Aug. '09 Spartan Sprint Soapbox comments

K5JHP
Good night for a change. New K3 with 20 mtr EDZ antenna. Most of the contacts were on 40 meters, but 20 opened up long at 22 minutes after the start and got 4 contacts there. Be back next month.

N1LU
Sorry I couldn't stay for the whole Sprint. Fun, as usual.

N1LN
What started off as a VERY slow night on 20 meters picked up quickly when I moved to 40. Then the move to 80 turned out to be VERY slow going. So, I moved back to 40 and worked 6 more Qs. This was my best single band QSO count yet with 43 Qs on 40 meters. After those Qs I moved back to 80 and worked a few more. More of you should have moved to 80 as conditions were not that bad. Signals were strong and easy to copy. See you all next month. QSO Breakdown: 80 = 7; 40 = 43; 20 = 15. Rig: (2) K3s @ 5w; Antennas: 20: 4 x 4 x 4; 40: 2 x 2; 80: Inverted-V at 60.’

K8DD
Noisy, 20 was not good, 40 wasn't much better and 80 made them both look good! Noisy. K3 & K2, beam (20M), dipoles on 40 & 80.

KK5NA
One contact on 20M, 18 on noisy 40M and 1 contact on 10M! Rig was K3 at 5watts and antenna EDZ at 55.'

N4BP
Running K3 at 5W to A4S and 40/80 trap dipole.As usual for this time of year, bands were very noisy from storm static.20M folded in less than 30 minutes. 40M tolerable, but 80M impossible.

K5GQ
ATS-3 & dipole 24.' Did not get enough CW this weekend! (only 1 1/2 hours at the end.) Signals were typical; up and down. The static crashes were absent tonight. WOW, could not believe 25Qs tonight on one band. There were stations I could not pull out of the noise.

AB9CA
Rig was K2, Ant OCF 80m dipole. Was a few minutes late getting started and only made 7 contacts on 20 before deciding it had gone too long to be worthwhile. 40 was pretty good for a while then it seemed to die also. Did not try 80, maybe should have. Total of 26 contacts. Not too many but fun anyway. Thanks to everyone who stopped by! See ya' next month.

K6CSL
I was 1/2 hour late. 20 was good, 40 not so good. Fun anyway.

K4PQC
ATS-3 and 160 Meter horizontal loop at about 30 feet. 20 Meters was fairly quiet and I heard many stations calling CQ but could only work 2. 40 Meters was fairly noisy, open to South Florida, TX and the Pacific NW. Lots of fun!

NG7Z
Pretty decent conditions this month. Made the last qso on 20M at 01:34Z since no other signals could be heard. Switched to 40M and, as usual, there is about a half hour period where there seems to be one way skip. I can hear ‘em but they can’t hear me. Between 0100Z and 0130Z seems to be the best window and I took advantage of it as best I could. Took 15 min for dinner and finished up with 7 more q’s in the last 15 minutes. All in all, a good showing for the sprint. Nice to see more and more participants in this once popular event. Thanks for the q’s and see you all next month.

K9FO
My first SP. I had 6 QSOs on 20 and 17 on 40. Rig: TenTec Orion @ 5 W. Dipoles on 20 and 40. I am getting a skinny station together so will try that when ready.Thanks for having the test.

NK6A
Could only manage 45 minutes. 20 Meters sounded great from So. Calif. 40 was a little noisy with QRN and deep QSB. Used my K2 to base station Force 12C4.

WA1ZCQ/1
I had just got my temporary antenna(s) up at 7PM. Left for supper and when I returned at 10:45 I heard stations calling CQSP! Well, that was my 'reminder' for this months Spartan Sprint! (I didn't see anything on QRP-L today(?). I miss John Huffman's postings.) It was 10:51 when I made my 1st Q with N1LN/4-NC, from there it was K8DD-MI, K9OM-WI & W3CQB-PA all on 80 meters. By then it was 11PM and the end of the Sprint. I was sure glad I heard that CQSP on 80. Rig: 703 @ 5W with 9.6V 1600mA NiMH battery Ant: phased wire verticals for 80M (both 1/4WL high, separated by 1/4WL in east west orientation)

W1PID
Band condx much better and more activity. I operated about a half hour
and worked 17 stns. Best DX was Randy, K7TQ in ID. Greatest fun... Steve in the kayak WG0AT/MM in CO. I ran an FT-817 and a windom ocf dipole. Thanks all.

