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Friday, October 5, 2012
Soapbox: October 2012 Spartan Sprint
N2NLY
This was my first time trying the Spartan Sprint, and only my 2nd contest experience of any kind (barring Field Day). I heard a few sprinters right at the beginning of the sprint, and then nothing for the following hour or so. Bands were noisy, with a lot of storm activity around my QTH. Still, it was a fun exercise, and very good practice listening to weak CW signals and faster code than I'm comfortable with.
K3RLL
K2 and Flex-1500 to attic dipole on 40 Meters. I thought nobody was playing until I heard K4BAI and N4BP working station after station. Hmm, ... what do they have that I don't have - other than just antennas and skill? Many thanks to those who kindly pulled me out of the noise as I experimented between my early K2 and the new Flex. Hope to "hear" you all next month.
K5JHP
Got in late, thought the bands were shot but Finally got a few. Tnx to John, K4BNI, for contacts on 40 and 80. Gonna try next month.
WA5BUC
Thanks to K4BAI and N4BP for the 40 meter Qs. Hope November is no turkey.
K6CSL
On 20 meters I found WD9F/KH6, Woody, also QRP at 02:14Z. I continued tuning and calling on 20 until 02:35Z, without success, at which time I moved to 40m. No success on 40. At 02:50Z I moved to 80m, hoping I might find someone to work there, but no joy. So QRP it's been a rather disappointing evening. Hopefully next month will be a little better.
AB9CA
Rig was the usual K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Condx did not seem to be good. I never heard K4BAI on 40 where he is usually strong, did work him on 80. Someone called one of the WI stations on my calling freq and I could not hear the WI station at all. They are usually good copy down here. It was a tough night. Did garner 24 Qs, 17 SPCs. Qs were 4/16/4 and SPCs were 3/12/2 on 20/40/80. Would have been better with better condx and more activity but it was fun anyway. Thanks to all who stopped by and see everyone next month.
N4BP
Major thunderstorm moved over us at the start. Managed 9 QSOs on 20M before rain static took over the band at S9++. 40M not much better with lightning static, but managed 16 QSOs there before determining that, for safety, it was time to disconnect the antenna. Put in 45 minutes then went to watch TV, but the rain was so heavy my DirecTV receiver couldn't get a satellite signal.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W output, TH6DXX, dipole, inverted V. 20M was long and I fumbled the start. Only one good QSO there after I remembered to reduce power to 5W.
40 was the main band tonight with a relatively short skip zone and QSOs out to NY, MN, NV, CA, and WA. Heard N9BT working somebody else, but never could find him for a QSO. 80M was pretty good toward the end with QSOs to NY and TX. We need more activity in these Spartan Sprints. And more stations who stick it out until the end to maximize possible QSOs. Thanks for all QSOs.
WB4MNK
Thanks to John, K4BAI, for my only contact. Didn’t hear anyone else.
NK6A
Conditions, conditions, conditions. I didn't hear the usual stations on 20. Only a few very weak ones. Struggled to make a few Q's before going to 40. Slow going with heavy QSB and everyone really weak.
W5ACM
The backup rig - my HEAVY ATS-3 continues to perform quite well with three LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 14 QSOs. Conditions were good on 20M, but then deteriorated after the first 30 minutes and only three contacts. I moved to 40M and worked eight more. I was using my backyard vertical. The vast majority of my contacts were on 40M this month, and the noise level was light to moderate. I finished up on 80M with three more contacts. I used this rig recently for a QRP event and did not have the batteries fully charged, but they did well as long I avoided calling CQ. I missed the September Sprint due to an Alaskan cruise. I was working QRP from the ship, but only via satellite on my HT.
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m, an inverted vee at 40ft for 40m, and a ground mounted, near bottom-loaded vertical for 80m. 20 seemed to be in rough shape - made 1 Q there with N4BP - heard others but they were way down. Switched to 40 and made a few, including N4BP. Switched back to 20 and heard K7TQ loud for a CQ - I called but he was gone. Switched back to 40 and worked K7TQ straight away...cool. Made two Q's on 80 - one with KB3TEL (QRO) in PA and another with K4BAI in GA to complete a two-bander with John on 40 and 80 - that may be my first 80m GA QSO since QRV from Albany...double cool. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W and various wire antennas. My ears were still ringing from the Texas QSO Party, but I had a new 40 antenna to try. QSOs on 15, 20, 40 and 80M were 1, 4, 12 and 4. N7RVD was strong on 15 - wish I had heard others. Strongest signal heard was AB9CA. No 3-band QSOs, sadly. 40M inverted-V worked well. Had fun.
