Soapbox Comments: July '12 Spartan Sprint

W1PID
I operated the FT-817 with an OCF dipole. Only one QSO on 40 meters. Good band conditions. I worked 2 DX stations: UA9FGJ and DL2HWI. Worked NK6A in California. Sorry the participation is down. Thanks to all for the QSOs.


WB2MNK
Too much static to copy. Sorry to the stations that called me but S9 plus static. Was fun while it lasted.


K3RLL
FT-817 to G5RVjr from rural PA.Nice to hear good signals on 20 meters, but the band emptied out fast.  40 Meters was noisy here so pulled the big switch early, but had fun. WB4MNK and W3KC had the big signals here.  Many thanks to those whose efforts make this fun possible.  Hope to ‘hear” you all next month.


K4BAI
20M was very good, but too little activity.  15 QSOs on 20M.  40M was fair with QRN and too little activity.  19 QSOs on 40.  80M had strong signals from K4ORD and AB9CA.  No other sprinters heard on 80M.  Hope to work you all and others next month.


W5ESE
I used my AT Sprint 3 and Whiterook MK-44 paddles supplied with a 9.6v wall wart.  All but one of my Qs was on 20m. The QRN on 40m was deafening. Will submit my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. I expect to use this same setup (except with batteries instead of the wall wart) in the FoBB, along with a 15m MFJ Cub. Hope to hear many of you on the air in it, too.


N5GW
XYL and I came up to cabin on Cumberland Plateau in part to escape heat at home QTH in MS. Unfortunately, it has been hotter up here! Rig was K1 at 5W to cfz. Band was noisy from local T-storms, but cloud cover cooled the shack a bit.


AB9CA
Interesting Sprint! Rig was the usual K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Condx seems to be pretty good except for some QSB and QRN, but neither was too bad. 80 was fairly quiet (you know, for 80) but no one home! Activity was spread out with 20 Qs on 20 and 19 on 40. Only 2 on 80. Best DX was K2ZU in WA on 20. Also worked N6GA (20m), NK6A (40m), and K6CSL (20m) in CA. Best DX to the NE was, I think, NH. A good evening but we could always use more participation. Never too many! Thanks to everyone who stopped by and we look forward to hearing you again next month!


NW2K
5W, inverted V fan dipole at 50'.  Got to the party late, with only 25 minutes remaining.  20m was open to the south and nothing heard on 80m. Thanks again and see you next time.


W5ACM
The backup rig - my HEAVY ATS-3 - continues to perform quite well with three LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 14 QSOs. Conditions were very good on 20M, but I had to move to 40M after an hour since everyone I could hear, I had worked! I was using my backyard vertical. The vast majority of my contacts were on 20M this month, and the noise level was minimal. It wasn't even bad on 40M. I did not use this rig on Field Day, but stuck with the FT-847 we had for satellite contacts. It was easy enough to just turn the power down to 5W, so the Altoids box ATS-3 stayed in the car.


W3KC
Activity seemed down from June - possibly due to the lingering effects of the powerful and widespread Derecho. But I did make some contacts on three bands (20, 40, and 80 m). Thanks to all the ops who made it fun.


K4ORD
The qrn was bad again, but sure glad it was low at Field Day which made for more pleasant operating. 16 QSOs on 40M, 8 on 20M , 3 on 80M. Seem to have about ran out of contacts in last 45 minutes. Thanks to all.


NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 20 meters and an inverted v at 40 ft for 40 meters. Made 11 Qs on 20 and 11 on 40. Worked K4ORD, K4BAI, and AB9CA on both bands. Worked 3 other NY stations on 40 ... cool. There was one station calling on 40 that I just couldn't copy...QRN and QSB...hopefully, next month we'll make it. Good participation again this month. I've uploaded my log to LoTW and eQSL ... hope you'll consider doing the same. Looking forward to the Flight of the Bumblebees on July 29 and to next month's sprint! Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers.


WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40m extended double Zepp or a 20m wire delta loop.  18 states with best DX N1WPU (ME) and closest W5ACM, 180 miles away in Houston.  Tried 15 and 80m with zero luck.  Signals on 40m seemed weak - even usually strong K4BAI was only 449 here in the Texas hill country.  My thanks to all.  Had fun.


W4ZV
My first Sprint in several years.  Operated from our lake house deck with a little QRM from some pre-4th fireworks. Answered SM7ZDI's CQ 4 minutes before the start so I had high hopes.  Unfortunately either conditions were extremely poor or we had low activity (or both).  A few good signals from TX and CA on 20m and NY on 40m but most CQs went unanswered.  Oh well it was still fun to fire up my ATS-3 using a new 1200 mHh LiPo battery, running nearly 4 Watts to an EndFedz 10-40 hanging in a pine tree next to the deck.  I may be back again if we happen to be at our lake house on a Sprint date.  Thanks to all for your GREAT ears!