Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
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Soapbox: November 2013 Spartan Sprint
K3RLL
Slow start with only K7TQ on 20 meters and lots of noise of 40m. But after about a half hour, fellow SS’ers started coming out of the woodwork. There were some nice signals amidst the noise tonight. N5GW and W3KC were the big guns heard here in FL. 72/73 and thanks for the fun.
W1PID
What a great sprint. I operated for 40 minutes. Best DX was K6XM in CA. I worked Randy K7TQ and Dave AB9CA on both 20 and 40 meters. I made 7 QSOs on 20 meters and 8 QSOs on 40 meters. Nothing on 80M. Nice to work so many old friends.
W5QLF
Weak and sparse pickin's.
NØAR
Only had an hour to play but what a great way to spend it. Twenty was meh, forty was FB here. The equip: KX3 @ 5 w, R-5 and inverted L 40' up 40' across, my summer antenna still. Good to hear so many familiar calls.
AE7CG
Moderate QRN conditions on 20M. Thanks to K4BAI for my only contact.
WØCH
Thanks to the ARS for another excellent Spartan Sprint. This month I operated only on 40 meters using a Wilderness Radio 40A rig at 1 watt output power into a ZM-2 tuner and inverted L antenna. The 7AH gel cell battery weighs way too much so I'm in the tubby class again. Gotta go on a diet one of these days! Anyway, 40 meters was good and got QSOs from both east and west coasts.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 16 QSOs this month. I had a GREAT TIME! While I only had five EXCELLENT contacts on 20M (W1PID, K6XM, K7TQ, NK6A and N7LT) , I found 40M conditions to be much better than expected. I jumped in and started calling CQ. This is not always a good idea when running a rig that has very-low current batteries (weight...). However, it paid off! I worked a lot of stations that I had not heard before, but there was some payback... The battery voltage was drooping at 1.5 hours into the event, but I kept going, and FORTUNATELY did not toast any of the batteries. But it was close... with about 3 VDC on each cell. There are no protection circuits on these batteries. If you run them down too far, they die - period. They puff up, get hot, catch on fire, and explode if you don't throw them into the "dead battery pit" ASAP! There was an episode of Star Trek showing what you must do with a Phasor that is about to explode... That's what the LiPo batteries are all about, but, it was a fabulous evening from Houston. Hoping for more 20M ops next time!
K6XM
The bands were in good shape for the first hour, with lots of good signals, but then everything went flat. This was my 4th sprint and I’m beginning to recognize a lot of familiar calls, which is fun. I had lots of two banders this time, and one three bander – WB5BKL. 20 and 40 were good, but I only managed 3 QSOs on 80. I’m still using my KX3 and still struggling with the KX3 paddle. I suspect the culprit may be an oxidation problem which causes it to sometimes not send when the paddle is pressed. If someone knows a solution for this, I’d sure like to hear it. I have another homemade paddle that I could have used, but that would have added 8 oz to the station weight, so I elected to struggle instead. Thanks for another fun evening.
K4BAI
20M seemed open to short skip at the start as I was copying a low power station in PA, but only W5/6/7 stations were heard and worked. I think I heard W1PID working someone else. 40M was pretty good everywhere, but the AL station worked was weak. 80M was in good shape, but not too much activity there. Worked WA8ZBT in TX on all three bands. Thanks for the QSOs.
VE3DTI
First Spartan Sprint. KX3 at 5W with vertical wire at 43 ft. Heard John K4BAI at 7043 and several others in 40m and 20m but could not break the pile-ups.TU es 72 to all.
W3KC
After missing the last few SP's, it was great to be back. Made most QSOs on 40 which was quite active, but plagued by QRM from mysterious carriers and band QRN. Ran 5 watts from the IC-703 and the ZS6BKW doublet.
W9CJS
Lots of fun. Good conditions. I'm always amazed at how well QRP works out.
