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Friday, December 10, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Soapbox Comments: November '10 Spartan Sprint
AI4SV
Just caught a CQ at the end of the Sprint and decided to look up the rules. Seems like fun.
KF6U
Rig: Hendricks PFR-3, Ant: 180 ft Horz Delta Loop at 30 ft. 20 M was dead. 40 was ok for a short while, then faded away. Still had fun and thanks to you folks who hang in there!
W5ACM
The heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A are still hanging in there! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to the lowest number of contacts yet for me during a Spartan Sprint. With poor band conditions and a storm just to the north, I barely completed THREE contacts on 40M and 80M combined. Can it get any worse? I doubt it! Come on December!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W and 20M delta loop or 40M extended double Zepp. Only 1 on 20M (lost K7TQ in a deep fade) and 3 on 40M. Just got going on 80M when a t-storm developed to my NW. Radar showed it moving SE, so I pulled the plug and disconnected everything. One lightning strike taught me a lesson. At least my Monday night was better than the Texas Rangers'... Had fun.
W6GMT
Rig: Icom 703 @ 5w. 40 meters only. 6 Contacts
KG4GVL
Had a blast, made my first contact with my RockMite 80, can't wait for winter!
W9CJS
Bands were terrible but had fun anyway
K7TQ
A good 1st hour on 40. Didn't hear anything on 20. After beginning of second hour, 40 was not so good so I went to 80. Got Paul, NG7Z, but that was all. See you next time around.
W5ESE
The band was long tonight. Used my AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. Good to work a few folks I hadn't contacted before in the Sprint. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. My ears still hurt from the QRN on 80 meters.
AE4TC
FT817 @ 5w, ground mounted vertical. Was able to reduce weight this sprint with a new portable battery. 13 QSOs on 40m and 2 on 80m.
NK6A
Playing with computer logging and new K3.
W8YMO
Elecraft K3 @ 5 Watts. Harry, near Cleveland, OH.
N8WE
No sigs heard on 20. WA8ZBT had best signal here in Centerville, OH.
AB9CA
Rig was the old IC707 cranked back to 5w. Ant was the usual OCF 80m dp at about 40'. Got a late start - first Q not until 0124z. Either the bands were real crummy or the participation was light. Total of only 16 Q's. Never heard anyone on 20. 40 was the 'workhorse' with 13 Q's but heard very few calling there. Indeed when I first scanned the band heard no one. Did hear a few later on - pretty sure I heard Randy, K7TQ, but due to condx never made contact. The band did seem to be long with stations in CA (2), WA (2), NY and NH coming in fairly well. 80 was very noisy with quick QSB that sucked out parts of characters, only 3 contacts there. Isn't this the time of year when 80 should be getting quiet? Despite the noise John, K4BAI, who is about 200 miles away, was armchair copy ever time I went by him. A total of about 45 minutes tonight, too many other things going on. Last Q was at 0209z. Still a fun evening. We'll hope for better condx next month.
W1PID
I ran the DSW-80 at 2 watts on 80 meters with an OCF dipole. Highlight was working AA1TJ in VT who was running 75mw! Later in the Sprint 80 fell off and 40 came alive in waves. I worked 3 more stations with the K2, but didn't count them in the log because of the weight issues. Thanks to all.
K4BAI
I was tired after CQ WW SSB over the weekend and forgot about the Spartan Sprint until the first half hour had passed. By the time I was QRV, there were no SP signals on 20 and almost none on 40. I heard, but did not work, KD2MX and K5JHP on 40 and did work QRO station WA3FAE. No answers to CQs on that band. So, the rest of the time was on 80M, where I found only 15 stations to work. Band was in pretty good shape with four stations from TX, one each from IL, WV, and PA and the rest from the fourth call area. Hope for more activity next month. Look for me (with KU8E, K9YC, and N3ZZ) to be QRV from the new DXCC entity of Bonaire Nov 23-30 using PJ4/home calls and in the CQ WW CW contest using PJ4A.
NQ2W
Using my Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 ft. Seemed like quite a bit of activity at first - heard W7OM but couldn't work him - hoped to hear him later but didn't. Some stations answered my CQ - some I was able to work - some I couldn't pick out of the QRN - hopefully, we'll connect in future events. Thanks to all the participants and thanks to the organizers. I'm looking forward to next month.
KB7MBI
Ten Tec Paragon II, 5w, GAP Titan vertical and managed contacts on 80,40,20,15 and 10m. Heard many East Coast stations coming in strong but unable to work them.
W2MFT
My first Spartan Sprint. Had fun with FT817 and delta loop.
N4KGL
This time I got my weight down by 0.64 lbs by using AAAs and ear buds. On 40 I worked MD, NY, VA, OH and MA. MA was the furthest for 1,160 mi or 580 mi per watt. On 80 I worked 2 X GA and the furthest was 261 miles for 261 mi per watt. The rig was the Sierra with 2 watts on 40 and 1 watt on 80 and a 135 foot doublet antenna. Lots of QRP fun!
NG7Z
Where was everyone? Must have been tough condx all around. Surprised to get anyone on 20M but raised five there. The rest were on 40M. Worked Alan, KB7MBI, all bands except 160M. Thanks Alan! He must have thought I was crazy moving him around like that. But hey, ya gotta do whatcha gotta do for qso's!
WA5BUC
Reconfigured my 20 meter EFHWA to a 40 meter vertical. With the FT-817 at 5w, worked K5JHP, K5GQ, and
K6CSL
I hate to say it, my XYL was keeping track of the World Series Baseball game. I heard a big whoop when Rentaria of the SF Giants hit that 3 run homer in the top of the 7th inning and that ended my attention to the radio for tonight. TNX to K2ZU up in WA for my one QSO on 40 this evening. I listened for a few minutes on 20 and it sounded dead at the start of the Sprint, so I went to 40. See you all next month.
K4ORD
40M seemed long, able to get WA easy but TX was hard, could not get 2 stations in TX to hear me. There was very little qrn on 40 & 80. made 6 qso's on 40M and 15 on 80M. Rig K2@5W, ant's were 40M & 80M dipoles. Thanks for all the qso's.
KD5GM
I had a good time working the 40 meter band and was surprised that I actually made a contact on the B&W-65, running 5 watts out.
K5JHP
Noise on bands was unbelievable. Almost no signals heard. Could copy some stations for a partial transmission then they would fade out. Sorry to those stations that I couldn't copy enough to qso. Maybe next month.
Just caught a CQ at the end of the Sprint and decided to look up the rules. Seems like fun.
KF6U
Rig: Hendricks PFR-3, Ant: 180 ft Horz Delta Loop at 30 ft. 20 M was dead. 40 was ok for a short while, then faded away. Still had fun and thanks to you folks who hang in there!
W5ACM
The heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A are still hanging in there! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to the lowest number of contacts yet for me during a Spartan Sprint. With poor band conditions and a storm just to the north, I barely completed THREE contacts on 40M and 80M combined. Can it get any worse? I doubt it! Come on December!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W and 20M delta loop or 40M extended double Zepp. Only 1 on 20M (lost K7TQ in a deep fade) and 3 on 40M. Just got going on 80M when a t-storm developed to my NW. Radar showed it moving SE, so I pulled the plug and disconnected everything. One lightning strike taught me a lesson. At least my Monday night was better than the Texas Rangers'... Had fun.
W6GMT
Rig: Icom 703 @ 5w. 40 meters only. 6 Contacts
KG4GVL
Had a blast, made my first contact with my RockMite 80, can't wait for winter!
W9CJS
Bands were terrible but had fun anyway
K7TQ
A good 1st hour on 40. Didn't hear anything on 20. After beginning of second hour, 40 was not so good so I went to 80. Got Paul, NG7Z, but that was all. See you next time around.
W5ESE
The band was long tonight. Used my AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. Good to work a few folks I hadn't contacted before in the Sprint. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. My ears still hurt from the QRN on 80 meters.
AE4TC
FT817 @ 5w, ground mounted vertical. Was able to reduce weight this sprint with a new portable battery. 13 QSOs on 40m and 2 on 80m.
NK6A
Playing with computer logging and new K3.
W8YMO
Elecraft K3 @ 5 Watts. Harry, near Cleveland, OH.
N8WE
No sigs heard on 20. WA8ZBT had best signal here in Centerville, OH.
AB9CA
Rig was the old IC707 cranked back to 5w. Ant was the usual OCF 80m dp at about 40'. Got a late start - first Q not until 0124z. Either the bands were real crummy or the participation was light. Total of only 16 Q's. Never heard anyone on 20. 40 was the 'workhorse' with 13 Q's but heard very few calling there. Indeed when I first scanned the band heard no one. Did hear a few later on - pretty sure I heard Randy, K7TQ, but due to condx never made contact. The band did seem to be long with stations in CA (2), WA (2), NY and NH coming in fairly well. 80 was very noisy with quick QSB that sucked out parts of characters, only 3 contacts there. Isn't this the time of year when 80 should be getting quiet? Despite the noise John, K4BAI, who is about 200 miles away, was armchair copy ever time I went by him. A total of about 45 minutes tonight, too many other things going on. Last Q was at 0209z. Still a fun evening. We'll hope for better condx next month.
W1PID
I ran the DSW-80 at 2 watts on 80 meters with an OCF dipole. Highlight was working AA1TJ in VT who was running 75mw! Later in the Sprint 80 fell off and 40 came alive in waves. I worked 3 more stations with the K2, but didn't count them in the log because of the weight issues. Thanks to all.
K4BAI
I was tired after CQ WW SSB over the weekend and forgot about the Spartan Sprint until the first half hour had passed. By the time I was QRV, there were no SP signals on 20 and almost none on 40. I heard, but did not work, KD2MX and K5JHP on 40 and did work QRO station WA3FAE. No answers to CQs on that band. So, the rest of the time was on 80M, where I found only 15 stations to work. Band was in pretty good shape with four stations from TX, one each from IL, WV, and PA and the rest from the fourth call area. Hope for more activity next month. Look for me (with KU8E, K9YC, and N3ZZ) to be QRV from the new DXCC entity of Bonaire Nov 23-30 using PJ4/home calls and in the CQ WW CW contest using PJ4A.
NQ2W
Using my Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 ft. Seemed like quite a bit of activity at first - heard W7OM but couldn't work him - hoped to hear him later but didn't. Some stations answered my CQ - some I was able to work - some I couldn't pick out of the QRN - hopefully, we'll connect in future events. Thanks to all the participants and thanks to the organizers. I'm looking forward to next month.
KB7MBI
Ten Tec Paragon II, 5w, GAP Titan vertical and managed contacts on 80,40,20,15 and 10m. Heard many East Coast stations coming in strong but unable to work them.
W2MFT
My first Spartan Sprint. Had fun with FT817 and delta loop.
N4KGL
This time I got my weight down by 0.64 lbs by using AAAs and ear buds. On 40 I worked MD, NY, VA, OH and MA. MA was the furthest for 1,160 mi or 580 mi per watt. On 80 I worked 2 X GA and the furthest was 261 miles for 261 mi per watt. The rig was the Sierra with 2 watts on 40 and 1 watt on 80 and a 135 foot doublet antenna. Lots of QRP fun!
NG7Z
Where was everyone? Must have been tough condx all around. Surprised to get anyone on 20M but raised five there. The rest were on 40M. Worked Alan, KB7MBI, all bands except 160M. Thanks Alan! He must have thought I was crazy moving him around like that. But hey, ya gotta do whatcha gotta do for qso's!
WA5BUC
Reconfigured my 20 meter EFHWA to a 40 meter vertical. With the FT-817 at 5w, worked K5JHP, K5GQ, and
K6CSL
I hate to say it, my XYL was keeping track of the World Series Baseball game. I heard a big whoop when Rentaria of the SF Giants hit that 3 run homer in the top of the 7th inning and that ended my attention to the radio for tonight. TNX to K2ZU up in WA for my one QSO on 40 this evening. I listened for a few minutes on 20 and it sounded dead at the start of the Sprint, so I went to 40. See you all next month.
K4ORD
40M seemed long, able to get WA easy but TX was hard, could not get 2 stations in TX to hear me. There was very little qrn on 40 & 80. made 6 qso's on 40M and 15 on 80M. Rig K2@5W, ant's were 40M & 80M dipoles. Thanks for all the qso's.
KD5GM
I had a good time working the 40 meter band and was surprised that I actually made a contact on the B&W-65, running 5 watts out.
K5JHP
Noise on bands was unbelievable. Almost no signals heard. Could copy some stations for a partial transmission then they would fade out. Sorry to those stations that I couldn't copy enough to qso. Maybe next month.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Soapbox Comments: October '10 Spartan Sprint
W8YMO
K3 @ 5 watts. Near Cleveland, OH.
WA4SQM
This was the black hole of Sprints! I heard ZERO activity on 20M and 40M was not a lot better here. The stations I did hear I could not raise, and QSB was significant. At first I thought I had radio or antenna issues, but I tried switching around all the gear and experienced the same results. Well... there's always next month!
AE6N
This was the first time I have operated the Sprint for a couple years. All contacts were on 40 meters. The band was very noisEy here in Arizona.
