Soapbox Comments: March '11 Spartan Sprint

NQ2W
TenTec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. The antenna was covered with 3/8 inch of ice and the SWR was much higher than usual. I had to use my tuner to feel comfortable transmitting with such a high SWR. It took me nearly an hour to make my first QSO using search and pounce and I think there was more activity than the past few Sprints. Oh well...I don't think I'll have to worry about ice next month but you never know. AB0CD almost heard me but then QSB took him out of the picture...thanks for the try...maybe next month we'll complete the QSO. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Hopefully, we'll connect next month.


K6JSS/7 (K7TQ)
I used the QRP ARCI Club call to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Since I announced my fq on QRPSPOTS, the score should not be counted in the standings.  In any case, it was a fun time.  20 m was open for a few minutes.  40 m was, as usual, the workhorse band.  80 m didn't yield much success.  The number of folks on the air brought back memories of when the Spartan Sprint yielded nearly 100 Qs.  Thanks to all who stopped by.


AI4SV
The background noise on 40m decent, and I have the impression that propagation was generally good this evening, so I would have liked to have done better, but I guess I'm still learning the ropes. I'm definitely doing better when calling, so I think I need to work on my pouncing skills. Until next month - cheers.


AE4TC
Good to hear some new calls. Was surprised to make a contact on 20m. Managed 16 QSO's mostly 40m. Running the FT817 at 5w into a ground mounted vertical. Thanks to all.


WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop. Started out skinny but the m/c battery dropped to 10.4V on transmit, so I went back to mains power.  After removing dupes, I had 1 Q on 20M (K6JSS/7), 11 on 40M and 10 on 80M.  It was very pleasant to enter four new (to me) calls in the log.  Most difficult station to hear: W5ACM.  Easiest:  W5ESE.  All three of us are in TX.  Had fun.


WB4MNK
Sure enjoyed the Sprint and was able to use my KX1 to a S9v antenna which work really good. Just need the operator to practice a little more and become efficient. The kind of fun an old man should have.


W9CJS
As the contest period started, both 80 and 40 were essentially dead.  I only worked 2 stations the first half hour.   I returned after a half hour break and voila!!  There were more stations on both 40 and 80meters, but signals weren't too loud.   I received one RST of 339 ... at least  he was honest. .... heh


W4NJK
Excellent conditions for a time on 20M got 3 SPC's; On 40M got 4 SPC's inall worked GA, ID, WA, CA, AZ, MN, TX from here in CA. Ant. 40M half Square @ 5W in Icom.


NK6A
Forty meters sounded great but only had 45 min to operate.  Got real windy here in Southern California and I had to crank down my antenna and disconnect cables.


W5ACM
I could only hear signals on 80M, and it was NOISY! Then, one of my LiPo batteries puffed up and DIED with a QSO almost in progress and about 25 minutes left in the event. Others in the Houston area heard and worked stations on 40M, but I didn’t. The RTTY stations took over. Thanks to WB5BKL, K4BAI and W4VHH for my 3 contacts. The rig was my usual ATS-3A with two 200 mAh LiPo batteries and the ancient 18AVQ vertical. I have removed the dead battery, and have another similar (used) 190 mAh cell epoxied into the balsa case – ready for next month. I have been hearing and working DX on 10M during the day, and was hoping for some 20M contacts, but not yet. Maybe next time!


KIØII
20 was good but short lived. 40 was decent and busy. 80 was tuff going. Enjoyed the SP.


VA3RKM
K2, 5w, verticaLl.


AA4GA
My first Spartan Sprint.  All QSOs on 40m, I made a pass through 20m about half-way through the contest and heard RK0AB with no takers, so I called him and he came right back...unfortunately I couldn't get his power, so I couldn't count the QSO for the SS!  Running FT817ND on internal batteries at 5 watts to a Par 10/20/40 up about 50' or so.  The Bencher paddle really added to the weight...I'll have to do something about that to work on my skinny score!  CU next time!


W5ESE
Good conditions and participation this month. I used a KD1JV AT Sprint 3A with a 9.6V wall wart and Whiterook MK-44 paddles. My antenna was a 300' horizontal loop, fed with open wire line. Good to hear some new folks playing in this event that I hadn't contacted before (welcome!), as well as old friends.


