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Sunday, July 5, 2015
Soapbox - June '15 Spartan Sprint
K3RLL
Missed the opening gun and initial rush but nice to make some contacts tonight, almost all on 20m. Thought surely I was misreading a call sign but a very patient Bulgarian Op kindly repeated for me as it sunk in that DX had rolled into my shack this evening. What a nice surprise and many thanks to LZ2RS. Big signal again tonight down here was NQ2W. Must be a pipeline up I-95 to NY from FL. Tnx for the contacts and for this nice, low stress event.
NC4RT
My first Sprint in a long time… Just a few QSOs but had some fun. Maybe next time we’ll dig out the K1 and battery pack. Thanks to WB5BKL, NQ2W, WA8ZBT for the contacts.
N4SX
Well Weeeee Doggies as Jed Clampett used to say. You know, the father of the lovely Lady of the Hills, Ellie Mae! Well I was not shooting at some food, nor did I find some crude, but I do believe the contacts were just about as hard to come by. Northern most QSO was VE2VTS, and western most was NK6A. I could hear N0TA, but with me running 1 watt, he could not hear me, although I tried several times. I also heard a WA stn giving his report, but missed his call. Now, once again I worked 3 different TX stations, with 4 of my total contacts coming from there. What in the heck are you guys doing out there? Maybe I have a TX lobe on my antenna, those guys are always showing up. The last station of the evening I worked was N5GW with 2 watts . . . good job! I finally hit the off switch around 10:25 eastern as there were no new Callsigns to be heard and things were just dead dead dead here. I missed K1QO . . . where you at woman? I did have me some fun though guys and I appreciated every QSO. Thanks to you all.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. 15 m allowed one QSO with NK6A out in CA. 20 m was good for 12 more QSOs from WA, down the coast to CA, through TX , and all the way to FL and NC. 40 m added 7 more QSOs from TX up to ME and Quebec. QRN on 40 m was pretty bad with the stormy weather here in the NE. Two banders with NK6A (15, 20), K4BAI (20, 40), N5GW (20, 40), W5QLF (20, 40), and WA8ZBT (20, 40). Thanks for the contacts. Have a safe and fun Field Day!
K4BAI
QSOs by band: 20: 11. 40: 13. 80: 2. Time of operation about 1:33. 20M was pretty good to NA. I thought I heard LZ2RS once, but no QSO. Closest QSO was NQ2W. Best "DX": NK6A and WB6QQR in CA and W7OM in WA. 40 and 80M were relatively quiet despite electrical storms in the area about two hours earlier. Worked two other GA stations on 40M, so there was no skip zone. Again, best DX was NK6A. 80M: Worked only N4SX and N5GW. On 20M heard and called AB9CA in AL, but Dave didn't hear me. On 80M, heard and called WB5BKL several times, but Nick couldn't hear me either. We could use more activity in these sprints. Thanks for all QSOs.
AB9CA
Rig was K3 to 100' wire. Had only an hour and lost about half of that to a phone call. Looks like 6 on 20 and 5 on 40. No two banders. Was fun while it lasted. Noise here was not too bad. See everyone next month.
N5GW
I fired up the K3 but realized the NiMH bats were not fully charged, so I used 2W instead of the usual 3W. Only one station was heard/worked on 15M (NK6A); most of the remainder on 20M or 40M. Only three contacts on 80M. Two banders with NK6A, WB5BKL, K4BAI, NQ2W, and WA8ZBT. I was surprised and thrilled to work LZ2RS who heard my puny 2W signal on 20M and called me.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to 15 and 20M delta loops, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. QSOs on 20 40 and 80M - 11 S/P/Cs total. Tried 15M - but only the RBN heard me. The 20M delta loop fell earlier this week - but I got it back up in time. K4BAI had the best signals on 20 and 40M. My semi-neighbor WA8ZBT had the best on 80m. Very pleased to work three stations using less than 5W. Nice to hear a few new calls but activity seemed down a bit. My thanks to all. Had fun.
Missed the opening gun and initial rush but nice to make some contacts tonight, almost all on 20m. Thought surely I was misreading a call sign but a very patient Bulgarian Op kindly repeated for me as it sunk in that DX had rolled into my shack this evening. What a nice surprise and many thanks to LZ2RS. Big signal again tonight down here was NQ2W. Must be a pipeline up I-95 to NY from FL. Tnx for the contacts and for this nice, low stress event.
NC4RT
My first Sprint in a long time… Just a few QSOs but had some fun. Maybe next time we’ll dig out the K1 and battery pack. Thanks to WB5BKL, NQ2W, WA8ZBT for the contacts.