N4KGL
Rig: Sierra 2W on 40 mtr, 1W on 80 mtr Antenna: Doublet. Power 11 AA cells. This was my first Spartan. I enjoyed the QRP to QRP contacts.
K4BAI
FT1-MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. I was determined to participate this month despite cataract surgery on my "good eye" Monday morning. I have distoted vision in the other eye due to macular degeneration. I set up the program early and failed to check the comuter keying. When the contest period started, I discovered the computer wouldn't key the rig. This has happened once before, but I don't know why. After the first QSO, I rebooted the computer, but that didn't help, so I used my keyer and paddle for the entire two hours. 20M was open from CO west and north, but WG0AT was the only strong Sprinter heard. K7TQ was solid copy. I called a few other western stations without success and changed to 40M. 40M seemed very good, little noise, and little QRM. But there didn't seem to be the usual activity level and the skip zone was out as far as VA. West coast signals, particularly W7OM, were strong. I took off three minutes at 02Z for a state traffic net and tried 80M after the net. 80M w as also quiet with good signals out to TX, VA and IN, but noting from the ME. See you next month.
WB8LZG
Used the Big Rig tonight with the power turned down, to dipole @ 30ft. Had the K2 on the bench for recal. 20m was dead hr in Mich. at start of the sprint. 40m was vy noisy, es vy hard to pull some out of the mud. went to 80 es grabbed a couple Q's but didnt hr alot of activity. pulled the plug after an hr. see u all next time.
VE3MO
Wow, conditions were rough last night. I was receiving better signal reports then I was giving which makes me wonder if my QRN is locaL. 80m was my producing band but I was using a wire sloper cut for 20m and 40m to receive on and my windom, up 40 feet, to transmit on. Thanks to those who were persistent enough to stick with me.
KB2FEL
Ft817 set at 1w into a G5RV up about 55ft. I had a geat time and thanks for the event.
NG7Z
Well, another sprint is in the books. I finally broke the 30 Q barrier tonight. I started out on 20M and picked up five before the band died. Moved to 40M at 0110 and stayed there until the end. 40M was pretty busy up until 0200 and then things slowed WAY down. Thanks to Randy, K7TQ, for the only Q on 80M. Got two band contacts with K7HBN, W5ACM and WA5BKL. Texas was very well represented. See y'all next month.
KD0GAF
My first Sprint. Only managed two contacts in the short time I was able to play, but had a good time dragging out the PFR-3. I'll do better next month.
W5ACM
One more time with the heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to fewer contacts and judicious "CQ-ing". I was hoping for some time on 20M, but conditions only allowed one QSO with NG7Z up there. The majority of the QSOs were on 40M with lots of familiar calls like N4BP, AB9CA, K4BAI and W5ESE. The noise on 80M was terrible, but I did manage three QSOs before I ran back to 40M for a final QSO with K3RLL. This was a tough one. I am hoping for better conditions in November. Perhaps the LiPo batteries will go yet another month. We'll give it a try! The old vertical is doing fine, and the rebuilt micro-thin-plywood keyer paddle is holding up well. The weight varies from month to month due to the number of bands I operate. Three bands means three daughter boards, thus more weight.
K6CSL
My station is Tubby, home station on commercial power. A Yaesu FT-450 running 5W output to 1 of 3 antennas. A Delta Loop, an Indoor- end-fed, coaxial dipole that is mounted on the center ceiling beam of my mobile home. An Indoor Horizontal Square Loop 12ft on each side, mounted in the ceiling of my radio room. I live in a mobile home park that allows no visible antennas.
KF6U
Rig is Hendricks PFR-3A running 3W out with internal batteries. Antenna 180 ft horizontal delta loop at 30 ft. Worked 40 meters only. Experienced a lot of QSB, and band went long during last 30 min. Enjoyed the sprint and thanks to all who participated.
K3RLL
Conditions sounded better this evening so even though my time was limited, it was nice to make some contacts. Many thanks to those who pulled me out of the noise tonight.
AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to OCF 80m dp. Condx didn't seem to be too bad but weren't all that good either. Made no contacts on 20. Stayed there only a short time. Thought 20 might be weak when I could barely hear W1AW's Kw signal. Made 26 contacts on 40 and 9 on 80. Was a good evening despite the QSB. The noise seemed to be down a bit. Maybe winter condx will soon be here. The QSB made for especially tough copy of a couple of Q's - KD1JV being one of those. Sorry, Steve, but parts of your call kept getting sucked out every time - but we eventually made it. Thanks to everyone who stopped by - and for all the fills - and especially to those who do the work to make these sprints possible. Hope to hear you next month!
K5JHP
Someone turned off 20 after 10 minutes. 40 and 80 were good except for the QSB and noise here on the coast. Let's hope for less noise next month!
K7HBN
I used a Ten Tec R4020 on alkaline batteries, and I sent 5 watts as my power, but I think it was actually between 3 and 4 watts.
N4BP
In spite of working with our power company for months, my power line noise is about as bad as it's ever been. Apologies to those I could not copy tonight who were lost in the noise. Rig: K3. Antennas: A4S, 40/80 Trap Dipole.
WA5BUC
Went with my RockMight 20 tonight to keep the weight down. Heard some activity at the start. W5ESE. Guess the event starts too late for 20 to do much before it folds. Turned on my FT-817 to confirm the band was dead at about 0140Z. Let's see what next month brings.
N8WE
AB9CA was the best signal. N4BP, K5JHP, W5SNI, K3RLL, and tried hard to get KD1JV!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w to a 20M delta loop or a 40M extended double Zepp. My QSOs were roughly evenly split between 20, 40 and 80M. Nothing heard here on 15M. I had hopes of working several on all three bands, but no joy. Best signals: on 20M - K7TQ, on 40M - AB9CA and on 80M - W5ESE (full disclosure: Scott is pretty darn close). It was nice to hear several 1W signals. Had fun.
W5ESE
Had fun in the Spartan Sprint. First time back on the Sprint since June. Used an AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. 80m was the money band for me. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World.
AE4TC
Had a good time. Thanks to all who pulled me out of the noise. 20m was a disappointment, didn't hear a peep. Managed 13 contacts. 8 on 40m and 5 on 80m. Rig was a FT817, 5w into a ground mounted vertical.
NQ2W
Used my TenTec 1340 to the inverted vee at 40 feet. The band was in and out and short and long. N4BP and K4BAI were not as loud as usual. AB9CA was strong. Worked IN and TX. Heard W7OM - was loud - and then was gone. Thanks to everyone for the Q's and thanks to the organizers. Please listen for me during the NYQP - CU then or next month.
W1PID
I got home late from work and operated for 8 minutes and worked 6 stations on 40 meters. I haven't missed a Spartan Sprint in at least 10 years! Thanks all.
WA5RML
FT-817nd @5wts + 80/40M dipole; First Spartan Sprint in almost a year. Could only get on for the last 30 minutes – probably the worst time slot! Band conditions seemed to be very poor. At first, I was wondering whether I’d missed the event completely. I still managed to snag AB9CA (Dave), NG7Z (Paul), NQ2W (Tony?), and WB5BKL (Nick). Alabama, Washington, New York, and Texas in that order – go figure. Thanks, guys, for digging my signal out of the noise!
K3 @ 5 watts. Near Cleveland, OH.
WA4SQM
This was the black hole of Sprints! I heard ZERO activity on 20M and 40M was not a lot better here. The stations I did hear I could not raise, and QSB was significant. At first I thought I had radio or antenna issues, but I tried switching around all the gear and experienced the same results. Well... there's always next month!
AE6N
This was the first time I have operated the Sprint for a couple years. All contacts were on 40 meters. The band was very noisEy here in Arizona.
N4KGL
Rig: Sierra 2W on 40 mtr, 1W on 80 mtr Antenna: Doublet. Power 11 AA cells. This was my first Spartan. I enjoyed the QRP to QRP contacts.
K4BAI
FT1-MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. I was determined to participate this month despite cataract surgery on my "good eye" Monday morning. I have distoted vision in the other eye due to macular degeneration. I set up the program early and failed to check the comuter keying. When the contest period started, I discovered the computer wouldn't key the rig. This has happened once before, but I don't know why. After the first QSO, I rebooted the computer, but that didn't help, so I used my keyer and paddle for the entire two hours. 20M was open from CO west and north, but WG0AT was the only strong Sprinter heard. K7TQ was solid copy. I called a few other western stations without success and changed to 40M. 40M seemed very good, little noise, and little QRM. But there didn't seem to be the usual activity level and the skip zone was out as far as VA. West coast signals, particularly W7OM, were strong. I took off three minutes at 02Z for a state traffic net and tried 80M after the net. 80M w as also quiet with good signals out to TX, VA and IN, but noting from the ME. See you next month.
WB8LZG
Used the Big Rig tonight with the power turned down, to dipole @ 30ft. Had the K2 on the bench for recal. 20m was dead hr in Mich. at start of the sprint. 40m was vy noisy, es vy hard to pull some out of the mud. went to 80 es grabbed a couple Q's but didnt hr alot of activity. pulled the plug after an hr. see u all next time.
VE3MO
Wow, conditions were rough last night. I was receiving better signal reports then I was giving which makes me wonder if my QRN is locaL. 80m was my producing band but I was using a wire sloper cut for 20m and 40m to receive on and my windom, up 40 feet, to transmit on. Thanks to those who were persistent enough to stick with me.
KB2FEL
Ft817 set at 1w into a G5RV up about 55ft. I had a geat time and thanks for the event.
NG7Z
Well, another sprint is in the books. I finally broke the 30 Q barrier tonight. I started out on 20M and picked up five before the band died. Moved to 40M at 0110 and stayed there until the end. 40M was pretty busy up until 0200 and then things slowed WAY down. Thanks to Randy, K7TQ, for the only Q on 80M. Got two band contacts with K7HBN, W5ACM and WA5BKL. Texas was very well represented. See y'all next month.
KD0GAF
My first Sprint. Only managed two contacts in the short time I was able to play, but had a good time dragging out the PFR-3. I'll do better next month.
W5ACM
One more time with the heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to fewer contacts and judicious "CQ-ing". I was hoping for some time on 20M, but conditions only allowed one QSO with NG7Z up there. The majority of the QSOs were on 40M with lots of familiar calls like N4BP, AB9CA, K4BAI and W5ESE. The noise on 80M was terrible, but I did manage three QSOs before I ran back to 40M for a final QSO with K3RLL. This was a tough one. I am hoping for better conditions in November. Perhaps the LiPo batteries will go yet another month. We'll give it a try! The old vertical is doing fine, and the rebuilt micro-thin-plywood keyer paddle is holding up well. The weight varies from month to month due to the number of bands I operate. Three bands means three daughter boards, thus more weight.
K6CSL
My station is Tubby, home station on commercial power. A Yaesu FT-450 running 5W output to 1 of 3 antennas. A Delta Loop, an Indoor- end-fed, coaxial dipole that is mounted on the center ceiling beam of my mobile home. An Indoor Horizontal Square Loop 12ft on each side, mounted in the ceiling of my radio room. I live in a mobile home park that allows no visible antennas.
KF6U
Rig is Hendricks PFR-3A running 3W out with internal batteries. Antenna 180 ft horizontal delta loop at 30 ft. Worked 40 meters only. Experienced a lot of QSB, and band went long during last 30 min. Enjoyed the sprint and thanks to all who participated.
K3RLL
Conditions sounded better this evening so even though my time was limited, it was nice to make some contacts. Many thanks to those who pulled me out of the noise tonight.
AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to OCF 80m dp. Condx didn't seem to be too bad but weren't all that good either. Made no contacts on 20. Stayed there only a short time. Thought 20 might be weak when I could barely hear W1AW's Kw signal. Made 26 contacts on 40 and 9 on 80. Was a good evening despite the QSB. The noise seemed to be down a bit. Maybe winter condx will soon be here. The QSB made for especially tough copy of a couple of Q's - KD1JV being one of those. Sorry, Steve, but parts of your call kept getting sucked out every time - but we eventually made it. Thanks to everyone who stopped by - and for all the fills - and especially to those who do the work to make these sprints possible. Hope to hear you next month!
K5JHP
Someone turned off 20 after 10 minutes. 40 and 80 were good except for the QSB and noise here on the coast. Let's hope for less noise next month!
K7HBN
I used a Ten Tec R4020 on alkaline batteries, and I sent 5 watts as my power, but I think it was actually between 3 and 4 watts.
N4BP
In spite of working with our power company for months, my power line noise is about as bad as it's ever been. Apologies to those I could not copy tonight who were lost in the noise. Rig: K3. Antennas: A4S, 40/80 Trap Dipole.
WA5BUC
Went with my RockMight 20 tonight to keep the weight down. Heard some activity at the start. W5ESE. Guess the event starts too late for 20 to do much before it folds. Turned on my FT-817 to confirm the band was dead at about 0140Z. Let's see what next month brings.
N8WE
AB9CA was the best signal. N4BP, K5JHP, W5SNI, K3RLL, and tried hard to get KD1JV!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w to a 20M delta loop or a 40M extended double Zepp. My QSOs were roughly evenly split between 20, 40 and 80M. Nothing heard here on 15M. I had hopes of working several on all three bands, but no joy. Best signals: on 20M - K7TQ, on 40M - AB9CA and on 80M - W5ESE (full disclosure: Scott is pretty darn close). It was nice to hear several 1W signals. Had fun.