K4BAI
20M was open to the west at the start (4 QSOs).  40M was quite good for stations as far away as AZ and WA and NH and as close in as VA and FL. Know NC and GA stations were QRV, but they were within my skip zone.  Great bonus to work the QRPARCI 50th Anniversary celebration station for this week in ID, K6JSS/7, operated by Randy, K7TQ.  24 QSOs on 40.  80M was fair with QSOs out to NM. A few in TX and CO couldn't hear me calling.  Did hear VE3CGC on 40M calling W5ESE, but no QSO this month.  With increasing sunspots, we need to be sure to check 20M in the sprints rather than going straight to 40M.  See you all next month.


K3RLL
Plagued by digital QRM all over what used to be "our" QRP frequencies, I almost gave up but came back later and found a few Spartan Sprinters on 40 meters -- including K6JSS/7. (Thank you!)  Nothing heard here in FL on 80 or 20. Am submitting my log to save someone else from being last on the list.


KU7Y
I'm not even sure if the second contact copied my info ok or not as he went into the noise as he came back to me!  At least I worked K6JSS/7 for the test!


WT5RZ
Got a 30 minute late start due to some personal obligations, but had a blast...heard a lot of folks, but couldn't seem to get my signal to all of them.


ABØCD
First time I put the Hendricks QRP Kits PFR3 (Steve Weber KD1JV design) on the air for the Spartan Sprint. Just had 20/40 available for the contest. Good band condx until 40 went quiet. Great test for the rig. Operated from home with an 88-foot doublet up 23 feet and a Palm paddle using the PFR3's internal keyer. Ran the PFR3 on 8 internal AAs that have been in the rig for several months. Looking forward to the summer Bumble Bee.


KD9KC
The wind was howling in El Paso, so out-door operating was out of the question tonight.  Started out on 20m.  Got 3 contacts in 18 minutes, and another 5 minutes of CQing got nothing more, so off to 40m.  Got 5 contacts in 40 minutes on 40m, then tried 80m at the top of the hour.  Averaged about 1 contact every 10 minutes on 80m.  There were a few stations calling who just couldn't hear a reply.  I heard WA5BUC and KI0II get several replies, but they just kept on CQing....  frustrating. Heard several new calls in the sprint - WELCOME to you all - please do come back.  All in all, another fun sprint.  Looking forward to next month.


WA5BUC
Good Sprint tonight. Started on 20. Gave a couple of CQ's before moving to 40. Made 9 Q's on 40. Then went to 80 for 2 Q's before finishing on 40 with another Q. Rig tonight was my FT-817ND at 5w to a 100' end-fed inverted vee up 40' or so in Houston.


K6CSL
Just a short hunt to find ZL1CDX on 28019KHz. I found no one on 15M or 20M, then I finally found AE6N in AZ on 40M.


KBØKFX
This was my second sprint and had much better results this time.  I think I ran out of 40M contacts working only this single band.  The band was very quiet with easy to copy signals.  I notice this sprint seems to have a wide variety of speeds compared to others I have participated it. Elecraft K1, 5W, 80M Loop up 25ft.


WD8KRV
Ten Tec 1340 and Center Fed Zepp.  5W.


K5JHP
K3 to 20 meter EDZ .  40 was good for first 45 minutes, then seemed to go away, at least everyone seemed to leave.  North and South prop seemed to be the best. Worked from GA to NH to MI but CO was only state west of the Mississippi heard from the TX coast.  Looking forward to next month.


W1PID
ATS-4 3W OCF dipole.


NW2K
First time.  Need to put the station on a diet.


KB5JO
1W, ATS-3B, 88' doublet.


K5GQ
ATS-3  5W  dipole at 25'  WOW those RTTY stations were strong. Did not hear anyone on 20M. Went to 40 and found a clear spot. ATS-3 has a narrow  400Hz filter Thanks to W8RTJ; KE0G; K4BAI; K5JHP; WA4AN; W4VHH; WT5RZ for working me.
Also glad to work a new station WT5RZ.

Results: February '11 Spartan Sprint

Soapbox Comments: February '11 Spartan Sprint

KBØKFX

I had fun trying my first Spartan Sprint.  The bands seemed kind tough and tapered off towards the end.  There were a few OPs moving along at blazing code speeds, but was able to return with my super slow straight key.  I look forward to giving it a try again.

K5GQ
Called CQ on 40M - did not have anyone answer. Listened on 80 but did  not hear anyone.


