NF1R
My first Spartan Sprint entry. Decided to follow the rules to the letter, if not completely embracing the "Spartan" spirit. I managed to keep the equipment weight under 1 lb, making the first QSOs on the Elecraft KX1 @4W that I just purchased from Cap, W0CCA. With a pico paddle, a small model aircraft LiPo battery, and Sony earbud headphones, the total station weight was 0.84 lbs. The big advantage, though, was using the monoband Yagi antennas at W6YX, the Stanford club station. On 20M, I used a 6-element Yagi at 60'. On 40M, I used our 4-element Yagi also at about 60'. For the few QSOs on 80M, I used an inverted vee at 50', which has an extremely favorable slope to the US. If you worked W1AW/6 during the Cal QSO Party, these were the antennas putting out the big signals. I had to deal with a shack maintenance issue when I arrived, and didn't start working stations around 0123. I continued until 0251 before stations seemed to run out on 40 and 80, and I had to go home to finish the next day's lecture slides. This was an excellent dry run for my upcoming SOTA expedition with NK6A. Hope to hear you again in future contests and during SOTA activations.
KDØUKC
7 contacts ties my all-time record for one hour of my Novice-level CW. Radio was the HB-1A with a homebrew paddle and old Sony headphones. The homebrew paddle is much lighter than the J-38 that it replaced, but I used 10 AAs instead of 8 since they were a bit flat, so the weight was about the same. Thanks to everyone for slowing down and offering many repeats. I had 3 busted contacts, so maybe next month I can break into the double digits.
W5ACM
The October Spartan Sprint seemed to be lightly attended. I got six contacts on 20M, and four on 40M. Conditions were reasonable on both bands. Although I listened on 80M, the noise level was covering most of the discernable signals and I was down to the last 15 minutes of the event – not worth it for possibly one QSO. I had to do some repair on the 40M daughter board this month. I had noticed that the ATS-3A was not quite up to par on 40M since the recent repair job on the receiver, but just saw the broken wire on one toroid when I was getting ready to move from 20M to 40M. Fortunately it only took about 15 minutes to remount and re-solder the toroid. Hoping for more participants next month!
K3RLL
Activity seemed to start out slowly and signals sounded weaker tonight particularly on 20 m but skip was fairly good. Big signal into rural PA tonight was NQ2W who is always strong whether I’m operating from PA or FL. Thanks for the contacts. The Spartan Sprint is always fun.
K7TQ
October is the last month that the Spartan Sprint starts before sunset, so I went into the forest east of Moscow, ID for this month's contest. A K2, 7 AHr gel cell, a 31 foot long Jacklite pole supporting a SOTAbeams Band Hopper 20 and 40 m inverted V, and a netbook running N1MM was the station. For creature comfort I also took along a roll up table and a lawn chair. I started on 20 m as the sun was setting behind pine trees. Twenty was good for about 1/2 an hour with 14 Qs from coast to coast. That was also about the latest that I had enough daylight left to see to change bands. To change bands, you have to lower the Band Hopper and reset the shorting clips for 40 m which didn't take too long. I spent the rest of the contest on 40 with 12 Qs again from coast to coast. Around 0240Z the moon came out from behind the trees and made for a nice view without the headlamp. Three folks, K4BAI, N5GW, and NK6A, were able to find me on both bands. Thanks to all who stopped by for a QSO.
NØTA
Slow evening. 16 Qs on 20m, 3 on 40m. Quit at 0230z. MTR, BLT, doublet, Palm key, GenLog.
WVØH
What fun it was again. I netted 11 QSOs on 20m and then 8 Qs on 40. Tried the homebrew 3S1P cell phone lithium battery, the LG-Nok-sung. 1006mAh measured and lasted the whole 2 hours. Tried out the new rig the MFJ-9200, it worked well considering. Worked a nice run of people on 20 and then went long. Hopped down to 40 and stayed there until 0230Z. I then went to 80 but nobody was there so went back to 40. Here are the stats from the RBN: 20m yielded 26 spots, Avg SNR = 11.73dB and std dev of 8.57dB; 40m yielded 45 spots, Avg SNR = 15.38dB with a std dev of 5.96dB. I just manually crunched the numbers. My total was 19 QSOs With a weight of 1.1314 pounds. Thanks again for doing this.
AB5SS
All contacts on 20m and 40m. I made fewer contacts than my last sprint, but at least I got my station weight down this time. Looking forward to the next one.