N4SX
Well Weeeee Doggies as Jed Clampett used to say. You know, the father of the lovely Lady of the Hills, Ellie Mae! Well I was not shooting at some food, nor did I find some crude, but I do believe the contacts were just about as hard to come by. Northern most QSO was VE2VTS, and western most was NK6A. I could hear N0TA, but with me running 1 watt, he could not hear me, although I tried several times. I also heard a WA stn giving his report, but missed his call. Now, once again I worked 3 different TX stations, with 4 of my total contacts coming from there. What in the heck are you guys doing out there? Maybe I have a TX lobe on my antenna, those guys are always showing up. The last station of the evening I worked was N5GW with 2 watts . . . good job! I finally hit the off switch around 10:25 eastern as there were no new Callsigns to be heard and things were just dead dead dead here. I missed K1QO . . . where you at woman? I did have me some fun though guys and I appreciated every QSO. Thanks to you all.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. 15 m allowed one QSO with NK6A out in CA. 20 m was good for 12 more QSOs from WA, down the coast to CA, through TX , and all the way to FL and NC. 40 m added 7 more QSOs from TX up to ME and Quebec. QRN on 40 m was pretty bad with the stormy weather here in the NE. Two banders with NK6A (15, 20), K4BAI (20, 40), N5GW (20, 40), W5QLF (20, 40), and WA8ZBT (20, 40). Thanks for the contacts. Have a safe and fun Field Day!
K4BAI
QSOs by band: 20: 11. 40: 13. 80: 2. Time of operation about 1:33. 20M was pretty good to NA. I thought I heard LZ2RS once, but no QSO. Closest QSO was NQ2W. Best "DX": NK6A and WB6QQR in CA and W7OM in WA. 40 and 80M were relatively quiet despite electrical storms in the area about two hours earlier. Worked two other GA stations on 40M, so there was no skip zone. Again, best DX was NK6A. 80M: Worked only N4SX and N5GW. On 20M heard and called AB9CA in AL, but Dave didn't hear me. On 80M, heard and called WB5BKL several times, but Nick couldn't hear me either. We could use more activity in these sprints. Thanks for all QSOs.
AB9CA
Rig was K3 to 100' wire. Had only an hour and lost about half of that to a phone call. Looks like 6 on 20 and 5 on 40. No two banders. Was fun while it lasted. Noise here was not too bad. See everyone next month.
N5GW
I fired up the K3 but realized the NiMH bats were not fully charged, so I used 2W instead of the usual 3W. Only one station was heard/worked on 15M (NK6A); most of the remainder on 20M or 40M. Only three contacts on 80M. Two banders with NK6A, WB5BKL, K4BAI, NQ2W, and WA8ZBT. I was surprised and thrilled to work LZ2RS who heard my puny 2W signal on 20M and called me.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to 15 and 20M delta loops, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. QSOs on 20 40 and 80M - 11 S/P/Cs total. Tried 15M - but only the RBN heard me. The 20M delta loop fell earlier this week - but I got it back up in time. K4BAI had the best signals on 20 and 40M. My semi-neighbor WA8ZBT had the best on 80m. Very pleased to work three stations using less than 5W. Nice to hear a few new calls but activity seemed down a bit. My thanks to all. Had fun.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Soapbox: May '15 ARS Spartan Sprint
K3RLL
Nice signals on 20 meters made it pretty easy to connect with old friends and new. Enjoyable short evening. Tnx for the contacts.
K1QO
Band breakdown: 15M, 3: 2 TX and 1 NH (neighbor N1IX), 10 on 20M: 2 CA, 2 GA, 2 TX, 1 MS, 1 AL, 1 WI, and 1 NH, 5 on 40M: 2 PA, 1 GA, 1 CO and 1 NH, 1 on 80M 1 NH (neighbor N1IX) Great to work so many calls that are familiar to me who are also in the QRP fox hunt: K4BAI, AB9CA, NK6A, WB5BKL, WA8ZBT, NK9G, N4SX, N1IX. Lots of fun!!! 40 was a tough band for me Monday night…anything south of PA was a tough slog, but got through to K4BAI in GA, of course..he can hear a pin drop no matter what the condex are, never ceases to amaze me. I was thrilled to get two CA stations on 20….NK6A..thanks Don fox/hound,great signal, and N6GA. So happy also to contact Dave, AB9CA fox/hound in AL!!! Very impressive signals from N5GW (2W) and of course N4SX (1W) …both on 20M. I think I heard a couple letters of your call on 40M N4SX but not enough to give you a fair try. (Used K3 at 5W to OCF Dipole which makes me tubby, hope to be skinny next month with the KX3 and a new wire antenna :) See everyone next month!!!! Thanks to all and especially to KI6SN! 72/88
W5QLF
It seems that operating four QSO Parties this past weekend helped my CW skills for May's Sprint. There were even a couple of QSOs on 15 meters early on. Twenty meters was perfect until I’d worked everyone I could hear. Forty meters was way noisy and I appreciate the folks that stuck with me until I copied the exchange. This contest is always fun for me.
