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Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Soapbox: October 2013 Spartan Sprint
N7LT
It was FUN once again after a DECADE of not participating! I stumbled upon the October Spartan Sprint, connected up my Key and computer for logging, and made some contacts! I’ve put a schedule in my phone calendar to remind me to not miss it next month! I look forward to once again being competitive! Last time I operated the Spartan Sprints was sometime around 2003 or earlier in Belgrade, MT (SW MT). I’ve lived near Kalispell, MT (NW MT) for 10 years now and this is the first sprint I’ve participated in from here. I got lucky Monday night and happened to hear “CQ SP”! The excitement is back! I've got to be ready next month to see if I can win again! (Smiling)
VE7ECK
A first Sprint from Northwestern BC, I think. Lots of fun sitting in a picnic shelter at the edge of the Skeena River in front of the KX1 and watching the sun go down as our keying fingers got number in the October air. Hopefully we'll make more contacts next time. Keith, VE7ECK and Allen, VE7BQO.
KA9VHG
Very enjoyable 2 hours. Used my KX1 with internal lithium batteries, Bulldog paddles, and earbuds. Antenna is a low inverted L. Spent most of my time on 40m as 20m was quiet and 80m had quite a bit of QRN. Thanks for pulling my 2 watts out of the noise.
K3RLL
Back in FL for the winter at whopping 82’ ASL with my compromise antennas and just wasn’t hearing anyone tonight. Got spoiled over the summer in the mountains of PA with an outside antenna and good elevation but they tell me it snows up there in the winters! Anyhow, many thanks for those who dug me out of the noise on 40m tonight. See you next month.
ABØCD
Had limited time and no antenna up, so I hooked the K2 up to the little red wire that runs out my townhouse window and is screwed to my rain gutter, but managed to work ID, GA, CA,TX, and NY on 40 CW. Not bad.
WA5RML
FlexRadio 1500 @5 wts to vertical (20M) and G5RV (80/40M); Weight of 13.7 lbs includes laptop, power supply, Vibroplex Code Warrior paddles, FlexControl knob. Hot Dog! Second Spartan Sprint this year! 12 QSOs included: (a) 20M - NK6A (Don), K7TQ (Randy), NQ2W (Will), (b) 40M - K4BAI, (John), KØEVZ (Doc), KG4W (Ed), K7TQ (Randy, again!), ABØCD (Dick), K6XM (Greg), W7OM (Rod), W2NED (Ned), and (c) 80M - WB5BKL (Nick). Nine (9) states - CA, CO, GA, ID, NM, NY, TX, VA, and WA. Cool stuff! Especially 5 wts into compromise antennas! Best signal of the evening goes to Nick, WB5BKL, pounding into the Dallas/Ft. Worth area from Burnett, TX, with a true, honest-to-goodness 599 signal on 80 mtrs! I assumed that he was operating from somewhere nearby but no...he's down near Austin, TX. Hope to see everyone next month!
W2NED
QRN was high in WNY this evening, so I decided to use my K3 to help dig out those QRP signals. I found it to be quite challenging, but still great fun! I started with two Texas QSOs on 20 meters and soon moved to 40. I quickly found that I wasn't alone in migrating to 40, and I eventually reworked my 20 meter QSOs on 40! I am always amazed at the geographical distribution of the QRP stations worked, and I am looking forward to next month and a lower noise floor!
WVØH
A whole 3 QSOs from Colorado this evening. I got a late start in the back yard but managed to put up a 46 foot inverted L, or was it a "Seven", anyway,I used my barebones KX3 with its internal Eneloops, KXPD3, KXFL3, KXAT3 weighing in at 2.2377 lbs. My first QSO was AK6YY at 0209, then Don NK6A just after that. I really thought the band was dead so I QSYd down to 80, no luck there. I then went up to 20m and it was dead, so back to 40 where I picked up Clint, K6CSL. He copied my exchange but he faded into the ether and tried, oh I tried to get him to repeat his exchange but there wasn't a beep. Sorry Clint. Then a CQing we would go and K6XM came through. The strong CA sounds of good, strong Charlie Whiskey! So there you have it, the news from Lake Whoa-Be-Gone where all women are strong, the men are good looking and the children are above average. Keep your stick on the ice.
K5JHP
Bands here on Tx coast seemed to be “dead”. East coast Yielded only 3 contacts. 5 contacts on 20 and 7 on 40. Maybe next month will be better.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 10 QSOs this month. Although I had a GREAT TIME, it was more difficult. It started slow on 20M, but then unlike last month, it got worse. Band conditions were very quiet, i.e. very little QRN. 40M was almost as good, but a bit noisier. I avoided excessive CQ ops so that I could make the batteries last the whole two hours. I have my ATS-3A on the bench, but the fix is not trivial. When I get it working, my station weight will drop to TWO OUNCES ...
K6XM
I got home from work late and missed the 20 meter opening, which is my “money” band. Only worked 3 stations on 20. So I spent most of my time on 40 meters. 80 started to open right and the end of the sprint and I did manage to work two stations – WB5KBL and K7TQ – on three bands (20, 40, and 80)! There were a few stations that I could tell were calling me, but were just too weak to pull out of the noise. I’m sorry that I couldn’t work them. Thanks to all who put up with my mutton fist ( the paddelette on my KX3 was giving me problems). I didn’t score as well as last time, but it was still a lot of fun.