W5ACM
I could only hear signals on 80M, and it was NOISY! I spent a few minutes prior to the event burnishing the brass contacts on the ultra-thin plywood paddle. It certainly helped for better CW, but if you can't hear them, you can't work them. Thanks to W9CJS and WB5BKL for my TWO contacts. Can it get any worse? The rig was my somewhat tattered ATS-3A with two 200 mAh LiPo batteries and the now ancient 18AVQ vertical. Once again, my ears hurt! Come on 20M, or for that matter, 40M!


WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop.  Made 1 contact on 20M, 8 on 40M and the remainder on 80M.  Worked KD9KC on all three bands!  Mike must have been just the right distance away this evening.  Only worked N4BP and K4BAI on one band - very unusual.  I missed a few on 80M but will put the blame on the S7-S8 noise level here.  Thanks to all.  Had fun.


AE4TC
Enjoyed this one a little more than previous ones. Ran my FT-817 on new rechargeable AA's which lowered the weight but I had to QRT with 30 minutes to go. The 817 was shifting back and forth between 5w and 2.5 w as the voltage was dropping on transmit. 40m was the best band for me with 12 QSO's and a lower than normal noise level. Best DX was W7OM in Wa. with NK6A a close second. K4ORD was my only contact on 80m. 13 QSO's total running a FT-817 5w into a vertical. Thanks!


WA4SQM
40M was THE band here. It was quite active at the beginning of the sprint but I had to interrupt ops for about an hour. When I returned, it was just about dead...talk about bad timing!


K4ORD
Some stations were very strong and some very weak on both 40 and 80M. The QRN level was very low so that helped a lot. Activity was way down this time.  Made 6 QSOs on 40M and 11 on 80M.  Rig K2 @ 5W, ants were 40 and 160M dipoles. Thanks to all.


NK6A
Used new K3-P3 at 5W to my Force 12C4. All 40M.


W5HNS
40 meters was it for me. With my propagation, signals were mostly weak. Contacts included both coasts, WA,CA and FL, SC.  Seven of my contacts answered my CQs. Several callers I missed as they were at ESP levels. I called the other two.


KE4YH
Rig used was SW-40 running 1.5 watts to a loop at 24 feet. I had fun and will try to remember next month. Thanks to NQ2W for trying but no contact.


N4BP
Where was everybody?  Quit after a half hour, nobody to work.  One QSO on 80M with K6JSS/

Ø

, the ARCI 50th Anniversary club station, from MN this week.


K4BAI
Let the time slip up on me this month and only got on for the last five minutes. I'll do better next month.


NQ2W
Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. No real loud signals...except those calling VP8ORK! The stations worked were just above the noise or right in it. There was a KE4 that called me but QSB took him away before we could complete the QSO...hopefully, next time we'll QSO. I heard KD9KC calling CQ once or twice and then he was gone. Heard N4BP down in the QRN but he didn't hear me. All in all, there was enough going on to keep it interesting, challenging, and fun. Thanks to all the participants and thanks to the organizers. I hope to hear you all next month.


K5JHP
Lousy band condx here tonite. Did not hear many stations on at all. Don't know if it was propagation or lack of interest.  Band was plagued with deep QSB and seemed to be extra long.  Hope for better condx next month.


KD9KC
After a stressful day at work, the Spartan Sprint was just what I needed. My only 20m contact was WB5BKL.  After 10 minutes of calling CQ on 20m, I switched to 40m.  40m was the band - worked NK6A, K7TQ, WB5BKL (again), W7OM, KK5NA and W5HNS.  At the top of the hour I went to 80m and worked WT5RZ and WB5BKL (again).  Called CQ on 20m, 40, and 80m after that with no replies.  In the final 15 minutes I heard W9CJS and W5ACM, but neither replied to my calls to them.  It was fun.


N4SAM
2w, ATS3/9v battery, antenna delta loop apex 55 feet. One contact on 40, five on 80.  Conditions on 80 seemed to be good.


AI4SV
Could barely hear beyond the noise on 40, and 80 was a qsb roller coaster. I tried calling CQ rather than S&P for the first time, so I guess that's something (if nothing else, it speaks of desperation.


WT5RZ
had fun. Hard to hear. KD9KC's DSP unit (from W4RT) allowed him to get a couple of contacts that I could not hear well enough to get all of call sign to try!


