Friday, January 11, 2013
Soapbox: January 2013 Spartan Sprint
N1DN
This was my first Spartan Sprint ever, and I got here through the back door. I was following the HAMjitsu Club Spotter site for flying pigs to add to my WAP award soaring total of "1". Larry, W2LJ was spotted by one of the reporting station. I'm a big fan of Larry's blog, so I wasted no time heading down to 80 meters to hear him calling CQ. Larry, I appreciate the contact! I realized from his exchange I'd found the SP, and I heard a number of additional stations calling. Thanks to AA4GA, KB8U, and K4ORD for the contacts. Ok...I showed up with 18 pounds of gear, so I "missed the boat" here, but I plan to be back next month with an FT-817 and small key.
AA4GA
Sorry I haven't had a chance to get in on the Spartan Sprint in a while! I decided to use my Porta Paddle instead of the super-light touch keyer, thinking that my sending might be a little better with the PP due to the extra weight, but the paddle moved around more than I'd like causing some erratic sending - sorry folks! I was using a leg strap, but I can't get that tight enough around my leg to totally immobilize the paddle. I also used a 950 mAH LiPo that was not fully charged, and operated until I ran it as low as I dared! ATS-3B at 4 to 5 watts and 80m doublet. This is pretty close to what I would use on a SOTA activation, but will probably go a little lighter next time.
K7TQ
Tonight I used my 15+ year old Wilderness Radio 40A, earbuds, homebrew paddles, and 8 AA batteries. With the mighty 2 W I got 4 QSOs in the first 11 minutes, then no more. Heard WB5BKL and W1PID but I couldn't get their attention. W7IEX in nearby NV had a great signal. The 4 Qs spanned the US from NV to GA. I'll use the same setup in Feb and hope 40 m is more productive.
K3RLL
MTR xcvr with tiny LiPo battery and QRP paddle: Finally getting my station weight down, but not hearing many other Spartan Sprinters. 20 meters was dead here and 40 meters wasn’t that far behind tonight. Thanks for those who pulled me out of the noise tonight.
WVØH
Tough night, lots of neighborhood QRN to deal with. N5GW, VE3XT, VE3EDX and K4BAI were only Q's on 40, the rest on 80. Whew, glad that's over.
W1PID
I operated with an Icom 7000 and a Windom OCF on both 40 and 80 meters. made 4 QSOs on 40M and 5 QSOs on 80.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, dipole, inverted vee. 20M was dead. 6 QSOs on 40 M (NH, ID, CO, NJ, NY). 18 QSOs on 80: VA, MS, GA, CO, TX, PA, OK, MI, TN, MD, IL. 40M was OK. 80M
was quite good. Heard but did not work NQ2W on 80M. Heard a NV station on 40, but didn't hear his call. Too many QRPers must have been watching the BCS Championship. Hope for more stations on the air next month. Thanks for all QSOs. Happy New Year to all.
W3KC
Running 5 watts to a ZS6BKW antenna. All contacts were on 80 meters.
K5JHP
K3, inverted V for 80. It was a night for 80 meters. Worked one station on 40 the remainder were on 80. Noise and QSB were plentiful. Till next month.
N5GW
More QRN than SP stations on 40M. Interestingly, there was less QRN on 80M. I was using the CFZ hanging between two big oaks and the K1 with internal NiMH battery
pack, not fully charged. After the first hour, the voltage dropped to 8.6V, and the rig started chirping. So I dug out some alkaline AA cells for the second hour. I hope to be ready for FYBO and Feb. SP early next month.
