SOAPBOX: November 2023 ARS Spartan Sprint

 K3RLL

So glad to be back on the Sprint. Neighbor lady drove into my house, got all three of my cars and disabled my antenna and gear but back on the air at last. Whew!Condx not the best but thanks for the ‘good ears’ out there with my four contacts this evening and nice to connect with former neighbor and mentor back in PA, K3JZD. Big signals this evening?  I didn’t hear them. Did you?  72/73, Don K3RLL

WB9HFK

Rig: Icom 7300 @ 5WAntenna: EFHW @ 30 Ft.Weight: 30 lbs.

K4WY

First time on this sprint. Lots of familiar QRP calls. 72 Jack K4WY

K4BAI

All QSOs on 40M.  No activity heard on 20 or 80 in first hour and no answers to CQs on 20M. Nice to hear some new calls. Thanks for

all QSOs. 73, John K4BAI

K4PQC

I was working on my band filters and only had the one for 40 meters. Things started out a little slow plus this band was very noisy, some local... maybe the neighbor's electric fence. Lots of new players that I worked for the first time. So, as the evening wore on the activity picked up and this month is my personal best Spartan Sprint.  Thanks for your good ears and for sticking with me. For those who are new to the Spartan Sprint this is a description of my station: The transceiver is a lightened Steve Weber - KD1JV designed AT Sprint III with homemade paddles, lightened ear phone and a single cell 3.7V 820mAh LiPo battery with a DC to DC boost circuit bringing the voltage up to 11V. The receive drain is +/- 35ma depending on the receive signal strength. Transmit drain is about 750ma depending on the battery condition. The battery can last almost the full duration of the Sprint depending on S & P or Running, which drains the battery faster. I have an inline power meter to read my transmitting power. From the antenna connector which is a modified SSMB there is a 1' section of RG-58 with an SSMA adaptor on one end and adaptor connected to a Daiwa switch, inline power meter, another Daiwa switch, 4' RG-58 to a lightning arrestor, 25' RG-58, to a 1:9 balun connected to a knife switch, 35' 450 Ohm twin lead connected to a 160 meter full wave loop (570' 18 gauge green insulated stranded wire) at 35'. All together there is a combination of 15 mechanical connections made up of a combination of connectors and adaptors plus about 80 feet of feed line. 72, Phil K4PQC

WA9AGG

Thank you to the sponsors of this fun filled activity.  Your efforts are appreciated. I didn’t make contact with some of my regulars but made some new ones.  I was on 40 mtrs the entire time due to poor activity on the other bands.  Looking forward to next month. 73, Gerald WA9AGG

KE9V

Off to a bad start as I confused myself over the recent time change. Managed just three QSOs all on 40 meters. Band conditions not great. Hopefully better for the end of the year wrap-up next month. Thanks to all for the fun and the adventure! Jeff, KE9V

K3JZD

All of my QSOs were on 40m.  Seemed like maybe we had a little impact from the sun's recent activity. Or maybe just low participation this month.  Four watts with a purpose built 40m QCX Mini, small 500mAH LiPo battery pack, small 3D printed key, and ear buds. 40m Dipole at 25'. 72 - Jody - K3JZD

WA9CWE

The band conditions in Central Indiana were poor for the event this month. I stayed on 40 as 20 & 80 were dead to me, and I struggled to get contacts ending up with 9 in 7 States. Did not hear most of the regulars this month. I look forward to next month! Rig is an IC-705 and G5RV at 20 feet.  J38 Key.  The internal battery in the 705 holds up well for the 2 hour event.73,  Steve, WA9CWE

N8HWV

The band conditions in Central Indiana were poor for the event this month.  I stayed on 40 as 20 & 80 were dead to me, and I struggled to get contacts ending up with 9 in 7 States.  Did not hear most of the regulars this month.  I look forward to next month!  Rig is an IC-705 and G5RV at 20 feet.  J38 Key  The internal battery in the 705 holds up well for the 2 hour event.73, Steve N9HWV

N4HAY

The band conditions in Central Indiana were poor for the event this month. I stayed on 40 as 20 & 80 were dead to me, and I struggled to get contacts ending up with 9 in 7 States. Did not hear most of the regulars this month. I look forward to next month!  Rig is an IC-705 and G5RV at 20 feet.  J38 Key. The internal battery in the 705 holds up well for the 2 hour event.73,  Steve N4HAY

SCOREBOARD: November 2023 ARS Spartan Sprint

 

SCOREBOARD: October 2023 ARS Spartan Sprint

 

SOAPBOX: October 2023 ARS Spartan Sprint

WA9CWE
Rig: Icom 7300 @ 5W
Antenna: EFHW @ 30 Ft.
Weight: 30 lbs.

Had another fun night with the Sprint.  Band conditions here in Central Indiana were very poor for the first 45 minutes…..Called and called without results.  Then the band came in for about an hour and I got 10 contacts in 5 States.  Did not hear a number of the regulars though.  Anyway, it was a good evening even though I’m still a rookie CW op.  IC-705, straight key and G5RV at 20’. 73, Steve, WA9CWE

WA9TGT
Power Level: 4 watts
Total Number Contacts: 14
Total Equipment Weight: 10.0 oz

I missed last month Sprint due to relocating to Ft Wayne, however I’m now back on the air. My antenna at the new QTH is a 40~10 meter EFHW that’s only up 13 ft at its highest point. I was pleasantly surprised how well it did last night in the Spartan Sprint. I was also able to work several of the Muncie, IN and surrounding area near my old hometown. All my contacts were on 40 meters tonight. Band seemed to be up and down for the entire sprint tonight but again it was a very enjoyable Spartan Sprint! Donnie / WA9TGT