N4SX
Hey y'all!! Another great sprint running 1 watt from my K2 again the entire time! I was away from home and missed the first 30 mins. My first contact coming at 9:32 eastern. 20 was good and I stayed there for the first 30 mins. until it started downhill. 40 never was very good at my place and 80 was even worse. I got 13 on 20, 7 on 40, and just 1, K4BAI on 80. I had 4 two bangers, K4BAI, N1IX, W5QLF, and WA8ZBT. I heart N0TA calling CQ on 40 and tried several times but he could just not hear me, the same with WB5BKL on 80. Best DX was K7TQ out there in the great Northwest. Thanks again for those who had to hang in there to copy my 1 watt. I'm looking forward to next month already!
NØTA
A bit slow in Colorado. 15m/2, 20m/15, 40m/12. Thanks for the Q's. ATS-4b, Palm key, ground mounted vertical, and GenLog.
AB1LT
This was the first warm evening in Massachusetts after a long nasty winter, so I set up on the porch where I have an end fed wire rigged. A warm evening, working CW, frogs peeping in the background and a glass of wine: I had a most pleasant evening. It seems like everyone was on 20M. While fishing around 40M I hit a Russian station 5,000miles away, so that's another 1,000 miles/watt contact in the log. CW rocks! My rig is a Weber MTR_V2 with an internal touch keyer. For touch pads I stuck 2 small pieces of copper Clad to 2 corners of the box with foam tape. Battery pack is 3 AA size LiFePO4 batteries which is enough for over 5hrs of operating. I love the touch keyer because it adds no size, adds about 1oz of weight, there's nothing to break or bend and the whole radio with key weighs less than most keys. Thanks for putting up with my fist. I'm still getting used to the touch keyer and after that 2nd glass of wine my fist got pretty sloppy. LOL.
K6CSL
I was a few minutes late, so I started on 20m. Good conditions. At 02:10Z I moved to 40m. Band was very noisy with severe thunderstorms in the Texas and the Mid-West and also in Western AZ and the Chiriaco Desert of Eastern CA. I also spent the last 20 minutes of the sprint on 80m and found it dead. It was still daylight here in SJV until almost 03:30Z. I might suggest an aid to help track thunderstorms: Blitzertung.org has excellent tracking capability and measurement of severity of lightning storms. Will also show regional as well as worldwide coverage.
N6GA
I was tuning around the band late Monday afternoon and heard someone calling CQ SP. Had to look it up because it’s been so long, I didn’t remember what "SP” meant. I had recently dug out my ATS-4 to shake off the cobwebs so it was natural to plug it in and join in the sprint. Station weight — earbuds: .41 oz; ATS-4: 6.43 oz; Battery (3 cell phone batteries taped together): 2.43 oz; Power Cord: .97 oz, for a total of 10.24 ounces. Oops, forgot the keyer paddle, 2 pounds. Need to work on that for next time. Got in 12 Qs before the dinner bell rang. Good fun!
N5GW
I was using a K1 on an 800 mAh Lipo battery at 2 watts. Nothing heard on 15M. 20M and 40M were a bit noisy but otherwise OK.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. 14 QSOs on 20 and 2 on 40. Unusually loud QRN on 20...40 was almost intolerable...so much QRN that I never tried to call CQ on 40 thinking I may not be able to hear most answers. We'll see what June brings. Thanks for the QSOs and thanks to organizers.
K4BAI
IC756Pro, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, inverted vee. Started on 15M this week and it was open to CA. 20M was good to NY and New England, to CA, MN, CO, and W6/7 areas. 40M was a bit noisy, but QSOs were possible from NE to MN and CO to CA/AZ with a lot of TX activity. No skip zone as N4SX about 120 miles east of me was loud running only one watt. 80M was also noisy, but had QSOs with stations in NC, GA, and TX. Band totals: 15M: 2. 20M: 18. 40M: 20. 80M: 3. Thanks for all QSOs. By next month I should have my FT1000MP back from repair shop.
W1PID
MTR and Windom OCF. QSOs on 20m only. Best DX NK6A. Thanks all for the QSOs.
W3KC
Got to the party late but made a few quick contacts on 40 meters. IC703 at 5 watts and a 90' doublet fed via vintage Harvey Wells ZMatch.
WB8LZG
20m was good to the south es west. I tried the FT817 tonight to be Spartan. At just abt 3lbs its not the featherweight, but its all in one pkg.fer convienence. Went to 40 after 20 mins but no joy there, so went back to 20m fer 2 more. Not a lot of activity heard. Lots of fun.