W5ESE
Had fun in the Spartan Sprint. First time back on the Sprint since June. Used an AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. 80m was the money band for me. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World.
AE4TC
Had a good time. Thanks to all who pulled me out of the noise. 20m was a disappointment, didn't hear a peep. Managed 13 contacts. 8 on 40m and 5 on 80m. Rig was a FT817, 5w into a ground mounted vertical.
NQ2W
Used my TenTec 1340 to the inverted vee at 40 feet. The band was in and out and short and long. N4BP and K4BAI were not as loud as usual. AB9CA was strong. Worked IN and TX. Heard W7OM - was loud - and then was gone. Thanks to everyone for the Q's and thanks to the organizers. Please listen for me during the NYQP - CU then or next month.
W1PID
I got home late from work and operated for 8 minutes and worked 6 stations on 40 meters. I haven't missed a Spartan Sprint in at least 10 years! Thanks all.
WA5RML
FT-817nd @5wts + 80/40M dipole; First Spartan Sprint in almost a year. Could only get on for the last 30 minutes – probably the worst time slot! Band conditions seemed to be very poor. At first, I was wondering whether I’d missed the event completely. I still managed to snag AB9CA (Dave), NG7Z (Paul), NQ2W (Tony?), and WB5BKL (Nick). Alabama, Washington, New York, and Texas in that order – go figure. Thanks, guys, for digging my signal out of the noise!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Soapbox Comments: September Spartan Sprint
KB5JO
K2 @ 5 watts to an 88-foot doublet.
WA5BUC
Was limited to 20 meters tonight. Seemed like a lot of QRN. Glad for the 3 Q's.
KØNWT
Home tonight on the G5RV. I heard NK6A in CA from GA tonight, but he couldn't hear my 5W. I did get to connect with NG7Z in WA on 2 bands.
K5JHP
Using K3 to a TA33jr for 20 and a 20 meter EDZ for 40 and 80. 20 yielded good results for the first half hour, 11 ctcs, with 10 on 40 and 2 on 80. All in all a fair night. Be back next month.
AB9CA
Rig was an old Icom IC-707 dialed back to 5w. Antenna was usual OCF 80m dp. Most of the activity seemed to be on 40. Tried 20 early but only 1 Q there. Did get 3 Q's on 80 late in the 'test - the rest were on 40. Lots of noise here with all the tropical activity. Know I missed a few that I just could not pull out. Total time was about a hour with a break or two in there. Thanks to all who stopped by and we'll look for you next month. Thanks to the guys who do the work to make it possible. Always a fun event!
WØLGU
Good conditions and great fun. A brief thunderstorm added to the adventure.
WA2OQJ
Yaesu Ft-817 @ various power levels - 1 QSO @ 500mw, 1 QSO @ 1 watt 3 QSO's @ 5 watts....Ant: 80 mtr Dipole laying on the roof...My 1st go at a Spartan Sprint, didnt even venture near 20 meters, 40 had most action that I could find although after some really great milliwatt success this past 2 weeks, I couldnt seem to buy at a contact at QRPp levels tonight (finally snagged W2SH/1 on 80 for my mw Q!) now that I have one under my belt I'll be back to actually produce a score next time!
K6DGW
Labor Day, didn't expect a huge amount of activity, but was somewhat surprised. 9 states. KX1 [w/tuner and 30m] and paddle with Li-Poly 800 mAh battery, ear buds. Half and half, 40 and 20.
NG7Z
Finally had a chance to do the sprint after many months. Started off SO2R on 20M and 40M but only one Q on 40. The rest were on 20M so stayed there for the first half hour then went to 40M. That yielded 16 contacts. CQ'd on 40 and 80 and picked up 2 on 80 until the end. Had several 2 band contacts and WA8ZBT on 3 bands. Didn't hear N4BP which was surprising. Usually Bob is an easy Q on 20 and 40. Nice to work familiar calls again. 80 should be better in October. CU next time.
KD9KC
Where to begin. Certainly not my best Spartan Sprint effort. I had a visitor in the shack, Ron - WT5RZ. Ron is a relatively new ham, has a Yaesu FT-817, and has never tried a CW contest, or even tried CW for that matter. Ron came by especially to watch me work the Spartan Sprint. Why he asked me to show him CW I don't know ... We spent as much time chatting as we did anything else. I did work 5 stations. I ran the whole contest at 2.5 watts. Usually I swap batteries in the middle of the sprint. I wanted to see if I could go the whole 2 hours on 1 battery. I did, but I am not sure it was a real test with only 5 contacts and a few CQs. As 15m was dead here, I started on 20m. First was N7TQ in Idaho, then KG7Z in Washington state, and last on 20m was AF4O who answered my CQ. I tried several more CQs on 20m with no luck, so I jumped to 40m. On 40m I worked W5HNS near San Antonio and WA8ZBT near Dallas, both Texans.. With about 30 minutes to go Ron and I looked at 80m, but didn't make any contacts. It was just too noisy. So we just chatted a little more. I either need to do this more often, or not at all.
W1PID
I operated about a half hour with an IC-7000 at 5W and an OCF dipole. Best DX was NK6A on 20M. Thanks all.
K4BAI
All three bands seemed to be in good condition. Activity was only fair on 20M, pretty good on 40, and almost NIL on 80. Did work K0NWT and K4ORD on 80. Thanks for all QSOs.
K4UPG
This was my second Sprint and the bands were much better. Due to rain I setup a portable station on my porch and ran my Sierra to a 44" doublet with peak at 20 ft and ends at 16.5 ft thanks to new Black Widow Crappie poles. It tuned up well and I was amazed to be hearing Eu stations on 40m again! Great to hear the ionosphere still has some bounce left in it! Did not make too many contacts but had fun reading the mail and listening to the various qso's from MI and some other contest that seemed to be going on at the same time. Worked 6 states last night but heard about about 10 Eu stations, 4 VE's and some Latin American SSB activity too. Fun way to spend the night.
NI8N
What a cool way to check out a new antenna. I ran a K3 at 5 watts into a new 40 meter delta loop. By plotting the sections worked, I could see where the main lobes were.
WA4SQM
Started on 20M but the band seemed to go pretty quick here. 40M was defintely the best band for last night. Running a little less than 2W, I was amazed at the great ears of the OP's, particularly W7OM -Atlanta to Seattle on that power on 40M is amazing! Thanks also to the patience of several stations, including W5HNS. The noise that my dogs can generate can really be distracting and it always seems to happen when I am on the air.
N4UN
ATS-3A at 5 W, Vertical Loop and OCF Dipole. LiPo battery pack, KX1 paddle, and ear buds. 20m was in better shape this month. 40m was very active, but not many SP stations heard. Only one Q on 80m, lots of QRN here. Nice signals from WA, AB, and CA on 20m. Thanks to all.
AI3G
Another fun sprint. KX1 @ 3 watts, longwire antenna indoors. Will try again next month.
W5ACM
The 200 mAh LiPo batteries in the ATS-3A are starting to fade! One cell was dropping fast just 20 minutes prior to the end of the event. I had to shut down completely 15 minutes early, but still had a great time. Twenty Meters tried to cooperate, and it was fun. However, 40M wasn’t bad and easily provided 10 of my 14 contacts. It was great to work W5HNS who recently moved out of Houston, and also WG0AT up in CO. There were lots of familiar callsigns and a few new ones – excellent! The old vertical is still doing well, but it looks like new batteries will be needed before next month.
NQ2W
Used my Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. Seems to be working okay. Pretty happy with the results and some stations actually answered my CQ SP. Thanks to everyone that participated and thanks to the organizers. Hope to see you all next month.
W4NJK
Most fun was when NY then MN responded to my CQSP. Antenna: 40M Half SQ wire ~25 feet.
AF40
My nearby field site is nice except got another visit from PD. Not a bad thing just a tad unnerving. Evidentially this is a place on a routine patrol because it was about the same time as the last visit. No big deal though, after i explain the unusual nature of what I'm doing this one said "carry on." 20 was closing down but held long enough to make a few contacts. 40 was good but the usual crowding and summer crashes. My pneumatic launcher made from an old fire extinguisher, metal pipe fittings and a pvc barrel proved to work well especially spraying wd40 down the barrel. Cleared an approx 100' tree trailing the #20 wire directly into the tree. This made for a nice 100' vertical with 5 radials thrown on the ground. I use a pvc capsule for the ammo. Fun to hear everyone. Cooler months coming and im ready for them. Been a long hot summer here.
KS4L
Using my new K3 at 5w into 80m inverted vee at 45'. Only had 45 minutes, but enjoyed 40m with moderate noise level and got 10 contacts there, then 80m with high noise and weak signals for 3 more contacts.
WB5BKL
K1 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + 20m delta loop. All but three of my Qs were on 20M. The K1 does not match the 40M extended double Zepp well. However, even with the big miss-match, I did get W0LGU, K4BAI and WA7OJY on both bands. This is also my first non-tubby submission. Note to self: Motorcycle batteries are heavy! Had fun.
K4ORD
Activity was much better than August made 9 qso's on 20M, 27 on 40M and 2 on 80M. 20M was pretty good, 40M had lots of qrn up to S9, 80M had heavy qrn. Rig K2@ 5W ant's were 40M and 160M dipoles and 20M wire vee. Hope to see everyone next month.
K7TQ
20 m was good for most of the time, even late, but few takers after 0130 Z. I even got an 80 m QSO.
K2 @ 5 watts to an 88-foot doublet.
WA5BUC
Was limited to 20 meters tonight. Seemed like a lot of QRN. Glad for the 3 Q's.
KØNWT
Home tonight on the G5RV. I heard NK6A in CA from GA tonight, but he couldn't hear my 5W. I did get to connect with NG7Z in WA on 2 bands.
K5JHP
Using K3 to a TA33jr for 20 and a 20 meter EDZ for 40 and 80. 20 yielded good results for the first half hour, 11 ctcs, with 10 on 40 and 2 on 80. All in all a fair night. Be back next month.
AB9CA
Rig was an old Icom IC-707 dialed back to 5w. Antenna was usual OCF 80m dp. Most of the activity seemed to be on 40. Tried 20 early but only 1 Q there. Did get 3 Q's on 80 late in the 'test - the rest were on 40. Lots of noise here with all the tropical activity. Know I missed a few that I just could not pull out. Total time was about a hour with a break or two in there. Thanks to all who stopped by and we'll look for you next month. Thanks to the guys who do the work to make it possible. Always a fun event!
WØLGU
Good conditions and great fun. A brief thunderstorm added to the adventure.
WA2OQJ
Yaesu Ft-817 @ various power levels - 1 QSO @ 500mw, 1 QSO @ 1 watt 3 QSO's @ 5 watts....Ant: 80 mtr Dipole laying on the roof...My 1st go at a Spartan Sprint, didnt even venture near 20 meters, 40 had most action that I could find although after some really great milliwatt success this past 2 weeks, I couldnt seem to buy at a contact at QRPp levels tonight (finally snagged W2SH/1 on 80 for my mw Q!) now that I have one under my belt I'll be back to actually produce a score next time!
K6DGW
Labor Day, didn't expect a huge amount of activity, but was somewhat surprised. 9 states. KX1 [w/tuner and 30m] and paddle with Li-Poly 800 mAh battery, ear buds. Half and half, 40 and 20.
NG7Z
Finally had a chance to do the sprint after many months. Started off SO2R on 20M and 40M but only one Q on 40. The rest were on 20M so stayed there for the first half hour then went to 40M. That yielded 16 contacts. CQ'd on 40 and 80 and picked up 2 on 80 until the end. Had several 2 band contacts and WA8ZBT on 3 bands. Didn't hear N4BP which was surprising. Usually Bob is an easy Q on 20 and 40. Nice to work familiar calls again. 80 should be better in October. CU next time.
KD9KC
Where to begin. Certainly not my best Spartan Sprint effort. I had a visitor in the shack, Ron - WT5RZ. Ron is a relatively new ham, has a Yaesu FT-817, and has never tried a CW contest, or even tried CW for that matter. Ron came by especially to watch me work the Spartan Sprint. Why he asked me to show him CW I don't know ... We spent as much time chatting as we did anything else. I did work 5 stations. I ran the whole contest at 2.5 watts. Usually I swap batteries in the middle of the sprint. I wanted to see if I could go the whole 2 hours on 1 battery. I did, but I am not sure it was a real test with only 5 contacts and a few CQs. As 15m was dead here, I started on 20m. First was N7TQ in Idaho, then KG7Z in Washington state, and last on 20m was AF4O who answered my CQ. I tried several more CQs on 20m with no luck, so I jumped to 40m. On 40m I worked W5HNS near San Antonio and WA8ZBT near Dallas, both Texans.
W1PID
I operated about a half hour with an IC-7000 at 5W and an OCF dipole. Best DX was NK6A on 20M. Thanks all.
K4BAI
All three bands seemed to be in good condition. Activity was only fair on 20M, pretty good on 40, and almost NIL on 80. Did work K0NWT and K4ORD on 80. Thanks for all QSOs.
