SSB 500W 503 12:25 41 319,908 10m and 15m great again!
Mar. 5, 2022 SSB 500W 246 8:00 31 107,445 10m and 15m were great
Mar. 6, 2021 SSB 500W 184 8:07 23 57,408 Bah!
Mar. 7, 2020 SSB 500W 257 9:11 28 284,760 Many multipliers
Mar. 2, 2019 SSB 500W 163 6:10 26 55,746

CQ World-wide DX Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Nov. 26, 2022 CW 500W 603 14:15 42 568,848 10M & 15M were great!
Nov. 27, 2021 CW 500W 475 12:36 39 349,472 15M was great!
Nov. 28, 2020 CW 100W 334 10:53 31 184,140 Good 15M opening
Nov. 23, 2019 CW 500W 497 14:31 34 380,030 Wow! Great conditions!
Oct. 29, 2022 SSB 500W 306 7:48 39 162,877 Again 10m & 15m wide open
Oct. 25, 2021 SSB 500W 375 13:15 28 254,727 Wow! 10m & 15m wide open
Oct. 25, 2019 SSB 500W 157 5:43 27 62,329 Poor conditions, limited time
Sep. 24, 2022 RTTY 300W 467 13:20 35 275,352 S&P, 10m & 15m were hot
Sep. 25, 2021 RTTY 300W 540 16:40 32 379,337 S&P, good condx, many mults
Sep. 26, 2020 RTTY 350W 234 6:05 38 71,331 Multipliers made a difference
Sep. 28, 2019 RTTY 350W 218 6:17 35 59,684 Very limited time this year

CQ WPX Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
May 27, 2023 CW 500W 451 10:17 44 420,462 Mediocre conditions
May 28, 2022 CW 500W 349 6:29 54 202,773
May 29, 2021 CW 500W 825 17:36 47 935,935 Mostly S&P. Some good runs
May 30, 2020 CW 500W 857 17:19 49 1,062,600 Great conditions! All S&P
May 25, 2019 CW 500W 344 7:35 45 211,128 Limited time again + t'storms
Mar. 30, 2024 SSB 400W 217 7:02 31 105,952 S&P
Mar. 25, 2023 SSB 500W 337 9:00 37 208,320
Mar. 26, 2022 SSB 500W 274 6:53 40 166,920 All S&P. 10m &15m were great!
Mar. 27, 2021 SSB 500W 309 12:15 25 162,675 Ugh! Much QRN, QRM, QSB
Mar. 28, 2020 SSB 500W 326 10:00 33 154,998 Noisy bands, much QRM
Mar. 30, 2019 SSB 500W 217 7:48 28 97,470
Mar. 29, 2014 SSB 100W 360 16:45 21 259,700
Feb. 11, 2023 RTTY 400W 425 10:25 41 301,041 10m was great!
Feb. 12, 2022 RTTY 300W 452 13:33 33 359,804 Good condx on 15m and 10m
Feb. 13, 2021 RTTY 400W 631 16:55 37 545,584 Maximum BIC time; some runs
Feb. 8, 2020 RTTY 400W 480 13:01 37 355,050
Feb. 9, 2019 RTTY 350W 524 13:35 39 405,035

CQ 160-Meter Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Jan. 27, 2024 CW 5W 280 6.33 43 21,630 Not bad for QRP
One 1-hour run @ 82
Jan. 28, 2023 CW 300W 237 4:12 56 30,396 Mostly S&P; several runs
Jan. 29, 2022 CW 200W 202 3:35 56 22,126 All S&P; high SWR on antenna
Jan. 30, 2021 CW 200W 219 4:22 50 21,285 High SWR on antenna
Jan. 25, 2020 CW 450W 426 7:13 59 107,485 Good DX, good runs
Jan. 26, 2019 CW 500W 422 8:00 53 62,181 Best run rate: 79
Feb. 23, 2024 SSB 100W 87 3:00 29 6,180 Ugh!
Feb. 25, 2023 SSB 350W 97 1:55 51 6,360
Feb. 25, 2022 SSB 350W 88 1:47 49 5,713
Feb. 26, 2021 SSB 350W 77 2:13 35 5,332 Not much fun
Feb. 22, 2020 SSB 100W 155 3:57 39 15,609 Mediocre conditions, little DX
Feb. 23, 2019 SSB 100W 82 1:47 46 6,596 Limited time this year; all S&P