W1PID
Man ... that was the roughest spartan sprint ever. Very poor participation and bands were poor with rapid QSB. Nothing on 20 meters. 3 QSOs on 40m. 7 QSOs on 80m. Best DX W7OM in WA on 40. Rig: ATS4 at 3 watts with OCF Dipole. 8 AA batteries at about 11V. Thanks all for the fun.

Results: January '11 Spartan Sprint

(For enlarged view, click on the Scoreboard image.)

Soapbox Comments: January '11 Spartan Sprint

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp.  Nice to be back after missing the December sprint.  Enjoyed working some new calls.  TX led the state count, followed by GA - but that might have been due to my extended time on 80M.  I only made one contact with a state to the west (AZ - W9CF).  Thanks to all.  Had fun.


WB4MNK
First time I have played in the ARS sprint. Just getting into QRP and this sprint really helped me. Hope you guy’s didn’t mind a few mistakes from me. I will be listening out for everyone next month.


AE4TC
Got a late start but was able to manage 9 contacts, 4 on 40 and 5 on 80. Using the usual FT817 5w into a ground mounted vertical. Best dx was TX. Thanks to all.


K9FO
Had fun with Flexradio 1500 and laptop. Conditions OK on 40 and 80. 7 out of 16 QSOs in TEXAS! Happy New Year to all. Thanks for having the contest.


KEØG
Elecraft K-3 at 4 watts to 2 switchable dipoles, each 74' long and 50' up.  Fed with balanced lines and 2 Johnson Matchboxes.  Also made 4 QSO's on 80M with 50' T-top vertical.  Thanks to all for the great ears out there.  2 QSO's (40 and 80M) with K4ORD. W5ESE, W5ACM. K4BAI and I QSO'd on 80M, then went to 40M to try it, but no copy either way.  Big sigs in MN: W5ACM on 40M; W8SX on 80.


KIØII
First SP in quite a while and only 20 minutes. Had fun.


AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w mostly to OCF dipole but also used the 160m Inv L. Had only an hour to spend. 40 was the most active. 20 Q's there - CA to NH and SC to ID. Nothing very close. The band seemed in good shape but somewhat long. Did not try 20. Not much activity on 80, at least while I was there. Only 3 contacts. Hopefully it picked up later. Noise level was OK on all bands. Thanks to all who stopped by and hope to hear you next month. Thanks to all who do the work to make these fun evenings possible.


WA4SQM
20M was dead here. Propagation to the west was in on 40M but still didn't hear very many stations.


N4BP
Started a half hour late and quickly ran out of sprinters to work on 40M.  S9+ noise level on 80M, no signals copyable.  Had to quit after 30 minutes.


K4BAI
Again this month, conditions on 40 and 80 were pretty good, but activity is still low compared to past years.  Thanks for all QSOs.  Happy New Year.


W5ESE
Almost forgot about the Sprint, so had to hurry out to the shack to avoid missing it. I was a tubby this month. The radio was my Ten-Tec Omni 6, and the antenna was a 300' horizontal loop. Good participation this month. Thanks to everyone for the QSOs.


NQ2W
Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40'. Didn't hear much activity...worked the three stations I heard CQing and no one answered my CQs. I submitted a reminder/announcement regarding the Sprint on QRZ.com in an effort to boost participation. From my perspective, it didn't help. Hopefully, other stations benefitted from the announcement. Hope to hear more folks next month.


W5ACM
Bounced between 40M and 80M with some periods of "rig off" to conserve batteries. Conditions were poor all over, but at least the noise level dropped as the night wore on and eight contacts were logged! The rig was my somewhat tattered ATS-3A with two 200 mAh LiPo batteries and the now ancient 18AVQ vertical. A few new calls were logged, like K9FO and WB5BKL. KE0G was contacted on both 40M and 80M. Once again, my ears hurt! Come on 20M!


W9CF
I was testing my newly built ATS-4a on 40m running about 5W when I heard CQ SP. I looked up the rules to make sure I knew the exchange and made 2 contacts.  Afterward I weighed everything. The W5JH baby black widow paddle, 12V switching power supply, and their cables really added to the weight.


W5HNS
40m was the band for me.  Heard nothing on the other bands.  Heard only one sig west of me and that was KI0II.  I am in San Antonio.  Strongest sig was AB9CA followed by John K4BAI. John tried to tell me something after the exchange but deep QSB took him out right then.