W5ACM
The May 2015 Spartan Sprint was almost as good as March! I had NINE contacts on 20M, FIVE on 40M and ONE on 80M. Band conditions were excellent on 20M. I worked stations from CA to ID to NH to FL – and everything in between. Nice. Conditions on 40M were reasonable, but not as fun as 20M. When I finally went to 80M, the QRN was incredibly bad, but WB5BKL in TX was just fine. The 170 mAh LiPo batteries in the ATS-3a are still a bit “puffy”, but they topped off nicely before the event and held solid for 3W out, for the duration. I did have some issues with the homebrew paddle toward the end, but managed to get by. CU next month!
N1IX
Conditions were down considerably from the SP last month. Worked my neighbor K1QO on four bands. K4BAI, AB9CA, N5GW, WB5BKL and WA8ZBT on two bands. Nice to see Bill, AB1AV and Bert, K6CSL!
WB5BKL
K3/10 at 5W to 15 and 20M delta loops, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. QSOs on 15, 20 40 and 80M - 16 states total. One QRO QSO not counted. Only one 3-bander (K4BAI). Several signals at less than 5W this time. N4SX at 1W was tough but we made it. Nice to hear several new calls. My thanks to all. Had fun.
NK9G
Wow! 20 meters was where the action was. Did not here a peep on 40 and 80.The signals just kept on coming. Weak signals from the left coast but California was well represented. Quite a few stations running less than 5 watts. Band was getting noisy due to approaching storms from west.
K7TQ
I operated from the mountains east of Moscow, ID. Rig was a K2 at 5W to a SOTABEAMS Band Hopper 2 that covers 20 and 40 m. It was a clear evening with temperatures in the mid-50s. 20 m was a bit slow in starting, but it picked up until 0140 Z. Around sundown, 0200 Z, I switched the Band Hopper from 20 to 40 m and made one Q before the bugs got so bad I packed up and headed for home. It was a fun hour. Thanks to all who stopped by.
Nice signals on 20 meters made it pretty easy to connect with old friends and new. Enjoyable short evening. Tnx for the contacts.
K1QO
Band breakdown: 15M, 3: 2 TX and 1 NH (neighbor N1IX), 10 on 20M: 2 CA, 2 GA, 2 TX, 1 MS, 1 AL, 1 WI, and 1 NH, 5 on 40M: 2 PA, 1 GA, 1 CO and 1 NH, 1 on 80M 1 NH (neighbor N1IX) Great to work so many calls that are familiar to me who are also in the QRP fox hunt: K4BAI, AB9CA, NK6A, WB5BKL, WA8ZBT, NK9G, N4SX, N1IX. Lots of fun!!! 40 was a tough band for me Monday night…anything south of PA was a tough slog, but got through to K4BAI in GA, of course..he can hear a pin drop no matter what the condex are, never ceases to amaze me. I was thrilled to get two CA stations on 20….NK6A..thanks Don fox/hound,great signal, and N6GA. So happy also to contact Dave, AB9CA fox/hound in AL!!! Very impressive signals from N5GW (2W) and of course N4SX (1W) …both on 20M. I think I heard a couple letters of your call on 40M N4SX but not enough to give you a fair try. (Used K3 at 5W to OCF Dipole which makes me tubby, hope to be skinny next month with the KX3 and a new wire antenna :) See everyone next month!!!! Thanks to all and especially to KI6SN! 72/88
W5QLF
It seems that operating four QSO Parties this past weekend helped my CW skills for May's Sprint. There were even a couple of QSOs on 15 meters early on. Twenty meters was perfect until I’d worked everyone I could hear. Forty meters was way noisy and I appreciate the folks that stuck with me until I copied the exchange. This contest is always fun for me.
N4SX
Hey y'all!! Another great sprint running 1 watt from my K2 again the entire time! I was away from home and missed the first 30 mins. My first contact coming at 9:32 eastern. 20 was good and I stayed there for the first 30 mins. until it started downhill. 40 never was very good at my place and 80 was even worse. I got 13 on 20, 7 on 40, and just 1, K4BAI on 80. I had 4 two bangers, K4BAI, N1IX, W5QLF, and WA8ZBT. I heart N0TA calling CQ on 40 and tried several times but he could just not hear me, the same with WB5BKL on 80. Best DX was K7TQ out there in the great Northwest. Thanks again for those who had to hang in there to copy my 1 watt. I'm looking forward to next month already!
NØTA
A bit slow in Colorado. 15m/2, 20m/15, 40m/12. Thanks for the Q's. ATS-4b, Palm key, ground mounted vertical, and GenLog.