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. Started out on 20m but heard
nothing and no one answered my CQs. Moved to 40m and made 8 Q's - 4 from TX, 1 each from CO, FL, GA, and MS. Changed the filter board out to move down to 80m where I
made 6 more Q's to MD, MI, MS, NH, TX, and VA. Had two banders with N5GW and WB5BKL. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Always a pleasure . . . Happy New Year to everyone. Looking forward to next month.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a dipole or a 40m extended double Zepp. Started very slow, but activity picked up as the evening wore on - I suspect that was BCS-Championship related. Nothing heard on 20m but 40 and 80m were OK. Worked 13 states but only NQ2W on two bands. Thanks to all. Had fun.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3. It is now eight years old and continues to perform quite well with three LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 13 QSOs. 20M was absolutely dead. I made six contacts on 40M including VE3XT in Ontario, and worked seven on 80M. The noise level wasn't too bad on 80M. My backyard vertical uses a resonator at the top for any very narrow piece of 80M that you wish to work. Mine is peaked at 3560, and it's nice when conditions cooperate.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Soapbox: December 2012 Spartan Sprint
C6AKQ (N4BP)
Rig - K3 @ 5W, Ants: 40M inverted-V @ 80ft & 80M inverted-V @ 100ft. 40M - 46 QSOs 80M - 13 QSOs. Called by HA3MK on 40M and UT1IR on 80M. By far the most Q's I've had in a Spartan Sprint. Location: Freeport, Grand Bahama. Thanks for the Q's!
K7TQ
For the December SP, I got out the lighter weight equipment
to give it a re-test run in preparation for some SOTA activations that I hope
to do this coming spring and summer. Instead of
the usual K3, I used a KX1 with its paddle, ear buds, and a 1.2 AHr gel
cell. Still a bit heavy at 2.4 lbs, but
much lighter than the K3. Strong signals from N0AR and KF0N plus a handfull of other stations
made for an enjoyable time until 40 m went long in about an hour. Every time I get out the KX1 paddles it takes a while to get use to them. I'm using that as an excuse for the sloppy
sending. Catch you all in the next SP.
K3RLL
First run with new Steve Weber MTR, LiPo, Altoids Poor Man's
Paddle and earbuds. Finally have a light
station for the Spartan Sprint and didn't many on. Go figure? My thanks to K2ZC, K4BAI, KE0G and WA8ZBT right at the close
for my contacts tonight.
NG3Z
Well after a long absence I thought I'd give the SP a shot.
Couldn't stay the whole time but made a few for the WA mult. Didn't get going
until 02:30 so went directly to 40M and condx were excellent. Made 11 Q's and then ate
dinner. Got back on the radio at 03:20 and worked AL and MN on 80M. I could
hear Bob C6AKQ (N4BP) CQing on 3560 but he never did hear me. On 40M I worked C6, GA, TX (3
times), MN IA, ID, OH, VA, MS. So a pretty good outing tonight. I haven't done
SP in many months so it was fun to get into it again. BTW, thanks Randy K7TQ for hanging
in there on 40M.
K4BAI
One QSO on 20, 21 QSOs on 40, 15 QSOs on 80. WB5BKL on all three bands. Pretty good conditions on 40 and 80M, but
need more activity. Happy Holidays to
all and see you this weekend in the ARRL 10M contest from NQ4I (guest op
both modes) and next month for another Spartan Sprint.
K4ORD
Only got on for the last hour as we had our local club
Christmas dinner tonite, made 2 QSOs on 40 then on to 80 where the qrn was
kicking up a bit, seems at times I could hear stations that were in the qrn but too weak to
copy. Made 3 qso's on 40M and 12 on 80M. looking forward to the ARRL 10M CW
CONTEST this weekend, hope the band is in good shape.
KA5CJJ
Rig: K2 and 40M Inverted V @ 5 watts. I've operated this
event a few times before but thought I would submit a log this time (a first). Good band conditions on 40M here. Worked stations
on both coasts. Made one contact on 80M
with my setup. 40 seemed to be in good shape - I heard some very good
signals. I enjoyed my 1 hour of activity and hope to try again next month. Thanks to everyone!
