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Friday, April 5, 2013
Soapbox: April '13 Spartan Sprint
K3RLL
Getting to appreciate the little MTR and tiny LiPo battery but the light paddle leaves much to be desired. At least that is my story and I’m sticking to it. Nice signals tonight on 20 meters and nice to work WB5BKL on both 20 and 40 tonight. Big signal tonight down into FL was K4ORD. 72 es tnx to those who make this fun possible.
N4SX
Well another one come and gone, and still 30 minutes left as I write this report. My K2 internal battery gave out again at the 1 hour 20 minute mark. That will be remedied before next month. I ran the Sprint again this month at 1 watt the whole way. 8 contacts on 20, 7 on 40, and 1 on 80 meters. Just at the very end as my battery was giving up the ghost I may have been doing 50mw or so as AB9CA could not pull me out of the mud next door in Alabama, but the qrn was sure heavy on 80 and still not good on 40. Contacts all the way from CA to WA to NH and even FL, so I got the corners covered! Lots of fun again guys and thanks for all the contacts and pulling out my 1 watt.
N5OBC
Been working on sprint nights. Finally got one off, used the KX3 to a wire dipole for two contacts then it was family time. Bands have been rough the past few days. Good to be back on a sprint.
K4ORD
Started on 20M, band seemed in good shape a few S9 signals, made 8 qso's on 20M, 16 on 40M and 6 on 80M. Qrn was heavy on both 40 & 80 some signals strong some weak. Nice to work WB5BKL on three bands. Ran my K2 @ 5W to dipoles. Thanks for all the contacts.
WA8HSB
It has been a long time since I participated in a Spartan Sprint due to other commitments on Monday evenings. This month found me in Houston, TX on business so I gave it a go. Found my key a bit mangled when I took it out of its case so the first couple of contacts were a struggle until I got it readjusted - sorry John & Dave. Guess I need a more substantial case. Used my KX1 with the BuddiStick mounted on the rental car rear window. Did not hear any activity on 20m but, was able to make 4 Qs on 40m - basically the Gulf Coast - East to West: K4BAI in GA, AB9CA in AL, N5GW in MS, and W5ACM in TX. In between Spartan Sprint contacts I worked two Cuban stations on the low end of 40 - not bad at all!! Hope to be back soon.
W1PID
Good Sprint I operated for an hour with an ICOM 7K at 5W to an OCF dipole. I worked W7OM in WA on both 20 and 40. Worked NK6A and N6GA in CA on 20. Took a piece of traffic on 80! Really. I worked my pal Bill AB1AV. Then he sent QTC 1. I sent QRV and there was a message from fellow QRPer N3AO. What a hoot. Thanks all for the contacts.
K4BAI
Good conditions. 20M had very strong signals, but only a few of them. 40M was good almost everywhere. 80M had a lot of QRN, but strong signals from TX to PA. Thanks for all QSOs. Breakdown of QSOs per band: 20M: 9. 40M: 25. 80M: 8. FT1000MP, WM-2 QRP Watt Meter, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, inverted V.
N5GW
20 was open for the first half hour; then only a few west coast stations heard. 40 was noisy with QRN from approaching wx front, but not too bad for my K1 at 3 watts.
W3KC
Bands were pretty noisy. I had only the wide filter in the Icom 703 (neat little rig), I really need to get a cw filter installed. Running 5 watts to the zs6bkw, I made the most Q's on 40 but several on 20 and 80. As always, lots of fun and good operators.
AB9CA
Station was the K2 @ 5w to 100' wire. Condx seemed to be pretty good. Not much noise. On 20 worked from CA to NY from the Gulf Coast. 40 was not quite so long but still good. 8 Q's on 20, 13 on 40 and 1 on 80. John, K4BAI, over in GA was booming in on 40. That sounds good for the 40m fox hunt! Thanks to everyone who stopped by and see ya'all next month!
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m and an inverted V at 40ft for 40m. Ten Qs on 20 and eight on 40. Never tried 80 - thought there would be too much QRN from the snow in the air! Had doubles with K4BAI, WA8ZBT, AB9CA, and N5GW. Overall, signals were pretty good with only an occasional lost dit or dah due to a static crash. Thanks for the repeats. Good to work a few new calls during the SP - welcome, and I hope to hear you again. Always good to hear the "regulars" and I hope to hear you again, as well. Always a pleasure and a privilege to be added to your log. Hope to be back next month.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. No contacts on 15M, but worked K4ORD and K4BAI on 20, 40 and 80M. Worked 15 states with N1WPU as the best DX. 28 Qs is a personal best for the Spartan Sprint. Thanks to all, including the organizers! Had fun.