K4BAI
20M open nicely to the west, but only two QSOs there. 40M was the place to be with 26 QSOs from NY to WI to CO and out to CA. Skip was fairly long with closest QSOs being in VA. 80M was very noisy here, but good QSO with WB5BKL there. Still need more activity to keep up interest for two hours. Thanks for the QSOs.
KD2MX
All paths led to TX on 20m, nothing on 40m, but I wasn't around for long.
N7WM
Rig was a KD1JV Mountaintopper running 2 Watts, as close as I can determine. This was the first time that I had put the rig on the air, it worked FB on 20M, but although it also put out about 2 W on 40 meters, the 40 meter receiver section was silent. Whiterock key, 9V battery, plus earbuds. It was fun. Will do it again.
K7TQ
A fun evening here in Idaho. 20 m was a great place to start with K4BAI answering right off the bat followed by a long string of about 1 per minute until 0130Z. I switched over to 40 m and continued to have folks answer. About 0200Z things slowed down considerably. For the 1st hour I had 39 Qs on both 20 and 40 m. The second hour yielded 9 Qs on 40 and 80 m. K6XM found me on all 3 bands with K4BAI, K6JHP, NK6A, NQ2W, W5ACM, WA5RML, WA7OJY, WA8ZBT, and WB5BKL all good for two bands. Thanks to all who stopped by.
NQ2W
K1 at 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m and an inverted V at 40ft for 40m. Started on 20 and made 11 FB QSOs. Moved to 40 and battled a pretty noisy band to add 8 more QSOs. Considered trying 80 but was discouraged by the noise level on 40. Two banders with K7TQ, WB5BKL, and WA8ZBT. Thanks for the contacts. Hope to hear your call during the NY QP.
KG3W
Had a fun time but only 13 contacts tonight. Station was HB1B, Palm paddle, 850 mah lipo and a T1 tuner from elecraft. Had 1 contact on 20 with K7TQ in Idaho, and 1 on 80 with AF3Z in Pa. The rest were 40 meters. Band sounded ok but I could not get a run going, with my big 4 watts and dipole. Lowest pwr station worked was KA9VHG in WI @ 2 watts. Nice going, Jim. Got to work my friend Don, K3RLL down in FL. The best signal report here in PA was KØOU, Steve in Missouri. Now it's on to the 9th anniversary sprint of the NAQCC.
AE7CG
Thanks to WB5BKL, K7TQ, and WA8ZBT for this month's QSOs on 20M.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. Tried 15M with no luck. Only 13 states this time with quite a few doubles but only K6XM on 20, 40 and 80M. Worked two stations running 2W. As my VK-friends would say, "Gudonya!" My thanks to all and to the organizers. Had fun.
K5GQ
Few new stations worked this time. 20M seemed very quiet.
AB1AV
ATS-3B, touch keyer, Z-match tuner to 88' doublet up 60'. Heard lots of sprinters on 20 meters here in NH, but many seemed to be within 100 Hz - obviously not hearing each other. Picked off a few on the edges (TX, ID, CA), took time out for a traffic net, tried 40 meters with no luck at all, and called it a night about 0200Z.
It was FUN once again after a DECADE of not participating! I stumbled upon the October Spartan Sprint, connected up my Key and computer for logging, and made some contacts! I’ve put a schedule in my phone calendar to remind me to not miss it next month! I look forward to once again being competitive! Last time I operated the Spartan Sprints was sometime around 2003 or earlier in Belgrade, MT (SW MT). I’ve lived near Kalispell, MT (NW MT) for 10 years now and this is the first sprint I’ve participated in from here. I got lucky Monday night and happened to hear “CQ SP”! The excitement is back! I've got to be ready next month to see if I can win again! (Smiling)
VE7ECK
A first Sprint from Northwestern BC, I think. Lots of fun sitting in a picnic shelter at the edge of the Skeena River in front of the KX1 and watching the sun go down as our keying fingers got number in the October air. Hopefully we'll make more contacts next time. Keith, VE7ECK and Allen, VE7BQO.
KA9VHG
Very enjoyable 2 hours. Used my KX1 with internal lithium batteries, Bulldog paddles, and earbuds. Antenna is a low inverted L. Spent most of my time on 40m as 20m was quiet and 80m had quite a bit of QRN. Thanks for pulling my 2 watts out of the noise.
Back in FL for the winter at whopping 82’ ASL with my compromise antennas and just wasn’t hearing anyone tonight. Got spoiled over the summer in the mountains of PA with an outside antenna and good elevation but they tell me it snows up there in the winters! Anyhow, many thanks for those who dug me out of the noise on 40m tonight. See you next month.
ABØCD
Had limited time and no antenna up, so I hooked the K2 up to the little red wire that runs out my townhouse window and is screwed to my rain gutter, but managed to work ID, GA, CA,TX, and NY on 40 CW. Not bad.
WA5RML
FlexRadio 1500 @5 wts to vertical (20M) and G5RV (80/40M); Weight of 13.7 lbs includes laptop, power supply, Vibroplex Code Warrior paddles, FlexControl knob. Hot Dog! Second Spartan Sprint this year! 12 QSOs included: (a) 20M - NK6A (Don), K7TQ (Randy), NQ2W (Will), (b) 40M - K4BAI, (John), KØEVZ (Doc), KG4W (Ed), K7TQ (Randy, again!), ABØCD (Dick), K6XM (Greg), W7OM (Rod), W2NED (Ned), and (c) 80M - WB5BKL (Nick). Nine (9) states - CA, CO, GA, ID, NM, NY, TX, VA, and WA. Cool stuff! Especially 5 wts into compromise antennas! Best signal of the evening goes to Nick, WB5BKL, pounding into the Dallas/Ft. Worth area from Burnett, TX, with a true, honest-to-goodness 599 signal on 80 mtrs! I assumed that he was operating from somewhere nearby but no...he's down near Austin, TX. Hope to see everyone next month!