K5GQ
Did not hear any stations on 20M started calling CQ. Only 2Q.Went to 40M and worked John K4BIA, always a good signal.When I built the ATS3 I broke the wire while winding the torrid. I guess it is time to find the parts and try 80M again. Planning to meet other QRPers or hams for lunch on a weekday near IAH, the local QRP group Meets for lunch on the West side of Houston is just too far to drive for lunch and return to work.
AB9CA
Rig was usual K2 to 100' wire. Participation seemed Light, but it may have been condx. Good to hear the new calls mixed in with the more familiar. Prop seemed strange. 40 seemed to be long early. John, K4BAI, who usually booms into here on 40 was near ESP. But WI and CA were OK. Heard very little activity on 20, only 2 Qs there (CA and NH). Also heard Randy in ID but he faded out just as I called. And only 3 on 80 (MS, GA, IL). The noise on 80 was rather low. Had decent copy on W9CJS in IL so seems like it would have been a good band. And worked 19 on 40. From CA to NH and TX to MN. The band was wide open but flaky. Thanks to all who stopped by and hope to see more next month.
KG3W
HB1B/ T1 tuner/ Palm paddle and 850 mah lipo battery. Ran 40 meters only tonight. Think I'll try to set up an antenna for 40 mtrs only so I can get rid of the massive 5 oz T1 tuner. Hi! First contact was with K3RLL in Fl. Hi Don ! The band sounded kind of scratchy at first but settled down nicely. Lowest power station was 2 watts from KA9VHG in WI. Nice signal Jim. Longest qso tonight was W5ACM, Andy in Texas. W7OM , in WA. got a partial of my call but lost him in qsb. Loudest station was Jose, VE3DTI. I had to lower my audio. Nice signal OM. Thanks all for 2 hours of fun and hearing my little 4 watts.
N5GW
I ran the KX3 with int. NiMH bats and int. ATU at 3W to a CFZ at 40'. Only a few Q's on 20 due to the expected early darkness after the end of daylight savings time. 40 sounded good, but not many ops heard on 80. Main limitations of activity were not QRN, QRM or QSB, but more like trying to watch MN football plus my cat staring me in the face, trying to get in my lap.
K7TQ
Another good evening at the radio. I checked back through my logs and I've done every November Spartan Sprint since 2003 for 11 consecutive years. 20m was good for the first 15 minutes so I switched to 40 m for the next hour although a check of 20 m around 0300Z showed it was still open to TX. 80m doesn't seem to get much activity from here in ID, but I was able to work K6XM and K7LT. Tonight's loud stations were AB9CA, KE0G, and K6XM. Rig was a K3 at 5 W to a Force 12 C4SXL at 60 feet. I had MultChaser show the North America map and color in the SPCs as I worked them. Catch you all next month.
WB9G
My first sprint in several months. Stayed on 40 for the evening. Thanks for the QSOs.
N7LT
Had fun again in the sprint. In between getting home from work around 7pm, getting kids dinner and later to bed, was able to make 11 contacts on 20, 40 and one on 80 meters but bands were REALLY noisy! Still, fun to be back!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. 15 states this time with most of the QSOs on 40M. Found some activity on a relatively noise-free 80M for a change. Worked several on two bands and K6XM on 20, 40 and 80M. My thanks to all. Had fun.
KA9VHG
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. 15 states this time with most of the QSOs on 40M. Found some activity on a relatively noise-free 80M for a change. Worked several on two bands and K6XM on 20, 40 and 80M. My thanks to all. Had fun.
Slow start with only K7TQ on 20 meters and lots of noise of 40m. But after about a half hour, fellow SS’ers started coming out of the woodwork. There were some nice signals amidst the noise tonight. N5GW and W3KC were the big guns heard here in FL. 72/73 and thanks for the fun.
W1PID
What a great sprint. I operated for 40 minutes. Best DX was K6XM in CA. I worked Randy K7TQ and Dave AB9CA on both 20 and 40 meters. I made 7 QSOs on 20 meters and 8 QSOs on 40 meters. Nothing on 80M. Nice to work so many old friends.