AE7CG
Thanks for 20M contacts with: K4BAI, N5GW, WA8ZBT, WB5BKL, KDØUKC, and NF1R. Regards to all from Arizona.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. 20M was quite long at the start with all six QSOs in the W6 and W7 areas plus CO, but their signals were strong. 40M was a bit noisy, but 19 QSOs were made as far away as CA and NJ (with a lot in TX) and as close as NC and MS. 80M was quite good, but there was almost no activity there. Thanks to K2YGM and N5GW for the two QSOs on 80. Activity was way down, maybe because of conditions. But, no matter what the conditions, if we hang in there and keep trying QRP to QRP QSOs can be obtained. Hope for more participants next month.
N5GW
KX3 at 3W with internal ATU, external balun and NiMH batteries to CFZ. 20 and 40 were both in good shape, but 80 was very QRN at this QTH. Only worked K4BAI and WA8ZBT on 80. Next month 20 may close early as CDST ends, and days will also be shorter. So I may put up a better antenna for 80.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to various delta loops and wire antennas. All QSOs were on 20 and 40M - nada on 80M. Conditions poor here. Best signals: 20M - W7OM, 40M - K4BAI, though N5GW was almost as good with 3W. Only 10 states worked and no QSOs in the last half-hour.Anyway, had fun.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m, and near bottom-loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. Seemed like activity was down. Pretty even split between 20 and 40 m contacts. I called on 80 for a while and never heard a response. Two bander with WA8ZBT. Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers. Tell a friend about the Spartan Sprints . . . the more, the merrier!
Friday, October 10, 2014
Friday, September 12, 2014
Soapbox: September 2014 Spartan Sprint
K6CSL
Wow! Twenty was great. I ran the first 4 QSOs. Bands very quiet and nice.
WVØH
Signals were up and down from the Denver area. Mostly QSB but did manage to
squeak out 15 Qs on 20m and 1 on 40m. Very noisy here on 40 though.
K3RLL
Many really strong signals on 20 meters this Labor Day
holiday evening. Biggest signals into rural PA tonight were NQ2W and NK6A.
Thanks for the fun and nice contacts.
KK4TE
I had a much better performance in this month's sprint!I
worked as long as I could before the storms just got too close. I had 19
contacts with 12 different states and 2 different Canadian provinces. My
station still weighs 25 pounds until I get my mobile back. Twenty meters had a
lot of great signals but had QRN and 40 was really tough. Thanks for all
of the calls and
hopefully we will get to see everyone and some new ones next
month!
W5QLF
Fifteen contacts in 10 states. I was trying to top Henry,
W5HNS's numbers from the August Sprint but as usual I couldn’t even come
close. Nice going Henry with 29 Qs last month.
I must have worked K4BAI every time I’ve played on ARS Sprint. He’s
in my log 13 times at a 5 watt level.
Thank you, John for always being there. I actually worked two Texas stations
on my Butternut HF-9V. That antenna
usually doesn’t work well locally.
WB5BKL and WA8ZBT both were kind enough to make contact on 40 and 80 meters
giving me 4 Texas
QSOs in the Spring.
Thanks fellows. A special thanks to Bob, KE7GKM for sticking with me to complete a QSO to Idaho this
evening. Nice work, Bob.
KG3W
Only had 10 contacts tonight. Things dried up on 20 mtrs.
for me about 0238Z. Running single band with my MTR2 at 4 watts to a tuned
dipole at 28 feet. Whiterook paddle , earbuds and 370 mah lipo. Got out to
California this time. Nice signal from NK6A. Last station worked was W1AW/7 in
Arizona at 0238. Thanks for a fun evening everyone. See ya next month.
AE7CG
Thanks to WB5BKL, K4BAI, NK6A, and KØFL for this month's 20M
Sprint QSOs. 72 from Arizona.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and
20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. 20 meters was the money band
with 15 QSOs. 40 meters was quiet with only 3 QSOs - all from NC. Two bander
with W4VHH. Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
K4BAI
Good activity on 20 and 40.
No answers to CQs and no sprinters heard on 80. 40 was noisy, particularly toward the end. QSOs by band:
20M: 35. 40M: 9. 20M was still open
for QSOs with KE7GKM in ID and WA8REI at the end of the Sprint period.
Thanks for all QSOs.