W2NED
QRN was high in WNY this evening, so I decided to use my K3 to help dig out those QRP signals. I found it to be quite challenging, but still great fun! I started with two Texas QSOs on 20 meters and soon moved to 40. I quickly found that I wasn't alone in migrating to 40, and I eventually reworked my 20 meter QSOs on 40! I am always amazed at the geographical distribution of the QRP stations worked, and I am looking forward to next month and a lower noise floor!
WVØH
A whole 3 QSOs from Colorado this evening. I got a late start in the back yard but managed to put up a 46 foot inverted L, or was it a "Seven", anyway,I used my barebones KX3 with its internal Eneloops, KXPD3, KXFL3, KXAT3 weighing in at 2.2377 lbs. My first QSO was AK6YY at 0209, then Don NK6A just after that. I really thought the band was dead so I QSYd down to 80, no luck there. I then went up to 20m and it was dead, so back to 40 where I picked up Clint, K6CSL. He copied my exchange but he faded into the ether and tried, oh I tried to get him to repeat his exchange but there wasn't a beep. Sorry Clint. Then a CQing we would go and K6XM came through. The strong CA sounds of good, strong Charlie Whiskey! So there you have it, the news from Lake Whoa-Be-Gone where all women are strong, the men are good looking and the children are above average. Keep your stick on the ice.
K5JHP
Bands here on Tx coast seemed to be “dead”. East coast Yielded only 3 contacts. 5 contacts on 20 and 7 on 40. Maybe next month will be better.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 10 QSOs this month. Although I had a GREAT TIME, it was more difficult. It started slow on 20M, but then unlike last month, it got worse. Band conditions were very quiet, i.e. very little QRN. 40M was almost as good, but a bit noisier. I avoided excessive CQ ops so that I could make the batteries last the whole two hours. I have my ATS-3A on the bench, but the fix is not trivial. When I get it working, my station weight will drop to TWO OUNCES ...
K6XM
I got home from work late and missed the 20 meter opening, which is my “money” band. Only worked 3 stations on 20. So I spent most of my time on 40 meters. 80 started to open right and the end of the sprint and I did manage to work two stations – WB5KBL and K7TQ – on three bands (20, 40, and 80)! There were a few stations that I could tell were calling me, but were just too weak to pull out of the noise. I’m sorry that I couldn’t work them. Thanks to all who put up with my mutton fist ( the paddelette on my KX3 was giving me problems). I didn’t score as well as last time, but it was still a lot of fun.
K4BAI
20M open nicely to the west, but only two QSOs there. 40M was the place to be with 26 QSOs from NY to WI to CO and out to CA. Skip was fairly long with closest QSOs being in VA. 80M was very noisy here, but good QSO with WB5BKL there. Still need more activity to keep up interest for two hours. Thanks for the QSOs.
KD2MX
All paths led to TX on 20m, nothing on 40m, but I wasn't around for long.
N7WM
Rig was a KD1JV Mountaintopper running 2 Watts, as close as I can determine. This was the first time that I had put the rig on the air, it worked FB on 20M, but although it also put out about 2 W on 40 meters, the 40 meter receiver section was silent. Whiterock key, 9V battery, plus earbuds. It was fun. Will do it again.
K7TQ
A fun evening here in Idaho. 20 m was a great place to start with K4BAI answering right off the bat followed by a long string of about 1 per minute until 0130Z. I switched over to 40 m and continued to have folks answer. About 0200Z things slowed down considerably. For the 1st hour I had 39 Qs on both 20 and 40 m. The second hour yielded 9 Qs on 40 and 80 m. K6XM found me on all 3 bands with K4BAI, K6JHP, NK6A, NQ2W, W5ACM, WA5RML, WA7OJY, WA8ZBT, and WB5BKL all good for two bands. Thanks to all who stopped by.
NQ2W
K1 at 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m and an inverted V at 40ft for 40m. Started on 20 and made 11 FB QSOs. Moved to 40 and battled a pretty noisy band to add 8 more QSOs. Considered trying 80 but was discouraged by the noise level on 40. Two banders with K7TQ, WB5BKL, and WA8ZBT. Thanks for the contacts. Hope to hear your call during the NY QP.
KG3W
Had a fun time but only 13 contacts tonight. Station was HB1B, Palm paddle, 850 mah lipo and a T1 tuner from elecraft. Had 1 contact on 20 with K7TQ in Idaho, and 1 on 80 with AF3Z in Pa. The rest were 40 meters. Band sounded ok but I could not get a run going, with my big 4 watts and dipole. Lowest pwr station worked was KA9VHG in WI @ 2 watts. Nice going, Jim. Got to work my friend Don, K3RLL down in FL. The best signal report here in PA was KØOU, Steve in Missouri. Now it's on to the 9th anniversary sprint of the NAQCC.