K4UPG
This was my second Sprint and the bands were much better. Due to rain I setup a portable station on my porch and ran my Sierra to a 44" doublet with peak at 20 ft and ends at 16.5 ft thanks to new Black Widow Crappie poles. It tuned up well and I was amazed to be hearing Eu stations on 40m again! Great to hear the ionosphere still has some bounce left in it! Did not make too many contacts but had fun reading the mail and listening to the various qso's from MI and some other contest that seemed to be going on at the same time. Worked 6 states last night but heard about about 10 Eu stations, 4 VE's and some Latin American SSB activity too. Fun way to spend the night.
NI8N
What a cool way to check out a new antenna. I ran a K3 at 5 watts into a new 40 meter delta loop. By plotting the sections worked, I could see where the main lobes were.
WA4SQM
Started on 20M but the band seemed to go pretty quick here. 40M was defintely the best band for last night. Running a little less than 2W, I was amazed at the great ears of the OP's, particularly W7OM -Atlanta to Seattle on that power on 40M is amazing! Thanks also to the patience of several stations, including W5HNS. The noise that my dogs can generate can really be distracting and it always seems to happen when I am on the air.
N4UN
ATS-3A at 5 W, Vertical Loop and OCF Dipole. LiPo battery pack, KX1 paddle, and ear buds. 20m was in better shape this month. 40m was very active, but not many SP stations heard. Only one Q on 80m, lots of QRN here. Nice signals from WA, AB, and CA on 20m. Thanks to all.
AI3G
Another fun sprint. KX1 @ 3 watts, longwire antenna indoors. Will try again next month.
W5ACM
The 200 mAh LiPo batteries in the ATS-3A are starting to fade! One cell was dropping fast just 20 minutes prior to the end of the event. I had to shut down completely 15 minutes early, but still had a great time. Twenty Meters tried to cooperate, and it was fun. However, 40M wasn’t bad and easily provided 10 of my 14 contacts. It was great to work W5HNS who recently moved out of Houston, and also WG0AT up in CO. There were lots of familiar callsigns and a few new ones – excellent! The old vertical is still doing well, but it looks like new batteries will be needed before next month.
NQ2W
Used my Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. Seems to be working okay. Pretty happy with the results and some stations actually answered my CQ SP. Thanks to everyone that participated and thanks to the organizers. Hope to see you all next month.
W4NJK
Most fun was when NY then MN responded to my CQSP. Antenna: 40M Half SQ wire ~25 feet.
AF40
My nearby field site is nice except got another visit from PD. Not a bad thing just a tad unnerving. Evidentially this is a place on a routine patrol because it was about the same time as the last visit. No big deal though, after i explain the unusual nature of what I'm doing this one said "carry on." 20 was closing down but held long enough to make a few contacts. 40 was good but the usual crowding and summer crashes. My pneumatic launcher made from an old fire extinguisher, metal pipe fittings and a pvc barrel proved to work well especially spraying wd40 down the barrel. Cleared an approx 100' tree trailing the #20 wire directly into the tree. This made for a nice 100' vertical with 5 radials thrown on the ground. I use a pvc capsule for the ammo. Fun to hear everyone. Cooler months coming and im ready for them. Been a long hot summer here.
KS4L
Using my new K3 at 5w into 80m inverted vee at 45'. Only had 45 minutes, but enjoyed 40m with moderate noise level and got 10 contacts there, then 80m with high noise and weak signals for 3 more contacts.
WB5BKL
K1 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + 20m delta loop. All but three of my Qs were on 20M. The K1 does not match the 40M extended double Zepp well. However, even with the big miss-match, I did get W0LGU, K4BAI and WA7OJY on both bands. This is also my first non-tubby submission. Note to self: Motorcycle batteries are heavy! Had fun.
K4ORD
Activity was much better than August made 9 qso's on 20M, 27 on 40M and 2 on 80M. 20M was pretty good, 40M had lots of qrn up to S9, 80M had heavy qrn. Rig K2@ 5W ant's were 40M and 160M dipoles and 20M wire vee. Hope to see everyone next month.
K7TQ
20 m was good for most of the time, even late, but few takers after 0130 Z. I even got an 80 m QSO.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Soapbox Comments: August 2010 Spartan Sprint
K6DGW
I'm tubby, K2+SLA battery on our deck. 9 on 20, 4 on 40, had to QRT about 30min early.
K5JHP
Boy the bands were in terrible shape. Must have been the solar event of several days ago. Looking fwd to next month, without the solar activity.
KØNWT
FT-450AT at home in the AC into a g5rv running 5 watts. Lots of noise tonight, but still fun! Good to hear John K4BAI again. ThankS!
KB1PBA
Very bad QRM on 40m.
K6CSL
Beginning 20 was lively but very noisey. K7TQ had a big, big signal on 40. CU all again next month. Bert, K6CSL PS: My station is Tubby, but runs 5W.
WA5BUC
Good to work K4BAI, K5JHP, W4VAB, N4UN, WA9TZE, N5GW, & NQ2W. Also heard K5GQ but couldn't connect. Let's see what September brings.
AE7CG
Worked Andy, W5ACM in Houston, TX and Gene, N5GW in Vicksburg, MS. So nice that QRP operators listen for QRP signals!
NQ2W
Rig used this month was a TenTec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. The last few times I used this rig I didn't make any contacts so I re-aligned it. My efforts paid off as I was able to work each station I heard. Unfortunately, the 40m band conditions here weren't that great. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Hope to CU in the NAQP and next month during the SP.
K4BAI
20M was open at the start, but no one answered my CQs on that band and the two stations I could hear, K6DGW and NU7T couldn't hear me calling them. After ten minutes, I went to 40, which seemed OK, but activity was down. 19 QSOs on 40 . I could hear and work stations as close as TN. Best DX on 40 was K7TQ in ID and VE3MO. Best signal on 40 and 80 was WA9TZE, but Jim was chirpy. 80M was a pleasant surprise with 13 QSOs. Pretty good for August. Best DX on 80 was W2JEK in NJ and WB5BKL in TX. Rig: FT1000MP at 5W, WM-2 watt meter, 88' CF zepp, 40M dipole, 80M inverted vee dipole. Hope for more activity and therefore more fun next month. And hope to work you all in NAQP CW this Saturday.
W1PID
20 meters was long at the very beginning of the sprint. I worked K7TQ in ID, NU7T in NV, K6DGW in CA and W7OM in WA in the first ten minutes of the sprint. Periodically the band went dead. It went long in several waves during the next hour. I quit after about 40 minutes, but listened on an hour for another half hour. I ran the FT-817 and an OCF dipole. Thanks for all the QSOs.
N1VWD
I have been away for a while, good to be back, I had a good time. IC-703+ @ 5W into a Windom at about 35 feet.
N4UN
KX1 at 4 W into an OCF dipole at 25 feet. External AA battery pack, Palm mini paddle, and ear buds. Started off on 20m with no luck. Did hear K6DGW and NU7T, but they could not copy me. On to 40m for a few contacts, but lots of QSB. Stayed too long on 20 and 40 searching. On 80m there was lots of activity. Better luck here even with 4 watts; surprising to me. Thanks much to all.
WA4SQM
20M band was pretty quiet here. 40M was typically noisy with summertime static.
K6APW
Weak propagation. Heard several participants on 20 and 40 meters but almost buried by QRN.
N5GW
K1 with paddlette on battery to hb tuner and cfz. Too hot for outdoors (heat index 107).
W5ACM
Band conditions were not quite as reasonable for the sprint this month compared to July. The QSB on 20M was a bit difficult, but I got nine contacts before moving down to 40M. The ATS-3A continues to perform well. The two 200-maH LiPo's were charged after the July sprint and then again just before the start time for the August event, and held up with no problems, even with a fair amount of CQ ops. Unlike last month, the conditions on 40M were not as good as expected, but when I moved to 80M, I could only make one contact with K4BAI before the noise level got to me. It was an exciting Spartan Sprint! Three contacts were with stations running less than three Watts, including KI6J at one Watt and AE7CG and WA4SQM at two Watts. Nice!
W8YMO
Elecraft K3 near Cleveland, OH.
WA9TZE
5W to Kenwood TS-870 to a 3 el beam at 50 feet. Enjoyed getting back in the Sprints again. 20M, had 9 QSOs AND 6 states. And on 40m had 19 QSOs and 13 states. 80M had a lot of QRN due to approaching storms, but got 10 QSOs and 8 states. See you next month.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + 20m delta loop. Worked a few new (to me) calls and got WA9TZE on three bands. Though most of my Qs were on 20m, it seemed pretty tough to me. Had fun.
KD2MX
Got off to a quick start on 20M as the band was long. Worked NU7T, K7TQ, K5JHP & N5GW in quick succession. K6DGW was very loud here but he didn't have a clue that I was there. Tried for a good while to work him and then the band dropped out. Nothing heard on 40M. Tried some CQs to no avail. Just used my FT-897 @5watts into the home big loop.
AE4TC
This was a challenging sprint for me. I felt like my ears were going to bleed at the end of it. 5 QSO's on 20m the best dx was W7OM in Wa. 2 QSO's on 40m and had to break out the ZM2 tuner for 80m were I was able to make 5 more QSO's. Total QSO's 12 running a FT817 @ 5w into a ground mounted vertical with 40 radials.
K4ORD
Made 5 QSOs on 20M best DW was WA, 10 on 40M and 10 on 80M. The QRN was low on 80M for a change. Near the end on 40M the QRM was very bad from digital signals or whatever it was. Rig was K2 @ 5W ANTs were 160M and 40M dipoles and 20M wire vee. Thanks to all for the qso's, CU next month.
WA8HSB
Business travel took me and my KX-1 & Buddistick to Umatilla, OR this month. Operated from McNary Beach overlooking the Columbia River just upriver from McNary Dam. Nice view and weather! It was interesting operating from the NW. Had 4 Qs on 20m and 2 Qs on 40m. Heard a couple of East Coast stations on 20m; W1PID and one from ME but, signals weren't strong enough to make a go.
I'm tubby, K2+SLA battery on our deck. 9 on 20, 4 on 40, had to QRT about 30min early.
K5JHP
Boy the bands were in terrible shape. Must have been the solar event of several days ago. Looking fwd to next month, without the solar activity.
KØNWT
FT-450AT at home in the AC into a g5rv running 5 watts. Lots of noise tonight, but still fun! Good to hear John K4BAI again. ThankS!
KB1PBA
Very bad QRM on 40m.
K6CSL
Beginning 20 was lively but very noisey. K7TQ had a big, big signal on 40. CU all again next month. Bert, K6CSL PS: My station is Tubby, but runs 5W.
WA5BUC
Good to work K4BAI, K5JHP, W4VAB, N4UN, WA9TZE, N5GW, & NQ2W. Also heard K5GQ but couldn't connect. Let's see what September brings.
AE7CG
Worked Andy, W5ACM in Houston, TX and Gene, N5GW in Vicksburg, MS. So nice that QRP operators listen for QRP signals!
NQ2W
Rig used this month was a TenTec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. The last few times I used this rig I didn't make any contacts so I re-aligned it. My efforts paid off as I was able to work each station I heard. Unfortunately, the 40m band conditions here weren't that great. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Hope to CU in the NAQP and next month during the SP.
K4BAI
20M was open at the start, but no one answered my CQs on that band and the two stations I could hear, K6DGW and NU7T couldn't hear me calling them. After ten minutes, I went to 40, which seemed OK, but activity was down. 19 QSOs on 40 . I could hear and work stations as close as TN. Best DX on 40 was K7TQ in ID and VE3MO. Best signal on 40 and 80 was WA9TZE, but Jim was chirpy. 80M was a pleasant surprise with 13 QSOs. Pretty good for August. Best DX on 80 was W2JEK in NJ and WB5BKL in TX. Rig: FT1000MP at 5W, WM-2 watt meter, 88' CF zepp, 40M dipole, 80M inverted vee dipole. Hope for more activity and therefore more fun next month. And hope to work you all in NAQP CW this Saturday.
W1PID
20 meters was long at the very beginning of the sprint. I worked K7TQ in ID, NU7T in NV, K6DGW in CA and W7OM in WA in the first ten minutes of the sprint. Periodically the band went dead. It went long in several waves during the next hour. I quit after about 40 minutes, but listened on an hour for another half hour. I ran the FT-817 and an OCF dipole. Thanks for all the QSOs.
N1VWD
I have been away for a while, good to be back, I had a good time. IC-703+ @ 5W into a Windom at about 35 feet.
N4UN
KX1 at 4 W into an OCF dipole at 25 feet. External AA battery pack, Palm mini paddle, and ear buds. Started off on 20m with no luck. Did hear K6DGW and NU7T, but they could not copy me. On to 40m for a few contacts, but lots of QSB. Stayed too long on 20 and 40 searching. On 80m there was lots of activity. Better luck here even with 4 watts; surprising to me. Thanks much to all.
WA4SQM
20M band was pretty quiet here. 40M was typically noisy with summertime static.
K6APW
Weak propagation. Heard several participants on 20 and 40 meters but almost buried by QRN.
