Soapbox Comments: August '12 Spartan Sprint

W3HI
This was my first Spartan Sprint, but not my last!  With the PFR-3 set up with a wall wart and miniature hand key, I had been looking forward to it for a month and got company just as it began!  So, I worked five contacts in the 1st hour, and finally gave up when my no-code buddy started yawning.  Maybe next time I'll go out in the yard and work portable. That way, my XYL can tell visitors I'm not home. . .  Anyway, I decided awhile back I wanted to do WAS 2XCW/QRP and thanks to NK6A, snagged my first California. Thanks Don.  Heck of a nice signal into the West Virginia mountains.  Pse QSL!

K3RLL
Good signals tonight on both 20 and 40 meters with no apparent digital QRM.  Only worked the first hour, but what a great Sprint! Good to work WB4MNK back in FL.  NQ2W and, as always, K4ORD seemed to have the strongest of many nice, strong signals. Really enjoy the relaxed pace of the Spartan Sprint.  Many thanks to those who make it possible. See you next month.

K7TQ
20 m started out good.  Loud ones were W1PID, N0EVH, and KE0G.  I gave 40 a try at 0140Z, but nothing going, so back to 20.  It played out around 0200Z, so off to 40.  K4BAI was holding court so I got him, but that was about it for a long time.  Finally I got three stations on both 20 and 40.  They were K4BAI, K4ORD, and NK6A.  I was at home with the K3 and C4SXL at 60 feet. Thanks to all who stopped by.

WA5BUC
Great to be back for this month's Spartan Sprint. Three Q's were TX; the 4th was K4BAI in GA. Texas Q's were K5JHP, WB5BKL, and, for a first, long-time fellow HQRP-er W5ACM. Rig was my faithful FT-817 and end-fed wire antenna. Bands were a bit noisy. Need to put the finishing touches on my magnetic loop antenna to see if I can get rid of some of the local noise.'Til September, best 72.

K5JHP
TA33JR and on 40 and 80 meters. Twenty was the band tonight. Worked most ot the contacts there. Hope it's good next month.

W1PID
I operated for about 45 minutes exclusively on 20 meters with an FT-817 and OCF dipole. I worked Russia (UA4WI) and Germany (DL5MC)! Worked Randy K7TQ in Idaho, Rod,  W7OM, in Seattle, and Don, NK6A, in California. The band was clearly long. Thanks all for the fun.

K4BAI
10 and 15 seemed dead.  Good band conditions on 20, 40, and 80.  20 was open to the north and west at the start, but faded after about 15 minutes.  40M was strong to most areas including WA, CA, and ON, with most activity around 7040, but a few around 7030.  80M was quiet with contacts from NY to TX.  QSOs per band: 20M: 7.  40M: 28.  80M: 5.  QSOed on three bands:  WB9G (NY), WB5BKL (TX).  Hope for more activity next month. I will be on a QRP forum to talk about QRP contesting at the Huntsville Hamfest August 19.  Hope to meet many of you there.

NW2K
Only had 75 minutes but had a lot of fun.  See you next time.  5W, fan dipole at 40 feet.

K4ORD
Good to have 20M open, nice to work DL5MC on both 20 and 40M. Heavy QRN on both 40 and 80, but 20 was fairly quiet. 7 QSOs on 20, 23 on 40 and 3 on 80. I probably missed some in the QRN. Thanks to all.

W5ACM
Still using the backup rig - the ATS-3. It continues to perform quite well with three LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 16 QSOs. Conditions were good on 20M, but I had to move to 40M after only half an hour since everyone I could hear, I had worked! I probably spent too much time calling CQ, but with contacts ranging from California, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida, I expected more. I was using my backyard vertical. The vast majority of my contacts were on 40M this month, and the noise level was minimal. I was pleasantly surprised at the great signals on 40M. The local Texas stations like WA8ZBT, W5WO, K5JHP and WA5BUC sounded excellent. At the end of the event I checked out 80M, but only found one station WB5BKL. Great Time this month!

NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 meters. Made 9 Q's on 20 and 18 on 40. Both bands were in pretty good shape and there was good participation again this month. All in all, a most enjoyable sprint. Worked three stations on both bands - K4BAI, WA8ZBT, & KE0G. One station called me on 20 but QSB won out - hopefully, next time we'll complete the QSO. I've uploaded my log to LoTW and eQSL...hope you'll consider doing the same. 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.  Started things off with a dupe within 9 minutes (sorry K7TQ), but settled down and had a good time. Two QSOs on 80M, 3 on 40M and the rest on 20M.  Worked K4BAI on all three bands. Some of the signals were _very_ strong.  Worked 15 SPCs with HI being the best DX. Removed the dupe and a QRO station before submitting my score.  Had fun.

VA2NB
 I happened to be tuning around and heard CQ SP and realized that it was the Spartan Sprint so I decided to make a few contacts. I used to be a regular but haven't operated this event in what must be a couple of years. I'll be back next month.

WB9G
This was my second Sprint, but my first submission.  My farthest contact was from my QTH in Northern NY to NK6A in CA on 20m.  My 40m and 80m contacts were mostly East Coast.  Besides the other New York stations (NW2K and NQ2W), the best signal of the night was K4ORD at 20 over S9 on 40m.  K4BAI also was solid on 20, 40, and 80m.  Thanks for a great time, and I look forward to next month.

WB4MNK
Bands sure seemed to be in good shape. Thanks to all who stopped by. It was a fun evening.