Soapbox Comments: September '11 Spartan Sprint

NQ2W
An OHR 100-A running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 6 Qs on 20 meters and a Ten-Tec 1340 at 5W to an inverted vee at 40 ft for 6 Q's...the number of contacts on each band was identical to last month. Signals on both bands were not that strong. QRM, QRN, and QSB didn't help matters. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Hope to see you all next month.


KD6L
Old call AD6WE - Glad to be able to finally participate again and give out Wyoming with my new call. Five watts Index labs QRP+  40 meter semi-horizontal delta loop . 12 contacts on 20, 6 contacts on 40.


N9BT
Power 5W, RIG is Yaesu FT-817ND, Antenna 40M dipole, band condx good. Sadly, I was inside.


AE4TC
Got a late start and had to QRT early but enjoyed it none the less. Worked 20 and 40m. 6 q's on 20 and 5 on 40m for a whopping total of 11 qso's. I was running an FT-817 with 5w into a 88' doublet up 45 feet. Thanks for the fun contest.


WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W and either a 20M delta loop or a 40M extended double Zepp.  Most Qs on 20 with a few on 40 and two on 80M. Was not able to work anyone on all three bands. Removed two QRO QSOs and one dupe from score. 16 states this time and several new (to me) calls. My thanks to everyone. Had fun.


K4ORD
Nice to have less QRN this month and 20M in good shape, got 15 on 20M, 22 on 40M and 3 on 80M . Rig K3 @ 5W ant''s were 40 and 160M dipoles. Lost power for 11 hours just 5 Minutes after the sprint was over, HI. Looking forward to next month's sprint.


WA5BUC
First Sprint in several months. Good to be back. Worked N4BP on 20 & 40. New stations this month were NK6A in California and K9FO in Illinois. Thanks to all.


WB4MNK
Started on 20 meters and worked two stations but band was not good so went to 40 meters which was noisy and most signals seem weaker than than normal. Had fun and thanks to all I made contact with. See you next month.


K4BAI
20M was quite good at the start with east coast stations and lots of CA/AZ stations.  40M was also fair and best DX was NK6A, W9CF in AZ, and W7OM.  80M was surprisingly strong with good signals from as far away as NY and TX.  We could use more activity, but the Sprint was fun.  See you next month.


N4BP
Summer static still prevails from local thunderstorms.  The Mich Labor Day Sprint overlapped the Spartan Sprint, so spent some time in both.  The SP had the greater activity. Worked NW2K on three bands.  Best DX W7OM in WA on 20/40.


NW2K
5W, matchbox, 80M loop at 30 feet.  20, 40, 80 (7, 21, 12 QSOs, respectively) in good shape with 80 being quiet here for a change.  I think I should have stayed on 20 longer.  Not usually able to participate because of a schedule conflict and thankful for the holiday.  Thank you for the QSOs and see you next time.


K9FO
Enjoyed the sprint!  Good activity and conditions on 40 and 20.  Rig:  Icom IC-703,  dipole antennas.  Thanks for having the test.


AB9CA
Rig was K2 to a field vertical - a 20' crappie pole lashed to a picnic bench. It was a 20m vertical with a load coil for 40. Nothing to use on 80. Still enough guys with good ears pulled me out to log 32 - 14 on 20, and 18 on 40. The crappie pole even made it to CA, AZ, and WA. Good ears out that way for sure. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. Maybe next month I can be a bit louder. Thanks to the guys who make these possible! See ya'all next month.


AB0CD
Used the realigned Heathkit HW-9 until I retuned the antenna. Then everything went dark. ??? Finished with the K2. Ran everything on 40 meters at 5W into an 88-foot doublet barely 20 feet up if that. Worked a few of the usual suspects. Fun mix with the MI QRP Club Labor Day Sprint.


WA8PGE
weight of my station included a laptop for the SDR. 20 started out well then died quickly, 6 QSO's there, best DX on 20 was NK6A in CA. 19 QSO's on 40, best DX on 40 was W7OM in WA.  QSO with W1FMR got clobbered by QRM, couldn't count it. Rig: SDR Softrock RXTX 6.3 into a 5w amp, Software was Rocky 3.6.


W9CF
I used my ATS4a, W5JH baby black widow and a radio-quiet switching wall wart. I only had a few answers to my CQs -- I obviously need a better antenna. I only heard stations on 20 and 40. My CQs on 80 went unanswered. Antenna: inverted vee @ 35.' 


K3RLL
I think we had more than a little competition from the MI QRP Club contest tonight and signals didn’t sound as strong as usual, but it was still fun. Thanks to Richard Fisher, KI6SN, his extensive staff and all those who make these ARS events possible.