AE7CG
Thanks to WB5BKL, K7TQ, and WA8ZBT for this month's QSOs on 20M.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. Tried 15M with no luck. Only 13 states this time with quite a few doubles but only K6XM on 20, 40 and 80M. Worked two stations running 2W. As my VK-friends would say, "Gudonya!" My thanks to all and to the organizers. Had fun.
K5GQ
Few new stations worked this time. 20M seemed very quiet.
AB1AV
ATS-3B, touch keyer, Z-match tuner to 88' doublet up 60'. Heard lots of sprinters on 20 meters here in NH, but many seemed to be within 100 Hz - obviously not hearing each other. Picked off a few on the edges (TX, ID, CA), took time out for a traffic net, tried 40 meters with no luck at all, and called it a night about 0200Z.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Soapbox: September 2013 Spartan Sprint
AB9CA
Was a fun sprint. Activity was more than it has been for a while. Good to see the new call alongside those more familiar. Station was the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Activity was fairly evenly spread between 20m, with 29 Q's, and 40m, with 36 Q's. Also went to 80 for a few minutes and picked up 3 there. But the noise was pretty bad so did not stay long. The most active states were: TX - 10, MI - 9, CA - 5, CO, MN , NH, PA - 4. Good to see those Pesky Texans out in force! Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Hope to see ya'all again next month.
K5GQ
ATS-III. Nice to be able to work a SP.Heard N4BP on 20 But just could not finish contact. Signals were strong on both 40M and 20M.
K3RLL
Got late start as phone rang at exactly 9 PM EDT. (Sigh) But daughters come before radios. Nice group out tonight on 40 meters and fairly long skip. NO2D had great signal in from CO as did KE0G from MN. Tnx for all the fun, short time tonight or not.
NKØE
Another fun sprint. Ran my K1 into a multiband EFHW at 5W. Started fast on 20m but switched over to 40m after a half hour when activity disappeared. 40 was a challenge at my QTH tonight - signals were not strong and QSB was maddening at times. Still, a fun evening and a great way to wrap up the holiday weekend.
AA4GA
Same station as last month - only change was to raise up the half of my antenna that had fallen! Now back at around 40,' and that surely helped - plus, I get the feel that condx may have been better as well, but that's hard to judge with the antenna change. Anyway, I had 7 QSOs on 20 and 19 on 40 with KE0G and WB5BKL worked on both bands. On my 950 mA 3S LiPo, I started with the voltage at 11.79 (the ATS rigs don't like voltage over 12v, so I don't fully charge the battery) and ended up at 11.15v, using 382 mAH of juice. That's with a lot of CQing. I suppose I could get a lighter battery, but I do like not having to worry about running it too low or if I'm CQing too much. Rig again was "Sindy", the ATS-3b at 4-5 watts out, depending on band.
WØCH
Pretty good conditions here in Missouri. I worked only 40 meters in between other tasks around the shop. My 7AH gel cell battery doesn't help my "Skinny Score" very much!
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 17 QSOs this month. Once again I had a GREAT TIME! This month it was an almost even split between 20M and 40M. It started slow on 20M, but then more folks started showing up. Band conditions were very quiet, i.e. very little QRN. 40M was almost as good, but a bit noisier. I avoided excessive CQ ops so that I could make the batteries last the whole two hours. It sounded like there were a lot more folks on this month. Nice! VFB to finally work Henry W5HNS in San Antonio. It was a fabulous evening from Houston. Hoping to get my ATS-3A operational for next time!
WA5BUC
First Sprint in quite some time. Started on 20 (no Q's). Then went to 40 for 3 Q's. Fun event.
KG3W
Same station set up as August sprint. Had 2 more contacts than last month. Woo hoo! Only 2 were Michigan qso party. Bands condx were full of static crashes. Best signals were N4BP & AB9CA. Heard Don K3RLL but could not get him on 40. Must have spent 10 minutes trying to get K5GQ. Maybe next time Mark. Thanks everyone for 2 hours of QRP fun this evening.
AE7CG
Thanks to K4BAI, WB5BKL, and KE8M for QSOs on 20M.Rig is an MFJ Cub running 2 watts to a dipole up 10 feet.
K4BAI
Many more QSOs than in recent months.Maybe it was because of the holiday or that the Mi QRP Club had a sprint at the same time. In any case, let's keep the activity level up. 20M was pretty good with QSOs to New England and the west coast. Skip was fairly long with the closest QSOs being in NJ and TX. 40M was good all over. No activity heard on 7030, but a lot of activity between 7039 and 7044 kHz. 80M was very noisy, but N8EA in MI had a good signal. QSOs by bands: 20M: 16;40M: 32; 80M: 3. Thanks for all the QSOs.
K5JHP
Bands were pretty good. Could have worked more but time was cut short. Better next month.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. Wow - lots of activity this time. My thanks to all of the MI QRP Sprint folks who joined in. My last QSO might have been a little late, so I did not count it - but this sprint was still a personal best for me with 43 QSOs and 20 states. My apologies to those I could not quite hear - we had a line of T-storms that were more-or-less stationary to the southeast of here. My thanks to all and to the ARS sponsors.
N4BP
Overlapped with the MI QRP Labor Day Sprint. No problem to participate in both. In fact only one SPer was a dupe for the MI Sprint since 20M remained open only very briefly after the start of the Spartan Sprint and the remainder was spent on 40M.