AB9CA
My usual setup of K2 at 5w to one of two 100' wires. Started
on 20 but no one answered any calls. Went to 40 after 5 min and there were a
few there - 8 Q's, 6 SPC - but not much activity. The band was quiet, virtually no QRN
and seemed to be on the long side. Went to 80 after an hour and things picked
up. 16 Q's, 10 SPC's there. Virtually no QRN, very quiet for 80. Sounded more like 20
often does. The band seemed in good shape. Worked from WA to C6 (although WA
really was ESP). Worked C6AKQ, N0AR, WB5BKL, and W5ACM on both bands. Bob, C6AKQ, was
stronger on 80 than 40. Good to hear everyone and thanks for the Q's. This is a
good event, we just need more participation.
K2ZC
This was my first sprint. I stumbled across the listing on
one of my contest calendars and thought I would check it out. I recognized a
lot of callsigns from other QRP events. I only made 4 contacts because this sprint runs at
the same time as my local radio club weekly 10 meter net. I used my Flex 1500
and netbook with an estimated total weight of 5 lbs. to a dipole up about 30'. One contact
was with K4BAI, a fox I have hunted many times. I'm not too sure about how to
submit a log or soapbox so if someone would inform me of the correct procedure it would
be most appreciated. Thank you for another great QRP event.
W5DPT
I started out as none qrp (thinking I would just give others
some contacts) then I detuned the radio and worked my last 2 of the 5 Q’s as
QRP. N5DY, OK; C6AKD, FL; N5GW, MS; (ALL HP) KC5CLL, AR; N0AR, MN (BOTH QRP). Low
noise on the 40 meter band about 7040
KHz and signals were 559. I enjoyed the fun.
KFØN
ATS-3 at 3 to 4 watts to an 80 meter loop antenna. A shorter
daylight period and lower SSN resulted in no signals heard on 20 meters. High line noise also wiped out 80 meters, so all my activity was confined to 40 M. Holiday activities probably reduced
participation too. Not many stations
heard; no east coast signals either, but the Midwest folks were very strong, indicating intense NVIS
propagation. My best CONUS DX was Paul,
NG7Z (WA) who had a very good signal in
here the whole evening. It was also a treat to work Bob, C6AKQ, who was a good 569
from the Caribbean. I look forward to
seeing you all in January!
W5ACM
The backup rig - my HEAVY ATS-3 in the Altoids can continues
to perform quite well with three LiPo batteries, built-in keyer paddle and
lightweight earbuds had 5W out and provided a final total of 12 QSOs. The batteries were
fully charged this month, and I did a lot of calling CQ. Conditions were
marginal on 40M, so it was difficult to make many contacts. QSOs with C6AKQ on 40M and 80M were a
welcome bit of excitement though. 40M was good for 7 contacts, and 80M gave up
an additional 5 QSOs. Plenty of regulars, and a few new ones this month. Strange
propagation and NOTHING on 20M from my QTH. I was using my backyard vertical.
Come on January!
N5GW
K1 at 3W with internal NiMH batteries to hb tuner and cfz at
40' hanging between two big oak trees. 40M was the main band as usual, but 80M
was pretty quiet for a change. Since I had the 80/40 board in the K1, I couldn't
check 20M. I could have made more contacts, but was also watching the NFL
football game. HI! CU all next month.
W1PID
Operated the Small Wonders DSW 40 at 2 watts. Best DX was
Bob C6AKQ. Worked only 40 meters because there was nothing on 20 or 80.
Propagation poor. Participation poor.
Only operated for five minutes. Had fun as always. Thanks to
all.
K4PQC
Only had a chance to work the Sprint for the last hour. 40 and 80 were the only bands I found active
and these were fairly quiet here in North Georgia. I did have one contact in MN on 80 that was exciting. Using KD1JV's AT - Sprint 3-B running 4 watts
to a 160 meter horizontal loop at approximately 30 feet.