WA5BUC
This is my best Spartan Sprint ever. Slow start, but things picked up. K5JHP, KI0II, N4BP, K4LY and WB4MNK on 40. K5JHP, KE0G, W5ESE, and WB5BKL on 80. Rig: FT-817ND running 5 watts to a 100' end fed wire. Best wishes for 2011 to all.


K4ORD
Conditions here were pretty good with low noise on both 40 and 80M .made 5 qso's on 40M and 20 on 80M. Best dx was K6DGW in CA on 40M. Checked 20M several times but heard nothing. Rig K2 @ 5W and 160 and 40M dipoles.  Thanks to all and HNY.


KB2FCV
I orignally tried firing up my little Rockmite on 40 meters around 9 p.m. EST but there was no activity whatsoever. Since I don't own anything small and lightweight for other bands, I used my Icom 746 with the power all the way down to 5w on 80 meters and made about 5 QSOs in the last 15 minutes. This is my first try at this Sprint. I'll plan on getting on earlier to try to catch some 40m activity with my Rockmite. Down the road I'll build a KX1 which is replacing my K2 (now sold). I think I have a Pixie II for 80m somewhere which I may try to find and put on the air next month since all of the activity I heard was on 80. This is definitely fun!


AJ4MJ
First time.  My “spartan” rig was 40M only – band was too noisy.  Switched to my “tubby” and worked 80M.  Great fun!


K5JHP
Fair night, I suppose, but not too many stations on. 4 contacts on 80 meters and 12 on 40. 20 meters was void here in South Texas. Hope for better prop next month.

Results: December '10 Spartan Sprint

For an enlarged view, click on the scoreboard image

Soapbox Comments: December '10 Spartan Sprint

AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to the OCF 80m dipole. Condx seemed to be fairly good. Worked 11 stations and 8 SPC's on 40 then 18 stations and 11 SPC's 80. Had only an hour and spent about 30 minutes on each band. On 40 worked from CA to NH and on 80 managed to work K7TQ in ID for the best DX there. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. Was a fun hour. Hope to hear ya'all next month!


WA8MTI
My third sprint.  This time @ 2.5 watts with the internal batteries on the FT-817nd.  Still had over 9V after the two hours.  20 was dead and 40 was pretty quiet here so only worked 80.  Tried a couple times on 40 but no results.  Thanks to those good ears who picked me out of the noise. Thanks ARS for putting this on.


W1PID
Not a lot of stations heard. I operated for five minutes. Ran 5 watts to an OCF dipole. Stations worked: K4ORD, AB9CA, C6AKQ (all on 40) and W4VVH (on 80). Thanks, guys.


C6AKQ (N4BP)
What a wild ride!  40M was hot to Europe.  With 5W worked UR, UA, DL, EI, F, SP, OE, 9A, and UA2 in that order.  Also worked a handful of regular Spartan Sprinters with super signals. When I went to 80M at 10:15 local, worked three stations in short order and then nothing for fifteen minutes.  Wrapped it up at 10:30.Rig: K3 @ 5W. Antennas: 40M dipole @ 80ft, 80M dipole @ 100ft.


KB7MBI
As always it was very enjoyable and loved the challenge. Station was Ten Tec Paragon II  @ 5W with GAP Titan Vertical. Contacts on 40 and 80m only.


W5ESE
40m was long, but 80m was excellent. Good participation this month. AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. Will submit my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. Merry Christmas and all the best in 2011 to all the Adventure Radio folks.


NQ2W
Used my Ten Tec 1340 to the inverted vee at 40 feet. C6AKQ was loud for long time. Worked three TX stations, one each in LA and NC. Not a lot of activity on 40 meters. Used my new homebrew paddle and CMOS-4 keyer that I built a few weeks ago. Everything, except the power supply, I'm using for the Spartan Sprint is homebrew from scratch (paddle, antenna, and antenna supports) or from a kit (transceiver and keyer). Quite a reward to QSO with stations on homebrewed equipment. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Happy holidays and hope to see you all next year!


K4BAI
Hard to find the link for log submission this month.  20 seemed dead at the beginning, so started on 40.  It seemed long.  NG7Z in WA was rocking there.  Surprised to work W4VHH in NC and N5GW in MS and KD9KC in TX.  Heard several more on 40 that I couldn't work including stations in TX, NQ2W, and K4ORD.  Somebody within my skip zone was getting a lot of calls, but I didn't get many answers to CQs.  After about 24 minutes, I went to 80.  80 conditions were pretty good, but activity was low.  Was able to work NV1B in ME and NG7Z in WA on 80, as well as WI, MI, OH, NY, MO, many in TX and stations in the Southeast.  Thanks for all QSOs and let's get out more activity next month!  Happy Holidays to all.