AB1LT
This was the first warm evening in Massachusetts after a long nasty winter, so I set up on the porch where I have an end fed wire rigged. A warm evening, working CW, frogs peeping in the background and a glass of wine: I had a most pleasant evening. It seems like everyone was on 20M. While fishing around 40M I hit a Russian station 5,000miles away, so that's another 1,000 miles/watt contact in the log. CW rocks! My rig is a Weber MTR_V2 with an internal touch keyer. For touch pads I stuck 2 small pieces of copper Clad to 2 corners of the box with foam tape. Battery pack is 3 AA size LiFePO4 batteries which is enough for over 5hrs of operating. I love the touch keyer because it adds no size, adds about 1oz of weight, there's nothing to break or bend and the whole radio with key weighs less than most keys. Thanks for putting up with my fist. I'm still getting used to the touch keyer and after that 2nd glass of wine my fist got pretty sloppy. LOL.
K6CSL
I was a few minutes late, so I started on 20m. Good conditions. At 02:10Z I moved to 40m. Band was very noisy with severe thunderstorms in the Texas and the Mid-West and also in Western AZ and the Chiriaco Desert of Eastern CA. I also spent the last 20 minutes of the sprint on 80m and found it dead. It was still daylight here in SJV until almost 03:30Z. I might suggest an aid to help track thunderstorms: Blitzertung.org has excellent tracking capability and measurement of severity of lightning storms. Will also show regional as well as worldwide coverage.
N6GA
I was tuning around the band late Monday afternoon and heard someone calling CQ SP. Had to look it up because it’s been so long, I didn’t remember what "SP” meant. I had recently dug out my ATS-4 to shake off the cobwebs so it was natural to plug it in and join in the sprint. Station weight — earbuds: .41 oz; ATS-4: 6.43 oz; Battery (3 cell phone batteries taped together): 2.43 oz; Power Cord: .97 oz, for a total of 10.24 ounces. Oops, forgot the keyer paddle, 2 pounds. Need to work on that for next time. Got in 12 Qs before the dinner bell rang. Good fun!
N5GW
I was using a K1 on an 800 mAh Lipo battery at 2 watts. Nothing heard on 15M. 20M and 40M were a bit noisy but otherwise OK.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. 14 QSOs on 20 and 2 on 40. Unusually loud QRN on 20...40 was almost intolerable...so much QRN that I never tried to call CQ on 40 thinking I may not be able to hear most answers. We'll see what June brings. Thanks for the QSOs and thanks to organizers.
K4BAI
IC756Pro, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, inverted vee. Started on 15M this week and it was open to CA. 20M was good to NY and New England, to CA, MN, CO, and W6/7 areas. 40M was a bit noisy, but QSOs were possible from NE to MN and CO to CA/AZ with a lot of TX activity. No skip zone as N4SX about 120 miles east of me was loud running only one watt. 80M was also noisy, but had QSOs with stations in NC, GA, and TX. Band totals: 15M: 2. 20M: 18. 40M: 20. 80M: 3. Thanks for all QSOs. By next month I should have my FT1000MP back from repair shop.
W1PID
MTR and Windom OCF. QSOs on 20m only. Best DX NK6A. Thanks all for the QSOs.
W3KC
Got to the party late but made a few quick contacts on 40 meters. IC703 at 5 watts and a 90' doublet fed via vintage Harvey Wells ZMatch.
WB8LZG
20m was good to the south es west. I tried the FT817 tonight to be Spartan. At just abt 3lbs its not the featherweight, but its all in one pkg.fer convienence. Went to 40 after 20 mins but no joy there, so went back to 20m fer 2 more. Not a lot of activity heard. Lots of fun.
W5ACM
The May 2015 Spartan Sprint was almost as good as March! I had NINE contacts on 20M, FIVE on 40M and ONE on 80M. Band conditions were excellent on 20M. I worked stations from CA to ID to NH to FL – and everything in between. Nice. Conditions on 40M were reasonable, but not as fun as 20M. When I finally went to 80M, the QRN was incredibly bad, but WB5BKL in TX was just fine. The 170 mAh LiPo batteries in the ATS-3a are still a bit “puffy”, but they topped off nicely before the event and held solid for 3W out, for the duration. I did have some issues with the homebrew paddle toward the end, but managed to get by. CU next month!
N1IX
Conditions were down considerably from the SP last month. Worked my neighbor K1QO on four bands. K4BAI, AB9CA, N5GW, WB5BKL and WA8ZBT on two bands. Nice to see Bill, AB1AV and Bert, K6CSL!
WB5BKL
K3/10 at 5W to 15 and 20M delta loops, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. QSOs on 15, 20 40 and 80M - 16 states total. One QRO QSO not counted. Only one 3-bander (K4BAI). Several signals at less than 5W this time. N4SX at 1W was tough but we made it. Nice to hear several new calls. My thanks to all. Had fun.
NK9G
Wow! 20 meters was where the action was. Did not here a peep on 40 and 80.The signals just kept on coming. Weak signals from the left coast but California was well represented. Quite a few stations running less than 5 watts. Band was getting noisy due to approaching storms from west.
