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Thursday, December 13, 2018
SOAPBOX: December 2018 ARS Spartan Sprint
W5IQS
This was my first attempt at the Spartan Sprint. I only participated the first hour and concentrated on 40 meters. Five great operators were able to hear my 5 watts (K2 and Dipole) and give me an exchange. Lots of fun and band conditions seemed OK here in Central Texas. My thanks to Cranz, WB5BKL for telling me about the Spartan Sprint. de Evan, W5IQS in Horseshoe Bay, Texas
KO5USA
Hello all. My first contest 12-04-2018. 5w. ICOM 7610. Dipole Antenna. Begali Blade for St key and Begali Janus for automatic key. I made 4 contacts and considered my first time to be a success. My first time using 5 watts also. Any assistance/information appreciated. 73, Tom KO5USA
K3RLL
Back in FL with highly compromised black temp vertical that still doesn't comply with HOA Restrictions but just don't tell anyone. 40 meters sounded pretty weak but was seeing somewhat reasonable R.B.N. reports tonight. Very happy to make goal of ten contacts and run into so many familiar calls. You know you're home when you think you recognize the fist and definitely remember their name. Great hobby! Thanks to the entire Adventure Radio Staff once again. 72, Don
K3JZD
In an RF Black Hole during this event. Before I had listened around on 40m and found next to nothing on the whole band, I had thought about running 1 watt. Decided 5w might be smarter. I heard Don - K3RLL at RST 229 because I knew about where to look for him. John - K4BAI found me. John was also at RST 229. That was all I heard on 40m. I called CQ on 80m for a little while, but no takers there. Jody, K3JZD, Pittsburgh, PA
NØAR
Greetings from what must last stop on the RF bus line. Worked K4BAI, ND4K, and WB9HFK. Everyone else wasn't heard. Rig KX3/PX3 at 5 watts, antennas 43' vert, and 80-meter NVIS loop. Happy Holidays to all. 72 Scott N0AR St. Paul, MN
ND4K
This one started out slow; however, I ended up making the most QSO's in my three month history with this event - seven on 80m and eight on 40m. WB5BKL was the only station worked on two bands. WB9HFK was loud all evening on 80m. Thanks to everyone for the contacts. I hope you have a happy holiday season and look forward to seeing you in the new year! - Dave
K4BAI
Good conditions on 40 and 80. Not much activity. Thanks for all QSOs and Season's Greetings. 73/72, John, K4BAI
NØAR
Greetings from what must last stop on the RF bus line. Worked K4BAI, ND4K and WB9HFK. Everyone else wasn't heard. Rig KX3/PX3 at 5 watts, antennas 43' vert, and 80-meter NVIS loop. Happy Holidays to all. 72 Scott NØAR St. Paul, MN
K9DRP
Better conditions this month for me. Even split of contacts between 80 and 40. I've been using a bug for the past few weeks and it has ruined my paddle fist! Do they make memory keyers that work with a bug? I'm guessing it's not proper etiquette to call CQ on a paddle and then respond with a bug. The bug also added to the station weight. - 73, Don, K9DRP
WB9HFK
Lots of fun. We need more activity! Thanks to K4BAI for 2 bands. See everyone next month! 72, Mark Prather - WB9HFK
KØEAP
I had a great time although I only made 1 contact. I called CQ for most of the evening with no success. I was glad to find my contact in NC calling CQ and was able to work him. Even with limited success, it is super fun to try. Eric, K0EAP
KB1M
QSB was fast and a solid copy signal could just disappear. ND4K was loudest station heard and seemed to be immune to most of the QSB. It was a fun evening as always. 72/73 Walt
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. Only 5 states this time - and there seemed to be a pipeline to GA. K4BAI had the best signal on both 40 and 80M. Again, removed two QRO stations from my score. Nice to work some new-to-me stations! 2-Banders with ND4K and K4BAI. Had fun.