KFØN
Participation seemed to be down this month but a fun contest never the less. The rig was an ATS-3B powered by a stack of NiMh AA cells. I heard only one station on 20 meters, Randy, K7TQ ,so 40 meters was the most productive band for me. Unfortunately, a rather high planetary A-index of 31 made signals weaker than normal. Many simply could not copy me and vice-versa. 80 meters was a wash here with no signals heard. Best DX was Washington, N7RKD, and one California station, KO6Z who was running only 2-watts! The jammer on 7040 kHz didn't seem to bother too much here since I am inside of his skip zone at that time of the evening. Thanks to all who made the evening an enjoyable one! Where else could you have this much fun with a diminutive little rig and a stack of AA cells?
K7TQ
I could only operate for the 1st hour. There were a good number of stations on 20m, but it seemed like a lot more than I could work. As 20 m has been for the last several months, about 20 minutes was all it was good for. On 40 m I worked the usual suspects. I hope that in Nov. I can do both hours.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Soapbox Comments: September '12 Spartan Sprint
WB4MNK
Had fun but didn’t hear much activity and noise was ruff. See every one next month.
K3RLL
First ARS Sprint with new QRP Flex-1500. Interesting rig but maybe not the lightest weight one with the computer and all. Definitely not “Trail Friendly”. The flat line on the Flex screen said a lot about activity heard here in rural PA tonight. Everyone must be at a Labor Day picnic. Heard few Sprinters but WB4MNK sure had a nice signal out of FL. Nice to work Randy K7TQ on two bands. Thanks to those who make these Sprints happen.
K7TQ
A pretty good night. 20 stayed useable for about 1/2 hour and 40 was good here in Idaho until 0210. After that I couldn't scare up another contact even with trying 80 meters several times. Two band contacts with WB5BKL, K5JMP, K4BAI, and K3RLL.
WB9G
Horrible band conditions this month. Nothing heard on 20m, two stations on 40m, and one station on 80m. Only heard one other station working the MI QRP QSP on 80m. Hope you all had better luck.
AB9CA
Was a fun sprint if a little lite. Participation seemed light - probably due to the holiday. 40 was the main band, 10 Q's there and the other 4 on 20. Worked W7OM and NK6A on both. Did work coast to coast on 40. Station here was the K1 at 3w to a wire ran up into a tree near the camper. Felt I wanted something that would let me get on 40 even if it was a compromise. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and we'll see you again next month.
K5JHP
Man, where did everyone go? 20 folded about 20:30 CST and 40 went away sometime before 21:00 CST. Hope for better prop next month.
W3KC
Tough copy due to inbound storms kicking up lots of noise. Most activity here was on 40m, with a few Q's on 80 - but none on 20. Fall will hopefully bring better conditions and weather.
WA5BUC
Same results as last time. 4 Q's. I've not been on since last's month's sprint, so don't know how the bands have been doing. 1 Q on 40, the rest on 20. Signals seemed down on both bands. Heard some signals on 80, but no Sprint activity. Looking forward to the fall bands and hope things improve. Thanks to all who make this possible.
KE5TC
Only worked the first hr on 40 meters. Lots of QRN. Must try this again next month and it shouldn't be hard to improve my score!
KFØN
Poor propagation and rather high seasonal QRN from nearby thunderstorms made for rather sparse QSO's but a fun time never the less. I am sure the Labor Day holiday also cut into the number of participants. I ran three watts from my little ATS-3B powered from a stack of AA NiMh cells. The antenna is a 240-foot loop strung between a couple of trees on the lot here. Garry, WA1GWH, had a solid 579 running one-watt from NY. Also, Steve, KØCV in Denver, had an admirable signal here from his 400 mw power level! There were several of you that called me on 80 that I simply could not pull out of the high QRN level but conditions should improve throughout the Fall-Winter season. Thanks to all who participated!
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 meters. The bands were in rough shape - 1 QSO on 20 and 6 on 40. Sprinters were there according to < http://www.reversebeacon.net > but signals were way down...hoping for better luck next time. I've uploaded my mini-log to LoTW and eQSL...Hope you'll consider doing the same. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers.