W5QLF
Weak and sparse pickin's.
NØAR
Only had an hour to play but what a great way to spend it. Twenty was meh, forty was FB here. The equip: KX3 @ 5 w, R-5 and inverted L 40' up 40' across, my summer antenna still. Good to hear so many familiar calls.
AE7CG
Moderate QRN conditions on 20M. Thanks to K4BAI for my only contact.
WØCH
Thanks to the ARS for another excellent Spartan Sprint. This month I operated only on 40 meters using a Wilderness Radio 40A rig at 1 watt output power into a ZM-2 tuner and inverted L antenna. The 7AH gel cell battery weighs way too much so I'm in the tubby class again. Gotta go on a diet one of these days! Anyway, 40 meters was good and got QSOs from both east and west coasts.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 16 QSOs this month. I had a GREAT TIME! While I only had five EXCELLENT contacts on 20M (W1PID, K6XM, K7TQ, NK6A and N7LT) , I found 40M conditions to be much better than expected. I jumped in and started calling CQ. This is not always a good idea when running a rig that has very-low current batteries (weight...). However, it paid off! I worked a lot of stations that I had not heard before, but there was some payback... The battery voltage was drooping at 1.5 hours into the event, but I kept going, and FORTUNATELY did not toast any of the batteries. But it was close... with about 3 VDC on each cell. There are no protection circuits on these batteries. If you run them down too far, they die - period. They puff up, get hot, catch on fire, and explode if you don't throw them into the "dead battery pit" ASAP! There was an episode of Star Trek showing what you must do with a Phasor that is about to explode... That's what the LiPo batteries are all about, but, it was a fabulous evening from Houston. Hoping for more 20M ops next time!
K6XM
The bands were in good shape for the first hour, with lots of good signals, but then everything went flat. This was my 4th sprint and I’m beginning to recognize a lot of familiar calls, which is fun. I had lots of two banders this time, and one three bander – WB5BKL. 20 and 40 were good, but I only managed 3 QSOs on 80. I’m still using my KX3 and still struggling with the KX3 paddle. I suspect the culprit may be an oxidation problem which causes it to sometimes not send when the paddle is pressed. If someone knows a solution for this, I’d sure like to hear it. I have another homemade paddle that I could have used, but that would have added 8 oz to the station weight, so I elected to struggle instead. Thanks for another fun evening.
K4BAI
20M seemed open to short skip at the start as I was copying a low power station in PA, but only W5/6/7 stations were heard and worked. I think I heard W1PID working someone else. 40M was pretty good everywhere, but the AL station worked was weak. 80M was in good shape, but not too much activity there. Worked WA8ZBT in TX on all three bands. Thanks for the QSOs.
VE3DTI
First Spartan Sprint. KX3 at 5W with vertical wire at 43 ft. Heard John K4BAI at 7043 and several others in 40m and 20m but could not break the pile-ups.TU es 72 to all.
W3KC
After missing the last few SP's, it was great to be back. Made most QSOs on 40 which was quite active, but plagued by QRM from mysterious carriers and band QRN. Ran 5 watts from the IC-703 and the ZS6BKW doublet.
W9CJS
Lots of fun. Good conditions. I'm always amazed at how well QRP works out.
K5GQ
Did not hear any stations on 20M started calling CQ. Only 2Q.Went to 40M and worked John K4BIA, always a good signal.When I built the ATS3 I broke the wire while winding the torrid. I guess it is time to find the parts and try 80M again. Planning to meet other QRPers or hams for lunch on a weekday near IAH, the local QRP group Meets for lunch on the West side of Houston is just too far to drive for lunch and return to work.