Saturday, December 1, 2018
SOAPBOX: November 2018 ARS Spartan Sprint
ND4K
This was my second sprint and I had a good time - with a significantly better score than last month. Thanks to everyone for the q's! Six q's each for 40 and 80 with 4 unique states on each and WB5BKL being the only station worked on both bands. Yaesu FT1000MP @ 5w to OCF at 70 ft.
K3RLL
Solar Storm pretty well obliterated 40 meters tonight and my chances of making a ton of contacts with the diminutive QCX-40 PCB transceiver. Oh well, maybe in December. Thanks to Dave for our contact this evening, keeping me from being totally skunked here. (Smile) - 72/73, Don K3RLL
AB9CA
Prop was awful! About the worst I have ever heard. Very few RBN spots. I hope it was better on 80 than it was on 40. I don't have an 80m antenna right now so this was a one band affair. SPC's were GA GA TX IA FL NH AL TX. But everyone was weak. Even those close and usually loud. Interestingly I did hear CO2BG calling CQ/QRP after it was over. He disappeared before I could get set up and give him a call. Maybe the band was long? Rig was IC7200 at 5w to an inv V. Thanks to all who stuck it out and completed a Q! 73 de dave, ab9ca
K4BAI
No signals on 20M. 40M seemed quite poor. I did hear ND4K about 120 miles east of me calling CQ SP, but he didn't hear me. No surprise that he didn't. Signals usually strong from the North (IL and IN) were weak, but signals from TX were strong. 80M was quite good with QSOs up to NH and out to TX. QSOs by band: 40M: 5. 80M: 11/ Hope for better conditions and more participation next month. In the meantime, look for me from Bonaire as PJ4/K4BAI Nov 18 to 27 and we will use PJ4A in CQ WW CW. 73, John, K4BAI
NK1N
It was fun digging out my KX1 from under the dust. I'll have to have the lower strata of dust carbon dated to determine the last time I used my KX1 :-) I was able to run 4 watts on 80 but was most surprised by the reports on 40 where I only had 2 watts. I'll have to pull out my K1 and try the 1 watt challenge next month. 72, Glen, NK1N
WB9HFK
Icom 7300 @ 5W. Antenna: 40M - Hustler 6BTV Gnd Mtd with 60 Radials
KB1M
Very slow night, nothing heard south of NJ, and the two mid-west stations worked were extremely weak. Thanks for the QSO's 73, Walt
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. Not many stations heard - and only 4 states. K4BAI had the best signal on both 40 and 80M. Removed two QRO stations - but had nice QSOs with Myron and Ray. Doubles with K4BAI, ND4K and WB9HFK. I continue to remind QRP folks via my email reflector subscriptions about the Spartan Sprint. I hope others will do the same. Had fun.
K9DRP
I spent most of the first hour calling CQ with no luck. Wondering if I had the offset set correctly on the old Argosy, I found WB5BKL calling CQ and he came right back to me. But still no joy for me calling "CQ SP" on 40. I later found K4BAI and ND4K on 80. During the evening I also heard WB4YHJ, WB9HFK, and WB8CAC. I hate asking for repeats, but I'm learning not to wait for QSB to improve if I hope to work more of the sprint stations before they give up on a frequency. 73, Don, K9DRP
W5QLF
Using a FlexRadio 6300 throttled down to 5 watts tied to a Butternut HF-9V vertical over 60 radials. It was the first Spartan Sprint in Central Standard Time this winter so it was totally night time propagation. I had worked everyone I could hear by 0235Z on 40 meters (5 stations plus those annoying continuous carriers clustered around 7040 kc). I tuned down to 3560 kc to find that John, K4BAI was calling CQ dead on that frequency. With the noise level I had on 80 meters, I wouldn’t have heard him had I not landed right smack on the QRP frequency. In any event, I counted this as 2 Qs as I had worked John on 40m too. Thanks to WB9HFK, K4BAI, NK6A and AB9CA for adding to my recurring QRP contact list. A special welcome to David, ND4K on his second adventurous sojourn into the Spartan Sprint. QRP during this era of propagation makes one humble. 72, Joe, W5QLF
This was my second sprint and I had a good time - with a significantly better score than last month. Thanks to everyone for the q's! Six q's each for 40 and 80 with 4 unique states on each and WB5BKL being the only station worked on both bands. Yaesu FT1000MP @ 5w to OCF at 70 ft.