N5GW
K1 with paddlette on battery to hb tuner and cfz. Too hot for outdoors (heat index 107).
W5ACM
Band conditions were not quite as reasonable for the sprint this month compared to July. The QSB on 20M was a bit difficult, but I got nine contacts before moving down to 40M. The ATS-3A continues to perform well. The two 200-maH LiPo's were charged after the July sprint and then again just before the start time for the August event, and held up with no problems, even with a fair amount of CQ ops. Unlike last month, the conditions on 40M were not as good as expected, but when I moved to 80M, I could only make one contact with K4BAI before the noise level got to me. It was an exciting Spartan Sprint! Three contacts were with stations running less than three Watts, including KI6J at one Watt and AE7CG and WA4SQM at two Watts. Nice!
W8YMO
Elecraft K3 near Cleveland, OH.
WA9TZE
5W to Kenwood TS-870 to a 3 el beam at 50 feet. Enjoyed getting back in the Sprints again. 20M, had 9 QSOs AND 6 states. And on 40m had 19 QSOs and 13 states. 80M had a lot of QRN due to approaching storms, but got 10 QSOs and 8 states. See you next month.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + 20m delta loop. Worked a few new (to me) calls and got WA9TZE on three bands. Though most of my Qs were on 20m, it seemed pretty tough to me. Had fun.
KD2MX
Got off to a quick start on 20M as the band was long. Worked NU7T, K7TQ, K5JHP & N5GW in quick succession. K6DGW was very loud here but he didn't have a clue that I was there. Tried for a good while to work him and then the band dropped out. Nothing heard on 40M. Tried some CQs to no avail. Just used my FT-897 @5watts into the home big loop.
AE4TC
This was a challenging sprint for me. I felt like my ears were going to bleed at the end of it. 5 QSO's on 20m the best dx was W7OM in Wa. 2 QSO's on 40m and had to break out the ZM2 tuner for 80m were I was able to make 5 more QSO's. Total QSO's 12 running a FT817 @ 5w into a ground mounted vertical with 40 radials.
K4ORD
Made 5 QSOs on 20M best DW was WA, 10 on 40M and 10 on 80M. The QRN was low on 80M for a change. Near the end on 40M the QRM was very bad from digital signals or whatever it was. Rig was K2 @ 5W ANTs were 160M and 40M dipoles and 20M wire vee. Thanks to all for the qso's, CU next month.
WA8HSB
Business travel took me and my KX-1 & Buddistick to Umatilla, OR this month. Operated from McNary Beach overlooking the Columbia River just upriver from McNary Dam. Nice view and weather! It was interesting operating from the NW. Had 4 Qs on 20m and 2 Qs on 40m. Heard a couple of East Coast stations on 20m; W1PID and one from ME but, signals weren't strong enough to make a go.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Soapbox Comments: July 2010 Spartan Sprint
K3RLL
FT817 to G5RVjr - Nice to hear some really, really strong QRP signals tonight on 40 meters for the Sprint. Thanks to those who pulled me out of the noise tonight.
K7TQ
K3, Force 12 C4SXL @ 60 feet. Good conditions this month. 20 m lasted over an hour and 40 was decent too. Got K4BAI, NU7T, and AB0CD on 20 and 40 m. Had a couple of non-Spartan Sprinters stop by for a short chat.
WA5BUC
Fun Sprint. Rig: FT-817 2W to a 40 meter EFHWA up about 30'.
KØNWT
PFR-3A for a couple, FT450 for the rest, all 5W;50'Speaker wire EFZ + G5RV; all battery power; Great Fun!
K6CSL
Again tonight I started on 10m with no luck, moved to 15m, no luck their either, then moved on to 20m and 40m. Both 20 and 40 were quite noisey here this evening.
W2VV
FT-817ND @ 5W into an 80 foot zip-cord dipole at 50 feet. I was backyard portable in Ohio, visiting family for the 4th. I got a late start but managed to make seven contacts on 40m and 80m. 80m was very noisy here but 40m was much better. Thanks everyone for another fun sprint.
ABØCD
Rough conditions, but nice challenge for me. Of course, I was fired up for the first summer 20 meter foxhunt and was wondering why I wasn't hearing KT5E or N0UR when it dawned on me it was Spartan Sprint night and the fox hunt was set for Tuesday! 3Qs on 20 and 8Qs on 40. Elecraft K-2 into homebrew 88-foot doublet at 25-feet fed with 300 ohm twin-lead/LDG 4:1 balun.
W5ACM
Band conditions were quite reasonable for the sprint this month. All of the QRN from the stormsaround Houston was gone by 8PM, and although the QSB on 20M was a bit difficult, I still got five contacts before moving down to 40M. The ATS-3A continues to perform well. The two 200-maH LiPo's were charged just before the start time, and held up with no problems, even with a fair amount of CQ ops. There was no need to move to 80M, and I noticed that several stations on 40M were quite active right up to the end. With the exception of a QRO station on 7040 that never ID'ed, and appeared to be testing/tuning an amplifier, it was an excellent Spartan Sprint!
WA3FAE
A little more challenging than Field Day, the noise level was higher and QSB was more prevalent. Everybody seemed to roll down to the next band at the same time. Must have been lousy conditions at their location too! Good time and good perseverance by all operators to make the contact.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, zepp, dipole, inverted vee. Activity much better this month. 20M was good for the first half hour. 40M was excellent. 80M had high QRN, but still made QSOs as far away as PA and IL. Hope to work many of you in IARU HF contest this weekend as W4AN from the QTH of W8JI.
AB9CA
Rig was ATS-3 at 3w with 8 pack of AA NiMH for power. One pack lasted the whole sprint but they did seem to be getting tired near the end. 20 seemed in good shape - 26 q's there. The band was maybe a bit long with q's from CA, NV, DE, 3 from ON, MA, ME and some other longish ones. 40 seemed to have decent prop - 30 q's - but the noise was pretty bad. Did not find much activity on 80, only 6 q's there. Worked WA8ZBT on 3 bands, think he was the only 3 bander tonight. Worked W2SH, WA3FAE, K4BAI, AF4O, W5ACM, WB5BKL, NQ2W, K4ORD, W9CJS, AE4TC, W4VHH, and maybe one or two others that I have overlooked, on 2 bands. There seemed to be more activity than I've heard for a while. Good to hear so many familiar calls and especially good to hear some new ones in there. If you are new, welcome, and hope to hear you lots more. As always - thanks go to the guys who do the work to make these fun evenings possible!
WA5BDU
Fun! This was my second or third Spartan Sprint. I slimmed down a little by making a paper clip and bottle cap paddle and a battery bank of three small LiPo cells in a box. Rig is an ATS-3. My exchange was RST - AR - 5W. QSOs came about 50/50 on 20 and 40 meters. A fair amount of QRN on 40, otherwise conditions were OK.
K4UPG
My first attempt at the SP. Always wanted to play but being antenna restricted and having a church mission team meeting on the first Monday each month normally restrict my chances. Took advantage of the 4th of July day off to get an antenna up temporarily and give it a go. Wish I could play more and use a real antenna instead of a portable low NVIS type sky hook. Enjoyed the challenge!
N3ZL
Fun two hours, brought back memories of operating in some spartan sprints a few years ago before I was ready to operate in full blown cw contests. Seemed to me as if everyone was staying on 40m and not moving to 80m, but maybe I just missed them when I took a quick break to work a few DX stations on 20m.
AI3G
KX-1 at 3 watts, antenna end fed wire indoors. Had fun again with QRP. Thanks to K4BAI for his patience with my signal.
WA8MTI
This time conditions were much improved. The FT817nd, T1 tuner and LDG 4:1 balun fed my 80m doublet on 80, 40 and 20. I used a 7AH battery for 5 watts. Think next month I'll just use the internal batteries and try 1 or 2.5w and get the weight down to 3lbs 12.5oz. Thanks to all who worked me and my rusty fist. Was using a newAmerican Morse Iambic key and after using a paddle for 40+ years, I just couldn't get the hang of it.
W1PID
I ran a DSW40 with 2 watts to an OCF dipole for about 20 minutes. Later I went on 20 meters with the tubby rig just for fun and to see how 20 was. I made 5 more QSOs, but didn't add them to my score. Thanks all. CU next month.
AF4O
My first Spartan Sprint. I have a place not far from my house on the edge of town behind an unused building at the edge of a long field. Ive been there several times for portable operation where going to the parks was not feasible. I wondered how long it would be before i got a visit from the PD. This time it happened. He said he was just checking out the vehicle. I told him what i was doing and showed him my HB-1A. He asked how far i had talked so far. I asked if i was harming anything and he did not mind at all, even saying he was sorry he bothered me. Of course i said he wasn't bothering me. I guess they have to check on nuts sitting in the back of their trucks behind abandoned buildings near dark :-). Antenna was a long wire about 65' with a approx 30 ground wire and L tuner. A short video on my youtube channel (plantopguy5) soon.
NQ2W
Started out on 10 meters - listened and called - nothing. Went to 15 meters - listened and called - nothing. Went to 20 meters and made 5 Q's. Down to 40 meters and made 8 more. New rig and antennas out in the weather make a big difference - 40/20-meter inverted vee/fan at 40 feet and 2-element phased 10-meter quad at 25 feet on roof mounted, 8-foot, homebrew quad tower - see FD '10 soapbox for picture. Cool set-up but I'm not completely satisfied, yet. Stay tuned as I'm thinking about some improvements...Thanks for hearing me and thanks to everyone that helps make this Sprint possible.
AE4TC
Had a great time. Was able to reduce my station weight this month with a smaller power supply and improved the number of contacts this Sprint. 19 total Q's, 3 on 20 and the rest on 40m with 12 different states. I was using a FT817, 5w into a Hustler vertical. Thanks!
W9CJS
80 M sounded dead but opened up an hour into the sprint. 40M was hopping the entire 2 hours. I use my IC-703 @ 5w. I'm amazed that some of the stations were running near 1 watt and I could hear them and work them. Like most ops I also have a 100 watt transceiver but there's something about the challenge of QRP that I enjoy.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + 20m delta loop. All my Qs were on 20 and 40m. There were a couple I just could not pull out on 20m - my apologies. Usually, I only make one or two contacts with TX but this time there were 5. Activity seemed up a little - which is always good. Had fun.
K4ORD
Had company so only able to get on for last 46 minutes, nothing heard on 20m , on 40m made 9 QSO'S and on 80m made 1. Best dx was K7TQ, ID & AB0CD, CO. Rig, K2 @ 5W and ant's were 40M & 160M dipoles. Thanks to all, cu next month.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Soapbox Comments: June 2010 Spartan Sprint
K4PQC
Two watts using an A T S -3 and 160 Meter horizontal loop at 30.' Band conditions were fairly good on 20 meters (9 contacts) and just fair on 40 (6 contacts.) 15 total contacts with 8 different States including WA. Even though band conditions were good I was not able to start until just before the beginning of the second hour. Are the Spartan Sprints fun or what? Thanks to all who make them happen!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + delta loops for 20, 15 & 10M. Nice to have Qs with the four corners: ME, WA, CA and FL. Most were on 20M with a few on 40M and one each on 10 and 15M - thanks to K4BAI. Worked John on 10, 15, and 40M, but never heard him on 20M. 80M yielded zip here. I tried to publicize the sprint locally (HLARC, AQRP, QRPadillos), but only worked one other Texan, W5ACM. I could hear folks working Scott, W5ESE, but I never even heard a whisper of his signal. Had fun.
K4ORD
The bands were in great shape, worked K4BAI on 5 bands and WA8ZBT on 3 20m,15m and 10m pays to check the higher bands this time of year you never know, HI. 80m, 1 QSO; 40m, 15 QSOs; 20m, 15 QSOs; 15m, 2 QSOs; and 10m, 1 QSO. Rig: K2 @ 5W. ANTs: 80m and 160m dipoles and 20m vee. Thanks to all and looking forward to the July sprint.
W5ESE
I used an AT Sprint 3 and a 300' Horizontal Loop this month. All contacts were on 20 meters. Conditions seems to be okay. Thanks everyone for the contacts.
K7TQ
Good time on 20 for first 1/2 hour. My 40 m antenna was down so that was end of this month's Spartan Sprint.
KD2MX
Not much time tonight but enjoyed what time I had to spend. Conditions on 20M were pretty good and signals were strong. Managed one QSO on 15m. 40M was very noisy and I didn't want to play there. Just used my FT-897 @5watts into the home big loop.
K5GQ
Dipole for both 20 & 40m. Signals were up and down on 20M. Just could not get a good run started. On 40 M there were thunder storms in the area; just enough static to make it hard to work stations. Then the rig developed a keying problem. It was an open on one of the legs in the SM connector. (Just when I was starting to work a few calls.) Worked three stations on both bands.
NQ2W
Started out with my Ten Tec 1340 but no one heard me - gotta check the alignment. In desperation I switched to the ole Icom-745 and made three Q's. Unfortunately, my weight more than tripled. Hopefully, next month will be better - most likely will be using a new rig hooked up to antennas that are actually outside.