NK6A
The conditions were the pits. Knew that going in but didn't expect to get 18 Qs. Was surprised at how loud Nick,WB5BKL,was in Los Angeles. Even copied a few 3 watt stations. A lot of QSB and band noise. After one hour tried 40M and it was better. 45 minutes to go and I decided that I had had enough of noise.
KM5TY
Had some trouble with the EFHW so ended up using a 40m inverted vee. Couldn't hear anything on 20m, but 40m was in good shape. First Sprint in quite some time, I had fun but only worked about 1hour of the sprint.
K4BAI
Guess everyone was busy with Labor Day BBQs and some had bad weather. Activity was very disappointing. Band conditions were not bad. 20M was open to the west coast (CA, AZ, OR, ID). 5 QSOs. 40M was open to the whole country out about 700 miles. 12 QSOs including two in CA. 80M was nosiy, but did work ME and TX. 4 QSOs there. Thanks for all QSOs and hope for much more activity in October.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40m extended double Zepp or a 20m wire delta loop. A poor showing here - only 10 QSOs this time. A perplexing computer problem and a solar flare got to me. Only Don, NK6A and N6GA had truly strong signals on 20M. Worked K7TQ, NK6A, and K4BAI on two bands, but none on three. Had fun.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
RESULTS: 2012 ARS Flight of the Bumblebees
Among Bumblebees, George Fuller, KXØR / BB24, took top scoring honors with 101 contacts and 69 bees for a multiplier of 207. Total score: 20,907.
Atop of the Non-Bee category is Bob Patten, N4BP, with 118 contacts and 72 bees for a multiplier of 216. Total score: 25,488.
Here are the top 5 in each category:
BUMBLEBEES:
KXØR
N7OU
K7TQ
W4ZV
NK9G
NON-BEES
N4BP
K4BAI
KEØG
NS7P
KØZK
Click here for complete results, or visit:
We will be publishing the stories and photographs of your 2012 FOBB experiences soon.
On behalf of ARS, thanks to everyone who took part in the 2012 FOBB. You have contributed to its success and we hope you are looking forward to the 2013 FOBB as much as we are.
Richard Fisher, KI6SN
The Adventure Radio Society
Friday, August 10, 2012
Soapbox Comments: August '12 Spartan Sprint
W3HI
This was my first Spartan Sprint, but not my last! With the PFR-3 set up with a wall wart and miniature hand key, I had been looking forward to it for a month and got company just as it began! So, I worked five contacts in the 1st hour, and finally gave up when my no-code buddy started yawning. Maybe next time I'll go out in the yard and work portable. That way, my XYL can tell visitors I'm not home. . . Anyway, I decided awhile back I wanted to do WAS 2XCW/QRP and thanks to NK6A, snagged my first California. Thanks Don. Heck of a nice signal into the West Virginia mountains. Pse QSL!
K3RLL
Good signals tonight on both 20 and 40 meters with no apparent digital QRM. Only worked the first hour, but what a great Sprint! Good to work WB4MNK back in FL. NQ2W and, as always, K4ORD seemed to have the strongest of many nice, strong signals. Really enjoy the relaxed pace of the Spartan Sprint. Many thanks to those who make it possible. See you next month.
K7TQ
20 m started out good. Loud ones were W1PID, N0EVH, and KE0G. I gave 40 a try at 0140Z, but nothing going, so back to 20. It played out around 0200Z, so off to 40. K4BAI was holding court so I got him, but that was about it for a long time. Finally I got three stations on both 20 and 40. They were K4BAI, K4ORD, and NK6A. I was at home with the K3 and C4SXL at 60 feet. Thanks to all who stopped by.
WA5BUC
Great to be back for this month's Spartan Sprint. Three Q's were TX; the 4th was K4BAI in GA. Texas Q's were K5JHP, WB5BKL, and, for a first, long-time fellow HQRP-er W5ACM. Rig was my faithful FT-817 and end-fed wire antenna. Bands were a bit noisy. Need to put the finishing touches on my magnetic loop antenna to see if I can get rid of some of the local noise.'Til September, best 72.
K5JHP
TA33JR and on 40 and 80 meters. Twenty was the band tonight. Worked most ot the contacts there. Hope it's good next month.
