Soapbox Comments: September '12 Spartan Sprint

WB4MNK
Had fun but didn’t hear much activity and noise was ruff. See every one next month.

K3RLL
First ARS Sprint with new QRP Flex-1500. Interesting rig but maybe not the lightest weight one with the computer and all.  Definitely not “Trail Friendly”. The flat line on the Flex screen said a lot about activity heard here in rural PA tonight. Everyone must be at a Labor Day picnic. Heard few Sprinters but WB4MNK sure had a nice signal out of FL. Nice to work Randy K7TQ on two bands.  Thanks to those who make these Sprints happen.

K7TQ
A pretty good night. 20 stayed useable for about 1/2 hour and 40 was good here in Idaho until 0210.  After that I couldn't scare up another contact even with trying 80 meters several times. Two band contacts with WB5BKL, K5JMP, K4BAI, and K3RLL.

WB9G
Horrible band conditions this month.  Nothing heard on 20m, two stations on 40m, and one station on 80m.  Only heard one other station working the MI QRP QSP on 80m.  Hope you all had better luck.

AB9CA
Was a fun sprint if a little lite. Participation seemed light - probably due to the holiday. 40 was the main band, 10 Q's there and the other 4 on 20. Worked W7OM and NK6A on both. Did work coast to coast on 40. Station here was the K1 at 3w to a wire ran up into a tree near the camper. Felt I wanted something that would let me get on 40 even if it was a compromise. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and we'll see you again next month.

K5JHP
Man, where did everyone go? 20 folded about 20:30 CST and 40 went away sometime before 21:00 CST. Hope for better prop next month.

W3KC
Tough copy due to inbound storms kicking up lots of  noise.  Most activity here was on 40m, with a few Q's on 80 - but none on 20.  Fall will hopefully bring better conditions and weather.

WA5BUC
Same results as last time. 4 Q's. I've not been on since last's month's sprint, so don't know how the bands have been doing. 1 Q on 40, the rest on 20. Signals seemed down on both bands. Heard some signals on 80, but no Sprint activity. Looking forward to the fall bands and hope things improve. Thanks to all who make this possible.

KE5TC
Only worked the first hr on 40 meters.  Lots of QRN. Must try this again next month and it shouldn't be hard to improve my score!

KFØN
Poor propagation and rather high seasonal QRN from nearby thunderstorms made for rather sparse QSO's but a fun time never the less.  I am sure the Labor Day holiday also cut into the number of participants.  I ran three watts from my little ATS-3B powered from a  stack of AA NiMh cells.  The antenna is a 240-foot loop strung between a couple of trees on the lot here.  Garry, WA1GWH, had a solid 579  running one-watt from NY.  Also,  Steve, KØCV in Denver,  had an admirable signal here from his 400 mw power level!  There were several of you that called me on 80 that I simply could not pull out of the high QRN level but  conditions should improve throughout the Fall-Winter season.  Thanks to all who participated!

NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 meters. The bands were in rough shape - 1 QSO on 20 and 6 on 40. Sprinters were there according to < http://www.reversebeacon.net > but signals were way down...hoping for better luck next time. I've uploaded my mini-log to LoTW and eQSL...Hope you'll consider doing the same. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers.

NK6A
The conditions were the pits.  Knew that going in but didn't expect to get 18 Qs. Was surprised at how loud Nick,WB5BKL,was in Los Angeles. Even copied a few 3 watt stations. A lot of QSB and band noise.  After one hour tried 40M and it was better.  45 minutes to go and I decided that I had had enough of noise.

KM5TY
Had some trouble with the EFHW so ended up using a 40m inverted vee.  Couldn't hear anything on 20m, but 40m was in good shape.  First Sprint in quite some time, I had fun but only worked about 1hour of the sprint.

K4BAI
Guess everyone was busy with Labor Day BBQs and some had bad weather.  Activity was very disappointing.  Band conditions were not bad.  20M was open to the west coast (CA, AZ, OR, ID).  5 QSOs. 40M was open to the whole country out about 700 miles.  12 QSOs including two in CA.  80M was nosiy, but did work ME and TX.  4 QSOs there.  Thanks for all QSOs and hope for much more activity in October.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40m extended double Zepp or a 20m wire delta loop.  A poor showing here - only 10 QSOs this time. A perplexing computer problem and a solar flare got to me.  Only Don, NK6A and N6GA had truly strong signals on 20M.  Worked K7TQ, NK6A, and K4BAI on two bands, but none on three.  Had fun.