W5HNS
Finally found a no-conflict 1st Monday. Was operating /5 from Lubbock and used 20 and 40 meters. Maybe should have stayed on 20 a tad longer but contacts were few and far between. For me, most signals were very weak including the usually strong K4BAI. But then I am sure he was beaming up the east coast. Was surprised to hear Texas stations on 40 meters. Especially strong most of the time was WB5BKL and W5ACM.
NQ2W
K1 at 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m and an inverted vee at 40ft for 40m. Lots of QRN in Albany, NY on both 20m and 40m...I didn't even think about trying 80. Even through the noise, two banders were had with N4BP, K4BAI, and AB9CA. Thanks for the Qs and here's hoping for quieter conditions in October.
NK9G
Operated with Yaesu FT-450. Noisy compared to my K1 on a battery. Had Fun, lot's of activity
AB1AV
Off to a good start on 20m with ATS3, & used it for a 9:30 traffic net too. Then zapped it somehow and killed the receiver, so that was it for this month.
WA8TMI
Great conditions. Wish I had more time. I must have a major lobe off the wire towards TX as they were coming in strong! FT2000@ 5W to the doublet. Got 5 20m and 2 on 40 before I had to go. Thanks all.
Was a fun sprint. Activity was more than it has been for a while. Good to see the new call alongside those more familiar. Station was the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Activity was fairly evenly spread between 20m, with 29 Q's, and 40m, with 36 Q's. Also went to 80 for a few minutes and picked up 3 there. But the noise was pretty bad so did not stay long. The most active states were: TX - 10, MI - 9, CA - 5, CO, MN , NH, PA - 4. Good to see those Pesky Texans out in force! Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Hope to see ya'all again next month.
K5GQ
ATS-III. Nice to be able to work a SP.Heard N4BP on 20 But just could not finish contact. Signals were strong on both 40M and 20M.
K3RLL
Got late start as phone rang at exactly 9 PM EDT. (Sigh) But daughters come before radios. Nice group out tonight on 40 meters and fairly long skip. NO2D had great signal in from CO as did KE0G from MN. Tnx for all the fun, short time tonight or not.
NKØE
Another fun sprint. Ran my K1 into a multiband EFHW at 5W. Started fast on 20m but switched over to 40m after a half hour when activity disappeared. 40 was a challenge at my QTH tonight - signals were not strong and QSB was maddening at times. Still, a fun evening and a great way to wrap up the holiday weekend.
AA4GA
Same station as last month - only change was to raise up the half of my antenna that had fallen! Now back at around 40,' and that surely helped - plus, I get the feel that condx may have been better as well, but that's hard to judge with the antenna change. Anyway, I had 7 QSOs on 20 and 19 on 40 with KE0G and WB5BKL worked on both bands. On my 950 mA 3S LiPo, I started with the voltage at 11.79 (the ATS rigs don't like voltage over 12v, so I don't fully charge the battery) and ended up at 11.15v, using 382 mAH of juice. That's with a lot of CQing. I suppose I could get a lighter battery, but I do like not having to worry about running it too low or if I'm CQing too much. Rig again was "Sindy", the ATS-3b at 4-5 watts out, depending on band.
WØCH
Pretty good conditions here in Missouri. I worked only 40 meters in between other tasks around the shop. My 7AH gel cell battery doesn't help my "Skinny Score" very much!
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 17 QSOs this month. Once again I had a GREAT TIME! This month it was an almost even split between 20M and 40M. It started slow on 20M, but then more folks started showing up. Band conditions were very quiet, i.e. very little QRN. 40M was almost as good, but a bit noisier. I avoided excessive CQ ops so that I could make the batteries last the whole two hours. It sounded like there were a lot more folks on this month. Nice! VFB to finally work Henry W5HNS in San Antonio. It was a fabulous evening from Houston. Hoping to get my ATS-3A operational for next time!
WA5BUC
First Sprint in quite some time. Started on 20 (no Q's). Then went to 40 for 3 Q's. Fun event.
KG3W
Same station set up as August sprint. Had 2 more contacts than last month. Woo hoo! Only 2 were Michigan qso party. Bands condx were full of static crashes. Best signals were N4BP & AB9CA. Heard Don K3RLL but could not get him on 40. Must have spent 10 minutes trying to get K5GQ. Maybe next time Mark. Thanks everyone for 2 hours of QRP fun this evening.
AE7CG
Thanks to K4BAI, WB5BKL, and KE8M for QSOs on 20M.Rig is an MFJ Cub running 2 watts to a dipole up 10 feet.
K4BAI
Many more QSOs than in recent months.Maybe it was because of the holiday or that the Mi QRP Club had a sprint at the same time. In any case, let's keep the activity level up. 20M was pretty good with QSOs to New England and the west coast. Skip was fairly long with the closest QSOs being in NJ and TX. 40M was good all over. No activity heard on 7030, but a lot of activity between 7039 and 7044 kHz. 80M was very noisy, but N8EA in MI had a good signal. QSOs by bands: 20M: 16;40M: 32; 80M: 3. Thanks for all the QSOs.
K5JHP
Bands were pretty good. Could have worked more but time was cut short. Better next month.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. Wow - lots of activity this time. My thanks to all of the MI QRP Sprint folks who joined in. My last QSO might have been a little late, so I did not count it - but this sprint was still a personal best for me with 43 QSOs and 20 states. My apologies to those I could not quite hear - we had a line of T-storms that were more-or-less stationary to the southeast of here. My thanks to all and to the ARS sponsors.