NK6A
Bands were poor. Where was everyone? Only copied a few stations here for well over
an hour. N5GW had the loudest signal. John, K4BAI has great ears. I thought I heard him on 80 but I wasn't heard. Next month I will try
again. 0230 I gave up.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a dipole or a 40M extended
double Zepp. Worked K4BAI on three bands and four stations on two bands. It was fun to work the C6 station, but my best DX was NG7Z in WA. Best signal here in the Texas hill country
was WA8ZBT - only about 180 miles away.
Thanks to all. Had fun.
KE9V
Band conditions were light. Only heard three stations
calling CQ SP and was only able to work one of those, Bob, C6AKQ. Hoping for
better conditions and more activity in January. See you then.
NØAR
I think conditions were a bit down. Nothing on 20, made 15
contacts each on 40 and 80. Lots of qrn as we even had a bit of TS activity up
here in MN. Big signal goes to Wo0w who lifted the rig right off the table! NVIS was
alive and well. Nice to bag C6AKQ on both bands. My rig was K2 running 5 watts
to a 240 long inverted L with lots of radials. RX antenna was a loop (borrowed a
PIxelSat) and a 30' wire up 6.'
WA8MTI
Caught the sprint an hour into it. Only made one 40m. Went to 80m and heard more SPers but band was
noisy here in MI. Managed 4 more Qs. FT817 was packed away so used the FT2000 @ 5w into doublet.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Soapbox: November 2012 Spartan Sprint
N2NLY
This was my second Spartan Sprint, and a huge improvement over last month. Amazing what a month of CW practice can do! Rig is an IC-7200 running 5W into an LDG IT-100 and 85 feet of wire, strung about 20 feet high. All QSOs on 40m. Got some WX noise around my QTH again this month, especially in the second hour of the sprint. Huge thanks to everyone in my log, and to a couple of you who tried at some length but whom I couldn't quite pick out of the noise. Great fun overall.
WB4MNK
Thanks for a fun sprint. Wish I could have heard more stations. Maybe next time.
W1PID
I operated for 20 minutes using a Dave Benson DSW with 2 watts on 40 meters. The antenna was an OCF dipole. What a lot of fun. Like the old sprints. Bands were down. Best DX was Larry KFØN in IA. Thanks to everyone for the QSOs.
K3RLL
Flex-1500 to 4-BTV: Soft band conditions here in FL tonight and therefore didn’t hear a lot of Sprinters.This was the first time EVER that K4ORD couldn’t hear me, despite numerous tries. Maybe old sol will be kinder to us next month. Thanks for the fun.
K7TQ
A better Sprint than many November ones I've had. I took K4BAI's suggestion of last month and stayed with it until the bitter end. First hour was 18 Qs then only 2 more the entire next hour. I was pleased that 20 stayed open as long as it did. 80 didn't show much activity which left 40 as the band to be on. Thanks to all who stopped by and catch you again next month.
WVØH
This is the first Spartan Sprint with my new KX3. I ran the 8 foot magnetic loop with 1-Watt on internal Imedion batteries. Had a fun time on 40 and 80. Didn't try 20. Seemed a bit noisy tonight. The loop and info can be seen in more detail at < http://www.wv0h.blogspot.com > Thanks guys, had fun.
K4ORD
Ran my K3 @5W antennas 160, 80 and 40M dipoles, Started on 40M had a good run at first then things slowed down, most signals were weak with very deep QSB and the band was very noisy, I heard several stations calling that I just couldn't pull out of the noise. Checked 20M several times but heard nothing and made 3 qso's on 80M which was also very noisy. Hope December has less QRN. Thanks to all.
ACØAF
This was my first Sprint. I guess I just stumbled onto it while listening for some QRPers on 40. It was still early in the contest, so I thought I would join in. I had a great time and made some QSOs: 7 Q's on 40 and 2 on 80. I'm getting back to CW more now and learning to use a keyer, too. Hopefully I'm getting the hang of it. The skip must have been long, because most of my contacts were to the Gulf Coast and SE, and I only heard a few stations in the Midwest. I used an Icom IC-703 at 5 watts and wire antennas. I see now that my 8 lb. gell cell battery is about half of my total gear weight. Next time I'll hunt around for a smaller one and shed some pounds. Thanks to all, it was fun.