WA5BUC
Twenty died just before start time. Went to 40 for the
night. Band was quiet. Too quiet. No QRM. No QRN. No sigs almost. Tnx to stalwarts
WB5BKL and K4BAI. Wouldn't be a sprint without them in the log. Had a call
from WA5FAT in Alabama to round out the night. He called to get my SKCC
number. Still a fun night. Bring on October! 72 from Houston.
W5ACM
It was a strange event. I got three contacts on 20M, three
on 40M, and only one on 80M. Conditions were not the best and it sounded like
a fair number of usual participants just were not there for the Labor Day
event. Thanks to WB5BKL for 40M and 80M contacts – always a great signal. I
barely got the ATS-3A charged up in time for the event, but it wasn’t
enough of a charge to allow any CQ ops, just calls to others already calling CQ.
Hoping for better conditions and more participants next month! 72 from
Houston, TX.
Friday, August 8, 2014
Soapbox: August 2014 Spartan Sprint
AB9CA
Ran the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Ended up with 46 contacts. Worked only 19 SPC's. Only one, ON, in Canada. But the pesky Texans were out in force: TX, 9; NC, NY, PA, 4 each; CO, NH, WI, 3 each; CA, ON, TN, VA, 2 each. Q'S by band: 3/18/25 on 80/40/20. SPC's by band: 3/11/18. Only three banders were K9OM and WB5BKL. 10 two banders. I was surprised at how well WI was coming in on 80 near the end. K9OM was something like 20 over. A fun evening for sure. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and see ya'all next month!
W5HNS
29 contacts, 15 states. Seems as though this was a good night for this activity. Was using an LNR end fed 40/20 strung inverted vee style from a Jackite pole. So I was limited to two bands. Eleven of my 15 contacts on 20 meters was done in the first 30 minutes. The last of my 14 contacts on 40 meters was at 0240Z. Huge kudos go out to K2YGM in NY for being super persistent. I asked him for repeats too numerous to count and we finally completed the exchange. This was my last contact on 40 meters. The big sig for me came from NØTA on 20 meters and from K5JHP and WB5BKL on 40 meters. Always nice to have K4BAI in the log as well as W5ACM and WA5BUC. I used to sit side by side with W5ACM and WA5BUC when I was active with the HQRP group out of Houston.
KDØUKC
This was my first Spartan Sprint and one of my first CW contests ever. I'm working hard on my copy and sending so thanks to everyone for QRS and repeats. Radio was an HB-1A with eight NiMH AAs and a J-38 on a small block of wood. A 40 meter dipole is the only antenna I have up right now so all my contacts were made there. Hoping to get better every month!
K3RLL
Trying out a newly “assembled” rig tonight and while 20 meters sounded a little weak, 40 really started coming alive more and more. What a delight! Thanks for the good contacts with new and familiar calls tonight. While I’ll never win one of these QRP contests, it certainly is a pleasure to be able to stop and talk with old friends in the middle of one of our fun Sprints. Many thanks to Richard and his huge staff for sponsoring the A.R.S. events.
W6OGC
6 contacts on 20m using a MFJ 9020 to a dipole. One contact on 80M on an Omni VI+ running 5 watts, same dipole.No telling what all this weighs. The MFJ not so much. The Omni, a lot! I hoped to use the MFJ exclusively but ran out of stations to contact on 20M after 2100 Central. I didn't hear much on the other bands either. Maybe everybody was on at the start and then pooped out fast. It was good to dust off this little MFJ rig and see what it could do, again. Better luck next time.
W3KC
Only had a brief window of time to operate, but it was fun. All contacts were on 40 meters.
NØTA
First timer - Thanks for the Q's. KD1JV Tri-Bander (borrowed from Dale, WC7S), doublet w/BLT, Palm Mini, Gen Log.
KK4TE
OK, I only worked the last four minutes and have never heard of the contest sprint but thats my fault! hihi After I heard K9OM calling CQ SP I had to go look it up! So... 3 contacts, no laughing. Horrible question: Weight? Uhhhh, 25 pounds, I guess. Now that I know this is here the first monday of the month, I will be back!