W1PID
I operated for about 45 minutes exclusively on 20 meters with an FT-817 and OCF dipole. I worked Russia (UA4WI) and Germany (DL5MC)! Worked Randy K7TQ in Idaho, Rod, W7OM, in Seattle, and Don, NK6A, in California. The band was clearly long. Thanks all for the fun.
K4BAI
10 and 15 seemed dead. Good band conditions on 20, 40, and 80. 20 was open to the north and west at the start, but faded after about 15 minutes. 40M was strong to most areas including WA, CA, and ON, with most activity around 7040, but a few around 7030. 80M was quiet with contacts from NY to TX. QSOs per band: 20M: 7. 40M: 28. 80M: 5. QSOed on three bands: WB9G (NY), WB5BKL (TX). Hope for more activity next month. I will be on a QRP forum to talk about QRP contesting at the Huntsville Hamfest August 19. Hope to meet many of you there.
NW2K
Only had 75 minutes but had a lot of fun. See you next time. 5W, fan dipole at 40 feet.
K4ORD
Good to have 20M open, nice to work DL5MC on both 20 and 40M. Heavy QRN on both 40 and 80, but 20 was fairly quiet. 7 QSOs on 20, 23 on 40 and 3 on 80. I probably missed some in the QRN. Thanks to all.
W5ACM
Still using the backup rig - the ATS-3. It continues to perform quite well with three LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 16 QSOs. Conditions were good on 20M, but I had to move to 40M after only half an hour since everyone I could hear, I had worked! I probably spent too much time calling CQ, but with contacts ranging from California, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida, I expected more. I was using my backyard vertical. The vast majority of my contacts were on 40M this month, and the noise level was minimal. I was pleasantly surprised at the great signals on 40M. The local Texas stations like WA8ZBT, W5WO, K5JHP and WA5BUC sounded excellent. At the end of the event I checked out 80M, but only found one station WB5BKL. Great Time this month!
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 meters. Made 9 Q's on 20 and 18 on 40. Both bands were in pretty good shape and there was good participation again this month. All in all, a most enjoyable sprint. Worked three stations on both bands - K4BAI, WA8ZBT, & KE0G. One station called me on 20 but QSB won out - hopefully, next time we'll complete the QSO. I've uploaded my log to LoTW and eQSL...hope you'll consider doing the same. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40m extended double Zepp or a 20m wire delta loop. Started things off with a dupe within 9 minutes (sorry K7TQ), but settled down and had a good time. Two QSOs on 80M, 3 on 40M and the rest on 20M. Worked K4BAI on all three bands. Some of the signals were _very_ strong. Worked 15 SPCs with HI being the best DX. Removed the dupe and a QRO station before submitting my score. Had fun.
VA2NB
I happened to be tuning around and heard CQ SP and realized that it was the Spartan Sprint so I decided to make a few contacts. I used to be a regular but haven't operated this event in what must be a couple of years. I'll be back next month.
WB9G
This was my second Sprint, but my first submission. My farthest contact was from my QTH in Northern NY to NK6A in CA on 20m. My 40m and 80m contacts were mostly East Coast. Besides the other New York stations (NW2K and NQ2W), the best signal of the night was K4ORD at 20 over S9 on 40m. K4BAI also was solid on 20, 40, and 80m. Thanks for a great time, and I look forward to next month.
WB4MNK
Bands sure seemed to be in good shape. Thanks to all who stopped by. It was a fun evening.
This was my first Spartan Sprint, but not my last! With the PFR-3 set up with a wall wart and miniature hand key, I had been looking forward to it for a month and got company just as it began! So, I worked five contacts in the 1st hour, and finally gave up when my no-code buddy started yawning. Maybe next time I'll go out in the yard and work portable. That way, my XYL can tell visitors I'm not home. . . Anyway, I decided awhile back I wanted to do WAS 2XCW/QRP and thanks to NK6A, snagged my first California. Thanks Don. Heck of a nice signal into the West Virginia mountains. Pse QSL!
K3RLL
Good signals tonight on both 20 and 40 meters with no apparent digital QRM. Only worked the first hour, but what a great Sprint! Good to work WB4MNK back in FL. NQ2W and, as always, K4ORD seemed to have the strongest of many nice, strong signals. Really enjoy the relaxed pace of the Spartan Sprint. Many thanks to those who make it possible. See you next month.
