Soapbox Comments: June '12 Spartan Sprint

NQ2W

This was a lot of fun. K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 meters. Made 14 Q's on 20 and 15 on 40. I thought the participation was excellent this month...but always could use more...great to hear so many QRPers during the sprint. The first hour and a half flew by, then things quieted down. Never went to 80 and only made a few contacts during the last half hour on 40. Worked W5ACM on the second band with just a few minutes to spare. AA4GA and N4KV also made it into my log on 2 bands. All in all, a very enjoyable sprint.  I've uploaded my log to LoTW and eQSL...hope you'll consider doing the same. Looking forward to next month! Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers.





W1PID
I ran the HB-1B into an OCF dipole. Best DX was W7OM in Washington. Not much activity. Only 4 Qs on 20M. 4 Qs on 40M and 2 on 80M. Stations on 40 were REALLY strong. Worked WB4MNK in FL on 40. One minute before the start (0059Z) I worked UN7PL in the Ukraine on 20M and I was hoping for lots of contacts. Thanks, all.


WB4MNK
Had a ball using the little KX1. Thanks to all who let me work them. See everyone next month.


K3RLL
Up north for the summer and what a difference with an outside antenna! FT-817 to G5RV at 40’.  Nice to work familiar calls and a few new ones tonight.  Conditions seemed good and I didn’t miss the digi-QRM one bit.


AA4GA
I got a 40 minute late start, but the bands seemed much better than last month...I kept dozing off in the chair and ended up only working about 45 minutes of the Sprint, but still managed to get within 2 QSOs of last month - probably could have had a pretty good total if I'd started on time and worked the full two hours!  ATS-3b at 2w out to an 80m doublet up 45' or so on 20m and 40m only this time around.  Thanks all - see you next time!


N5EM
Very good conditions.  FT817 - 5 Watts - R7 Vertical plus Dipole at 20 ft. on 40.


K6CSL
I started this eveninng on 10m with no joy. Same on 15m. I moved to 20m at 01:30UTC and soon after worked NW2K in NY. Band conditions were not very good. Very noisy this evening. I moved to 40m at 02:00UTC. I called CQ and tried to call several stations. 40m was also very noisy this evening. Bill, W6QR, near Los Angeles, CA returned my call at 02:55Z. He was QRO 100 Watts and gave me a 329 report. I hope next months Spartan Sprint will be a little better.


W3KC
Rig: IC-703 at 5w;Antenna: Sloping ZS6BKW doublet (24 ft at high end); 6 Qs on 20; 23 Qs on 40; 5 Qs on 80. Band condx: Lots of atmospheric QRN. First SP in quite a while - fun as always.


AB9CA
Another good sprint. Activity seemed a bit higher. Rig was K2 at 5w to one of two wires. 20m was the money band this evening. 32 contacts there including a short chat with Rumi in Bulgaria. Also had 8 Qs on 40m. The prop on 20 was somewhat flaky. Some QSB but not as bad as it is sometimes. 40 was noisy and also appeared to be in not so good shape. The few contacts there were tough. Also called on 15 and 80 but netted nothing from either. 20 was open to TN, VA, and FL as well as WA, NY, and ME. The few on 40 were fairly close by. Did not work anyone from GA which is unusual, although did hear N7KDL in LA. As usual it was an interesting and enjoyable evening. Thanks to all who called and to the organizers who do the real work. See ya' next month.


NW2K
5W, inverted V fan dipole at 50'.  9 QSOs on 20M, 24 on 40M (all around 7040), and 4 on 80M with storms in the area.  Operated for the first 75 minutes.  Thanks!


KE9V
40 and 20 weren't in great shape but I managed to work a few Spartan Sprinters. After 10pm (local) I switched to 80 and never heard a single CQ SS. Had fun despite the light participation. Anxious to see the other results. See you all next month!


W5ACM
The backup rig – my HEAVY ATS-3 continues to perform quite well with three LiPo batteries, providing 5W out. Conditions were very good to the east on 20M, but the Western stations and Midwest stations could not hear me. It was good to work stations in NH and NY though. I was using my backyard vertical. The same was true for 40M, but with a higher noise level. The total QSO count was split almost evenly with seven on 20M and eight on 40M. I might even use this rig on Field Day if I can get a bit better with the homebrew keyer paddle. It is constructed from a few old relay parts.


NK6A
Lousy conditions here on all bands.  20 did not play out like I thought.  Finally gave up after 45 minutes of noise. Did make it into NH, NY and ONT.  Good ears guys.


K4ORD
I was only on for the last hour, on 20M worked GA, AL, KP4, DL, LZ  on 80M only 1 qso and on 40M made 5. Activity was way down this month, hope it is better next month.


AK3X
I have dabbled in the SP several times but this is first log submission. I only operated for 11 minutes during the sprint due to other obligations, but 40M seemed good and I managed 4 contacts.  Thanks to WB4MNK for his patience in pulling me out of the QRN. Stuck to 40M using a DSW-40, battery powered. Hope to get more time next month.


WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40m extended double Zepp or a 20m delta loop.  Back after a three month absence (forgetfulness, vacation, T-storms).  Most of my QSOs were on 20m and during the first hour. Tried 15m with no luck.  Got 16 states along with both coasts.  My thanks and regards to all.  Had fun.