WVØH
That was way cool. I decided to go out into the park and operate the WVØH 40m Park Portable Doublet with the KX3 and make couple of QSOs. The center was up 30 feet and I tried leaving the ends sag low; about 8 feet for a change. Wow! Was I pleasantly surprised. I started out on 20 and propagation was good. Double hop from CO to PA was wavering quickly and there was fast QSB but patience paid off. Each QSO took a little longer but it was worth the effort. After hanging out on 20 for an hour I switched to 40 meters and the band seemed noisy but workable. Thanks to all the regulars the new calls too. Next time I will remember the bug spray. This event should really be called the Skeeter Hunt. Maybe a name swap.Thanks for another fun Spartan Sprint.
K9OM
A fun contest as it's always interesting to see how well QRP will work... or not work! In my case, I ran a K3 at 5 watts with my base station antennas which consisted of 3 Tribanders, a 1/4-wave 40-meter Vertical, and an 80-meter Inverted Vee.
WA5BUC
This may be my best sprint ever. 20 and 40 were very active and quiet. New and old calls on both bands. Started on 20 for 7 Q's. Then on to 40 for 8. Thanks to all.
K5JHP
Bands were great tonite. 20 was open up to the end. 40 was good except for QRM. pretty good nite over all. C YA next month.
AA5B
This was the first time in a very long time that I've operated the whole 2 hours of the sprint. Had my first 40-mtr QSO at 0143Z, and my last 20-mtr QSO was at 0240Z, so activity on the two bands overlapped quite a bit (although it was very thin on 20 meters after 0140Z). Station: KX3 on 20 meters, K2 on 40 meters, inverted vees on both bands with the apex at about 40 feet.
NQ2W
Ten-Tec Jupiter at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m. 15 m yielded one QSO with WB5BKL. 20 m was good for 12 more and 40 m added 10. Bands were better than I expected with an A index of 12. Some sigs were quite loud. Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
K4BAI
Good conditions on 40 and 20M. No sprint signals heard on 15 or 80M. Nice to work F/FK8IP/P on 20M. Best DX on 40M was NK6A. Worked on both 20 and 40M: K5JHP, NK6A, W5HNS, WV0H, WA5BUC, K3RLL, W1PID, W4VHH, NQ2W, W5ACM, AA5B, N0TA, N3QE, WB5BKL, K9OM. Thanks for all QSOs.
W1PID
I operated with the KX3 and a Windom OCF. Good participation and lots of activity. I strayed off the QRP frequency when it slowed down on 20 meters and worked Kyrgyzstan and Nicaragua. NK6A in California was strong. Nice to work K7TQ in Idaho. Thanks for all the Qs.
AB1LT
All contacts made on 20M. No one heard on 40M except the ARRL folks parked right on the QRP calling frequency. Still learning the ins-n-outs of my KX1 which seemed a little deaf on 20M. The four 3.2V LiFePo4 batteries I have in it seem to be doing well. They keep the voltage well above 12V so my power is better than 2W with internal batteries.
N5GW
I was up on the TN Cumberland Plateau to escape MS heat for a while, using the KX3 and CFZ. Glad to hear many familiar calls. Q's on 20 and 40, but 80 was QRN. CU all next month.
K9ESE
It has been over 8 years since I have participated in a Spartan Sprint. I cruised around the bands and responded to stations calling CQ SP. 20 meters was the money band until around 0200 and then 40 meters was alive with activity. DX was NM and CA from my Northern VA QTH with 5 watts and an Inverted L wire antenna supported by a tree. It was fun. Back again next month. Thanks for the contest.
W5ACM
It was great to spend some serious time on 20M this month running the ATS-3A with the backyard vertical. I can’t spend much time calling CQ due to the battery capacity, but I did collect a fine batch of 18 total QSOs on 20M and 40M. W5HNS in San Antonio was a surprise catch. The noise level on both bands was delightfully low this month. I even managed a contact with W1AW/Ø in SD on 7029 kHz. I assume he was NOT running QRP though. He was in contest mode, so I would guess his power at something more than FIVE WATTS, perhaps even a KW . . . I still have some issues with the contacts on my homebrew, ultra-thin-plywood key paddle, but it was a really fun event!
AE7CG
here was moderate to heavy QRN on 20M. Thanks to K4BAI, W5HNS, and WB5BKL for this month's Sprint QSOs.
