Soapbox: March 2013 Spartan Sprint

K1QO
Great to hear so many familiar calls from the QRP community and especially the QRP Foxhunt group.  Breakdown was: 5 Q's on 3.5, 5 Q's on 7 and 2 on 20. I missed NK6A on 20 due to my own fault...Don you were a nice signal into NH, I had a problem on my end but by the time I fixed it I didn't hear you anymore :( As always K4BAI is a gentleman and FB op!! Nice hearing these other wonderful hounds/foxii; WB5BKL, N5GW (who I worked on two bands), N4SX (nice 1Watt signal), AB9CA, WA4ZOF and NQ2W.  I also worked WA8ZBT.  And of course my neighbor N1IX (three bands).  Thanks to all!

K3RLL
Getting a bit more practice with the little Mountain Topper Altoids rig and amazed how tiny 1.3 Ah LiPo holds up. This may have been one of my best efforts tonight.  Nice contacts tonight but missed a few with ‘near misses’.   WB5BKL had best signal tonight into FL.

AB9CA
Had only an hour but was fun as always. Used the K2 at 5w. Started out on 20 but only 1 contact there. Went to 40 and picked up 5. Then went to 80 and picked up 12. Worked W2LJ, KE5G, and W3KC on both 40 and 80. 80 was in good shape and hardly any noise. 40 seemed to go long early. With the time change next month things will likely be different. See everyone then!

N5GW
Both 40 and 80 were quiet on the K1 tonight, even with a cold front moving in. My NiMH batteries and I faded at the same time (9:30), but I was able to work almost everyone I heard.

NØAR
I gave it my best but only lasted an hour. 4 q's on 40, 3 on 80. There's a big snow storm over my area and the qrn was only eclipsed by the lack of signal levels! Rig here was my K2 at 4 watts with the 240' inverted L and two low noise rx antennas, yea life in the burbs now mandates them. l'll work the rest of you next
month. :) 73 from snowy MN.

WA4ZOF
A lot of strong sigs this eve, thanks to everyone.

W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 11 QSOs this month. 20M was DEAD. I made five contacts on 40M, and worked six on 80M. That's a first for me, i.e. more contacts on 80M than 40M. The noise level wasn't too bad on 80M. My backyard vertical uses a resonator at the top for any very narrow piece of 80M that you wish to work. Mine is peaked at 3560, and it's nice when conditions cooperate. Hoping for some 20M ops next time!

K4BAI
Good conditions.  Activity fair.  20M open to W6/7 at start.  Two QSOs.  40M good beyond several hundred miles.  20 QSOs.  DX out to CA, NH, and VE3.  80M good all over.  DX out to NH, TX, MN and the catch of the contest, 6Y6T in Jamaica who was also QRP.  Thanks for all QSOs.  Hope to see you all and many others next month.

N4SX
Using a K2 w/internal battery and running 1 watt, I started out calling CQ on 40, but after 5 mins. and no takers, I checked out 20.  Only heard 1 very weak station there, so checked out 80 and it was about the same.  Went back to 40 where things picked up a bit and stayed there until 0300 or thereabouts and then dropped down to 80 for about 30 minutes until no new calls were heard and my battery was very low.  I got 8 stations on 40 and 4 on 80.  Thanks for all the qso's guys......it sure was fun.

NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m, an inverted vee at 40ft for 40m, and a ground mounted, near bottom-loaded vertical for 80m. Two Qs on 20, eight on 40, and four on 80. Still battling some man made, intermittent QRN on 80. Quiet and then bam...S9 or above. Thanks for the repeats, I appreciate them...especially K4BAI and K1QO. Had doubles with NK6A and K4BAI. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Always a pleasure and a privilege to have the opportunity...until next time.

W3KC
Equal number of QSOs on 40m and 80m. 20m was in bad shape (zero QSO's there). Thanks to all the good operators - it was fun.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. Completely forgot the sprint in February - just absentmindedness, I guess.  12 states this month with 80M being the money band.  Worked NK6A and K4BAI on two bands.  N4SX had a FB signal to TX with 1 Watt.  My thanks to all the sprinters and the organizers.
Had fun.

K7TQ
20 m finally had some life.  I got 4 Qs there before everyone left for 40, or the band folded up.  Next month with the longer daylight should be even better.  Catch several of you then.

W1PID
I ran an IC-7000 at 5W to an OCF dipole. Operated for a half hour. Best DX was NK6A in CA. Next was K7TQ in ID. Not enough participation... but nice to meet old friends.