KK4CIS
Was tuning around on 40m and heard someone sending "CQ QRP TEST K4BAI" so finally figured out there is a 2hr contest on the first Monday of each month, read the short list of rules and exchange format, turned the K3 down to 5w and sent a reply. That worked pretty well, so ran across another caller. Moved up the band a bit and started calling CQ. Two stations came back to me fairly quickly and after that, no takers. Figured everybody moved to 80m since it was fairly late in the contest.
Hopefully, can improve my QSO/Weight ratio next month.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 19 QSOs this month. However, I spent far too much time calling "CQ". The batteries were drained about 30 minutes before the end of the event. 20M was NOT DEAD! Last month 20M was a tragedy. This month it was a delight! The majority of my contacts were on 20M from NH to CA and FL. Nice! On 40M I had fun, but nothing like 20M. 80M was typical with only a few contacts. I got K4BAI on all of the bands that I pursued. 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. Hoping for some more fantastic 20M ops next time! It was the best SS in quite a while!
AB1AV
ATS-3, touch keyer, LiPo, 88' doublet up 55.'Didn't start until after a 9:30pm traffic net, staying on 80 meters where the net was. Ran into W1PID, for whom I had just picked up traffic, and relayed it to him! By the time I tried 40 and 20 meters there we're no sigs to be heard.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Soapbox: March 2013 Spartan Sprint
K1QO
Great to hear so many familiar calls from the QRP community and especially the QRP Foxhunt group. Breakdown was: 5 Q's on 3.5, 5 Q's on 7 and 2 on 20. I missed NK6A on 20 due to my own fault...Don you were a nice signal into NH, I had a problem on my end but by the time I fixed it I didn't hear you anymore :( As always K4BAI is a gentleman and FB op!! Nice hearing these other wonderful hounds/foxii; WB5BKL, N5GW (who I worked on two bands), N4SX (nice 1Watt signal), AB9CA, WA4ZOF and NQ2W. I also worked WA8ZBT. And of course my neighbor N1IX (three bands). Thanks to all!
K3RLL
Getting a bit more practice with the little Mountain Topper Altoids rig and amazed how tiny 1.3 Ah LiPo holds up. This may have been one of my best efforts tonight. Nice contacts tonight but missed a few with ‘near misses’. WB5BKL had best signal tonight into FL.
AB9CA
Had only an hour but was fun as always. Used the K2 at 5w. Started out on 20 but only 1 contact there. Went to 40 and picked up 5. Then went to 80 and picked up 12. Worked W2LJ, KE5G, and W3KC on both 40 and 80. 80 was in good shape and hardly any noise. 40 seemed to go long early. With the time change next month things will likely be different. See everyone then!
N5GW
Both 40 and 80 were quiet on the K1 tonight, even with a cold front moving in. My NiMH batteries and I faded at the same time (9:30), but I was able to work almost everyone I heard.
NØAR
I gave it my best but only lasted an hour. 4 q's on 40, 3 on 80. There's a big snow storm over my area and the qrn was only eclipsed by the lack of signal levels! Rig here was my K2 at 4 watts with the 240' inverted L and two low noise rx antennas, yea life in the burbs now mandates them. l'll work the rest of you next
month. :) 73 from snowy MN.
WA4ZOF
A lot of strong sigs this eve, thanks to everyone.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 11 QSOs this month. 20M was DEAD. I made five contacts on 40M, and worked six on 80M. That's a first for me, i.e. more contacts on 80M than 40M. 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. Hoping for some 20M ops next time!
K4BAI
Good conditions. Activity fair. 20M open to W6/7 at start. Two QSOs. 40M good beyond several hundred miles. 20 QSOs. DX out to CA, NH, and VE3. 80M good all over. DX out to NH, TX, MN and the catch of the contest, 6Y6T in Jamaica who was also QRP. Thanks for all QSOs. Hope to see you all and many others next month.