K7TQ
I operated from the mountains east of Moscow, ID. Rig was a K2 at 5W to a SOTABEAMS Band Hopper 2 that covers 20 and 40 m. It was a clear evening with temperatures in the mid-50s. 20 m was a bit slow in starting, but it picked up until 0140 Z. Around sundown, 0200 Z, I switched the Band Hopper from 20 to 40 m and made one Q before the bugs got so bad I packed up and headed for home. It was a fun hour. Thanks to all who stopped by.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Soapbox: April '15 ARS Spartan Sprint
K1QO
I need to put this contest on my calendar, it's always fun. I was able to be on the air for an hour. I started on 15M and could hear some weak 6's but wasn't able to hear well enough to call any of them, I only snagged neighbor N1IX. Most of my contacts were on 20M and it's always nice to hear familiar calls like K4BAI, N4SX (FB on that 1W), and WVØH from the QRP Foxhunt, and of course neighbor N1IX :) 40M was very noisy here, I think I'm dealing with some local noise so only one contact on 40. Tried calling on 80M but no one came back. Totals were: 1 on 15M, 9 on 20M and 1 on 40M. Great to hear Randy from ID, K7TQ. I remember him when I started in the QRP fox hunts circa 2005 . . . my call was AB1DR at the time, he always did a great job as a fox . . . please come back to the hunts Randy! Hope to get my KX3 on the air for next month and will try out a small wire I hope to use outside during the summer/fall. Thanks everyone! Special thanks to KI6SN for the Adventure Radio Society and the work you put in every month. 72/88 de K1QO (Ann)
N1IX
It’s been quite a while since I have participated in a Spartan Sprint. Activity was much increased since the last time. Great signals on 40 meters. It was really a thrill to have a coast to coast QRP QSO with W7OM in Washington. I could only participate for the first hour. I had a total of 10 states using my K3 at 5 watts.
K3RLL
Signals seemed very weak into Florida tonight on 20 meters so gave up and moved down ‘open up’ 40m. Sure enough, it wasn’t long until some S-Sprinters started showing up. You know how we frequently get calls from non-participating stations? Well, maybe we’ll get a new one. Fellow with a good fist in Tampa likes QRP so we’ll see. Big signal tonight was John K4BAI, but then John always has a strong signal – even when I work him from PA. Tnx for the fun.
NØTA
Fun evening. Worked about 1.5 hours. 20m good until 2z, then
moved to 40m. Thanks for the Qs. K3 (5w), doublet and vertical, GenLog.
W5QLF
Twenty meters was good to me until 0154Z then the bottom dropped out. This seems typical for me that I just stop hearing signals abruptly. Well, oh well, it gives me a chance to see how 40 meters is doing. Forty meters seemed to hold up much better but the operators just disappeared (except for the ones that I’d already worked.) I always enjoy operating the Spartan Sprint and I seem to keep seeing the same calls appear on the air and in the
soapboxes.
WVØH
Fun time again with the K1 and LG-Nok-sung battery. Lots of Qs on 20 and half as many on 40. Worked coast to coast on 20 and not quite so far on 40. I called N1IX, Barry, sorry Dave. K4BAI, you are a stalwart on the bands. Every time I turn on the rig, there you are John. I'm convinced, if you needed a back-country emergency comms link, you would do well with a CW HF rig setup and put out a call for John, he'll respond!
K7TQ
A good evening here in Idaho. More folks on again compared to a few months ago. 30 Qs in first hour then it slowed down to 14 more in the second hour. We don't count SPCs, but I like to keep track of them. This time there were 14 states and 1 province. I got 2 bands, 20 and 40, with 11 stations plus WB5BKL and I got 3 bands, 80, 40, and 20. He was the only one I could get on 80 in the last 20 minutes. Sunset isn't until 0225 or so. A special thanks to W4ZV who stayed with me as I repeatedly botched his call. Sometimes when you get a few letters wrong, it takes several repeats before you get it correct. That was one of those. Catch you all next month.
K5JHP
20 meters was good this evening; Looking forward to next month.
N4SX
Thanks to you all for the great time I had tonight. I ran the entire two hours at 1 watt from my K2. I had 5 two bangers, WA8ZBT, NQ2W, N3VKM, N1IX, and K7TQ. I almost had a three banger but NQ2W just couldn't pull me out on 80 at the very end. I spent most of the time calling CQ with maybe 20 minutes or so of H&P. I did hear several other good signals but they were calling another station and never found me. I had 11 qso's on 20, 11 on 40, and just 1, K4BAI on 80. I surely appreciate each of you for hanging in there with me and my 1 watt. Ah, the power of QRP . . . this is just too much fun.