K3RLL
Solar Storm pretty well obliterated 40 meters tonight and my chances of making a ton of contacts with the diminutive QCX-40 PCB transceiver. Oh well, maybe in December. Thanks to Dave for our contact this evening, keeping me from being totally skunked here. (Smile) - 72/73, Don K3RLL
AB9CA
Prop was awful! About the worst I have ever heard. Very few RBN spots. I hope it was better on 80 than it was on 40. I don't have an 80m antenna right now so this was a one band affair. SPC's were GA GA TX IA FL NH AL TX. But everyone was weak. Even those close and usually loud. Interestingly I did hear CO2BG calling CQ/QRP after it was over. He disappeared before I could get set up and give him a call. Maybe the band was long? Rig was IC7200 at 5w to an inv V. Thanks to all who stuck it out and completed a Q! 73 de dave, ab9ca
K4BAI
No signals on 20M. 40M seemed quite poor. I did hear ND4K about 120 miles east of me calling CQ SP, but he didn't hear me. No surprise that he didn't. Signals usually strong from the North (IL and IN) were weak, but signals from TX were strong. 80M was quite good with QSOs up to NH and out to TX. QSOs by band: 40M: 5. 80M: 11/ Hope for better conditions and more participation next month. In the meantime, look for me from Bonaire as PJ4/K4BAI Nov 18 to 27 and we will use PJ4A in CQ WW CW. 73, John, K4BAI
NK1N
It was fun digging out my KX1 from under the dust. I'll have to have the lower strata of dust carbon dated to determine the last time I used my KX1 :-) I was able to run 4 watts on 80 but was most surprised by the reports on 40 where I only had 2 watts. I'll have to pull out my K1 and try the 1 watt challenge next month. 72, Glen, NK1N
WB9HFK
Icom 7300 @ 5W. Antenna: 40M - Hustler 6BTV Gnd Mtd with 60 Radials
KB1M
Very slow night, nothing heard south of NJ, and the two mid-west stations worked were extremely weak. Thanks for the QSO's 73, Walt
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. Not many stations heard - and only 4 states. K4BAI had the best signal on both 40 and 80M. Removed two QRO stations - but had nice QSOs with Myron and Ray. Doubles with K4BAI, ND4K and WB9HFK. I continue to remind QRP folks via my email reflector subscriptions about the Spartan Sprint. I hope others will do the same. Had fun.
K9DRP
I spent most of the first hour calling CQ with no luck. Wondering if I had the offset set correctly on the old Argosy, I found WB5BKL calling CQ and he came right back to me. But still no joy for me calling "CQ SP" on 40. I later found K4BAI and ND4K on 80. During the evening I also heard WB4YHJ, WB9HFK, and WB8CAC. I hate asking for repeats, but I'm learning not to wait for QSB to improve if I hope to work more of the sprint stations before they give up on a frequency. 73, Don, K9DRP
W5QLF
Using a FlexRadio 6300 throttled down to 5 watts tied to a Butternut HF-9V vertical over 60 radials. It was the first Spartan Sprint in Central Standard Time this winter so it was totally night time propagation. I had worked everyone I could hear by 0235Z on 40 meters (5 stations plus those annoying continuous carriers clustered around 7040 kc). I tuned down to 3560 kc to find that John, K4BAI was calling CQ dead on that frequency. With the noise level I had on 80 meters, I wouldn’t have heard him had I not landed right smack on the QRP frequency. In any event, I counted this as 2 Qs as I had worked John on 40m too. Thanks to WB9HFK, K4BAI, NK6A and AB9CA for adding to my recurring QRP contact list. A special welcome to David, ND4K on his second adventurous sojourn into the Spartan Sprint. QRP during this era of propagation makes one humble. 72, Joe, W5QLF
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