K4BAI

All 13 QSOs on 40 between 7040 and 7044 kHz. No activity heard on 20 or 80 and no answers to CQs on those bands. 20 and 80 were both open for non contest QSOs though.  We should try for a few minutes on 20 at the start, then got to 40 and go to 80 for the last half hour. In the Peanut Powered Sprint Sunday (which ended at 0000Z) there was a good bit of 80M QRP activity.Thanks for all QSOs (almost half of them were with stations in IN and most were with stations in the 9th call area. Did also work KK4R in VA and N0AR in MN.  K0HNL in MA was QRV and worked a couple of the 9th area stations, but couldn't hear me calling him.  TS590SG at 5W, wire antennas. 72, John, K4BAI

AA9OM

This my first sprint. The bands must have been open. I was operating from Pokagon State Park. I set my power at 5W and as I started scanning I ran across a POTA activator working a pile up. I switched to POTA node and made 50 contacts at 5W. Only nine on the sprint, but I’m new. Thanks for the patience of everybody who worked a newbie. Darrell, AA9OM

RESULTS: ARS September 2023 Spartan Sprint

 

SOAPBOX: September 2023 ARS Spartan Sprint

WB9HFK
Rig: Xiegu X6100 @ 5W Antenna: EFHW @ 30 Ft. Weight: 30 Lbs. Checking out new rig!

K3RLL
Pretty light turnout this evening. Must have been something good on TV? Thanks for the contacts; mostly regulars and a few new (at least to me). Nice. 72/73 Don

AB9CA
Well, it helps if you get started at the right time. I was late again tonight. Rig was K3 at 5W to inverted vee. 40 was the main band, 12 contacts there. 4 on 20 and 3 on 80. Only two bander was WO9B on 40 and 80. Prop seemed pretty good. I was getting quite a few spots but the noise was somewhat high on 40 and 80. Thanks for the fun and we hope to see everyone next month. 73 de Dave AB9CA

AA9RK and KD9NZB
40 meters was hot. Conditions were phenomenal.  A new ham joined us in the park for the company and we all had a great time.

K3JZD
All of my QSOs were on 40m. 40m was sort of all over the place this evening for me, which was nice. Four watts with a purpose built 40m QCX Mini, small 500mAH LiPo battery pack, small 3D printed key, and ear buds. 40m dipole at 25'. 72 - Jody - K3JZD

K4BAI
Got a late start and no activity heard on 20M or on 80M.  All QSOs on 40M. Thanks for each one.  72, John, K4BAI

K4PQC
This is quite a change from the last 2 months.  On the first Monday for both July and August we had tremendous lightning storms during the entire Spartan Sprints. Today there are no storms within 150 miles, so why are the bands so noisy? Before the SP I listened to all the bands that I have filter modules, 80, 40, (30) and 20 meters. All of these bands had noise levels more than S-5 and 80 meters was the worst. To save rig weight I just stayed on 40 alternating between S & P and running. I was asked about my station so here it is in brief:  The transceiver is a lightened Steve Weber designed ATS-3 using homemade paddles and earbud and for the power supply an 800 mah single cell LiPo with a battery boost.  The antenna is a diamond shaped 160 meter horizontal loop at 35' fed with 40' 450 Ohm ladder line, a 9:1 balun and another 25' of RG-58 into the shack. The sad part is, I now have 13 connections between the RF jack and the antenna. I measure the output power with an inline meter between 2 switches. Hopefully the WX will allow more participation in the future.  72/73 to all and thanks for the fun, your good ears and for the QSOs. Phil, K4PQC

WA9AGG
Another fun filled Spartan Sprint. Most of my contacts were on 40 even thought I had a noise level of S7. Here is a tip for reducing weight.  Remove all the knobs, feet, and cabinet panels that you can from the QRP rig. Shorten the cable from the key to the rig. Use the rig speaker instead of earbuds. Use the smallest battery that runs out of power just as the event ends. None of these reduce much weight but together they can help. Thanks again to the sponsors. LONG LIVE QRP AND THE GUYS THAT MAKE IT HAPPEN. Regards, Gerald / WA9AGG

AF5Z
Thanks for the contacts. I used a MultusSDR Proficio with 5 watts output to a 1/4 wave vertical with base and radials at 6 feet height. The weight of a 20 amp linear power supply and Vibroplex bug puts me in the tubby division! 72, Bob, AF5Z

What is an ARS Spartan Sprint and how can I participate?

 The Adventure Radio Society Spartan Sprint is a two hour QRP contest on the first Monday of every month encouraging QRP operators to get on, or near standard QRP frequencies for an evening of fun.

The contest period for each time zone:

EASTERN 8:00 p.m. to 10 p.m.
CENTRAL 7:00 p.m. to 9 p.m.
MOUNTAIN 6:00 p.m. to 8 p.m.
PACIFIC 5:00 p.m. to 7 p.m.
UTC STANDARD TIME 0100Z to 0300Z
UTC DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME 0000Z to 0200Z

Contest Exchange:

Your call sign
Your state or province
Power output

There is scoring in both Skinny and Tubby divisions. The weight of your station consists everything except your antenna and feedline. If your station includes your home-based rig, antenna tuner, DC power supply, heavy paddle or bug - obviously not lightweight - simply report 30 lbs. That is the default weight for the Tubby division.

Working the same station on two bands counts as two contacts.

To report your results, send an e-mail no later than Thursday, to spartansprint@yahoo.com with the following information:

Your call.
Total number of contacts (all bands) during the sprint.
The weight of your station in pounds.

Soapbox comments, which may include power, equipment, antennas, band conditions, outdoor experiences, and anything else, are encouraged.

We look forward to seeing you in the next Spartan Sprint.

73,

Richard Fisher, KI6SN
Co-founder, The Adventure Radio Society
KI6SN@aol.com
(951) 232-1373