AB9CA
Rig was usual K2 to 100' wire. Participation seemed Light, but it may have been condx. Good to hear the new calls mixed in with the more familiar. Prop seemed strange. 40 seemed to be long early. John, K4BAI, who usually booms into here on 40 was near ESP. But WI and CA were OK. Heard very little activity on 20, only 2 Qs there (CA and NH). Also heard Randy in ID but he faded out just as I called. And only 3 on 80 (MS, GA, IL). The noise on 80 was rather low. Had decent copy on W9CJS in IL so seems like it would have been a good band. And worked 19 on 40. From CA to NH and TX to MN. The band was wide open but flaky. Thanks to all who stopped by and hope to see more next month.
KG3W
HB1B/ T1 tuner/ Palm paddle and 850 mah lipo battery. Ran 40 meters only tonight. Think I'll try to set up an antenna for 40 mtrs only so I can get rid of the massive 5 oz T1 tuner. Hi! First contact was with K3RLL in Fl. Hi Don ! The band sounded kind of scratchy at first but settled down nicely. Lowest power station was 2 watts from KA9VHG in WI. Nice signal Jim. Longest qso tonight was W5ACM, Andy in Texas. W7OM , in WA. got a partial of my call but lost him in qsb. Loudest station was Jose, VE3DTI. I had to lower my audio. Nice signal OM. Thanks all for 2 hours of fun and hearing my little 4 watts.
N5GW
I ran the KX3 with int. NiMH bats and int. ATU at 3W to a CFZ at 40'. Only a few Q's on 20 due to the expected early darkness after the end of daylight savings time. 40 sounded good, but not many ops heard on 80. Main limitations of activity were not QRN, QRM or QSB, but more like trying to watch MN football plus my cat staring me in the face, trying to get in my lap.
K7TQ
Another good evening at the radio. I checked back through my logs and I've done every November Spartan Sprint since 2003 for 11 consecutive years. 20m was good for the first 15 minutes so I switched to 40 m for the next hour although a check of 20 m around 0300Z showed it was still open to TX. 80m doesn't seem to get much activity from here in ID, but I was able to work K6XM and K7LT. Tonight's loud stations were AB9CA, KE0G, and K6XM. Rig was a K3 at 5 W to a Force 12 C4SXL at 60 feet. I had MultChaser show the North America map and color in the SPCs as I worked them. Catch you all next month.
WB9G
My first sprint in several months. Stayed on 40 for the evening. Thanks for the QSOs.
N7LT
Had fun again in the sprint. In between getting home from work around 7pm, getting kids dinner and later to bed, was able to make 11 contacts on 20, 40 and one on 80 meters but bands were REALLY noisy! Still, fun to be back!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. 15 states this time with most of the QSOs on 40M. Found some activity on a relatively noise-free 80M for a change. Worked several on two bands and K6XM on 20, 40 and 80M. My thanks to all. Had fun.
KA9VHG
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. 15 states this time with most of the QSOs on 40M. Found some activity on a relatively noise-free 80M for a change. Worked several on two bands and K6XM on 20, 40 and 80M. My thanks to all. Had fun.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
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.
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.
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.
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.
Which 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
What Is the Weight of My Station?
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
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Soapbox: October 2013 Spartan Sprint
N7LT
It was FUN once again after a DECADE of not participating! I stumbled upon the October Spartan Sprint, connected up my Key and computer for logging, and made some contacts! I’ve put a schedule in my phone calendar to remind me to not miss it next month! I look forward to once again being competitive! Last time I operated the Spartan Sprints was sometime around 2003 or earlier in Belgrade, MT (SW MT). I’ve lived near Kalispell, MT (NW MT) for 10 years now and this is the first sprint I’ve participated in from here. I got lucky Monday night and happened to hear “CQ SP”! The excitement is back! I've got to be ready next month to see if I can win again! (Smiling)
VE7ECK
A first Sprint from Northwestern BC, I think. Lots of fun sitting in a picnic shelter at the edge of the Skeena River in front of the KX1 and watching the sun go down as our keying fingers got number in the October air. Hopefully we'll make more contacts next time. Keith, VE7ECK and Allen, VE7BQO.