N4BP
Overlapped with the MI QRP Labor Day Sprint. No problem to participate in both. In fact only one SPer was a dupe for the MI Sprint since 20M remained open only very briefly after the start of the Spartan Sprint and the remainder was spent on 40M.
W5HNS
Finally found a no-conflict 1st Monday. Was operating /5 from Lubbock and used 20 and 40 meters. Maybe should have stayed on 20 a tad longer but contacts were few and far between. For me, most signals were very weak including the usually strong K4BAI. But then I am sure he was beaming up the east coast. Was surprised to hear Texas stations on 40 meters. Especially strong most of the time was WB5BKL and W5ACM.
NQ2W
K1 at 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m and an inverted vee at 40ft for 40m. Lots of QRN in Albany, NY on both 20m and 40m...I didn't even think about trying 80. Even through the noise, two banders were had with N4BP, K4BAI, and AB9CA. Thanks for the Qs and here's hoping for quieter conditions in October.
NK9G
Operated with Yaesu FT-450. Noisy compared to my K1 on a battery. Had Fun, lot's of activity
AB1AV
Off to a good start on 20m with ATS3, & used it for a 9:30 traffic net too. Then zapped it somehow and killed the receiver, so that was it for this month.
WA8TMI
Great conditions. Wish I had more time. I must have a major lobe off the wire towards TX as they were coming in strong! FT2000@ 5W to the doublet. Got 5 20m and 2 on 40 before I had to go. Thanks all.
Friday, August 23, 2013
RESULTS: 2013 Flight of the Bumblebees
The 2013 Flight of the Bumblebees had some of the highest participation in the history of the contest. Operators from around the United States, Canada and from France were active during the four-hour event on Sunday, July 28.
Scores are posted at: < http://bit.ly/17PSmdH >.
The Top 10 included:
N4BP
KXØR
N7OU
NØSS
AC7A
K6XM
K4BAI
AB9CA
N1EU
K7TQ
A total of 94 logs were submitted from both /BB and home stations.
Sincere thanks to all who took part in the 2013 edition of this annual event. Please save July 27, 2014 for the next Flight of the Bumblebees.
Richard Fisher, KI6SN
The Adventure Radio Society
Scores are posted at: < http://bit.ly/17PSmdH >.
The Top 10 included:
N4BP
KXØR
N7OU
NØSS
AC7A
K6XM
K4BAI
AB9CA
N1EU
K7TQ
A total of 94 logs were submitted from both /BB and home stations.
Sincere thanks to all who took part in the 2013 edition of this annual event. Please save July 27, 2014 for the next Flight of the Bumblebees.
Richard Fisher, KI6SN
The Adventure Radio Society
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
SOAPBOX: August 2013 Spartan Sprint
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop or a 40M dipole. Tried 15 and 80M with no results. Most of the QSOs were on 40M with 4 two-banders from 20M: NQ2W, K6XM, NK6A and AB1AV. This was my best outing in quite a while though I only got 12 states. I was still making contacts at 0259... Removed one QRO contact (8W!) before making this Submission. My thanks to all. Had fun.
WB4MNK
Got pull away after one contact with K3RLL on 40 meters. Nice solid 579, Don.
N4BP
I'm on my way home from the Sturgis, SD Bike Week rally and stopped at a motel in Benton, IL. My home station in Plantation, FL was remote controlled using LogMeIn for radio control and Skype to hear my K3's audio. My Internet connection at the motel was very slow, so just put in a few minutes to make an appearance. Besides the awkward delays from the slow connection, the bands seemed extremely noisy. I suspect there was a storm going on at home, but hard to tell being over 1,000 miles away! Rig was the K3 @ 5w, antennas were Cushcraft A4S and 40/80 coax trap dipole. Logging and CW sending was done with N1MM Logger. For any manual sending, was forced to use keyboard mode, extremely awkward. Thanks to those who hung in with me.
K3RLL
KX3 to G5RVjr: Sprint started out pretty hot but seemed to suffer a premature demise tonight. Didn’t hear anyone on 20 meters tonight. I guess those solar storms the last couple of days took a toll on our bands. Big signal was WA8PGE tonight. 72 and thanks for the fun de Don K3RLL, on location in World Famous Redbank Valley Pennsylvania.
K5JHP
Could only work one hour. Hope for more activity next month.
N5EM
Good conditions, though noisy. Heard quite a few hunt and pounce stations that I did not work.
KG3W
It's been over a year since I had been in the Spartan Sprint. Forgot what fun it can be. Went as trim as I could. HB1B, Palm paddle, T1 tuner and 850 mah lipo battery. I thought the battery would run down to soon but it was still at 11.4 volts when I finished up, and I was CQing alot. Got out to Iowa and Texas on 40. 20mtrs was no good for me and only had 1 contact on 80 with K3RLL. He and I are only 25 miles apart. 72 and thanks for all the contacts tonight.
K6XM
This was my second attempt at the Spartan Sprint and I did much better than the first time. One of the big lessons that I learned from the first attempt was that I needed to get started on time. Everyone seems to vacate 20 meters after the first half hour, which is still over an hour before local sunset. And 40 meters doesn’t begin to open until almost the end of the contest. So this time I got started just after 6 pm, and worked 15 stations in the first half hour. It also seemed like there was more activity this time. I worked a lot of calls that I hadn’t heard before. I used my new Anker Astro Pro 10000 battery to run my KX3. It worked pretty well and only used about half of its charge in the two hour contest. Thanks for another fun event!
