RESULTS: November 2019 ARS Spartan Sprint

For an enlarged view, please click on the Scoreboard.

SOAPBOX: November 2019 ARS Spartan Sprint

K3RLL
Back in FL for the winter and dealing with highly compromised stealth antenna. RBN spots showed little love at 3dB. Very fortunate that WB5BKL heard me calling him. Happy for my one contact tonight considering Nick was the ONLY station heard here. Not even ‘the CW voice of GA’ (BAI). Maybe next month . . .

K7TQ
Five watts, a QRP Guys 20-30-40 m vertical and marginal conditions make for a short night. Did manage to work the only station I could hear.

K4BAI
1:50 hours of listening and calling.  QSOs by band:  40M: 3. 80M: 6. Both 40 and 80 in good shape with loud signals and no noise, but need more activity. Next month I hope. 73/72, John, K4BAI

N5EM
Running KX3 here on internal batteries. 5 Q's on 40/80/160. Nothing heard on 20M. Thanks to WB5BKL for 1st 160M Q by sked on new antenna. 72, Ed, N5EM

AB9CA
Started on 20 but no one there. 40 was also light, only 2 there. 80 was the main band tonight, with 8 Q's. Only one 2-bander, W5QLF. Lost 2 to QSB. But a fun night anyway. Rig was K3 at 5w to wires. I was getting quite a few RBN spots but it appears there were few sprinters tonight. Hopefully business will pick up next month. 73 de Dave, AB9CA

K9DRP
What a tough night on 40!  Only able to work W5QLF on that band. I heard John, K4BAI, but he wouldn't take my call (did work him on 80 though). Once again, God Bless Texas for half of my contacts. First time using a LiFePO4 battery and it worked well with the Argo V. Hope to hear ya'll in the fox hunts. 72, Don, K9DRP

WB9HFK
Icom 7300 @ 5W Antenna: 150 Ft. Random Wire Weight: 25 lbs. I never heard anyone on 40M. CQs went unanswered. 80M was more noisy than normal at my QTH. Sorry to anyone I may have missed down in the noise. See everyone next month! 72, Mark

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. 2 QSOs on 40 and 4 on 80M. Heard K4BAI, K7TQ, and AB9CA on 40 but no contact. Best signals: 40M - K3RLL, 80M - N5GW and K4BAI.  I hope everyone has a grand Thanksgiving. Had fun.

K3JZD
Nothing at all heard on 40m. I had to break out my 'heavyweight radio' (KX3) and go to 80m where I use a sloped 59' EFRW. Worked Dave-AB9CA there. Heard John, K4BAI calling, but he wasn't hearing me. So, was another 1 contact month for me. Jody - K3JZD

NØOCT
Was anyone even really on? I sat tuning around 40m from Ø200 through Ø345 and heard nothing in MO. Even called CQ a few times. Either all the activity was on 80m, or everyone was worn out from November SS. 72, NØOCT

N5GW
Not much on 40 - heard K3RLL weak sig but he couldn't hear me. 80 much better during solar minimum.

So, What's a Spartan Sprint, and How Do I Play?

Spartan Sprints are two-hour gatherings sponsored by the Adventure Radio Society, held the first Monday of every month. The Spartan Sprints have a unique, three-faceted focus. They encourage outdoor operation with back country radio gear (if outdoor operation isn't practical, home-based operation is fine). They gather fascinating information about the upper atmosphere, documenting how low power signals can travel long distancs. And they encourage the growth of a like-minded community of amateur radio operator who generously share their knowledge and experiences.

Which Bands?

Bands of operation are 80 meters, 40 meters, 20 meters, 15 meters and 10 meters. You may operate any number of bands - your choice. Many Spartan Sprint operators gravitate to the QRP CW calling frequencies on these bands.

Equipment and Antennas

Spartan Sprinters use 5 Watts or less. We encourage you to experiment with 1 Watt or less. You will be surprised at how effective these low levels can be, and how much fun QRPp really is. Similarly, we encourage you to experiment with simple wire antennas. And we encourage Sprinters to use equpment they built from "scratch" - that is, equipment built from schematics.

Exchange

Exchange RST, SPC (state, province or country) and power output. If you choose to call CQ, use the format "CQ SP," or "CQ QRP TEST." You can give yourself credit for working the same station on a second, third, or fourth band.

What Is the Weight of My Station?

The weight of your station is determined by weighing everything at your operating position up to, but not including, your feedline and antenna. In other words, your rig, key, keyer, antenna tuning unit, battery, headphones and so on. 

Submit Your Spartan Sprint Log

Please send the following information in an email to: SpartanSprint@yahoo.com

• Your call sign
• Total number of contacts during Sprint
• The weight of your station (in pounds - includes all gear except antenna and feedline)
• Soapbox comments about your Sprint experience

Check Out the Spartan Sprint Results

The results of each month's contest appear on the Friday following each month's first-Monday Sprint. They are posted here on this website. You can find results from previous months here, as well.