N7LT
Equipment: ICOM IC-7200, 5W, AH2 Auto Tuner, 920 Foot long wire. Haven't played in the Sprint since November 2014. Before that, it had been a long time. This is my first score posted in over a decade. Still as much fun as back then!I made 22 contacts in-between taking care of 5 young kids needs and other honey-dues. Still managed to work VE3AXL, Ontario Canada, WA8ZBT and WB5BKL in Texas, all on 40 meters! (Thanks for hanging in there with me guys!) Total different states worked was 11 on 20 meters and 5 on 40 meters and one Canadian Province. What a blast! Hope to catch you all on next month . . . as long as I don't miss my android calendar reminder!
K4BAI
Good conditions on 20, 40, and 80. Good participation at the start, then dropping off. QSOs by band: 20: 23. 40: 22. 80: 3. 20M was good for most of the USA out past maybe 800 miles. Did have a backscatter QSO with W4ZV in NC. Also best DX of the night was UA9CIC running 8W from the western part of Asiatic Russia. 40M was pretty good all over with no discernible skip zone. 80M was quiet and was able to work out to NQ2W (a 3 bander) and WB5BKL (another three bander). Did hear K7TQ, but Randy couldn't hear me calling on 80M. See you all next month. Also, in the Georgia QSO Party this weekend.
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. 11 QSOs on 20, 10 on 40, and 2 on 80. A number of 2 banders between 20 and 40. Worked K4BAI on 3 bands. There was one station trying on 80 but I couldn't hear through the QRN . . . hopefully, next time.Thanks for the opportunity. Hope to hear you all next month.
W4ZV
Fired up my old ATS-3 for a few QSOs on 20m only. It seemed like activity was low which could have been due to the NCAA playoff. Some signals were quite good but a few could not hear my 3 Watts to an inverted V. Congrats to John, K4BAI, who has outstanding ears to hear my signal via backscatter. The most interesting thing was when I checked my RBN spots later. I was shocked to see 41 spots from stations in EU (DL, F, GW, HA, I and ON . . . not counting KP3 and VE6!). Maybe we should encourage EU activity (even though it's the middle of the night there). I QRT after about 1 hour to catch the last half of the playoffs and see Duke win (YEA!).
K6CSL
After finding nothing on 10m, 15m and 20m, I finally arrived late on 40m and found these 2 stations to work before the end of the Sprint. TNX to N7LT in MT and K7TQ in ID.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to 15 and 20M delta loops, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. QSOs on 15, 20 40 and 80M - 15 states total. One QRO QSO not counted. 15 seemed wide open but I ran out of QSOs after 0115Z. Best signals here in the Texas hill country: 15 and 20M - NK6A, 40M - AA5D, 80M - WA8ZBT. Most remarkable signal: N4SX @ 1W. Nice to work several new-to-me calls. My thanks to all. Had fun.
I need to put this contest on my calendar, it's always fun. I was able to be on the air for an hour. I started on 15M and could hear some weak 6's but wasn't able to hear well enough to call any of them, I only snagged neighbor N1IX. Most of my contacts were on 20M and it's always nice to hear familiar calls like K4BAI, N4SX (FB on that 1W), and WVØH from the QRP Foxhunt, and of course neighbor N1IX :) 40M was very noisy here, I think I'm dealing with some local noise so only one contact on 40. Tried calling on 80M but no one came back. Totals were: 1 on 15M, 9 on 20M and 1 on 40M. Great to hear Randy from ID, K7TQ. I remember him when I started in the QRP fox hunts circa 2005 . . . my call was AB1DR at the time, he always did a great job as a fox . . . please come back to the hunts Randy! Hope to get my KX3 on the air for next month and will try out a small wire I hope to use outside during the summer/fall. Thanks everyone! Special thanks to KI6SN for the Adventure Radio Society and the work you put in every month. 72/88 de K1QO (Ann)
N1IX
It’s been quite a while since I have participated in a Spartan Sprint. Activity was much increased since the last time. Great signals on 40 meters. It was really a thrill to have a coast to coast QRP QSO with W7OM in Washington. I could only participate for the first hour. I had a total of 10 states using my K3 at 5 watts.
K3RLL
Signals seemed very weak into Florida tonight on 20 meters so gave up and moved down ‘open up’ 40m. Sure enough, it wasn’t long until some S-Sprinters started showing up. You know how we frequently get calls from non-participating stations? Well, maybe we’ll get a new one. Fellow with a good fist in Tampa likes QRP so we’ll see. Big signal tonight was John K4BAI, but then John always has a strong signal – even when I work him from PA. Tnx for the fun.
NØTA
Fun evening. Worked about 1.5 hours. 20m good until 2z, then
moved to 40m. Thanks for the Qs. K3 (5w), doublet and vertical, GenLog.
W5QLF
Twenty meters was good to me until 0154Z then the bottom dropped out. This seems typical for me that I just stop hearing signals abruptly. Well, oh well, it gives me a chance to see how 40 meters is doing. Forty meters seemed to hold up much better but the operators just disappeared (except for the ones that I’d already worked.) I always enjoy operating the Spartan Sprint and I seem to keep seeing the same calls appear on the air and in the
soapboxes.
