The Second Hope QSO Party - an overview

Quit while we are ahead or do it all again?  In the event, we chose the latter course, sensing that the original objectives - to entertain and support our members and others who are currently staying at home - were still valid.  Having said that, it was expected that participation would decline as people gradually returned to a 'new normal' that did not necessarily include daily doses of radio activity, and so it proved to be.

391 stations submitted logs for adjudication (206 from the UK&CDs and 185 from 31 other DXCCs), 28% fewer than the first event but still more than enough to make the party go with a swing and keep people coming back for more. Whilst the participant numbers changed, propagation throughout was largely as unimpressive as before, although on most days there were QSOs to be made on the higher bands, albeit DX outside of Europe was hard to come by for most.

Nick, G4FAL using M5DX was once again the leading UK Station and indeed the overall event winner, scoring an impressive 38% more points than his nearest rival, Tim, G4ARI.  Alan, G3XSV was well clear of the rest of the domestic field in third place.

Staying with standout domestic performances, Bob 2E0OBO was the highest placed Intermediate Licensee (operating CW only) and Jonathon, M7RSC (an all mode competitor) replicated his performance in the first party as the highest placed Foundation Licence holder.

Once again, we were very pleased to welcome the many DX participants.  Particular thanks go to Dennis, W1UE the most stalwart of the overseas entrants who finished as the leading DX station overall. Dennis never missed a session, albeit it was hard going for him at times. Gedas, LY9A and Gyula, HG1G were also very familiar callsigns throughout and they took the other podium places on the DX leader board.

Like any good party, the morning after the night before can feel a bit of an anti-climax particularly for those of us picking up the empties and tidying up.  Having said that, we would do it all again in a heartbeat but sincerely hope that it never becomes necessary.

The adjudicators