K4BAI
Missed the first 30 minutes. 20M seemed dead. 40M was good except for long skip. No signals heard from W3, 4, 8, 9 or close in W5. Good signals from Northeast, West, and West Coast. Best signals were from TX and OK, followed by CO, and then MN. 80M had only spotty activity with a lot of QRN but worked stations from VA, TX, and MN. 6 QSOs on 80 and 18 on 40M. Hope to make the whole 2 hours next month.
W5ESE
I used my AT Sprint 3 and Whiterook MK-44 paddles; supplied with a 9.6v wall wart. All my QSO's were on 40m. I didn't hear a lot of activity. The QRN on 80m was deafening. Will submit my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World.
N5GW
Added NiMH internal battery pack to K1 to keep weight down and increase portability. Used the 80/40 filter board at 4 watts, but unfortunately both bands in bad shape due to QRN from local rain storms, generally weak sigs and QSB related to poor propagation. Didn't hear any new stations during the last 45 min--must have worked all available ops or they gave up. Only good sigs were K4ORD on 40M and K4BAI on 80M. Hoping for btr condx later this winter. Was fun anyway.
AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Ended up with 15 Qs. Nearly all were to the N or W. SPCs are CA, CO, TX, MN, MI, IA, NV, ID, and NM. Nothing at all to the NE and not much into the midwest. Started on 20. Heard K7TQ but he could not hear me. Did work NK6A, Don, in CA on 20 but that was it (and later again on 40). The others all on 40. Tried 80 but no one home when I was there. Had only an hour so was probably too early for 80. There was some deep QSB. Not as bad as it is sometimes. Lots of noise from the nearby storms. Thanks to all who stopped by. See everyone next month.
WD7Y
It's been a long time since I had the time to work the Spartan Sprint (9 years). I hope to make this a regular activity once again. There were a lot of signals out there on 40M but QSB on most. It would have helped if Ops were not on top of each other - need to spread out.
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 10 QSOs. The batteries were fully charged this month, so there was some extra power for calling CQ. Conditions were bad on 20M, so I moved to 40M and worked 9 stations from NY to CA. I was using my backyard vertical. I finished up on 80M but with only one more contact with WB5BKL in TX.
KFØN
Participation seemed good although it was spread out over the whole two hours. A low "A" index (2) and a K-index of zero made for some seemingly good conditions with the best coming later in the evening. Twenty meters was a wash here with only two stations worked: K7TQ (Idaho) and K5JHP (Texas). The work-horse band was good old 40M. I heard Jim, K4ORD (VA) early in the evening but was not able to work Jim until much later in the evening when he peaked 579 here. Two stations I would loved to have worked but missed were Don, NK6A (CA) and Dave, AL7LO in Anchorage, AK. Guess I need to upgrade to a full QRP gallon of 5-watts! Many thanks to all who stopped by and rang my door bell! Also thanks to those dedicated souls at Adventure Radio Society who sponsor these fun events.
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m, an inverted V at 40 feet for 40m, and a ground mounted, near bottom-loaded vertical for 80m. Started on 20 and heard nothing. CQing didn't even show up on < http://www.reversebeacon.net >;. 40 was better but signals for the most part - except loud K4PHA and K4ORD - were down and QRN was high. Worked one station on 80 - K4ORD for a double - but it seemed like more skimmers were picking up my signal on 80 than on 40. Pretty noisy on 80. Always interesting...wish we had more participation. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers.
NØAR
It's been a while and thought this sprint is just what I need to shake down the new 160m inverted L. I fired up the K2 at 5 watts and got at it. Total of 24 contacts. 20 meters was not too hot, only 2 contacts. 80 was QRN city with only 3 contacts. The workhorse was 40 where I worked 19 q's. On my end it was up and down but with positive results. Good to hear so many familiar calls.