WVØH
Fun time again with the K1 and LG-Nok-sung battery. Lots of Qs on 20 and half as many on 40. Worked coast to coast on 20 and not quite so far on 40. I called N1IX, Barry, sorry Dave. K4BAI, you are a stalwart on the bands. Every time I turn on the rig, there you are John. I'm convinced, if you needed a back-country emergency comms link, you would do well with a CW HF rig setup and put out a call for John, he'll respond!
K7TQ
A good evening here in Idaho. More folks on again compared to a few months ago. 30 Qs in first hour then it slowed down to 14 more in the second hour. We don't count SPCs, but I like to keep track of them. This time there were 14 states and 1 province. I got 2 bands, 20 and 40, with 11 stations plus WB5BKL and I got 3 bands, 80, 40, and 20. He was the only one I could get on 80 in the last 20 minutes. Sunset isn't until 0225 or so. A special thanks to W4ZV who stayed with me as I repeatedly botched his call. Sometimes when you get a few letters wrong, it takes several repeats before you get it correct. That was one of those. Catch you all next month.
K5JHP
20 meters was good this evening; Looking forward to next month.
N4SX
Thanks to you all for the great time I had tonight. I ran the entire two hours at 1 watt from my K2. I had 5 two bangers, WA8ZBT, NQ2W, N3VKM, N1IX, and K7TQ. I almost had a three banger but NQ2W just couldn't pull me out on 80 at the very end. I spent most of the time calling CQ with maybe 20 minutes or so of H&P. I did hear several other good signals but they were calling another station and never found me. I had 11 qso's on 20, 11 on 40, and just 1, K4BAI on 80. I surely appreciate each of you for hanging in there with me and my 1 watt. Ah, the power of QRP . . . this is just too much fun.
N7LT
Equipment: ICOM IC-7200, 5W, AH2 Auto Tuner, 920 Foot long wire. Haven't played in the Sprint since November 2014. Before that, it had been a long time. This is my first score posted in over a decade. Still as much fun as back then!I made 22 contacts in-between taking care of 5 young kids needs and other honey-dues. Still managed to work VE3AXL, Ontario Canada, WA8ZBT and WB5BKL in Texas, all on 40 meters! (Thanks for hanging in there with me guys!) Total different states worked was 11 on 20 meters and 5 on 40 meters and one Canadian Province. What a blast! Hope to catch you all on next month . . . as long as I don't miss my android calendar reminder!
K4BAI
Good conditions on 20, 40, and 80. Good participation at the start, then dropping off. QSOs by band: 20: 23. 40: 22. 80: 3. 20M was good for most of the USA out past maybe 800 miles. Did have a backscatter QSO with W4ZV in NC. Also best DX of the night was UA9CIC running 8W from the western part of Asiatic Russia. 40M was pretty good all over with no discernible skip zone. 80M was quiet and was able to work out to NQ2W (a 3 bander) and WB5BKL (another three bander). Did hear K7TQ, but Randy couldn't hear me calling on 80M. See you all next month. Also, in the Georgia QSO Party this weekend.
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. 11 QSOs on 20, 10 on 40, and 2 on 80. A number of 2 banders between 20 and 40. Worked K4BAI on 3 bands. There was one station trying on 80 but I couldn't hear through the QRN . . . hopefully, next time.Thanks for the opportunity. Hope to hear you all next month.
W4ZV
Fired up my old ATS-3 for a few QSOs on 20m only. It seemed like activity was low which could have been due to the NCAA playoff. Some signals were quite good but a few could not hear my 3 Watts to an inverted V. Congrats to John, K4BAI, who has outstanding ears to hear my signal via backscatter. The most interesting thing was when I checked my RBN spots later. I was shocked to see 41 spots from stations in EU (DL, F, GW, HA, I and ON . . . not counting KP3 and VE6!). Maybe we should encourage EU activity (even though it's the middle of the night there). I QRT after about 1 hour to catch the last half of the playoffs and see Duke win (YEA!).
K6CSL
After finding nothing on 10m, 15m and 20m, I finally arrived late on 40m and found these 2 stations to work before the end of the Sprint. TNX to N7LT in MT and K7TQ in ID.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to 15 and 20M delta loops, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. QSOs on 15, 20 40 and 80M - 15 states total. One QRO QSO not counted. 15 seemed wide open but I ran out of QSOs after 0115Z. Best signals here in the Texas hill country: 15 and 20M - NK6A, 40M - AA5D, 80M - WA8ZBT. Most remarkable signal: N4SX @ 1W. Nice to work several new-to-me calls. My thanks to all. Had fun.
Friday, March 6, 2015
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