SOAPBOX: February 2022 ARS Spartan Sprint

K3RLL
QRZ.Com showed very promising conditions but they must not be collecting data from my little corner of Florida tonight.  Signals were weak here, and RBN said so was mine even with my wet string HOA antenna. Thanks for those skilled and patient ops who heard me and the dedicated sponsor (KI6SN) of this fun event. Best signal tonight was W5QLF.  72/73 ... Don

AB9CA/7

Used the IC 7200 at 5w and a 28 foot vertical. If you heard me calling and answered, and I seemed to be deaf, you probably have a point. I am staying in an RV park and all new RVs have an unfiltered switch mode power supply to provide 12 V. There is lots of noise here. I apologize if I couldn't pull you out, but just too much noise. Thanks to the 10 that I was able to hear. All on 40. Tried 20 but nothing there. I will probably still be here next month, so do your best to be loud!  73 de dave, ab9ca/7

NØTA
10 on 40m, and 7 on 80m. Thanks for the Qs. QCX+, 5w on 40m, and QCX Mini, 5w on 80m. Doublet antenna at 30 ft, GenLog. - 73, John, NØTA

WVØH
Well, this was a pretty fun evening and seems the bands were in decent shape from Colorado this evening. I worked 10 sprinters, 9 of them on 40 and 1 repeat (WB9HFK on 80). I was using my MTR-4Bv2. I had a ragchew in the first hour with Dennis, KK6QON on 40 and that was enjoyable. My best DX was probably VA. Had a couple of locals. Thanks again for putting this all together each month. I do appreciate it. 72, WVØH, Myron

K4BAI
40M was long, but in good condition otherwise.  6 QSOs on 40. 80M was quite good and had 8 QSOs there. Best DX on each band was John, N0TA, in CO.   Also good signals from NY (NQ2W), MN (NØAR), VA, AL, GA, IL, IN and TX.  Thanks for all QSOs and hope to work you all QRP next month.  Heard W1PID calling K4PQC on 80M but he didn't call me. 73/72, John, K4BAI

N8HWV
Unfortunately didn’t lose weight over the month; Darn New Year’s Revolutions. 80 m was in great shape. Heard everyone quite easily through the minor QSB. Happy with five QSOs given my 25 minute operating time. Nate, N8HWV

NQ2W
Started out on 20m but heard no one and no one answered my CQs. I did get a few spots. 40m provided for 8 QSOs from CO, TX (2), FL, GA, IL, IN, and MI. 80m provided for 9 QSOs from CO, TX, GA (2), VA, IL, IN, and WI (2). Two banders with NØTA, K4BAI, WB9HFK, and WA9TGT. W5QLF was loud on 40m. WB9HFK took that honor on 80m. I have been snowshoeing through the woods around the house shooting lines up in some trees for a new 40m antenna. Hopefully, I'll have that done for next month and my 40m signal will be improved. Thank you for the Qs and the opportunity to participate. Looking forward to next month. 72, Will, NQ2W

NØAR
Only heard sprint activity on 40 tonight. Ran the Kwd 590 and 43’ vertical with a couple of Rx loops. Worked everyone I heard. Tuff conditions up here. Fun to log a few familiar calls! 73 Scott,near St.Paul

AA9RK
40 meters didn't work out, but 80 was surprisingly good from Wisconsin.  My station isn't quite slimmed down for minimum weight yet.  Tonight I used a Ten Tec Argo 556 and CW Morse travel paddles, along with my usual home antenna tuner and power supply.  I put 4 watts into a short doublet up about 15 feet.  Thanks for the contacts, all.

WA9TGT
All my contacts were made on 80 & 40 meters. Both bands seemed quieter this month making the contest more pleasurable. I was using a KX2 at 5w, 135’ EFHW Antenna. Kinda seemed like there were more participants in the Sprint this month. – Donnie / WA9TGT

WB9HFK
Rig: Icom 7300 @ 5W. Antenna: 40M Hustler 6BTV Vertical with 60 Radials.  80M End Fed 150 Ft. Wire. Weight: 30 Lbs

K4PQC
Before the Sprint I didn't hear many stations on 40 meters so I knew that I would just operate 80 with less weight for the extra band filters. The weather here in N. Georgia was cool and fairly clear and  80 meters was quiet with occasional static crashes. The loudest station I worked was John - K4BAI a little over 125 miles away.  All the rest of the OSOs were almost DX:  MN, IL, VA,  NY, TX, WI CO surprising that I didn't hear anyone from the surrounding. A slow start for the first half hour with only two contacts then the signals starting appearing when calling CQ. There were 2 stations that called and I couldn't get their call signs because of either static crashes or QRM or else my score would be higher. My passband is only about 300 Hz and if I turn on the wide band it is about 3 KHz of double side band which is fine if there aren't any adjacent signals. Using the narrow passband, it is almost impossible to hear stations that are only a few hundred Hz away. The rig is a lightened Steve Weber - KD1JV AT SPRINT III.  Homemade paddles and lightened ear bud. I use a 300 mah LiPo battery. It weighs in at 57.5 grams. 72 to all and thanks for the QSOs. Hope to work you on the SP next month, Phil

N9OHW
2 QSOs on 40m, NØTA and AB9CA/7, both strong here into the SF Bay Area.  No other sprinters heard on 40m by the time I got on. I further lightened my station to 8.2 Oz. by using the new N6ARA TinyPaddle. MTR-3B with an old 9V battery for 1 Watt output. Antenna was a Buddipole tuned to 1:1 with the loading coils, no tuner needed. Got a late start, so many sprinters were probably on 80m. for most of my operating time. Looking forward to the coming months when higher bands will be open during the sprint.  73, Mike N9OHW

W9TCR
Only one contact but a lot of fun with the $12, half watt S-Pixie, $12 worth of lipo batteries, wire antenna and contact between FL and IN. Pixie xtals are 7.024 Mhz, in the wrong part of the band for my 12 wpm. Got new xtals coming will be better set for next month.  Thanks for putting this on. 73, Tim

W4NLT
That was ugly. Noise levels made things difficult. Couple of QSOs on 40M then had to shift to 80M where I snagged some of the usual suspects. Higher bands dead. Got Mark WB9HFK on both bands. K4PQC had good sig with 2W. 72. Chasing Foxes next.

KI6SN
Extremely high noise level in SoCal doomed any chance for Spartan Sprint contacts. No other Sprinters were heard, but it was great fun listening into the noise for the slightest whisper of CW. Fingers crossed for better condx in March. Hope to see everyone next then. 73, Richard, KI6SN