AB1AV
ATS3, 88' doublet up 60'. Only operated 1/2 hour, only 40 meters. Signals seemed weaker than usual. Thanks for those who called, and sorry I sometimes forgot which memory held the SP exchange! WB5BKL K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop or a dipole. Worked stations on 20, 40 and 80M but most of my QSOs were on 40. Worked K4BAI and W7TQ on two bands. W7TQ was my best DX and WVØH had a nice signal into the Texas hill country at 1 watt. As always, thanks to all. Had fun.
This was my second Spartan Sprint, and a huge improvement over last month. Amazing what a month of CW practice can do! Rig is an IC-7200 running 5W into an LDG IT-100 and 85 feet of wire, strung about 20 feet high. All QSOs on 40m. Got some WX noise around my QTH again this month, especially in the second hour of the sprint. Huge thanks to everyone in my log, and to a couple of you who tried at some length but whom I couldn't quite pick out of the noise. Great fun overall.
WB4MNK
Thanks for a fun sprint. Wish I could have heard more stations. Maybe next time.
W1PID
I operated for 20 minutes using a Dave Benson DSW with 2 watts on 40 meters. The antenna was an OCF dipole. What a lot of fun. Like the old sprints. Bands were down. Best DX was Larry KFØN in IA. Thanks to everyone for the QSOs.
K3RLL
Flex-1500 to 4-BTV: Soft band conditions here in FL tonight and therefore didn’t hear a lot of Sprinters.This was the first time EVER that K4ORD couldn’t hear me, despite numerous tries. Maybe old sol will be kinder to us next month. Thanks for the fun.
K7TQ
A better Sprint than many November ones I've had. I took K4BAI's suggestion of last month and stayed with it until the bitter end. First hour was 18 Qs then only 2 more the entire next hour. I was pleased that 20 stayed open as long as it did. 80 didn't show much activity which left 40 as the band to be on. Thanks to all who stopped by and catch you again next month.
WVØH
This is the first Spartan Sprint with my new KX3. I ran the 8 foot magnetic loop with 1-Watt on internal Imedion batteries. Had a fun time on 40 and 80. Didn't try 20. Seemed a bit noisy tonight. The loop and info can be seen in more detail at < http://www.wv0h.blogspot.com > Thanks guys, had fun.
K4ORD
Ran my K3 @5W antennas 160, 80 and 40M dipoles, Started on 40M had a good run at first then things slowed down, most signals were weak with very deep QSB and the band was very noisy, I heard several stations calling that I just couldn't pull out of the noise. Checked 20M several times but heard nothing and made 3 qso's on 80M which was also very noisy. Hope December has less QRN. Thanks to all.
ACØAF
This was my first Sprint. I guess I just stumbled onto it while listening for some QRPers on 40. It was still early in the contest, so I thought I would join in. I had a great time and made some QSOs: 7 Q's on 40 and 2 on 80. I'm getting back to CW more now and learning to use a keyer, too. Hopefully I'm getting the hang of it. The skip must have been long, because most of my contacts were to the Gulf Coast and SE, and I only heard a few stations in the Midwest. I used an Icom IC-703 at 5 watts and wire antennas. I see now that my 8 lb. gell cell battery is about half of my total gear weight. Next time I'll hunt around for a smaller one and shed some pounds. Thanks to all, it was fun.
K4BAI
Missed the first 30 minutes. 20M seemed dead. 40M was good except for long skip. No signals heard from W3, 4, 8, 9 or close in W5. Good signals from Northeast, West, and West Coast. Best signals were from TX and OK, followed by CO, and then MN. 80M had only spotty activity with a lot of QRN but worked stations from VA, TX, and MN. 6 QSOs on 80 and 18 on 40M. Hope to make the whole 2 hours next month.