KA9VHG
Very enjoyable 2 hours. Used my KX1 with internal lithium batteries, Bulldog paddles, and earbuds. Antenna is a low inverted L. Spent most of my time on 40m as 20m was quiet and 80m had quite a bit of QRN. Thanks for pulling my 2 watts out of the noise.
K3RLL
Back in FL for the winter at whopping 82’ ASL with my compromise antennas and just wasn’t hearing anyone tonight. Got spoiled over the summer in the mountains of PA with an outside antenna and good elevation but they tell me it snows up there in the winters! Anyhow, many thanks for those who dug me out of the noise on 40m tonight. See you next month.
ABØCD
Had limited time and no antenna up, so I hooked the K2 up to the little red wire that runs out my townhouse window and is screwed to my rain gutter, but managed to work ID, GA, CA,TX, and NY on 40 CW. Not bad.
WA5RML
FlexRadio 1500 @5 wts to vertical (20M) and G5RV (80/40M); Weight of 13.7 lbs includes laptop, power supply, Vibroplex Code Warrior paddles, FlexControl knob. Hot Dog! Second Spartan Sprint this year! 12 QSOs included: (a) 20M - NK6A (Don), K7TQ (Randy), NQ2W (Will), (b) 40M - K4BAI, (John), KØEVZ (Doc), KG4W (Ed), K7TQ (Randy, again!), ABØCD (Dick), K6XM (Greg), W7OM (Rod), W2NED (Ned), and (c) 80M - WB5BKL (Nick). Nine (9) states - CA, CO, GA, ID, NM, NY, TX, VA, and WA. Cool stuff! Especially 5 wts into compromise antennas! Best signal of the evening goes to Nick, WB5BKL, pounding into the Dallas/Ft. Worth area from Burnett, TX, with a true, honest-to-goodness 599 signal on 80 mtrs! I assumed that he was operating from somewhere nearby but no...he's down near Austin, TX. Hope to see everyone next month!
W2NED
QRN was high in WNY this evening, so I decided to use my K3 to help dig out those QRP signals. I found it to be quite challenging, but still great fun! I started with two Texas QSOs on 20 meters and soon moved to 40. I quickly found that I wasn't alone in migrating to 40, and I eventually reworked my 20 meter QSOs on 40! I am always amazed at the geographical distribution of the QRP stations worked, and I am looking forward to next month and a lower noise floor!
WVØH
A whole 3 QSOs from Colorado this evening. I got a late start in the back yard but managed to put up a 46 foot inverted L, or was it a "Seven", anyway,I used my barebones KX3 with its internal Eneloops, KXPD3, KXFL3, KXAT3 weighing in at 2.2377 lbs. My first QSO was AK6YY at 0209, then Don NK6A just after that. I really thought the band was dead so I QSYd down to 80, no luck there. I then went up to 20m and it was dead, so back to 40 where I picked up Clint, K6CSL. He copied my exchange but he faded into the ether and tried, oh I tried to get him to repeat his exchange but there wasn't a beep. Sorry Clint. Then a CQing we would go and K6XM came through. The strong CA sounds of good, strong Charlie Whiskey! So there you have it, the news from Lake Whoa-Be-Gone where all women are strong, the men are good looking and the children are above average. Keep your stick on the ice.
K5JHP
Bands here on Tx coast seemed to be “dead”. East coast Yielded only 3 contacts. 5 contacts on 20 and 7 on 40. Maybe next month will be better.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 10 QSOs this month. Although I had a GREAT TIME, it was more difficult. It started slow on 20M, but then unlike last month, it got worse. Band conditions were very quiet, i.e. very little QRN. 40M was almost as good, but a bit noisier. I avoided excessive CQ ops so that I could make the batteries last the whole two hours. I have my ATS-3A on the bench, but the fix is not trivial. When I get it working, my station weight will drop to TWO OUNCES ...
