SOAPBOX: April 2020 ARS Spartan Sprint

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. Worked 8 states.  20M - 4 QSOs, 40m - 5 and 80M -1.  Best signals were:  20M -NK6A, 40M - K5MUG, 80m - W5ESE.  Some familiar calls missing.  Hope it was merely scheduling or Propagation - nothing worse. 40M conditions seemed unusual - heard more Texas stations than normal.  My time was limited, but I had fun.

AB9CA
Rig was K3 at 5w to vertical. Started on 20 and found 5 of those pesky Texans - WB5BKL N5EM W5ACM W5QLF W5ESE. I heard nothing but TX on 20. Then went to 40 and picked up 13 more. No 80m tonight. Only 2 banders were W5QLF and N5EM. Best DX would be either K6YK or NK6A in CA or K7TQ in ID. Had only 45 min as I needed to get some other stuff done. Thanks to all for the Q's. Hope to hear everyone, plus more, next month . . . 73 de Dave AB9CA

W5ACM
It was great fun to make some 20M contacts this month, and work some new stations. WB5BKL sent an event reminder via the Houston QRP remailer. Thanks Nick! All of my contacts were on 20M or 40M. I couldn’t get on 80M because I have not tuned the 80M whip on my new vertical antenna (Hustler 5-BTV), but it really didn’t matter. After the first hour my two 170 mAh batteries in the ATS3a were drained! They may have reached end of life, but I will run them again next month to see what happens. I have two 200 mAh LiPo batteries ready to go, but they will be slightly heavier. This has been the longest run for a pair of the small LiPo batteries I have had… No complaints.

WA4AAK
Pleased to see 20m open to TX, CA and NH at the start! Six contacts on 20m, two on 40m, zero on 80m. No luck after 1 hr. Forgot to pare down station weight before starting, so ran heavy. Mark, WB9HFK, once again had the strongest signal heard. Hope all stay well... 72, Evan - Huntsville, AL

KB1M
Nice to see 20 was open at the start, and was able to get 3 QSO's, 40 was very noisy and was able to make 3 Q's between static crashes, for total of 5 states.  72/73, Walt

WB9HFK
ICOM 7300 @ 5w. 40m - OCF dipole; 80m – vertical

W5ESE
Used an AT Sprint 3 from KD1JV I assembled about 15 years ago (2 watts).
Still a fun rig. Paddles were Whiterook MK-44 and used walkman type earphones. First entered Spartan Sprints in 2004, and glad that they're continuing! 73 – Scott

K5MUG
Hello to all, first time participating in the Spartan Sprint, nice event.  Thanks to Joe, W5QLF, for introducing me to the ARS Qrp group (and for tonight's local contact), and thanks to all for the fun tonight. Got a late start, made all contacts on 40m. Hope to have 80m antenna to work with soon to add to the pot. Thanks again to the group! – Cray, K5MUG

K7TQ
First SP in way too long a time. Good to contact several old friends. KX2 at 5W in my recently-completed mobile set-up which just sits waiting for when we can once again roam the countryside.

NØTA
13 Q's on 40m, 3 on 80m. 7 of the Q's were with stations in Texas! Thanks for the Qs. K3, Doublet, GenLog.

K3JZD
DST and getting on 40m one hour earlier made a difference.

W5QLF
A reasonable day in the neighborhood. One Q on 20m and One on 80m plus and additional 8 on 40m.  Apologies to John, N0TA for wasting valuable air time making him a dupe before I'd confirmed his call.  He graciously worked me on 80m giving me a second valid contact.  Thanks John. Charles, AB9CA, was my first contact on 20m and was the only signal I heard on 14 MHz. He graced my log again on 40m for another QSO count. Charles, your 40m signal held up quite well into the second hour. Cray, K5MUG, came back to me for an across-town contact on 40m. We both live in the San Antonio area and I'm sure we’ll discuss this contact at the next club meeting. Joe, W5QLF

N5EM
Running KX3 here on internal batteries. 2 Qs on 20M. Good signals, too. Hope to see more on 20 next month. Rest (6) were on 40M. I only had an hour, so cut it short. 72, Ed, N5EM