May '09 Spartan Sprint Soapbox

W5ACM

It was once again a delight to find 20M open for the first part of the event! Activity on 40M was brisk, with a reasonable noise level, but a little more difficult than last month. I never did get on 80M. The AT-Sprint 3a did well, but power output was drooping at about 90 minutes into the event, so I shut things down before the LiPo's could get zapped. The antique, multi-band vertical continues to perform! 72

KD2MX

K1@5W to 600' loop. Both 20m & 40m were in pretty good shape although a bit noisy. I worked the first hour and really enjoyed it before having to QRT early. I never made it over to 80M. It's great to hear sprint activity increasing each month. Seems the Spartan Sprint is truly back.

W2NED

Used K3 at 5W with a dipole antenna on 40. Conditions were very difficult in WNY.

WB5BKL

K3 + EDZepp. Enjoyed 20M for a change - 80M, not so much. WA9TZE QSOs on 20+40+80M. Had fun.

AB1AV

ATS-3 to 88' doublet up 30'. Just had about an hour, spent it all on 40 meters. Broke a battery cable & the only spare was on my little 9v regulator, so only about 2 watts out for most of the 'test. Band was so noisy I switched tuner to "TUNE" to add 6dB attenuation during receive -- I guess the ATS-3's IMD specs don't match the K2! Fun to be back after missing the Sprint for quite a while.

NG7Z

Got a late start at 0150Z so probably missed a lot of the action. I didn’t hear anything on 20M so jumped to 40M. Worked as far east at MD with W3KC who had a great signal into WA. Thanks to WF4I who was patient while I tried to copy his very weak signal. At 0218Z I heard a very weak K6CSL Bert, so turned the beam south and picked up K6CSL, W6BK, N6TEM and WA7OJY in short order, all in CA. Lots of QSB on the signals coming from the east and southeast. Very rapid. W5ACM in particular was very difficult to copy. His signal would pop in and out and it took several repeats to confirm his call. Apparently my signal was reasonably good copy on the other end as he responded to my requests for repeats promptly. Had to hold off trying to work K4BAI because he was really in the noise. Not sure I could have completed a QSO with John. The QRN here was at S-5 because of the rain static. It was pouring down cats and dogs. Listened briefly to 80M at 0245 but it’s still light here so not much chance of working anyone. Besides, my 80M 4-square got damaged while moving my wood splitter. Anyway, it was fun to work some new calls I hadn’t heard before and satisfying that a 5W signal reaches out so well even in less than optimal conditions. See you next month.

W6GMT
ICOM 703 SOLAR POWER BATTERIES 40 M DIPOLE IN THE TREES IN A CAMP GROUND

WF4I

Nothing heard on 20M and only 3 QSOs on 80M. Most of the action on 40M but carriers and digital QSOs often made copy tough there. Most stations were running 5W but copied W3CUV’s 2W signal. Need to get a new battery before next SS.

N8WE

best 40 mtr sprint with attic dipole.

K4BAI

FT1000MP, 5W output, 88' CF zepp at 45'; 40M dipole at 40'': 80M inverted vee dipole
apex at 50'. 20M was quite good at the beginning with a short skip zone and fair activity. Was unable to work the three TX stations I heard there. 40M was also good with low noise and skip as short as NC. Rate dropped dramaatically after the first hour. 80M was quite noisy, but signals were generally good. We could use more activity and more stations who stick with it for the entire Sprint period. Breakdown by bands: 20:13; 40:27; 80:10. Total: 50. Hope to work you all next month. Look for me at Dayton next week and in CQ WPX CW at the end of the month from WW4LL, either M/S or M/2.

K6CSL

Yaesu FT-450AT running 5W to a Delta Loop and an Indoor End-fed Coaxial Dipole, 45ft long that runs on the center beam of my mobile home. It was really nice to see 20 open this evening. 40 was quite noisy here. Paul, NG7Z was very weak, N6TEM had a very nice strong signal from up in the mountains of Northern CA.

N2ICZ

This was my first Spartan Sprint and my second ever sprint/contest. Lot's of fun was had despite I still have no idea what I'm doing! In fact, that made it even more fun, as I laughed like a loon! I was using a Wilderness Radio SST with a small battery pack. Power output read anywhere from a 1/2 watt to 1 watt. Antenna is a Yo Yo Vee dipole up about 30 feet. Can't wait until June!

N4BP

Great to see 20M open. Spent 30 minutes there until the band closed. Checked 40M, but QRN was S9+ and no signals copyable. Rig was Elecraft K3 at 5W. Antenna Cushcraft A4S at 62ft.

N1LN

This is my first Spartan Sprint since August 2007. I was not sure that I would make it based on the weather forecast, but the rain came and the thunderstorms held off. About 60 minutes into the event I had to take about a 30 minute break. My sump pump appeared not to be working and I needed to dig up one of the pipes. It was working fine so I came back to the Sprint. That is not the correct way to spend 30 minutes of a 120 minute event. Conditions seemed to be pretty good, but the participation seemed to be down based on a few past weeks logs that I looked at. I could not hear anyone on so, I shut down at 02:48 UTC. 1 hr 48 minutes of op time – 30 minutes digging = 1 hr 18 minutes on the air. Hope to be here next month.

K5JHP

k2 20mtr EDZ Good band activity this month. 20, 40 es 80 all open good from TRX coast. C U next month

W3KC

(20 on 40m and one on 80m) Bands very noisy, but still had fun.

WA9TZE

20m/10; 40m/34; 80m/15. Bands good. Worked K4BAI on all 3 bands--thx John. Xcvr is Kenwood TS-870 @ 5W to pair of slopers at 40'. Look forward to June. Best 72's to all

AF4LQ

Wilderness Sierra @3W, 44ft doublet at 25ft. Jumped in and out here a few times during first hour, had fun answering CQ's and working some familiar and new calls. Looking forward to next month. GB.

VE3KQN

My equipment was a Wilderness Sierra and an indoor, 3 foot diameter homebrew Magnetic Loop Antenna set up on a camera tripod. 40m was fair but 80 and 20 were no action. Much thanks to those souls who pulled my signal outta the noise. It was good to finally hear some signals in this monthly "fun time event." I was away for a week of fishing and fortunately managed to play a little radio.

AK0M

Made a few 20m Q's at the beginning of the contest,mostly to W1 area. Most of my Q's were on 40m, with only a couple on 80m,
presumably due to QRN. Participation seemed to die off around 0200z, it almost seemed like the event was over.
FT-817 at 5w, Palm Paddles, Butternut HF6V vertical.