WB8LZG
K1 on batt power. Ant 20mtr dipole es 40mtr dipole at 30. I was thinking "skinny" this month w/ K1 on batt power. I know station weight was well under 5 lbs. this time. Only 1 QSO on 20m. But 40 was doing well. Had a great time.

KH6B
Only 20 meters was active during the SP. Signals mostly weak and QSB. I tried to "punch" through but no go. Heard: KI7V, K8DD and AB0BM. Hank K8DD at the time peaked 579. A few minutes later, no signals! Aloha!

WB8RTJ
First sprint in a long time. Good to see many of the regulars still around es many new ones. Stayed on 40 es the first hour was pretty good, after that things came pretty much to a stop. Still fun no matter for how long. Used my K2 at 5w, ant a force 12 c4sxl at 50 feet. 72 to all es hope to get in more often.

KF0N
The rig used was an ATS-3B running 4-watts output. Conditions were certainly poorer this month than last. At least the Midwest seemed like an RF black hole! Worked only two stations on 20 meters and I knew things weren't good when I heard Bob, N4BP, on 40 meters only 20 minutes after the contest started! My big loop antenna came down after a wind storm here last month so was forced to improvise for the contest. Thanks to the few guys I could work with my whimpy set up. I hope to see you all next month with a better skyhook.

N8WE
Three contacts on 20 meter /pm. NK6A was my 27th state operating pedestrian mobile.

W5ESE
KD1JV AT Sprint 3, Whiterook MK-44 paddles, 9.6V wall wart. My antenna was a 100m Horizontal Loop. Propagation on 20m only lasted a half hour here. Propagation on 40m seemed good, but the atmospheric noise was a challenge. Had better luck completing contacts this month than I've had since last winter. Welcome to the new participants, and hope to hear you in September!

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. I wasted some time calling on 15M as I had some luck there in the NAQP. Activity in this month's Sprint seemed a little better but I did not hear some of the regulars. One-third of my contacts were on 20M and two-thirds on 40M. Did not try 80M. Had fun.

K6DGW
KX1 w/paddle and ATU 2.9W, LiPoly battery, Buddipole, all 40m.

N5GW
HW-9 many mods, HB microtuner to CFZ 4 watts.

W0RSP
Greatest Sprint in a long time - maybe the cycle is picking up. My 30m dipole is at 35-ft fed with 300-ohm twinlead with a KX1 @ 4w out. I was on for 1:15 and worked 26 on 40m - did the extremeties on the US: ME, FL, TX, WA along with MS, LA, VT, NH, PA, OH,, NM, NY, IL, GA, CO, ID. Boy, I sure hope this is a real beginning that will keep going up! Next month will by my last sprint from SD until next May or June. I'll be in AZ in a HOA antenna-restricted development except I have a couple of ideas involving a DK9SQ pole!

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 - better than last month. I never did get on 80M. The AT-Sprint 3a did well, but power output was drooping at about 70 minutes into the event. I may need to invest in some new 200-mAh LiPo's soon. NV0U gets my vote for most patience while we worked to complete a 20M contact. My antique, multi-band vertical continues to perform!

KE0G
K-3 running 5 watts to two switchable 74' dipoles up 50' and fed with balanced lines and a Matchbox. Thanks for all the QSO's. Big Signals here in MN were: N4BP S9+ 10 dB on 20 M, K8DD S9+ 10 dB on 40 M, K9OM S9+ 20 dB on 80 M, however QRN was S9 on 80 M. See you next time.

K7TQ
A great evening for both 20 and 40 in Idaho. 20 m was good for about half an hour. 40 got hot for the second hour. Worked N1LN and NK6A on both bands. Also found the goat man in his kayak on 20 with a nice signal. Stayed at home and used the K2 and Force 12 C4SXL at 40 feet. Thanks to all who stopped by.

W2NED
KX1 at 3W into a dipole. I worked the second hour on 40 meters. Great fun as usual!