AE4TC
Using a FT817 at 5w into a ground mounted Hustler 6BTV with 40 ground radials. 7 Q's on 40m and 6 Q's on 20m. I heard someone on 15 but not long enough to make a contact. Had a great time.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W output, TH6DXX stuck south, 88' center fed zepp, 40M half wave dipole, 80M inverted vee dipole. Took 20 minutes out at 0200Z for a CW traffic net. All five bands were open. Thanks to K4ORD for the tip on 10 and 15M. QSOs per band: 80: 2; 40: 27; 20: 9; 15: 3; 10: 3. There didn't seem to be much of a skip zone and I was able to work NC, TN and FL on 20M and another GA station, AL, TN, NC, and FL on 40M. 40 and 80 had a lot of QRN and could find only K4ORD and WA8ZBT there. Had five band QSOs with K4ORD and WA8ZBT and also worked WB5BKL on 10 and 15M. Still could use more activity. Thanks for all QSOs and CU next month.
N4BP
Good opening on 20M. 40M very noisy with local thunderstorms.
W1PID
I ran an icom 7000 at 5W and an OCF dipole. Six QSOs on 20M, six QSOs on 40M and two QSOs on 80m. I operated for about half an hour. The bands aren't great, but the real issue is lack of participation. Thanks all.
W5ACM
Like so many previous months, I was hoping for some 20M activity, and I got it! Conditions on 20M were curious. I started on 20M, made some contacts, thought it was gone, went to 40M, got tired of the noise, and went back to 20M. MORE contacts! Finally, about 90 minutes into the event, I gave up, relented, and headed back to 40M. A VERY patient NF0R tried hard to get my call, but the batteries were headed south... I was down to 1W, and knew that if I kept trying, one or both of the LiPo's would die. That was it! Thanks to all! The ATS-3a and backyard vertical did well, even with some above-average CQ-calling ops. The two LiPo, 200 mAh batteries, held up well. The good news is that they survived, and will be good to go in July.
K5JHP
Bad night, lots of noise and only a few stations on, maybe better next month.
K6CSL
Bands 20 and 40 in very poor shape for this one. Almost every station heard here was weak and unstable with severe QSB.
Two watts using an A T S -3 and 160 Meter horizontal loop at 30.' Band conditions were fairly good on 20 meters (9 contacts) and just fair on 40 (6 contacts.) 15 total contacts with 8 different States including WA. Even though band conditions were good I was not able to start until just before the beginning of the second hour. Are the Spartan Sprints fun or what? Thanks to all who make them happen!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + delta loops for 20, 15 & 10M. Nice to have Qs with the four corners: ME, WA, CA and FL. Most were on 20M with a few on 40M and one each on 10 and 15M - thanks to K4BAI. Worked John on 10, 15, and 40M, but never heard him on 20M. 80M yielded zip here. I tried to publicize the sprint locally (HLARC, AQRP, QRPadillos), but only worked one other Texan, W5ACM. I could hear folks working Scott, W5ESE, but I never even heard a whisper of his signal. Had fun.
K4ORD
The bands were in great shape, worked K4BAI on 5 bands and WA8ZBT on 3 20m,15m and 10m pays to check the higher bands this time of year you never know, HI. 80m, 1 QSO; 40m, 15 QSOs; 20m, 15 QSOs; 15m, 2 QSOs; and 10m, 1 QSO. Rig: K2 @ 5W. ANTs: 80m and 160m dipoles and 20m vee. Thanks to all and looking forward to the July sprint.
W5ESE
I used an AT Sprint 3 and a 300' Horizontal Loop this month. All contacts were on 20 meters. Conditions seems to be okay. Thanks everyone for the contacts.
K7TQ
Good time on 20 for first 1/2 hour. My 40 m antenna was down so that was end of this month's Spartan Sprint.
KD2MX
Not much time tonight but enjoyed what time I had to spend. Conditions on 20M were pretty good and signals were strong. Managed one QSO on 15m. 40M was very noisy and I didn't want to play there. Just used my FT-897 @5watts into the home big loop.
K5GQ
Dipole for both 20 & 40m. Signals were up and down on 20M. Just could not get a good run started. On 40 M there were thunder storms in the area; just enough static to make it hard to work stations. Then the rig developed a keying problem. It was an open on one of the legs in the SM connector. (Just when I was starting to work a few calls.) Worked three stations on both bands.
NQ2W
Started out with my Ten Tec 1340 but no one heard me - gotta check the alignment. In desperation I switched to the ole Icom-745 and made three Q's. Unfortunately, my weight more than tripled. Hopefully, next month will be better - most likely will be using a new rig hooked up to antennas that are actually outside.
AE4TC
Using a FT817 at 5w into a ground mounted Hustler 6BTV with 40 ground radials. 7 Q's on 40m and 6 Q's on 20m. I heard someone on 15 but not long enough to make a contact. Had a great time.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W output, TH6DXX stuck south, 88' center fed zepp, 40M half wave dipole, 80M inverted vee dipole. Took 20 minutes out at 0200Z for a CW traffic net. All five bands were open. Thanks to K4ORD for the tip on 10 and 15M. QSOs per band: 80: 2; 40: 27; 20: 9; 15: 3; 10: 3. There didn't seem to be much of a skip zone and I was able to work NC, TN and FL on 20M and another GA station, AL, TN, NC, and FL on 40M. 40 and 80 had a lot of QRN and could find only K4ORD and WA8ZBT there. Had five band QSOs with K4ORD and WA8ZBT and also worked WB5BKL on 10 and 15M. Still could use more activity. Thanks for all QSOs and CU next month.
N4BP
Good opening on 20M. 40M very noisy with local thunderstorms.
W1PID
I ran an icom 7000 at 5W and an OCF dipole. Six QSOs on 20M, six QSOs on 40M and two QSOs on 80m. I operated for about half an hour. The bands aren't great, but the real issue is lack of participation. Thanks all.
W5ACM
Like so many previous months, I was hoping for some 20M activity, and I got it! Conditions on 20M were curious. I started on 20M, made some contacts, thought it was gone, went to 40M, got tired of the noise, and went back to 20M. MORE contacts! Finally, about 90 minutes into the event, I gave up, relented, and headed back to 40M. A VERY patient NF0R tried hard to get my call, but the batteries were headed south... I was down to 1W, and knew that if I kept trying, one or both of the LiPo's would die. That was it! Thanks to all! The ATS-3a and backyard vertical did well, even with some above-average CQ-calling ops. The two LiPo, 200 mAh batteries, held up well. The good news is that they survived, and will be good to go in July.
K5JHP
Bad night, lots of noise and only a few stations on, maybe better next month.
K6CSL
Bands 20 and 40 in very poor shape for this one. Almost every station heard here was weak and unstable with severe QSB.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Soapbox Comments: May 2010 Spartan Sprint
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp + 20 delta loop. My son helped me hang a 20m wire delta loop which worked well once I remembered to switch to it. Most of my Qs were on 20M. 40 and 80m were not as productive here.I had one late Q (not included in my total) and two that were "odd." Worked K4BAI on three bands. Had fun.
K4PQC
Two watts using an ATS-3 and 160 Meter horizontal loop at 30'. Band conditions were fairly good on 40 meters (18 contacts) and just fair on 80 (4 contacts.) I apologize to K9VIY for failing to make contact, we tried 5 or 6 times calling each other never making an exchange....
W5ACM
Two days before the event, the key paddle on my ATS-3A micro-weight transceiver broke off. Since this 1/32"-thick plywood paddle is integral to the case, it was not something to be replaced, but repaired. A straight pin, some super glue and five-minute epoxy did the job. It was also a good opportunity to clean the copper-sheet key contacts and redo the alignment and spacing. Hopefully my CW sounded a bit cleaner for this Spartan Sprint. It was nice to make a few contacts on 20M prior to the obligatory move to 40M. Power out at the beginning of the two-hour period was 3W, and only declined to 2.5W by the end. The 200 mAh LiPo's are doing well. Four of the 12 stations worked were running less than 5W. That was good to hear!
W9CJS
Used the IC-703 on battery power. The low battery indicator came on just as the contest period ended. I surely enjoy the Spartan Sprints ... thanks to all.
K4ORD
Started on 20M made 11 qso''s in first 22 minutes then seemed to run out of new stations, on 40M made 12 contacts & on 80M made 8. Rig K2 @ 5w ants 160M & 40M dipoles and 20M wire vee beam. Thanks for all the QSOs.
NQ2W
I listened and called. I called and listened. Heard some stations but no one heard me. One station answered my CQ but I couldn't pull him out of the mud. Using a Ten Tec 1340 at 3W to a dipole in the attic wasn't cuttin' the mustard this time - antenna work is in process - maybe next month. Keep listenin.'
W2SH
This was my first sprint in quite a while. Only nine QSOs, but they comprised seven SPCs. Got a late start and 20m had already gone to bed. 40m was noisy but do-able. I managed three QSOs on 80m, but the noise was so bad that my ears hurt. Returning to 40m I found that the band had gone very long. There was Doc, KØEVZ, in NM, a very readable 559. I switched from my 80m dipole to the inverted L (85' up and 85' out, hung from a tall tree) I use on 160m and nailed him. It took me 20 minutes to bag my last contact. I could hear N6VOH in CA fairly well, but stations much closer to him, and not me, were getting answered. I kept calling, struggled through a couple of his QRZs, heard him sending pieces of my callsign, and finally, two minutes before the party ended, the QSO occurred. A big thank-you to Barry for hanging in with me. I went to bed a happy camper after getting my 5 Watts across those 2,428 miles.
K7RE
I used my ATS IIIB and 8 NIMH AA cells. Antenna on 20M was my triband beam up 30 feet. I cranked it down due to our high winds (55 MPH). On 40M I used a simple dipole inverted V up 40 feet at the center. Power out was about 3W. I haven't done this event in many months, and I was really happy getting back into the SP. If you need a QRP SD QSL, please send an SASE, or use LOTW.
KFØN
Rig: ATS-3B at 3 watts to a vertical 240' loop up 35 to 50 feet. The contest started out with some fairly bleak signal strengths on 20 Meters. Signal strengths varied during a single exchange from 579 to just below the noise much of the time and that caused some interesting conditions! I know I missed some guys who I simply could not copy. After a handful of contacts on 20M I QSY'ed to 40M which was the most productive watering hole for the evening. The QRN wasn't bad for May and gave 21 QSO's. My best DX for the evening was WA7OJY and N6VOH in California. Thanks for pulling my tiny signal out of the noise guys; I know it was more like ESP than a contest exchange! NU7T had a great 1-watt signal from Nevada and K7RE had a good 3-watt signal from South Dakota, both very rare states for QRPer's! All in all, a very enjoyable evening. Thanks so much to all who stopped by and made it a great contest. I hope we can do it again in June.
KF7ADB
K1 to EFHW up about 40’. Worked 20/40/80. Biggest signals were K4BAI, K4PQC, and K4ORD. Best DX was ABØCD in CO. Thanks for the QSOs. See you next month.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W output, TH6DXX, zepp, inverted vee, dipole. 20 meters seemed almost dead before 0100Z, but it came alive around 14060 when the contest period started with good signals from New England west to MN, CO and TX. Stations as close as NC were workable, but most sprinters apparently skipped 20M. 8 QSOs in 18 mins on 20. 40 was pretty good all over with little discernable skip zone. QSOs made as far away as ON, NH, MN. CO. 31 QSOs in about one hour on 40M. 80M was noisy, but signals were pretty good. Worked from NJ to MN, IA, and TX. If more sprinters checked 80M, more QSOs would have been possible. 8 QSOs in about 45 minutes. Thanks for all QSOs and look forward to next month's sprint. Hope to meet many of you at Dayton.
W1PID
I operated for a half hour with an IC-7000 at 5 watts to an OCF dipole. Made 3 Qs on 20 meters and 4 Qs on 40 meters. Best DX was Brian K7RE in SD. Thanks to all.
K9UQN
7030 - 7040 filled with PSK-31 signals at my QTH. Makes for a tough sprint.
NG7Z
Got on for a few minutes near the end on 40M and worked K7RE, K6CSL, W7DFO, WB4YZA and VE7DSN. See you next month.
K6CSL
Bands are starting to be in a little better condition. I started out on 10M after hearing an Arizona Beacon there. I thought I might hear something on 15 when I checked there. Then I moved to 20 and worked MN and TX, then moved on to 40 and worked NV and WA. I was very surprized at the solid signal from NU7T in NV with 1W. I'll look forward to the next Spartan Sprint.
ABØCD
Great fun. 7Qs on 20 and 13Qs on 40. Glad to work Doc, KØEVZ. K-2 (S/N #00070) into homebrew 88-foot doublet at 25-feet fed with 300 ohm twin-lead/LDG 4:1 balun.
K3RLL
GA was loud down here tonight in FL, but heard little else.
WA8HSB
Business travel took me and my KX-1 to Elkton, MD this month. Both 20 & 40 were sketchy with a lot of QSB on 40. Thought I had a couple of contacts and then the signals went to ESP levels before we could complete the exchange. Next month will be better. Enjoyed the Sprint!
KB7MBI
Station was a Ten Tec Paragon II, 5 watts, GAP Titan vertical and Bencher straight key. KFØN was strongest station at a 579 most of the sprint. The few stations I heard were at or near the noise floor.