N4SX
Using a K2 w/internal battery and running 1 watt, I started out calling CQ on 40, but after 5 mins. and no takers, I checked out 20. Only heard 1 very weak station there, so checked out 80 and it was about the same. Went back to 40 where things picked up a bit and stayed there until 0300 or thereabouts and then dropped down to 80 for about 30 minutes until no new calls were heard and my battery was very low. I got 8 stations on 40 and 4 on 80. Thanks for all the qso's guys......it sure was fun.
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. Two Qs on 20, eight on 40, and four on 80. Still battling some man made, intermittent QRN on 80. Quiet and then bam...S9 or above. Thanks for the repeats, I appreciate them...especially K4BAI and K1QO. Had doubles with NK6A and K4BAI. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Always a pleasure and a privilege to have the opportunity...until next time.
W3KC
Equal number of QSOs on 40m and 80m. 20m was in bad shape (zero QSO's there). Thanks to all the good operators - it was fun.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. Completely forgot the sprint in February - just absentmindedness, I guess. 12 states this month with 80M being the money band. Worked NK6A and K4BAI on two bands. N4SX had a FB signal to TX with 1 Watt. My thanks to all the sprinters and the organizers.
Had fun.
K7TQ
20 m finally had some life. I got 4 Qs there before everyone left for 40, or the band folded up. Next month with the longer daylight should be even better. Catch several of you then.
W1PID
I ran an IC-7000 at 5W to an OCF dipole. Operated for a half hour. Best DX was NK6A in CA. Next was K7TQ in ID. Not enough participation... but nice to meet old friends.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Soapbox: February 2013 Spartan Sprint
N4SX
Well this was the first Sprint I've worked in many moons, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Indeed. I turned my K2 down to 1 watt and commenced to having fun! Worked stations as far as TX, MN, and NH from here in GA. A number I could not make it to though, as you might expect. Did I mention it's been a looooong time since I've participated in a Sprint? :) K4BAI had the strongest signal, (can you say BOOMING?) being only a couple hours away, and K4ORD was the next in order. I plan to be back next month, and wish you all....excuse me........all y'all.....Happy QRP!
K3RLL
Still working with my MTR and tiny LiPo battery (that was dying) but not hearing many stations here on 40 tonight. Thanks for those who pulled me out of the noise.
W3KC
Good fun with 11 Qs on 80 and 4 Qs on 40.
K4ORD
Was busy and almost forgot about the Sprint, but got in the last 30 minutes all on 80M and made 10 QSOs.conditions seemed good here in VA all were good copy after I got some tuned in my narrow filter on the K3, antenna was 80M dipole up 35.' We need more activity!
K4BAI
20M was long and only one QSO there (NK6A). 40M was poor at first, but improved later on. 8 QSOs on 40. 80M was quite good, but there was little activity. 14 QSOs on 80. Worked NK6A on all three bands. Let's try to have more activity in Spartan Sprints so it will be interesting to work the whole 2-hour period.
W1PID
I operated for a little less than an hour. 20 meters was dead. I had 7 QSOs on 40M and 2 QSOs on 80M. I ran the Icom 7000 at 5W to an OCf dipole. Nice to work Larry W2LJ.
NK6A
S5 noise level on all bands. Couldn't hear a lot of activity for some reason. Did manage to work K4BAI on three bands. 80M for me is a real challenge. John has got very good ears.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3. It is now over eight years old and continues to perform quite well with three new 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 11 QSOs this month. 20M was OK into California (NK6A), but then went absolutely dead. I made six contacts on 40M, and worked four 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. Hoping for more 20M ops next time!
WB4MNK
Bands seem down a bit but still had a blast. Thanks to all the stations that hung in there with me.
WA8MTI
FT817nd, T1 to 80m doublet. 20 was dead so started on 40 with three contacts. Slow going with lots of QRO QRM. Switched to 80 and added 5 more. Thanks to those wit the great ears that pulled out my 2.5w sig.
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m, an inverted V at 40ft for 40m, and a ground mounted, near bottom-loaded vertical for 80m. Started out on 20 - nuthin'. Went to 40 and was able to make 10 Qs with QRPers in FL, TX, IL, GA, AL, CO, and ON. Changed the filter board and made 6 more Q's on 80 with stations in GA, MD, NY, MI, VA, and ON. Logged K4BAI on both bands. Both 40 and 80 were noisy here. If you called and I didn't hear you it probably was because of the QRN here in Albany ... always a challenge on the lower bands. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Always a pleasure and a privilege to have the opportunity ... until next time ... dit dit.
Friday, January 11, 2013
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