K7TQ
20 m started out good. Loud ones were W1PID, N0EVH, and KE0G. I gave 40 a try at 0140Z, but nothing going, so back to 20. It played out around 0200Z, so off to 40. K4BAI was holding court so I got him, but that was about it for a long time. Finally I got three stations on both 20 and 40. They were K4BAI, K4ORD, and NK6A. I was at home with the K3 and C4SXL at 60 feet. Thanks to all who stopped by.
WA5BUC
Great to be back for this month's Spartan Sprint. Three Q's were TX; the 4th was K4BAI in GA. Texas Q's were K5JHP, WB5BKL, and, for a first, long-time fellow HQRP-er W5ACM. Rig was my faithful FT-817 and end-fed wire antenna. Bands were a bit noisy. Need to put the finishing touches on my magnetic loop antenna to see if I can get rid of some of the local noise.'Til September, best 72.
K5JHP
TA33JR and on 40 and 80 meters. Twenty was the band tonight. Worked most ot the contacts there. Hope it's good next month.
W1PID
I operated for about 45 minutes exclusively on 20 meters with an FT-817 and OCF dipole. I worked Russia (UA4WI) and Germany (DL5MC)! Worked Randy K7TQ in Idaho, Rod, W7OM, in Seattle, and Don, NK6A, in California. The band was clearly long. Thanks all for the fun.
K4BAI
10 and 15 seemed dead. Good band conditions on 20, 40, and 80. 20 was open to the north and west at the start, but faded after about 15 minutes. 40M was strong to most areas including WA, CA, and ON, with most activity around 7040, but a few around 7030. 80M was quiet with contacts from NY to TX. QSOs per band: 20M: 7. 40M: 28. 80M: 5. QSOed on three bands: WB9G (NY), WB5BKL (TX). Hope for more activity next month. I will be on a QRP forum to talk about QRP contesting at the Huntsville Hamfest August 19. Hope to meet many of you there.
NW2K
Only had 75 minutes but had a lot of fun. See you next time. 5W, fan dipole at 40 feet.
K4ORD
Good to have 20M open, nice to work DL5MC on both 20 and 40M. Heavy QRN on both 40 and 80, but 20 was fairly quiet. 7 QSOs on 20, 23 on 40 and 3 on 80. I probably missed some in the QRN. Thanks to all.
W5ACM
Still using the backup rig - the ATS-3. It continues to perform quite well with three LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 16 QSOs. Conditions were good on 20M, but I had to move to 40M after only half an hour since everyone I could hear, I had worked! I probably spent too much time calling CQ, but with contacts ranging from California, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida, I expected more. I was using my backyard vertical. The vast majority of my contacts were on 40M this month, and the noise level was minimal. I was pleasantly surprised at the great signals on 40M. The local Texas stations like WA8ZBT, W5WO, K5JHP and WA5BUC sounded excellent. At the end of the event I checked out 80M, but only found one station WB5BKL. Great Time this month!
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 meters. Made 9 Q's on 20 and 18 on 40. Both bands were in pretty good shape and there was good participation again this month. All in all, a most enjoyable sprint. Worked three stations on both bands - K4BAI, WA8ZBT, & KE0G. One station called me on 20 but QSB won out - hopefully, next time we'll complete the QSO. I've uploaded my log to LoTW and eQSL...hope you'll consider doing the same. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40m extended double Zepp or a 20m wire delta loop. Started things off with a dupe within 9 minutes (sorry K7TQ), but settled down and had a good time. Two QSOs on 80M, 3 on 40M and the rest on 20M. Worked K4BAI on all three bands. Some of the signals were _very_ strong. Worked 15 SPCs with HI being the best DX. Removed the dupe and a QRO station before submitting my score. Had fun.
VA2NB
I happened to be tuning around and heard CQ SP and realized that it was the Spartan Sprint so I decided to make a few contacts. I used to be a regular but haven't operated this event in what must be a couple of years. I'll be back next month.
WB9G
This was my second Sprint, but my first submission. My farthest contact was from my QTH in Northern NY to NK6A in CA on 20m. My 40m and 80m contacts were mostly East Coast. Besides the other New York stations (NW2K and NQ2W), the best signal of the night was K4ORD at 20 over S9 on 40m. K4BAI also was solid on 20, 40, and 80m. Thanks for a great time, and I look forward to next month.
WB4MNK
Bands sure seemed to be in good shape. Thanks to all who stopped by. It was a fun evening.
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