K7TQ
I went to my favorite location on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest east of Moscow, ID and set up a W7EL Field Day Special antenna for 20 m. I've used this antenna many times, but the pieces have set in the garage and basement for a long time. It does take longer to put all
the parts together, but it is worth the extra effort. The rig was a KX1 feed with 8 AA alkali batteries, ear pieces, and a Palm Mini paddle for a total of 0.897 lbs. Not the less than 1/2 lb that others achieve, but much better than my usual 30 lbs. 20 m was still open around the end of the sprint, but most folks had long since moved to 40. I was happy with the 16 Qs that the 2 to 2.5 w the station put out.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to various delta loops and wire antennas. Had 2 QSOs on 15M, 3 on 80M with the rest split between 20M and 40M. Had three-banders with NK6A, K9OM and AB9CA. Best signals in cenTX: 15M - NQ2W, 20M - W4VHH, 40M & 80M - K5JHP. NQ2W and I repeated our apparent pipeline between New York and Texas. Join us on 15M next month! Had fun.
WA4AAK
Six contacts on 20m in 35 minutes of operating. Signal strengths varied wildly here during contacts... 569 one moment, then below the noise the next! Didn't have a chance to weigh my KX3 with balun and battery pack (est. 3 to 4 lbs.), so I'm entering Tubby Class this time.
Ran the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Ended up with 46 contacts. Worked only 19 SPC's. Only one, ON, in Canada. But the pesky Texans were out in force: TX, 9; NC, NY, PA, 4 each; CO, NH, WI, 3 each; CA, ON, TN, VA, 2 each. Q'S by band: 3/18/25 on 80/40/20. SPC's by band: 3/11/18. Only three banders were K9OM and WB5BKL. 10 two banders. I was surprised at how well WI was coming in on 80 near the end. K9OM was something like 20 over. A fun evening for sure. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and see ya'all next month!
W5HNS
29 contacts, 15 states. Seems as though this was a good night for this activity. Was using an LNR end fed 40/20 strung inverted vee style from a Jackite pole. So I was limited to two bands. Eleven of my 15 contacts on 20 meters was done in the first 30 minutes. The last of my 14 contacts on 40 meters was at 0240Z. Huge kudos go out to K2YGM in NY for being super persistent. I asked him for repeats too numerous to count and we finally completed the exchange. This was my last contact on 40 meters. The big sig for me came from NØTA on 20 meters and from K5JHP and WB5BKL on 40 meters. Always nice to have K4BAI in the log as well as W5ACM and WA5BUC. I used to sit side by side with W5ACM and WA5BUC when I was active with the HQRP group out of Houston.
KDØUKC
This was my first Spartan Sprint and one of my first CW contests ever. I'm working hard on my copy and sending so thanks to everyone for QRS and repeats. Radio was an HB-1A with eight NiMH AAs and a J-38 on a small block of wood. A 40 meter dipole is the only antenna I have up right now so all my contacts were made there. Hoping to get better every month!
K3RLL
Trying out a newly “assembled” rig tonight and while 20 meters sounded a little weak, 40 really started coming alive more and more. What a delight! Thanks for the good contacts with new and familiar calls tonight. While I’ll never win one of these QRP contests, it certainly is a pleasure to be able to stop and talk with old friends in the middle of one of our fun Sprints. Many thanks to Richard and his huge staff for sponsoring the A.R.S. events.
W6OGC
6 contacts on 20m using a MFJ 9020 to a dipole. One contact on 80M on an Omni VI+ running 5 watts, same dipole.No telling what all this weighs. The MFJ not so much. The Omni, a lot! I hoped to use the MFJ exclusively but ran out of stations to contact on 20M after 2100 Central. I didn't hear much on the other bands either. Maybe everybody was on at the start and then pooped out fast. It was good to dust off this little MFJ rig and see what it could do, again. Better luck next time.
W3KC
Only had a brief window of time to operate, but it was fun. All contacts were on 40 meters.
NØTA
First timer - Thanks for the Q's. KD1JV Tri-Bander (borrowed from Dale, WC7S), doublet w/BLT, Palm Mini, Gen Log.
KK4TE
OK, I only worked the last four minutes and have never heard of the contest sprint but thats my fault! hihi After I heard K9OM calling CQ SP I had to go look it up! So... 3 contacts, no laughing. Horrible question: Weight? Uhhhh, 25 pounds, I guess. Now that I know this is here the first monday of the month, I will be back!