K4BAI
Started on 20 and could only hear W7OM, who couldn't hear me. Went to 40 where there was some more activity, but not as many heard as usual. Most activity was around 7040 rather than 7030. Tried both parts of the band. Went back to 20 at 0215Z for three QSOs, K6XM, WVØH, and NK6A all with great signals. The remaining QSOs were on 40 with stations as close as W4VHH in NC and AB9CA in AL and as far away as NK6A, K6XM, and W7OM. Also good signsls from W1PID and AB1AV in NH. On 80M, got no answers to CQs and heard only WB5BKL, who didn't hear me calling. Thanks for all QSOs.
AA4GA
It's been a over six months since I've operated a Spartan Sprint, but glad to be back - thanks K4BAI for the reminder! Unfortunately, my antenna and/or the bands weren't cooperating. I started on 20m and worked no one at all. After a move to 40 I was able to make a few QSOs and decided to try 20 again. I also tried 80m with no luck either, so it was a single-band operation for me! I did check the Reverse Beacon Network and was heard on 80m, but there were no reports at all on 20 for my CQs. I was using a new paddle for this running: a TeNeKe micro. The paddle was taking a bit of work to get used to - this was the first time I'd used it on the air. This along with Sindy, my ATS-3B, powered by a 950 mAH LiPo. See you next time!
AB9CA
Was fun as usual. Had only an hour last evening. Rig was K2 at 5w to 100' wire. 40m was the 'main band' for sure. Made only 3 Q's on 20 before going to 40 where 20 were found. Went to 80 for a few minutes before leaving early but found no one. Looks like 12 SPC's on 40 and 3 on 20. TX was the most popular here with 6 Q's then NH (!!) with 3. GA, NY, and PA with 2 each. Worked W1PID and NQ2W on both bands. Thanks to everyone for the fun and see ya'all next month.
W5ESE
I used my AT Sprint 3 and Whiterook MK-44 paddles. The antenna is a horizontal loop fed with open wire line. A lot of QRN here. Conditions seemed poor. Been several months since I've been able to participate. Thanks for sponsoring the Sprint!
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 20 QSOs this month. I had a GREAT TIME! While I only had three contacts on 20M, I found 40M conditions to be fantastic. I jumped in and started calling CQ. This is not always a good idea when running a rig that has very-low current batteries (weight...). However, it paid off! I worked a lot of stations that I had not heard before, but there was some payback... The battery voltage was drooping at 1.5 hours into the event. I had to hang it up. There are no protection circuits on these batteries. If you run them down too far, they die - period. They puff up, get hot, catch on fire, and explode if you don't throw them into the "dead battery pit" ASAP! I accepted the premature end, and had a beer. It was a fabulous evening from Houston. Hoping for more 20M ops next time!
NQ2W
Ten-Tec Jupiter running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m and an inverted vee at 40ft for 40m. My "lightweight" equipment was packed away in preparation for the Skeeter Sprint. I was privileged to work 8 stations on 20m from FL to CA and a few states in between and 14 stations on 40m mostly up and down the east coast and as far west as TX. I heard CA and WA on 40 but they couldn't hear me. Two banders with AB9CA, KB5FCF, and WB5BKL. KG3W was loud from PA on 40. WA8PGE's 50mW was FB from OH on 40. Hope to hear you all again. Thanks to all.
AB1AV
Thanks W1PID for reminding me the first Monday had arrived again... Worked about an hour, on 20 and 40 meters. Rig was ATS3 & Zmatch tuner to 88' doublet up 55'. Antenna seems pretty directional -- from NH reached MO, OK, TX, and Southern CA. Some great signals, & some were a struggle. Fun as always.
WA4AAK
Only had time to join in on the first half hour, but still managed 6 contacts on 40m with 3 watts thanks to some highly skilled operators on the other end. Didn't hear any Sprint stations on 20 or 80. Looking forward to the next one!
W1PID
KX3, OCF dipole. Not much activity. Best DX: NK6A and K6XM in CA. Thanks to all for the QSOs.
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop or a 40M dipole. Tried 15 and 80M with no results. Most of the QSOs were on 40M with 4 two-banders from 20M: NQ2W, K6XM, NK6A and AB1AV. This was my best outing in quite a while though I only got 12 states. I was still making contacts at 0259... Removed one QRO contact (8W!) before making this Submission. My thanks to all. Had fun.
WB4MNK
Got pull away after one contact with K3RLL on 40 meters. Nice solid 579, Don.
N4BP
I'm on my way home from the Sturgis, SD Bike Week rally and stopped at a motel in Benton, IL. My home station in Plantation, FL was remote controlled using LogMeIn for radio control and Skype to hear my K3's audio. My Internet connection at the motel was very slow, so just put in a few minutes to make an appearance. Besides the awkward delays from the slow connection, the bands seemed extremely noisy. I suspect there was a storm going on at home, but hard to tell being over 1,000 miles away! Rig was the K3 @ 5w, antennas were Cushcraft A4S and 40/80 coax trap dipole. Logging and CW sending was done with N1MM Logger. For any manual sending, was forced to use keyboard mode, extremely awkward. Thanks to those who hung in with me.
K3RLL
KX3 to G5RVjr: Sprint started out pretty hot but seemed to suffer a premature demise tonight. Didn’t hear anyone on 20 meters tonight. I guess those solar storms the last couple of days took a toll on our bands. Big signal was WA8PGE tonight. 72 and thanks for the fun de Don K3RLL, on location in World Famous Redbank Valley Pennsylvania.