K6XM
I got home from work late and missed the 20 meter opening, which is my “money” band. Only worked 3 stations on 20. So I spent most of my time on 40 meters. 80 started to open right and the end of the sprint and I did manage to work two stations – WB5KBL and K7TQ – on three bands (20, 40, and 80)! There were a few stations that I could tell were calling me, but were just too weak to pull out of the noise. I’m sorry that I couldn’t work them. Thanks to all who put up with my mutton fist ( the paddelette on my KX3 was giving me problems). I didn’t score as well as last time, but it was still a lot of fun.
K4BAI
20M open nicely to the west, but only two QSOs there. 40M was the place to be with 26 QSOs from NY to WI to CO and out to CA. Skip was fairly long with closest QSOs being in VA. 80M was very noisy here, but good QSO with WB5BKL there. Still need more activity to keep up interest for two hours. Thanks for the QSOs.
KD2MX
All paths led to TX on 20m, nothing on 40m, but I wasn't around for long.
N7WM
Rig was a KD1JV Mountaintopper running 2 Watts, as close as I can determine. This was the first time that I had put the rig on the air, it worked FB on 20M, but although it also put out about 2 W on 40 meters, the 40 meter receiver section was silent. Whiterock key, 9V battery, plus earbuds. It was fun. Will do it again.
K7TQ
A fun evening here in Idaho. 20 m was a great place to start with K4BAI answering right off the bat followed by a long string of about 1 per minute until 0130Z. I switched over to 40 m and continued to have folks answer. About 0200Z things slowed down considerably. For the 1st hour I had 39 Qs on both 20 and 40 m. The second hour yielded 9 Qs on 40 and 80 m. K6XM found me on all 3 bands with K4BAI, K6JHP, NK6A, NQ2W, W5ACM, WA5RML, WA7OJY, WA8ZBT, and WB5BKL all good for two bands. Thanks to all who stopped by.
NQ2W
K1 at 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m and an inverted V at 40ft for 40m. Started on 20 and made 11 FB QSOs. Moved to 40 and battled a pretty noisy band to add 8 more QSOs. Considered trying 80 but was discouraged by the noise level on 40. Two banders with K7TQ, WB5BKL, and WA8ZBT. Thanks for the contacts. Hope to hear your call during the NY QP.
KG3W
Had a fun time but only 13 contacts tonight. Station was HB1B, Palm paddle, 850 mah lipo and a T1 tuner from elecraft. Had 1 contact on 20 with K7TQ in Idaho, and 1 on 80 with AF3Z in Pa. The rest were 40 meters. Band sounded ok but I could not get a run going, with my big 4 watts and dipole. Lowest pwr station worked was KA9VHG in WI @ 2 watts. Nice going, Jim. Got to work my friend Don, K3RLL down in FL. The best signal report here in PA was KØOU, Steve in Missouri. Now it's on to the 9th anniversary sprint of the NAQCC.
AE7CG
Thanks to WB5BKL, K7TQ, and WA8ZBT for this month's QSOs on 20M.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. Tried 15M with no luck. Only 13 states this time with quite a few doubles but only K6XM on 20, 40 and 80M. Worked two stations running 2W. As my VK-friends would say, "Gudonya!" My thanks to all and to the organizers. Had fun.
K5GQ
Few new stations worked this time. 20M seemed very quiet.
AB1AV
ATS-3B, touch keyer, Z-match tuner to 88' doublet up 60'. Heard lots of sprinters on 20 meters here in NH, but many seemed to be within 100 Hz - obviously not hearing each other. Picked off a few on the edges (TX, ID, CA), took time out for a traffic net, tried 40 meters with no luck at all, and called it a night about 0200Z.
It was FUN once again after a DECADE of not participating! I stumbled upon the October Spartan Sprint, connected up my Key and computer for logging, and made some contacts! I’ve put a schedule in my phone calendar to remind me to not miss it next month! I look forward to once again being competitive! Last time I operated the Spartan Sprints was sometime around 2003 or earlier in Belgrade, MT (SW MT). I’ve lived near Kalispell, MT (NW MT) for 10 years now and this is the first sprint I’ve participated in from here. I got lucky Monday night and happened to hear “CQ SP”! The excitement is back! I've got to be ready next month to see if I can win again! (Smiling)
VE7ECK
A first Sprint from Northwestern BC, I think. Lots of fun sitting in a picnic shelter at the edge of the Skeena River in front of the KX1 and watching the sun go down as our keying fingers got number in the October air. Hopefully we'll make more contacts next time. Keith, VE7ECK and Allen, VE7BQO.