WVØH
That was way cool. I decided to go out into the park and operate the WVØH 40m Park Portable Doublet with the KX3 and make couple of QSOs. The center was up 30 feet and I tried leaving the ends sag low; about 8 feet for a change. Wow! Was I pleasantly surprised. I started out on 20 and propagation was good. Double hop from CO to PA was wavering quickly and there was fast QSB but patience paid off. Each QSO took a little longer but it was worth the effort. After hanging out on 20 for an hour I switched to 40 meters and the band seemed noisy but workable. Thanks to all the regulars the new calls too. Next time I will remember the bug spray. This event should really be called the Skeeter Hunt. Maybe a name swap.Thanks for another fun Spartan Sprint.
K9OM
A fun contest as it's always interesting to see how well QRP will work... or not work! In my case, I ran a K3 at 5 watts with my base station antennas which consisted of 3 Tribanders, a 1/4-wave 40-meter Vertical, and an 80-meter Inverted Vee.
WA5BUC
This may be my best sprint ever. 20 and 40 were very active and quiet. New and old calls on both bands. Started on 20 for 7 Q's. Then on to 40 for 8. Thanks to all.
K5JHP
Bands were great tonite. 20 was open up to the end. 40 was good except for QRM. pretty good nite over all. C YA next month.
AA5B
This was the first time in a very long time that I've operated the whole 2 hours of the sprint. Had my first 40-mtr QSO at 0143Z, and my last 20-mtr QSO was at 0240Z, so activity on the two bands overlapped quite a bit (although it was very thin on 20 meters after 0140Z). Station: KX3 on 20 meters, K2 on 40 meters, inverted vees on both bands with the apex at about 40 feet.
NQ2W
Ten-Tec Jupiter at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m. 15 m yielded one QSO with WB5BKL. 20 m was good for 12 more and 40 m added 10. Bands were better than I expected with an A index of 12. Some sigs were quite loud. Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
K4BAI
Good conditions on 40 and 20M. No sprint signals heard on 15 or 80M. Nice to work F/FK8IP/P on 20M. Best DX on 40M was NK6A. Worked on both 20 and 40M: K5JHP, NK6A, W5HNS, WV0H, WA5BUC, K3RLL, W1PID, W4VHH, NQ2W, W5ACM, AA5B, N0TA, N3QE, WB5BKL, K9OM. Thanks for all QSOs.
W1PID
I operated with the KX3 and a Windom OCF. Good participation and lots of activity. I strayed off the QRP frequency when it slowed down on 20 meters and worked Kyrgyzstan and Nicaragua. NK6A in California was strong. Nice to work K7TQ in Idaho. Thanks for all the Qs.
AB1LT
All contacts made on 20M. No one heard on 40M except the ARRL folks parked right on the QRP calling frequency. Still learning the ins-n-outs of my KX1 which seemed a little deaf on 20M. The four 3.2V LiFePo4 batteries I have in it seem to be doing well. They keep the voltage well above 12V so my power is better than 2W with internal batteries.
N5GW
I was up on the TN Cumberland Plateau to escape MS heat for a while, using the KX3 and CFZ. Glad to hear many familiar calls. Q's on 20 and 40, but 80 was QRN. CU all next month.
K9ESE
It has been over 8 years since I have participated in a Spartan Sprint. I cruised around the bands and responded to stations calling CQ SP. 20 meters was the money band until around 0200 and then 40 meters was alive with activity. DX was NM and CA from my Northern VA QTH with 5 watts and an Inverted L wire antenna supported by a tree. It was fun. Back again next month. Thanks for the contest.
W5ACM
It was great to spend some serious time on 20M this month running the ATS-3A with the backyard vertical. I can’t spend much time calling CQ due to the battery capacity, but I did collect a fine batch of 18 total QSOs on 20M and 40M. W5HNS in San Antonio was a surprise catch. The noise level on both bands was delightfully low this month. I even managed a contact with W1AW/Ø in SD on 7029 kHz. I assume he was NOT running QRP though. He was in contest mode, so I would guess his power at something more than FIVE WATTS, perhaps even a KW . . . I still have some issues with the contacts on my homebrew, ultra-thin-plywood key paddle, but it was a really fun event!
AE7CG
here was moderate to heavy QRN on 20M. Thanks to K4BAI, W5HNS, and WB5BKL for this month's Sprint QSOs.