AB9CA/5
Was camped on the beach at South Padre Island National Seashore near Corpus Christi, TX. About 100' from the water. Great place to spend a few days so long as the wind does not get too strong! The little Sony earbuds did a good job of blocking the never ending roar of the surf. You may have peace and solitude there, but you will not have quiet! Station was an ATS-3 at about 3w powered by an 8 pack of AA NiMH. Ant was elevated 20m vert. Did not have an antenna for any other band so stayed on 20 the whole time. The band was long but in fair shape. Ended up with 11 contacts and 11 SPC's. Don't recall ever having no dupes in the SPC list. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Worked everyone I could hear except one. KD6L/5 was copyable but never heard me. Closest was John, K4BAI, in GA. Did get both ME and CA. Obviously no pesky Texans from that QTH on 20. See ya' next month!
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp + 20 delta loop. My son helped me hang a 20m wire delta loop which worked well once I remembered to switch to it. Most of my Qs were on 20M. 40 and 80m were not as productive here.I had one late Q (not included in my total) and two that were "odd." Worked K4BAI on three bands. Had fun.
K4PQC
Two watts using an ATS-3 and 160 Meter horizontal loop at 30'. Band conditions were fairly good on 40 meters (18 contacts) and just fair on 80 (4 contacts.) I apologize to K9VIY for failing to make contact, we tried 5 or 6 times calling each other never making an exchange....
W5ACM
Two days before the event, the key paddle on my ATS-3A micro-weight transceiver broke off. Since this 1/32"-thick plywood paddle is integral to the case, it was not something to be replaced, but repaired. A straight pin, some super glue and five-minute epoxy did the job. It was also a good opportunity to clean the copper-sheet key contacts and redo the alignment and spacing. Hopefully my CW sounded a bit cleaner for this Spartan Sprint. It was nice to make a few contacts on 20M prior to the obligatory move to 40M. Power out at the beginning of the two-hour period was 3W, and only declined to 2.5W by the end. The 200 mAh LiPo's are doing well. Four of the 12 stations worked were running less than 5W. That was good to hear!
W9CJS
Used the IC-703 on battery power. The low battery indicator came on just as the contest period ended. I surely enjoy the Spartan Sprints ... thanks to all.
K4ORD
Started on 20M made 11 qso''s in first 22 minutes then seemed to run out of new stations, on 40M made 12 contacts & on 80M made 8. Rig K2 @ 5w ants 160M & 40M dipoles and 20M wire vee beam. Thanks for all the QSOs.
NQ2W
I listened and called. I called and listened. Heard some stations but no one heard me. One station answered my CQ but I couldn't pull him out of the mud. Using a Ten Tec 1340 at 3W to a dipole in the attic wasn't cuttin' the mustard this time - antenna work is in process - maybe next month. Keep listenin.'
W2SH
This was my first sprint in quite a while. Only nine QSOs, but they comprised seven SPCs. Got a late start and 20m had already gone to bed. 40m was noisy but do-able. I managed three QSOs on 80m, but the noise was so bad that my ears hurt. Returning to 40m I found that the band had gone very long. There was Doc, KØEVZ, in NM, a very readable 559. I switched from my 80m dipole to the inverted L (85' up and 85' out, hung from a tall tree) I use on 160m and nailed him. It took me 20 minutes to bag my last contact. I could hear N6VOH in CA fairly well, but stations much closer to him, and not me, were getting answered. I kept calling, struggled through a couple of his QRZs, heard him sending pieces of my callsign, and finally, two minutes before the party ended, the QSO occurred. A big thank-you to Barry for hanging in with me. I went to bed a happy camper after getting my 5 Watts across those 2,428 miles.
K7RE
I used my ATS IIIB and 8 NIMH AA cells. Antenna on 20M was my triband beam up 30 feet. I cranked it down due to our high winds (55 MPH). On 40M I used a simple dipole inverted V up 40 feet at the center. Power out was about 3W. I haven't done this event in many months, and I was really happy getting back into the SP. If you need a QRP SD QSL, please send an SASE, or use LOTW.
KFØN
Rig: ATS-3B at 3 watts to a vertical 240' loop up 35 to 50 feet. The contest started out with some fairly bleak signal strengths on 20 Meters. Signal strengths varied during a single exchange from 579 to just below the noise much of the time and that caused some interesting conditions! I know I missed some guys who I simply could not copy. After a handful of contacts on 20M I QSY'ed to 40M which was the most productive watering hole for the evening. The QRN wasn't bad for May and gave 21 QSO's. My best DX for the evening was WA7OJY and N6VOH in California. Thanks for pulling my tiny signal out of the noise guys; I know it was more like ESP than a contest exchange! NU7T had a great 1-watt signal from Nevada and K7RE had a good 3-watt signal from South Dakota, both very rare states for QRPer's! All in all, a very enjoyable evening. Thanks so much to all who stopped by and made it a great contest. I hope we can do it again in June.
KF7ADB
K1 to EFHW up about 40’. Worked 20/40/80. Biggest signals were K4BAI, K4PQC, and K4ORD. Best DX was ABØCD in CO. Thanks for the QSOs. See you next month.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W output, TH6DXX, zepp, inverted vee, dipole. 20 meters seemed almost dead before 0100Z, but it came alive around 14060 when the contest period started with good signals from New England west to MN, CO and TX. Stations as close as NC were workable, but most sprinters apparently skipped 20M. 8 QSOs in 18 mins on 20. 40 was pretty good all over with little discernable skip zone. QSOs made as far away as ON, NH, MN. CO. 31 QSOs in about one hour on 40M. 80M was noisy, but signals were pretty good. Worked from NJ to MN, IA, and TX. If more sprinters checked 80M, more QSOs would have been possible. 8 QSOs in about 45 minutes. Thanks for all QSOs and look forward to next month's sprint. Hope to meet many of you at Dayton.
W1PID
I operated for a half hour with an IC-7000 at 5 watts to an OCF dipole. Made 3 Qs on 20 meters and 4 Qs on 40 meters. Best DX was Brian K7RE in SD. Thanks to all.
K9UQN
7030 - 7040 filled with PSK-31 signals at my QTH. Makes for a tough sprint.
NG7Z
Got on for a few minutes near the end on 40M and worked K7RE, K6CSL, W7DFO, WB4YZA and VE7DSN. See you next month.
K6CSL
Bands are starting to be in a little better condition. I started out on 10M after hearing an Arizona Beacon there. I thought I might hear something on 15 when I checked there. Then I moved to 20 and worked MN and TX, then moved on to 40 and worked NV and WA. I was very surprized at the solid signal from NU7T in NV with 1W. I'll look forward to the next Spartan Sprint.
ABØCD
Great fun. 7Qs on 20 and 13Qs on 40. Glad to work Doc, KØEVZ. K-2 (S/N #00070) into homebrew 88-foot doublet at 25-feet fed with 300 ohm twin-lead/LDG 4:1 balun.
K3RLL
GA was loud down here tonight in FL, but heard little else.
WA8HSB
Business travel took me and my KX-1 to Elkton, MD this month. Both 20 & 40 were sketchy with a lot of QSB on 40. Thought I had a couple of contacts and then the signals went to ESP levels before we could complete the exchange. Next month will be better. Enjoyed the Sprint!
KB7MBI
Station was a Ten Tec Paragon II, 5 watts, GAP Titan vertical and Bencher straight key. KFØN was strongest station at a 579 most of the sprint. The few stations I heard were at or near the noise floor.
AB9CA/5
Was camped on the beach at South Padre Island National Seashore near Corpus Christi, TX. About 100' from the water. Great place to spend a few days so long as the wind does not get too strong! The little Sony earbuds did a good job of blocking the never ending roar of the surf. You may have peace and solitude there, but you will not have quiet! Station was an ATS-3 at about 3w powered by an 8 pack of AA NiMH. Ant was elevated 20m vert. Did not have an antenna for any other band so stayed on 20 the whole time. The band was long but in fair shape. Ended up with 11 contacts and 11 SPC's. Don't recall ever having no dupes in the SPC list. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Worked everyone I could hear except one. KD6L/5 was copyable but never heard me. Closest was John, K4BAI, in GA. Did get both ME and CA. Obviously no pesky Texans from that QTH on 20. See ya' next month!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Soapbox: April 2010 Spartan Sprint
K5GQ
ATS3 5w dipole up 18 feet. Low audio 20M (ATS-3 problem) New stations worked: K4ORD, WD9F, KFØN, KF7ADV, K8CV.
K4PQC
2 Watts using ATS-3 with AC power supply and 160 Meter horizontal loop at 30.' Band conditions were fairly noisy on 80 where I only made one contact the rest were on 40 meters.
K9FO
Rig, Icom IC 703 @ 5 watts. dipole antennas 80 very noisy but 40 OK. Just learning to run the IC 703 I got at an estate sale. Added a 500 Hz filter and it works great.
W5ACM
Like March, I was hoping for some 20M activity, but the band was dead. Conditions on 40M were reasonable but noisy. I stayed on 40M for the complete sprint. The ATS-3a and backyard vertical did well, even with some above-average CQ-calling ops. The two LiPo, 200 mAh batteries held up well, but they were dropping fast near the end of the event. Come on 20M!
W5ESE
Was busy fiddling with my old Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 when I realized the Spartan Sprint was half over. Decided to just use the Argonaut in the Sprint. I understand that in the "olde days," some folks actually did backpack with this rig (which weighs about 6 lbs)! Also used my J-37 straight key.
K5JHP
5 Watts with a K3 to 20mtr EDZ. Worked only first 30 minutes and last 10 minutes.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. I made an effort on 10m, 15m and 20m with zip results. Even a long series of CQs on 80m yielded nothing. 40m was all that worked for me and most were faint - with two exceptions: K4BAI @ 5w from GA and K4PQC @ 2w (also GA). Both had outstanding signals - John's was 599+. A curious evening. Had fun.
WA9TZE
Kenwood TS-870 @ 5W. Antenna is two Alpha Delta-DX'-A'S - Counterpoise through tower and beam capacative hat. No QSOs on 20M after 15 minutes of calling CQ. Went to 40M and picked up 18 QSOs with heavy static. At 0200Z went to 80M and got two QSOs when a line of lightning and thunder came through South Milwaukee. Went QRT - Could hardly hear a station. Thanks to everyone. CU next month.
WA8MTI
My first Spartan Sprint. Two TX stations: WB5BKL and W5ACM on 40. WX was not my friend tonight with rain and static so stayed in and used the FT-2000 @ 5w. Could only hear the loudest stations through the noise. Next month look for me on my FT817 @ 1w w/solar-charged batteries. WA8MTI (mighty tiny input).
AB1AV
ATS-3 to 88' doublet up 40'. Using a bigger battery, called CQ and got a short run going. All contacts on 40m, and more than half to 5-land. Wonder if that geomagnetic storm is responsible? Called it quits about 0300z.
KF7ADB
Rig was my new K1 @ 5W to EFHW up about 30.’ Nothing heard on 20. Spent the rest of the contest on 40. Best signals were KFØN and K5JHP. Got lots of practice pulling out weak signals – it’s usually the other way around. It got lonely on 40 after the first hour – most everyone must have moved to 80. I’ll be back next month with an 80m antenna. Thanks for all the fun!
K4BAI
20M was dead from about 2300Z on Monday. 40M was great for about 20 minutes. Then, activity dropped off and QRN came up. Made about half of my QSOs on 40M in the first 20 minutes. Then the second half on 80 and 40 during the next 100 minutes. Thanks for the QSOs. Looking forard to next month. FT1000MP at 5W, WM-2 QRP wattmeter, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. Best DX on 40: VE3MO, W7WA, NG7Z. And great to work Doc, KØEVZ. Best DX on 80M: WGØAT in CO. Please look for me and KU8E as K4BAI/M in many GA counties in the Ga QSO Party this weekend, April 10 and 11.
W1PID
This was one of the strangest sprints ever. A large geomagnetic storm shut down 20. The only station I could work on 40 was K4BAI. I managed to work 2 stations on 80 ... K4ORD and W1JSB (who is 3 miles away). There was VERY heavy auroral flutter between W1JSB and me. I would have thought we would be ground wave?! I was running an IC-703 at 5 watts to a Windom OCF dipole. Thanks all.
wGØAT
Strong dry winds ragging over the Colorado Rockies the last few days created major QRN for the SP event tonight. Tonight I was really excited to try out a new rig ... a K2. But first the story behind this K2. A good ham friend John-KA9I recently went SK. John was a neat guy, always had great stories to share or a funny joke to keep you smiling. He was an avid QRPer and his enthusiasm for ham radio was very contagious! He led a local slow speed on 10m for his club and was the kinda person that knows everyone even if he's never meet them! Basically a fun guy to be around ! Well he'll be missed but John's K2 lives on! So with John's K2 and my CFZepp at 55' I started on 20m but nay a signal to be heard! Headed for 40m but QRN made for rough copy with lots of repeats! 30-minutes of torturous QRN was about all I could handle before I bolted for 80m! WA8REI's DC40 1-watter somehow made it through my noise ...quite amazing! Good work Ken! Tubby 40m-log: N5WG, K5JHP, WA8REI, K9FO, K8CV WA9TZE, K4BAI, AD5VC , K3RLL, WDØK. But 80m wasn't any better in fact it was worse. K2's DSP, AF filters and IF filters were no competition for the 30db over 9 QRN ... finally after pulling out 2-Qs I said GN to the April SP! Tubby 80m-log: K4BAI, WD4MSM. Still better than watching Dancing with the Stars! (Rooster and Peanut meanwhile watched Animal Planet.)