ARRL Field Day
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Jun. 25 2022 CW 100W 317 5:20 59 1,268 First test with K4; worked well
Mostly S&P; several runs
Jun. 26 2021 CW 150W 425 6:47 63 1,700 Covid-19 rule (1D work 1D)
Good action on 10m & 15m
Jun. 22 2020 CW | SSB 150W 503 | 3 8:24 60 2,018 Covid-19 rule (1D work 1D)
10m & 15m were hopping!
Jun. 22 2019 CW | SSB 100W 132 | 28 3:02 53 536
Jun. 27 2015 CW | SSB 5W 367 | 17 10:45 36 3,805

ARRL Sweepstakes
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Nov. 4, 2023 CW 5W 286 9:39 30 42,328 w/KX3 because K4 in shop
Nov. 5, 2022 CW 500W 385 9:28 41 61,600 Several good runs
Nov. 6, 2021 CW 500W 408 9:14 44 66,912 One 60-minute run @ 83/hour
Nov. 7, 2020 CW 100W 304 6:40 46 47,424 Mostly S&P, but 2-3 good runs
Nov. 2, 2019 CW 500W 367 8:40 42 54,316
Nov. 3, 2018 CW 500W 518 12:18 42 77,760
Nov. 4, 2017 CW 5W 382 17:26 22 50,516
  Award  
Nov. 5, 2016 CW 5W 406 16:15 25 60,368
  Award  
Nov. 7, 2015 CW 5W 392 15:00 26 60,368
  Plaque  
  Award  
Nov. 19, 2022 SSB 500W 315 9:30 33 52,290 One 41-minute run @ 85/hour
Nov. 20, 2021 SSB 500W 309 9:35 32 46,968 One 37-minute run @ 100/hour
Nov. 21, 2020 SSB 100W 212 5:12 41 27,136 Antenna problems
Nov. 16, 2019 SSB 500W 217 7:25 29 31,248 Bah!
Nov. 18, 2017 SSB 100W 467 17:30 27 74,720 70% higher than last year!

North American Sprint
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Feb. 6, 2021 CW 450W 147 3:57 37 6,321
Feb. 3, 2019 CW 500W 136 3:23 40 5,304
Oct. 23, 2021 SSB 500W 84 3:20 25 3,108 Bah! 20m dead, 80m noisy
Apr. 4, 2020 SSB 500W 146 3:55 37 6,424
Mar. 23, 2019 SSB 100W 51 1:47 29 1,400
  Certificate  
Mar. 13, 2021 RTTY 100W 49 1:22 36 1,470
Mar. 14, 2020 RTTY 350W 83 2:46 30 2,324

WAE DX Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs/QTCs Time Rate Score Comments
Aug. 13, 2022 CW 500W 108/105 4:55 22 24,495 Bah! Really bad conditions
Aug. 14, 2021 CW 500W 128/128 6:11 21 33,280 T'storms made bad condx
Aug. 8, 2020 CW 500W 114/113 5:01 23 32,234 Terrible propagation + QSB
Aug. 10, 2019 CW 500W 110/109 5:13 21 26,378
Aug. 12, 2017 CW 100W 130/126 6:58 19 36,608
Sep. 10, 2022 SSB 500W 34/33 1:40 20 2,814 Double-bah!
Sep. 11, 2021 SSB 500W 46/40 3:23 14 4,350 Bah!
Sep. 12, 2020 SSB 500W 44/43 2:00 22 5,220 S&P. Limited interest
Nov. 12, 2022 RTTY 300W 230/157 8:30 27 101,007 ATU issue limited QTCs
Nov. 13, 2021 RTTY 300W 141/100 6:00 24 52,538 Computer problems, little time
Nov. 14, 2020 RTTY 250W 137/61 4:09 33 39,975 Antenna problems, little time
Nov. 9, 2019 RTTY 300W 246/91 8:19 41 92,338

ARRL 160-Meter Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Dec. 3, 2022 CW 300W 420 6:55 61 51,120 4 runs @ avg. 87/hour
Dec. 4, 2021 CW 150W 301 6:01 50 36,660 Band OK Fri, QRN Sat/Sun
Dec. 5, 2020 CW 150W 93 1:50 51 6,138 3:1 SWR on antenna
Dec. 7, 2019 CW 500W 403 6:47 59 55,828 OK conditions, several good runs

ARRL 10-Meter Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Dec. 11, 2021 CW 500W 170 5:31 31 25,160 Hard to find mults
Dec. 11, 2020 CW 150W 238 6:12 38 48,552
Dec. 14, 2019 CW 100W 117 4:25 26 12,168 Poor conditions, deep QSB
Dec. 10, 2022 CW | SSB 500W 333 | 107 11:42 37 239,630 Very good conditions, many mults

