[MiQP-Mail] 2004 Michigan QSO Party

[David A. Pruett]

The 2004 Michigan QSO Party is only four weeks away.  The contest period is 
from 1600Z (noon Michigan time) on Saturday, April 17, 2004 until 0400Z on 
Sunday, April 18, 2004 (midnight Saturday Michigan time).

Activity in the 2003 MiQP was the best year in the "modern era" (that is, 
since the rules were revised in 1999).  The details are on the web site, 
but last year we received over 200 entries and set a record for the number 
of QSOs reported (almost 30,000!). 2003 also saw the establishment of 
MiQP's own web site, an improvement in the timeliness of published results, 
and nifty new plaques for the category winners.

Preparations have been going on behind the scenes for the 2004 event.  MiQP 
Communications Manager Mark, NU8Z has been sending announcements to 
Michigan radio clubs, and to the ARRL officials here in the Michigan 
Section to get the word out.  MiQP committee members have been going to 
clubs and doing presentations and talking up the event.  The word is 
getting out.

Have *you* made your plans for MiQP 2004?  If so, please drop an e-mail 
here to the reflector and let us know what those plans are.  I will soon be 
posting the "Michigan County Activity" map to the web site showing 
announced operations, and will use your e-mails to fill it in.

Let me be the first to announce our plans.  After five years of mobiling 
around the state from all 83 counties, my mobile partner Ken, W8MJ and I 
are going to operate fixed this year.  Our plans are to put on a multi-op 
effort from the W8MJ home QTH in Livingston County.  Livingston typically 
does not have much activity, so we hope to make it fully "un-rare" for 2004.

Another way to help increase MiQP activity is to talk it up amongst your 
ham friends, or at your radio club.  Maybe challenge a buddy to a "MiQP 
duel", or get a bunch of club members together to activate your club's club 
station.  Remember, multi-ops can have more than one transmitter on the air 
(at least on different bands) for more QSOs and points.  And don't forget 
the Michigan Club Competition - the Michigan club with the highest score 
attributed to it by it's members will receive one of those nifty MiQP 
plaques I mentioned earlier.

Note: I (K8CC) will be out of town from March 24 to March 31 on vacation 
down on St. Croix in the American Virgin Islands (KP2).  A group of us will 
be active in the CQ WPX SSB Contest as WP2Z.  I won't have access to update 
the web site while I'm down south, so if you don't see the counties map, or 
it doesn't get updating for a while, you'll know why.

MiQP 2004 - four weeks and counting!  What will you be doing?

73,

Dave/K8CC