KA9VHG
Very enjoyable 2 hours. Used my KX1 with internal lithium batteries, Bulldog paddles, and earbuds. Antenna is a low inverted L. Spent most of my time on 40m as 20m was quiet and 80m had quite a bit of QRN. Thanks for pulling my 2 watts out of the noise.
Back in FL for the winter at whopping 82’ ASL with my compromise antennas and just wasn’t hearing anyone tonight. Got spoiled over the summer in the mountains of PA with an outside antenna and good elevation but they tell me it snows up there in the winters! Anyhow, many thanks for those who dug me out of the noise on 40m tonight. See you next month.
ABØCD
Had limited time and no antenna up, so I hooked the K2 up to the little red wire that runs out my townhouse window and is screwed to my rain gutter, but managed to work ID, GA, CA,TX, and NY on 40 CW. Not bad.
WA5RML
FlexRadio 1500 @5 wts to vertical (20M) and G5RV (80/40M); Weight of 13.7 lbs includes laptop, power supply, Vibroplex Code Warrior paddles, FlexControl knob. Hot Dog! Second Spartan Sprint this year! 12 QSOs included: (a) 20M - NK6A (Don), K7TQ (Randy), NQ2W (Will), (b) 40M - K4BAI, (John), KØEVZ (Doc), KG4W (Ed), K7TQ (Randy, again!), ABØCD (Dick), K6XM (Greg), W7OM (Rod), W2NED (Ned), and (c) 80M - WB5BKL (Nick). Nine (9) states - CA, CO, GA, ID, NM, NY, TX, VA, and WA. Cool stuff! Especially 5 wts into compromise antennas! Best signal of the evening goes to Nick, WB5BKL, pounding into the Dallas/Ft. Worth area from Burnett, TX, with a true, honest-to-goodness 599 signal on 80 mtrs! I assumed that he was operating from somewhere nearby but no...he's down near Austin, TX. Hope to see everyone next month!
W2NED
QRN was high in WNY this evening, so I decided to use my K3 to help dig out those QRP signals. I found it to be quite challenging, but still great fun! I started with two Texas QSOs on 20 meters and soon moved to 40. I quickly found that I wasn't alone in migrating to 40, and I eventually reworked my 20 meter QSOs on 40! I am always amazed at the geographical distribution of the QRP stations worked, and I am looking forward to next month and a lower noise floor!
WVØH
A whole 3 QSOs from Colorado this evening. I got a late start in the back yard but managed to put up a 46 foot inverted L, or was it a "Seven", anyway,I used my barebones KX3 with its internal Eneloops, KXPD3, KXFL3, KXAT3 weighing in at 2.2377 lbs. My first QSO was AK6YY at 0209, then Don NK6A just after that. I really thought the band was dead so I QSYd down to 80, no luck there. I then went up to 20m and it was dead, so back to 40 where I picked up Clint, K6CSL. He copied my exchange but he faded into the ether and tried, oh I tried to get him to repeat his exchange but there wasn't a beep. Sorry Clint. Then a CQing we would go and K6XM came through. The strong CA sounds of good, strong Charlie Whiskey! So there you have it, the news from Lake Whoa-Be-Gone where all women are strong, the men are good looking and the children are above average. Keep your stick on the ice.
K5JHP
Bands here on Tx coast seemed to be “dead”. East coast Yielded only 3 contacts. 5 contacts on 20 and 7 on 40. Maybe next month will be better.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 10 QSOs this month. Although I had a GREAT TIME, it was more difficult. It started slow on 20M, but then unlike last month, it got worse. Band conditions were very quiet, i.e. very little QRN. 40M was almost as good, but a bit noisier. I avoided excessive CQ ops so that I could make the batteries last the whole two hours. I have my ATS-3A on the bench, but the fix is not trivial. When I get it working, my station weight will drop to TWO OUNCES ...
