Soapbox: January '15 ARS Spartan Sprint

K3RLL
Tried 20m then 40m. Didn’t hear much activity down here in FL this evening, but appreciate those who came back to me. See you next month.

N5GW
I used 2 watts with a K1 on vertical 40/80 and KX3 on CFZ . Didn't hear as many sprinters as usual, even though the bands were pretty free of noise.

K4BAI
20, 40, and 80M all in good condition.  20M open to the north and northeast plus FL to the south with a short skip zone. Stations not in the sprint were heard from the West, but none in the sprint.  40M also had a short skip zone with nearby states FL, AL and MS worked. No 
stations west of TX heard.  80M was quiet with QSOs from TX to NH. Still difficult to stay the whole two hours due to lack of participation. Hope it will pick up next month. QSOs by band:  20M: 8; 40M: 12; 80M: 6.

N4SX
I didn't get started until late, around 9:40 and worked for an hour or less.  I got 7 on 40, and 2 on 80.  Heard absolutely nothing on 20. I haven't worked a ARS Sprint in quite a few moons and it was good to participate again. 3 of the stations I got on 40 were in TX.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp.  Only 40 and 80M this month.  40M was very noisy here and signals were weak. Best were from from Georgia (K4BAI and N4SX).  On 80M, WA5RML had an outstanding signal.  9 states this time with some of the usual suspects missing in action.  I hope for better conditions next month. My thanks to all. Had fun.

NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m, and near bottom-loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. Conditions weren't that good here in Albany or activity was way down. Either way, the Spartan Sprint allowed me the privilege of 2 QSOs on 20; 6 on 40; and 1 on 80. The RBN showed the most promise on 80 but I didn't have any answers to my many CQs. Two banders with K4BAI and AB9CA. I hope that 2015 is off to a good start for everyone. Hope to hear you in February. Invite a friend to the Spartan Sprint - the more, the merrier.

WA5RML
Elecraft KX3 @5 wts to G5RV ant; Vibroplex bug; Active briefly (30 min) during 2nd hour. Heard and worked N5GW (40M) and WB5BKL (80M) - Gene and Nick, respectively. Otherwise, I didn't hear anyone! Band was dead.

K1SWL
A slow start. It was a good 20 minutes of listening and calling CQ before hearing any SP activity. Things improved around 0245Z with QSOs on 80, 40 and 20M. Best was WB5BKL in Texas on 40M.