AI4SV
A 4x improvement over last time. See, it pays to start off poorly!


W5ACM
I was dismayed by conditions on 20M and 40M. Yes, there were a few stations on 40M that I noted prior to the event, but it looked like 80M was going to be the band of preference. It was. My ears hurt. My seriously depressed LiPo batteries hurt. However, December was a LOT better than November! Thanks to AB9CA, K4BAI, W4VHH, AE8M, W5ESE, N5GW and W0CH, I survived then QRN and at least got 7 on 80! I really need to do a little tuning on the dot side of the key paddle though. My "fist" was terrible for the duration. I operated in the ARRL 160M contest last weekend running 3W as W5MSQ (one of several operators). I was amazed at what a full-size, resonant antenna can do, even with QRP, but we were in a rural area with plenty of space. That would be SOOOO nice on 80M at my house!! C U next month! Gear: ATS-3A and antique vertical.


N4KGL
One contact on 40 and five on 80. Rig was the Sierra 2w on 40 and 1w on 80 to doublet. Batteries were AAAs. I worked PA on 80 for 842 miles per watt.  I could have been better on 40!


WA2OQJ
Yaesu FT-817nd @ 5 watts 80 meter dipole @ 25' - Lower bands here have been terrible the last couple of weeks...40 has been sounding more like 10 meters! Weird conditions tonight, heard some very light CQ SP's on 40 but by the time I would attempt to zero beat they were lost in the noise!  C6AKQ was the exception...Wow! the "Baked Potato" was slamming in here a solid 599! Tnx Bob for the contact! went to 80 and same kind of strange conditions K4ORD was solid 599 when I called but when he gave his info it was all I could do to copy him in the noise..I called John K4BAI and heard nothing in response, waited then tuned away and as I passed back I swore I heard my call and was surprised to hear it was John calling! No big numbers but was happy to work all my 3 contacts and was fun to snag the Bahamas on 40!


NG7Z
Boy that was tuff going tonight. Not nearly as good conditions as last month. Only nine Q's on 40 and nine on 80. Exited 40M around 0230Z. First Q on 80M was at 0245 with K4ORD with a nice signal. Only three contacts during 0300Z to 0400Z. Searched and CQ'd the whole time. Very slim pickings. Best DX was NV1B in ME on 80M. Loudest signal was AE8M in OH also on 80M. K4BAI took me by surprise right at the start. I didn't expect a call on my first CQ! 72 all and thanks for the Q's.


K4ORD
Conditions were poor on both 40 & 80, some signals were strong and others were very weak. Made 6 qso's on 40M and 14 on 80M. Best dx was NG7Z  WA on 80M, heard Randy K7TQ but unable to get him to hear me. Rig K2@5W ants were 40 & 160M dipoles. Thanks for all the QSOs.


K5JHP
Really bad condx tonight. QSB really bad.  CU next year.


KD9KC
40m started off OK, but kind of ran out within 30 minutes.  80m was a struggle from the start.  Thanks to those who slowed down for me, it really helped in the noise.  Worked Ron - WT5RZ, he was the new ham that sat at my station a few months ago and watched me work the sprint. I picked up a tiny little straight key on the E-place, hope to shave a few more ounces off the weight.  We will see.


WA5BUC
Changed out my antenna. Now using a 100' end-fed wire. C6AKQ on 40. N5GW, AB9CA, and W5ESE on 80. Will be glad when the website is finished. Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for 2011.


K6DGW
Disappointing turnout when 40 and 80 are really getting good.  Did work Jim at C6.  The QRP crowd really needs to settle on a frequency center on each band.  7030 and/or 7040,  and likewise on 80 is not great.  There's a lot of newer digital stuff just above 7030, strong here on the frontier.  Calling CQ "SS", I had one guy tell me "Sweeps was last month."  Is it SS or SP? (It's SP - Editor)


K3RLL
Where was everyone tonight?  After a little flurry of activity on 40, it went empty as all the power ops went to 80. But even down on 80, I only heard a few participants.  Must be all this cold weather here in FL. My antenna must be frozen.