W5ESE
I used my AT Sprint 3 and Whiterook MK-44 paddles; supplied with a 9.6v wall wart. All my QSO's were on 40m. I didn't hear a lot of activity. The QRN on 80m was deafening. Will submit my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World.
N5GW
Added NiMH internal battery pack to K1 to keep weight down and increase portability. Used the 80/40 filter board at 4 watts, but unfortunately both bands in bad shape due to QRN from local rain storms, generally weak sigs and QSB related to poor propagation. Didn't hear any new stations during the last 45 min--must have worked all available ops or they gave up. Only good sigs were K4ORD on 40M and K4BAI on 80M. Hoping for btr condx later this winter. Was fun anyway.
AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Ended up with 15 Qs. Nearly all were to the N or W. SPCs are CA, CO, TX, MN, MI, IA, NV, ID, and NM. Nothing at all to the NE and not much into the midwest. Started on 20. Heard K7TQ but he could not hear me. Did work NK6A, Don, in CA on 20 but that was it (and later again on 40). The others all on 40. Tried 80 but no one home when I was there. Had only an hour so was probably too early for 80. There was some deep QSB. Not as bad as it is sometimes. Lots of noise from the nearby storms. Thanks to all who stopped by. See everyone next month.
WD7Y
It's been a long time since I had the time to work the Spartan Sprint (9 years). I hope to make this a regular activity once again. There were a lot of signals out there on 40M but QSB on most. It would have helped if Ops were not on top of each other - need to spread out.
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 10 QSOs. The batteries were fully charged this month, so there was some extra power for calling CQ. Conditions were bad on 20M, so I moved to 40M and worked 9 stations from NY to CA. I was using my backyard vertical. I finished up on 80M but with only one more contact with WB5BKL in TX.
KFØN
Participation seemed good although it was spread out over the whole two hours. A low "A" index (2) and a K-index of zero made for some seemingly good conditions with the best coming later in the evening. Twenty meters was a wash here with only two stations worked: K7TQ (Idaho) and K5JHP (Texas). The work-horse band was good old 40M. I heard Jim, K4ORD (VA) early in the evening but was not able to work Jim until much later in the evening when he peaked 579 here. Two stations I would loved to have worked but missed were Don, NK6A (CA) and Dave, AL7LO in Anchorage, AK. Guess I need to upgrade to a full QRP gallon of 5-watts! Many thanks to all who stopped by and rang my door bell! Also thanks to those dedicated souls at Adventure Radio Society who sponsor these fun events.
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m, an inverted V at 40 feet for 40m, and a ground mounted, near bottom-loaded vertical for 80m. Started on 20 and heard nothing. CQing didn't even show up on < http://www.reversebeacon.net >;. 40 was better but signals for the most part - except loud K4PHA and K4ORD - were down and QRN was high. Worked one station on 80 - K4ORD for a double - but it seemed like more skimmers were picking up my signal on 80 than on 40. Pretty noisy on 80. Always interesting...wish we had more participation. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers.
NØAR
It's been a while and thought this sprint is just what I need to shake down the new 160m inverted L. I fired up the K2 at 5 watts and got at it. Total of 24 contacts. 20 meters was not too hot, only 2 contacts. 80 was QRN city with only 3 contacts. The workhorse was 40 where I worked 19 q's. On my end it was up and down but with positive results. Good to hear so many familiar calls.
AB1AV
ATS3, 88' doublet up 60'. Only operated 1/2 hour, only 40 meters. Signals seemed weaker than usual. Thanks for those who called, and sorry I sometimes forgot which memory held the SP exchange! WB5BKL K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop or a dipole. Worked stations on 20, 40 and 80M but most of my QSOs were on 40. Worked K4BAI and W7TQ on two bands. W7TQ was my best DX and WVØH had a nice signal into the Texas hill country at 1 watt. As always, thanks to all. Had fun.
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.
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