- Richard Fisher, KI6SN

RESULTS: October 2019 ARS Spartan Sprint

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SOAPBOX: October 2019 ARS Spartan Sprint

K3RLL
Weak, weak signals – mine included – this evening on 40m. Very happy for my 6 contacts. Then about 0130, the party must have moved to 80m. Someday need to build something for that band.  Best signal was KB1M. Thanks for the good ears and nice contacts this evening. 72/73 … Don  

W5QLF
Plenty of signals heard here in South Texas. Worked 8 stations on 40 meters and 4 on 80 meters.It is a pleasure to be able to boost my QSO count now that winter time propagation is approaching. 73, Joe, W5QLF

NØTA 
Pretty good evening: 11 Q's on 40, and 5 on 80m. Thanks! K3 @ 5w, doublet, GenLog.

N3A/4 (K4BAI)
7 QSOs on 40. 4 QSOs on 80. Bands in fair condition, but activity down. My own call is K4BAI and N3A is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the NAQCC QRP CW Club. 72, John, K4BAI.

K3JZD
40 meters only. Used a bare QCX-40 with ear buds and KØMBT's MiniMini 3D printed key. Tried some smaller, lighter batteries this time --> used a pack that I made from ten 2/3 AAA NiMH cells.  Rated 320 maH (probably not really).   Got 3 watts out of the QCX-40 with that setup.   The plan was to search and pounce to make those batteries last for two hours.   But 40m was loooong.   The only one that I heard to pounce on was John - N0TA in CO.    Glad I got John right away because I soon no longer heard him any longer.  I could not hear any of the usual players - all were in too close.  I could hear a QRO special event station in UT who was right in the middle of the 7.040 crowd - heard two WA stations working him - but he never heard my 3 watts and eventually he faded away.  I was waiting to hear Hawaii coming in.   Finally I said damn the batteries - full speed ahead - and started calling CQ  (like that was going to accomplish something?)   The only two RBN spots that I got were in KS.  Did I mention that 40m was loooong?   I did hear one station responding to my CQs at one point, but I could not pull even one letter out of it.  At 0230z my small battery pack said that's enough of this stuff, and shut me down.  See you next month.  73,  Jody - K3JZD

WB9HFK
Rig: Icom 7300 @ 5W. Antenna: OCF Dipole at 25 ft.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. 8 QSOs on 40 and 3 on 80M. Doubles with K9DRP and N3A/4. Best signals:  40M - KEØTT, 80M - K9DRP. Quite a change (in the positive direction) for me from last month. Happy Halloween to all! Had fun.

RESULTS: September 2019 ARS Spartan Sprint

SOAPBOX: September 2019 ARS Spartan Sprint

K3RLL

Slow start on 40m but things picked up pretty steadily until another contest had the nerve to intrude upon the frequencies we paid for! (GRIN)  Conditions weren’t great but sure better than watching TV. My thanks to the A.R.S. and the skilled and patient ops that pulled me out of the noise tonight. 72/73 … Don

NØTA

Not sure if the activity was low, or I wasn't hearing well. Quit after the first hour. Thanks for the Q's. K3 @5w, Vertical, GenLog.

WB9HFK

Part time. Poor conditions or not much activity. Hopefully, better next month! 72, Mark, WB9HFK

K9DRP

QSB, QRN, and HPM made conditions tough!  TNX KB1M fer the 20 contact!  K3RLL had the best sig on 40, but he quit before I got him in the log. Was able to connect with NØTA, K3JZD, and KFØN on 40. Next month has to be better! 72, Don, K9DRP

K4BAI

Lot of competition from high power stations in the HPM event. But signals on 40 and 80 were quite good. Could use some more activity next month. 73/72. John, K4BAI

KB1M

Better luck than last month, managed 8 Qs for 7 states. One contact on 20 the rest on 40. Short opening to GA. Gave K4BAI best signal of the evening. Thanks for the QSOs.  72/73, Walt

K3JZD

40 meters only. Used a bare QCX-40 with a mini 12v Li-Ion battery pack and earbuds. 2 watts into a 40m Dipole. This month I used a Mini-Mini 3D Printed Straight Key that was designed and built by K0MBT – smaller than his Mini Key that I used last month. Tough sledding due to the waning solar storm. Battery ran down to the shutoff point after 1.5 hours of calling CQ a whole lot. See yunz next month.  Jody - K3JZD

WB5BKL

K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. RBN could hear me well on 20, 40 and 80M. Too bad that doesn't count.  My thanks to John for the only Spartan Sprint contact. Five QRO QSOs omitted – worked several Hiram Percy Maxim stations during the lull. Had fun.