ARRL RTTY Roundup
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Jan. 7, 2023 RTTY 300W 280 5:57 47 23,800
Jan. 2, 2021 RTTY 150W 416 8:30 48 27,456
  Award  
Jan. 4, 2020 RTTY 350W 349 7:32 46 29,316
Jan. 6, 2019 RTTY 140W 337 7:40 43 23,253

ARRL VHF Contest – 6 meters only
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Jun. 10, 2023 CW | SSB 500W 90 | 23 05:54 18 6,215 So-so conditions; new Moxon
Jan21, 2023 CW | SSB 300W 4 | 2 00:21 24 Nobody was on the air!
Jun. 11, 2022 CW | SSB 350W 111 | 24 5:04 27 11,070 Good condx, broken Moxon
Jan. 15, 2022 CW | SSB 200W 1 | 0 0:01 1 One station heard and worked
Jun. 12, 2021 CW | SSB 200W 39 | 20 3:00 20 2,065 Blech! 6M was poor
Jun. 13, 2020 CW | SSB 300W 76 | 36 5:17 21 7,056 Longer BIC; Good 6M openings
Jun. 8, 2019 CW | SSB 75W 19 | 21 1:44 23 1,080 6M great on Sat., zip on Sun.

CQ World-wide VHF Contest – 6 meters only
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Jul. 16, 2022 CW | SSB 300W 13 | 3 00:26 37 208 Very disappointing conditions
Jul. 17, 2021 CW | SSB 300W 13 | 3 1:30 11 208 6M open all week, then closed
Jul. 18, 2020 CW 300W 4 0:15 16 6M was dead
Jul. 16, 2016 CW | SSB 100W 17 | 10 2:45 10 432

IARU HF World Championship
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Jul. 9, 2022 CW 500W 180 3:43 48 32,160 Late start, limited time
Jul. 11, 2020 CW 500W 487 9:42 50 141,804
  Award   
Jul. 10, 2021 CW | SSB 500W 469 | 71 11:20 48 168,099
  Award   
Jul. 14, 2018 CW | SSB 500W 310 | 17 7:33 44 79,200
  Award   

Russian DX Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Mar. 20, 2021 CW 500W 27 0:32 51 2,530
Mar. 21, 2020 CW 500W 74 2:37 28 23,210

QSO Parties


North American QSO Party
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Jan. 13, 2024 CW 100W 470 8:18 57 92,120 Good condx, good runs
Jan. 14, 2023 CW 100W 368 5:44 64 56,304
Aug. 6, 2022 CW 100W 371 6:45 55 51,569
Jan. 15, 2022 CW 100W 374 6:04 62 53,108 Several good runs, 160M great
Aug. 7, 2021 CW 100W 420 7:07 59 61,320 Several good runs
Jan. 9, 2021 CW 100W 356 5:45 62 42,720 Good 80m & 160m activity
Aug 1, 2020 CW 100W 314 5:00 63 34,540 Mediocre conditions, high noise
Jan 11, 2020 CW 100W 454 6:43 68 61,290 Good conditions, 90% S&P
Aug. 3, 2019 CW 100W 415 7:46 54 66,815 Good conditions, high noise. Mostly S&P with runs on 160M
Jan. 12, 2019 CW 100W 420 7:12 58 61,320 Two good runs on 160M
Jan. 21, 2024 SSB 100W 386 8:35 45 70,638
Jan. 21, 2023 SSB 100W 222 5:03 44 26,640 10M & 15M produced 28 mults
Aug. 20, 2022 SSB 100W 151 3:54 39 12,684
Jan. 22, 2022 SSB 100W 267 6:39 40 33,375
Aug. 21, 2021 SSB 100W 168 4:13 40 10,416 Bah! Noisy bands, poor conditions
Jan. 16, 2021 SSB 100W 361 7:45 47 41,515 Difficult to find new mults
Aug. 15, 2020 SSB 100W 294 5:59 49 35,574 10M & 15M produced 29 mults
Jan. 18, 2020 SSB 100W 296 6:02 49 30,784 Good conditions, 160M was great!
Aug. 17, 2019 SSB 100W 273 9:24 29 21,840 Poor conditions, much QRN
Jan. 19, 2019 SSB 100W 160 3:15 49 11,680 Terrible conditions
Feb. 25, 2023 RTTY 100W 219 4:33 48 24,090
Jul. 16, 2022 RTTY 100W 162 3:58 41 13,608
Feb 26, 2022 RTTY 100W 330 6:40 50 42,240
Jul. 17, 2021 RTTY 100W 166 3:32 47 14,442 T'storms limited operating time
Feb. 27, 2021 RTTY 100W 225 5:08 44 17,775
Jul. 18, 2020 RTTY 100W 195 4:10 47 16,770 Missed the first 4 hours
Feb. 29, 2020 RTTY 100W 310 8:05 38 31,930 A couple of good runs on 80M
Jul. 20, 2019 RTTY 90W 320 7:30 43 38,080
Feb. 23, 2019 RTTY 100W 246 5:10 48 21,156