W2VV
QTH was a bench in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I spent the first hour cutting a new antenna wire, raising it into a tree, and trying to get a new multi-band tuner to work that I had just built from a kit. The tuner was completely nonfunctional so I eventually went back to my trusty EndFedz EF-40 matchbox, which worked great. Rig was an FT-817nd, with porta-paddle 2 key. I'm a novice CW op and so most of the QSOs were going too fast for me to follow. I found an empty spot near 7.030 and called CQ SP for a bit and got one reply: N5OBC running 1W in Oklahoma. Another station tried responding later but I couldn't dig him out of the noise. Even though I only logged one QSO it was fun, and I need all the CW practice I can get. I'll be back.
NG7Z
Started off right at the bell on 20M but didn't hear any sprinters. Called CQ for five minutes with no replies. Switched to 40M on 7040 and then 7030 but the sun is still up. I could hear a couple of SP CQs but no one could hear me. Still too early here so I did some chores and came back at 0200Z hoping that condx would be better. Called CQ and made 5 contacts. I could barely make out the ones I worked and still heard callers but it was no use. The atmospheric noise was abominable so called it quits at 0218Z. Thanks to John K4BAI who held in there until I could get his call. Same for WA5ZBT at 1W and W5ESE at 2W both of whom were in TX. The other two I got were Doc KØEVZ who was booming as usual and W5ACM with his 3W in TX. Had to move a few hz down because some PSK clown started up zero beat with me. 7040 is becoming unusable. I did notice during the ARCI contest this weekend that most everyone was using 7030 but that was probably due to the EA RTTY contest. Nevertheless, the 7040 watering hole is fast becoming a digital haven. 72 and see you next month.
N5OBC
OK, this was my first sprint in maybe two years as I fixed up one house, sold it moved to a new one, fixed it up and finally put hamming on the board. New house is a no antenna place so I'm learning to adapt. Wit h15 minutes left I got on and the slinky in the attic is much better than the shorter wire was. Its also better than the gutter ... Dave W2VV had a great signal into my one watt SST fed by 10 nicads to the slinky. This proves there is hope for hamming here at the new diggs. Thanks for the sprints they are still great fun.
WA5BUC
Once again 20 meters was dead. I had hoped for better as I had made several 0100Z contacts just last week. Also, once again heard a week station at the start. Rig: RockMite 20. Ant: 66'7" end-fed wire.
K4ORD
Rig was K2 @ 5W Antennas: 160M and 40M dipoles. Nothing heard on 20M. 40M was very odd at first signals were strong, then very weak and most of what I heard were from the south. 80M had S9+ QRN, only able to get W1PID and K4BAI. 2 QSOS on 80M and 9 on 40M. Hope next month is better.
KFØN
Rig: ATS-3 @ 3-watts to a 240 foot loop antenna. Wow, what a difference a month makes! Only 10 contacts this month compared to 39 a month ago. The QRN was murder here due to local thunderstorms roaming through Iowa and points east. Only had a half an hour before a check of the local radar on the PC showed that the whole area was lightning up like a Christmas tree (!) and it was time to put the QRP toys away for the night. Only 40M was usable here. I checked 80M but, as I thought, it was a lost cause. My poor little ATS-3 receiver was in saturation due to the lightning in the area! Let's hope that things quiet down a bit for May's contest. Rod, W7OM, had a great signal from Washington state which was my best DX for the evening. Thanks to all who called in. I hope we can make a go of it again next month.
WD4MSM
What an awful night; the bands were frightful. I'm shocked to have made 5 contacts! These guys have really good ears. And just when I though the bands were getting better ...
K3RLL
Only had a short time to play this evening, but finally, finally had the good fortune to make contact with wGØAT. That's a successful Sprint for me, indoor antenna or not!
ATS3 5w dipole up 18 feet. Low audio 20M (ATS-3 problem) New stations worked: K4ORD, WD9F, KFØN, KF7ADV, K8CV.
K4PQC
2 Watts using ATS-3 with AC power supply and 160 Meter horizontal loop at 30.' Band conditions were fairly noisy on 80 where I only made one contact the rest were on 40 meters.
K9FO
Rig, Icom IC 703 @ 5 watts. dipole antennas 80 very noisy but 40 OK. Just learning to run the IC 703 I got at an estate sale. Added a 500 Hz filter and it works great.
W5ACM
Like March, I was hoping for some 20M activity, but the band was dead. Conditions on 40M were reasonable but noisy. I stayed on 40M for the complete sprint. The ATS-3a and backyard vertical did well, even with some above-average CQ-calling ops. The two LiPo, 200 mAh batteries held up well, but they were dropping fast near the end of the event. Come on 20M!
W5ESE
Was busy fiddling with my old Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 when I realized the Spartan Sprint was half over. Decided to just use the Argonaut in the Sprint. I understand that in the "olde days," some folks actually did backpack with this rig (which weighs about 6 lbs)! Also used my J-37 straight key.
K5JHP
5 Watts with a K3 to 20mtr EDZ. Worked only first 30 minutes and last 10 minutes.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. I made an effort on 10m, 15m and 20m with zip results. Even a long series of CQs on 80m yielded nothing. 40m was all that worked for me and most were faint - with two exceptions: K4BAI @ 5w from GA and K4PQC @ 2w (also GA). Both had outstanding signals - John's was 599+. A curious evening. Had fun.
WA9TZE
Kenwood TS-870 @ 5W. Antenna is two Alpha Delta-DX'-A'S - Counterpoise through tower and beam capacative hat. No QSOs on 20M after 15 minutes of calling CQ. Went to 40M and picked up 18 QSOs with heavy static. At 0200Z went to 80M and got two QSOs when a line of lightning and thunder came through South Milwaukee. Went QRT - Could hardly hear a station. Thanks to everyone. CU next month.
WA8MTI
My first Spartan Sprint. Two TX stations: WB5BKL and W5ACM on 40. WX was not my friend tonight with rain and static so stayed in and used the FT-2000 @ 5w. Could only hear the loudest stations through the noise. Next month look for me on my FT817 @ 1w w/solar-charged batteries. WA8MTI (mighty tiny input).
AB1AV
ATS-3 to 88' doublet up 40'. Using a bigger battery, called CQ and got a short run going. All contacts on 40m, and more than half to 5-land. Wonder if that geomagnetic storm is responsible? Called it quits about 0300z.
KF7ADB
Rig was my new K1 @ 5W to EFHW up about 30.’ Nothing heard on 20. Spent the rest of the contest on 40. Best signals were KFØN and K5JHP. Got lots of practice pulling out weak signals – it’s usually the other way around. It got lonely on 40 after the first hour – most everyone must have moved to 80. I’ll be back next month with an 80m antenna. Thanks for all the fun!
K4BAI
20M was dead from about 2300Z on Monday. 40M was great for about 20 minutes. Then, activity dropped off and QRN came up. Made about half of my QSOs on 40M in the first 20 minutes. Then the second half on 80 and 40 during the next 100 minutes. Thanks for the QSOs. Looking forard to next month. FT1000MP at 5W, WM-2 QRP wattmeter, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. Best DX on 40: VE3MO, W7WA, NG7Z. And great to work Doc, KØEVZ. Best DX on 80M: WGØAT in CO. Please look for me and KU8E as K4BAI/M in many GA counties in the Ga QSO Party this weekend, April 10 and 11.
W1PID
This was one of the strangest sprints ever. A large geomagnetic storm shut down 20. The only station I could work on 40 was K4BAI. I managed to work 2 stations on 80 ... K4ORD and W1JSB (who is 3 miles away). There was VERY heavy auroral flutter between W1JSB and me. I would have thought we would be ground wave?! I was running an IC-703 at 5 watts to a Windom OCF dipole. Thanks all.
wGØAT
Strong dry winds ragging over the Colorado Rockies the last few days created major QRN for the SP event tonight. Tonight I was really excited to try out a new rig ... a K2. But first the story behind this K2. A good ham friend John-KA9I recently went SK. John was a neat guy, always had great stories to share or a funny joke to keep you smiling. He was an avid QRPer and his enthusiasm for ham radio was very contagious! He led a local slow speed on 10m for his club and was the kinda person that knows everyone even if he's never meet them! Basically a fun guy to be around ! Well he'll be missed but John's K2 lives on! So with John's K2 and my CFZepp at 55' I started on 20m but nay a signal to be heard! Headed for 40m but QRN made for rough copy with lots of repeats! 30-minutes of torturous QRN was about all I could handle before I bolted for 80m! WA8REI's DC40 1-watter somehow made it through my noise ...quite amazing! Good work Ken! Tubby 40m-log: N5WG, K5JHP, WA8REI, K9FO, K8CV WA9TZE, K4BAI, AD5VC , K3RLL, WDØK. But 80m wasn't any better in fact it was worse. K2's DSP, AF filters and IF filters were no competition for the 30db over 9 QRN ... finally after pulling out 2-Qs I said GN to the April SP! Tubby 80m-log: K4BAI, WD4MSM. Still better than watching Dancing with the Stars! (Rooster and Peanut meanwhile watched Animal Planet.)
W2VV
QTH was a bench in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I spent the first hour cutting a new antenna wire, raising it into a tree, and trying to get a new multi-band tuner to work that I had just built from a kit. The tuner was completely nonfunctional so I eventually went back to my trusty EndFedz EF-40 matchbox, which worked great. Rig was an FT-817nd, with porta-paddle 2 key. I'm a novice CW op and so most of the QSOs were going too fast for me to follow. I found an empty spot near 7.030 and called CQ SP for a bit and got one reply: N5OBC running 1W in Oklahoma. Another station tried responding later but I couldn't dig him out of the noise. Even though I only logged one QSO it was fun, and I need all the CW practice I can get. I'll be back.
NG7Z
Started off right at the bell on 20M but didn't hear any sprinters. Called CQ for five minutes with no replies. Switched to 40M on 7040 and then 7030 but the sun is still up. I could hear a couple of SP CQs but no one could hear me. Still too early here so I did some chores and came back at 0200Z hoping that condx would be better. Called CQ and made 5 contacts. I could barely make out the ones I worked and still heard callers but it was no use. The atmospheric noise was abominable so called it quits at 0218Z. Thanks to John K4BAI who held in there until I could get his call. Same for WA5ZBT at 1W and W5ESE at 2W both of whom were in TX. The other two I got were Doc KØEVZ who was booming as usual and W5ACM with his 3W in TX. Had to move a few hz down because some PSK clown started up zero beat with me. 7040 is becoming unusable. I did notice during the ARCI contest this weekend that most everyone was using 7030 but that was probably due to the EA RTTY contest. Nevertheless, the 7040 watering hole is fast becoming a digital haven. 72 and see you next month.
N5OBC
OK, this was my first sprint in maybe two years as I fixed up one house, sold it moved to a new one, fixed it up and finally put hamming on the board. New house is a no antenna place so I'm learning to adapt. Wit h15 minutes left I got on and the slinky in the attic is much better than the shorter wire was. Its also better than the gutter ... Dave W2VV had a great signal into my one watt SST fed by 10 nicads to the slinky. This proves there is hope for hamming here at the new diggs. Thanks for the sprints they are still great fun.
WA5BUC
Once again 20 meters was dead. I had hoped for better as I had made several 0100Z contacts just last week. Also, once again heard a week station at the start. Rig: RockMite 20. Ant: 66'7" end-fed wire.
K4ORD
Rig was K2 @ 5W Antennas: 160M and 40M dipoles. Nothing heard on 20M. 40M was very odd at first signals were strong, then very weak and most of what I heard were from the south. 80M had S9+ QRN, only able to get W1PID and K4BAI. 2 QSOS on 80M and 9 on 40M. Hope next month is better.
KFØN
Rig: ATS-3 @ 3-watts to a 240 foot loop antenna. Wow, what a difference a month makes! Only 10 contacts this month compared to 39 a month ago. The QRN was murder here due to local thunderstorms roaming through Iowa and points east. Only had a half an hour before a check of the local radar on the PC showed that the whole area was lightning up like a Christmas tree (!) and it was time to put the QRP toys away for the night. Only 40M was usable here. I checked 80M but, as I thought, it was a lost cause. My poor little ATS-3 receiver was in saturation due to the lightning in the area! Let's hope that things quiet down a bit for May's contest. Rod, W7OM, had a great signal from Washington state which was my best DX for the evening. Thanks to all who called in. I hope we can make a go of it again next month.
WD4MSM
What an awful night; the bands were frightful. I'm shocked to have made 5 contacts! These guys have really good ears. And just when I though the bands were getting better ...
K3RLL
Only had a short time to play this evening, but finally, finally had the good fortune to make contact with wGØAT. That's a successful Sprint for me, indoor antenna or not!
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