K5JHP
Could only work one hour. Hope for more activity next month.
N5EM
Good conditions, though noisy. Heard quite a few hunt and pounce stations that I did not work.
KG3W
It's been over a year since I had been in the Spartan Sprint. Forgot what fun it can be. Went as trim as I could. HB1B, Palm paddle, T1 tuner and 850 mah lipo battery. I thought the battery would run down to soon but it was still at 11.4 volts when I finished up, and I was CQing alot. Got out to Iowa and Texas on 40. 20mtrs was no good for me and only had 1 contact on 80 with K3RLL. He and I are only 25 miles apart. 72 and thanks for all the contacts tonight.
K6XM
This was my second attempt at the Spartan Sprint and I did much better than the first time. One of the big lessons that I learned from the first attempt was that I needed to get started on time. Everyone seems to vacate 20 meters after the first half hour, which is still over an hour before local sunset. And 40 meters doesn’t begin to open until almost the end of the contest. So this time I got started just after 6 pm, and worked 15 stations in the first half hour. It also seemed like there was more activity this time. I worked a lot of calls that I hadn’t heard before. I used my new Anker Astro Pro 10000 battery to run my KX3. It worked pretty well and only used about half of its charge in the two hour contest. Thanks for another fun event!
K4BAI
Started on 20 and could only hear W7OM, who couldn't hear me. Went to 40 where there was some more activity, but not as many heard as usual. Most activity was around 7040 rather than 7030. Tried both parts of the band. Went back to 20 at 0215Z for three QSOs, K6XM, WVØH, and NK6A all with great signals. The remaining QSOs were on 40 with stations as close as W4VHH in NC and AB9CA in AL and as far away as NK6A, K6XM, and W7OM. Also good signsls from W1PID and AB1AV in NH. On 80M, got no answers to CQs and heard only WB5BKL, who didn't hear me calling. Thanks for all QSOs.
AA4GA
It's been a over six months since I've operated a Spartan Sprint, but glad to be back - thanks K4BAI for the reminder! Unfortunately, my antenna and/or the bands weren't cooperating. I started on 20m and worked no one at all. After a move to 40 I was able to make a few QSOs and decided to try 20 again. I also tried 80m with no luck either, so it was a single-band operation for me! I did check the Reverse Beacon Network and was heard on 80m, but there were no reports at all on 20 for my CQs. I was using a new paddle for this running: a TeNeKe micro. The paddle was taking a bit of work to get used to - this was the first time I'd used it on the air. This along with Sindy, my ATS-3B, powered by a 950 mAH LiPo. See you next time!
AB9CA
Was fun as usual. Had only an hour last evening. Rig was K2 at 5w to 100' wire. 40m was the 'main band' for sure. Made only 3 Q's on 20 before going to 40 where 20 were found. Went to 80 for a few minutes before leaving early but found no one. Looks like 12 SPC's on 40 and 3 on 20. TX was the most popular here with 6 Q's then NH (!!) with 3. GA, NY, and PA with 2 each. Worked W1PID and NQ2W on both bands. Thanks to everyone for the fun and see ya'all next month.
W5ESE
I used my AT Sprint 3 and Whiterook MK-44 paddles. The antenna is a horizontal loop fed with open wire line. A lot of QRN here. Conditions seemed poor. Been several months since I've been able to participate. Thanks for sponsoring the Sprint!
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 20 QSOs this month. I had a GREAT TIME! While I only had three contacts on 20M, I found 40M conditions to be fantastic. I jumped in and started calling CQ. This is not always a good idea when running a rig that has very-low current batteries (weight...). However, it paid off! I worked a lot of stations that I had not heard before, but there was some payback... The battery voltage was drooping at 1.5 hours into the event. I had to hang it up. There are no protection circuits on these batteries. If you run them down too far, they die - period. They puff up, get hot, catch on fire, and explode if you don't throw them into the "dead battery pit" ASAP! I accepted the premature end, and had a beer. It was a fabulous evening from Houston. Hoping for more 20M ops next time!
NQ2W
Ten-Tec Jupiter running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m and an inverted vee at 40ft for 40m. My "lightweight" equipment was packed away in preparation for the Skeeter Sprint. I was privileged to work 8 stations on 20m from FL to CA and a few states in between and 14 stations on 40m mostly up and down the east coast and as far west as TX. I heard CA and WA on 40 but they couldn't hear me. Two banders with AB9CA, KB5FCF, and WB5BKL. KG3W was loud from PA on 40. WA8PGE's 50mW was FB from OH on 40. Hope to hear you all again. Thanks to all.
AB1AV
Thanks W1PID for reminding me the first Monday had arrived again... Worked about an hour, on 20 and 40 meters. Rig was ATS3 & Zmatch tuner to 88' doublet up 55'. Antenna seems pretty directional -- from NH reached MO, OK, TX, and Southern CA. Some great signals, & some were a struggle. Fun as always.
WA4AAK
Only had time to join in on the first half hour, but still managed 6 contacts on 40m with 3 watts thanks to some highly skilled operators on the other end. Didn't hear any Sprint stations on 20 or 80. Looking forward to the next one!
W1PID
KX3, OCF dipole. Not much activity. Best DX: NK6A and K6XM in CA. Thanks to all for the QSOs.
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