K6XM
I got home from work late and missed the 20 meter opening, which is my “money” band. Only worked 3 stations on 20. So I spent most of my time on 40 meters. 80 started to open right and the end of the sprint and I did manage to work two stations – WB5KBL and K7TQ – on three bands (20, 40, and 80)! There were a few stations that I could tell were calling me, but were just too weak to pull out of the noise. I’m sorry that I couldn’t work them. Thanks to all who put up with my mutton fist ( the paddelette on my KX3 was giving me problems). I didn’t score as well as last time, but it was still a lot of fun.
K4BAI
20M open nicely to the west, but only two QSOs there. 40M was the place to be with 26 QSOs from NY to WI to CO and out to CA. Skip was fairly long with closest QSOs being in VA. 80M was very noisy here, but good QSO with WB5BKL there. Still need more activity to keep up interest for two hours. Thanks for the QSOs.
KD2MX
All paths led to TX on 20m, nothing on 40m, but I wasn't around for long.
N7WM
Rig was a KD1JV Mountaintopper running 2 Watts, as close as I can determine. This was the first time that I had put the rig on the air, it worked FB on 20M, but although it also put out about 2 W on 40 meters, the 40 meter receiver section was silent. Whiterock key, 9V battery, plus earbuds. It was fun. Will do it again.
K7TQ
A fun evening here in Idaho. 20 m was a great place to start with K4BAI answering right off the bat followed by a long string of about 1 per minute until 0130Z. I switched over to 40 m and continued to have folks answer. About 0200Z things slowed down considerably. For the 1st hour I had 39 Qs on both 20 and 40 m. The second hour yielded 9 Qs on 40 and 80 m. K6XM found me on all 3 bands with K4BAI, K6JHP, NK6A, NQ2W, W5ACM, WA5RML, WA7OJY, WA8ZBT, and WB5BKL all good for two bands. Thanks to all who stopped by.
NQ2W
K1 at 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m and an inverted V at 40ft for 40m. Started on 20 and made 11 FB QSOs. Moved to 40 and battled a pretty noisy band to add 8 more QSOs. Considered trying 80 but was discouraged by the noise level on 40. Two banders with K7TQ, WB5BKL, and WA8ZBT. Thanks for the contacts. Hope to hear your call during the NY QP.
KG3W
Had a fun time but only 13 contacts tonight. Station was HB1B, Palm paddle, 850 mah lipo and a T1 tuner from elecraft. Had 1 contact on 20 with K7TQ in Idaho, and 1 on 80 with AF3Z in Pa. The rest were 40 meters. Band sounded ok but I could not get a run going, with my big 4 watts and dipole. Lowest pwr station worked was KA9VHG in WI @ 2 watts. Nice going, Jim. Got to work my friend Don, K3RLL down in FL. The best signal report here in PA was KØOU, Steve in Missouri. Now it's on to the 9th anniversary sprint of the NAQCC.
AE7CG
Thanks to WB5BKL, K7TQ, and WA8ZBT for this month's QSOs on 20M.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. Tried 15M with no luck. Only 13 states this time with quite a few doubles but only K6XM on 20, 40 and 80M. Worked two stations running 2W. As my VK-friends would say, "Gudonya!" My thanks to all and to the organizers. Had fun.
K5GQ
Few new stations worked this time. 20M seemed very quiet.
AB1AV
ATS-3B, touch keyer, Z-match tuner to 88' doublet up 60'. Heard lots of sprinters on 20 meters here in NH, but many seemed to be within 100 Hz - obviously not hearing each other. Picked off a few on the edges (TX, ID, CA), took time out for a traffic net, tried 40 meters with no luck at all, and called it a night about 0200Z.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
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