Virginia QSO Party   Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Mar. 16, 2024 CW | SSB 350W 303 | 80 9:23 42 76,850 Not much fun this year
70 cities/counties, 36 states/DX
Mar. 18, 2023 CW | SSB 500W 350 | 64 8:14 50 80.288 Several good runs
62 cities/counties, 42 states/DX
  Award  
Mar. 19, 2022 CW | SSB 500W 321 | 71 6:25 61 69,452 Several good runs
58 cities/counties, 38 states/DX
  Award  
Mar. 20, 2021 CW | SSB 500W 350 | 170 13:01 40 111,887 80 cities/counties, 48 states/DX
  Award  
Mar. 21, 2020 CW | SSB 500W 281 | 257 12:39 43 106,500 84 cities/counties, 41 states
  Award  
Mar. 16, 2019 CW | SSB 100W 189 | 119 10:07 30 60,229 77 cities/counties, 36 states
  Award  
Wisconsin QSO Party   Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Mar. 10, 2024 CW 400W 48 1:48 27 2,880 Not much activity
Mar. 12, 2023 CW | SSB 500W 40 | 10 1:51 27 2,520
Mar. 14, 2021 CW | SSB 500W 46 | 12 2:58 20 2,808
Mar. 15, 2020 CW | SSB 500W 60 | 9 3:31 20 3,429
  Award  
Mar. 10, 2019 CW | SSB 500W 38 | 14 2:00 26 2,340 Poor conditions, slow CW ops
Mar. 2016 CW | SSB 100W 93 | 40 5:00 27 16,272 Forgot to submit the log!

Florida QSO Party   Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Apr. 31, 2022 CW | SSB 100W 115 | 41 5:00 31 17,615 Got all 25th anniversary N4x1 calls
Apr. 25, 2020 CW | SSB 100W 93 | 43 4:43 29 14,427
Apr. 27, 2019 CW 100W 32 0:35 2,688 No time this weekend

New England QSO Party     Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
May 7, 2022 CW | SSB 100W 115 | 21 ? ? 12,299 Time spread among NEQP, 7QP, InQP, and DeQP
May 1, 2021 CW | SSB 500W 101 | 26 2:57 43 13,224
  Certificate  
May 2020 CW 100W? 97 ? ? 6,984

North Carolina QSO Party     Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Feb. 25, 2024 CW 100W 44 1:43 26 4,142 Using backup Icom 746
Feb. 26, 2023 CW | SSB 500W 64 | 30 3:06 30 11,088
Feb. 26, 2022 CW | SSB 500W 60 | 26 2:03 43 9,562
  Certificate  

West Virginia QSO Party     Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
June 19, 2021 CW, SSB, RTTY 500W 20 1:07 963 Where was everyone?

Georgia QSO Party     Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
April 13, 2024 CW | SSB 500W 49 | 9 2:58 20 3,103

Miscellaneous Contests


CQ MM DX Contest   Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Apr. 20 2024 CW 500W 204 6:45 32 120,640 Bands fair Sat., poor Sun.

Stew Perry Top Band Challenge   Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Mar 19, 2024 CW 300W 118 2:20 51 272 Heavy QRN and deep QSB
Mar 12, 2023 CW 300W 50 00:50 60 147

BARTG HF RTTY Contest   Information
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Mar19, 2022 RTTY 400W 75 1:46 43 17,700

Mexico International RTTY Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Feb. 5, 2022 RTTY 350W 114 14,750 Many XEs on 15M

Czech Amateur Radio, OK DX RTTY Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Dec. 16, 2022 RTTY 350W 75 2:10 35 8,514

SP DX Contest
Date Mode Power QSOs Time Rate Score Comments
Apr. 3, 2021 CW | SSB 500W 44 | 13 2:42 21 4,617

Independence Day – 13 Colonies   Information
DateModePowerComments
Jul. 2016 CW, SSB, PSK-31 100W, 100W, 20W
  Certificate  

Updated April 21, 2024