K7TQ
I went to my favorite location on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest east of Moscow, ID and set up a W7EL Field Day Special antenna for 20 m. I've used this antenna many times, but the pieces have set in the garage and basement for a long time. It does take longer to put all
the parts together, but it is worth the extra effort. The rig was a KX1 feed with 8 AA alkali batteries, ear pieces, and a Palm Mini paddle for a total of 0.897 lbs. Not the less than 1/2 lb that others achieve, but much better than my usual 30 lbs. 20 m was still open around the end of the sprint, but most folks had long since moved to 40. I was happy with the 16 Qs that the 2 to 2.5 w the station put out.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to various delta loops and wire antennas. Had 2 QSOs on 15M, 3 on 80M with the rest split between 20M and 40M. Had three-banders with NK6A, K9OM and AB9CA. Best signals in cenTX: 15M - NQ2W, 20M - W4VHH, 40M & 80M - K5JHP. NQ2W and I repeated our apparent pipeline between New York and Texas. Join us on 15M next month! Had fun.
WA4AAK
Six contacts on 20m in 35 minutes of operating. Signal strengths varied wildly here during contacts... 569 one moment, then below the noise the next! Didn't have a chance to weigh my KX3 with balun and battery pack (est. 3 to 4 lbs.), so I'm entering Tubby Class this time.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Soapbox: July 2014 Spartan Sprint
KD5KC
WOW - what a blast!!! THANK YOU everyone for the contacts! Due to home remodeling, I currently can't operate from home. So I decided to take my little radio out portable. I climbed a near-by SOTA summit, and played Spartan Sprint and SOTA at the same time. It was quite a success. I started the hike up at about 1715 local time, the skies were mostly cloudy and the temp was a pleasant 93º F. I hiked up slow and easy, no reason to hurry. Arrived on the summit with 15 minutes to spare. I set up on the west slope of the summit, hoping for a good take-off angle to the Pacific (hoping for some VK action on 15m). I started out on 15m calling CQ. My first contact was at 0103 from NK6A in CA. 15m got me CA, NJ, KS, OR, TX, AZ, TX and AZ for 8 total. With no more takers on 15m, at 0130 I switched to 20m. There I got AZ, TN, CA, TX, OR, CA and TX for 7 total on 20m. With no more takers on 20m, at 0200 I switched to 40m. It was still light out, but 40m got me 4 more with TX, TX, CA and TX in the log. I was disappointed with 40m, and after much more CQing on 40m, I gave up and switched to 80m. If 40m was poor, 80m was a disaster, and I only got 1 local in Texas. The antenna wasn't playing nice, and I had no tuner. The antenna worked at home, but not on the mountain. Well, (bad things) happen. I quickly gave up on 80m and went back to 20m. There I made more contacts as the band had shifted. I worked OR, QC-CAN, TX, TX, CA, CA, and with just 4 minutes to go KX7L in WA got in the log for 7 more on 20m. So 8 + 7 + 4 + 1 + 7 = 27 contacts. This was by far the best Spartan Sprint score I have ever done. 20m was my money band with 14 contacts, 15m with 8 contacts, 40m with 4 contacts, and 80m with just one lonely contact. I do not want the weight penalty of a tuner at the radio, so I need to work on the 80 antenna or just not use 80m portable again. It was a cool 84º F with a nice cool desert breeze when I started down. The
hike to the car was only 45 minutes, and a 10 minute drive to home. Thanks again to all the contacts. Looking forward to next month, work schedule permitting.
K7TQ
I operated from the forest east of Moscow, ID using a K2, 7 AHr gel cell, headphones, and a G4ZPY paddle. 20 meters was in good shape so I stayed there the entire time. The antenna was a SOTA Beams Band Hopper II. As is usually the case, the first QSO was with Jim, W1PID. Contacts ranged from nearby OR to distant FL. It was a pleasant evening sitting in the shade of the pine trees and looking out over the forest. The non-radio highlight was a Goshawk flying through the tree canopy.
AB5SS
This was my first Spartan Sprint and a chance to try QRP with my new KX3. I started out on 15m and made 2 contacts before the band faded out. 20m was by far the best band for me and I had little trouble making contacts with only 5W. Next time, I might have to drop down to 3W and give that a try. Switched to 40m for the last 15 minutes of the contest and made one contact. I had fun working everyone and look forward to doing this again and getting the weight down on my station.
N7UN
Horrible QRN (S7-S8) on 20m. Surprised and it was fun that 15m was open a bit. I need to do more of these sprints!
W9JFK
This was my first Spartan Sprint ever - or in a very long time. I may have done a few 10 years or so ago . . . I can't recall for sure. Rig was a KX3 with internal batteries, tuner and integrated keyer. Antenna was a 135' long inverted-L favoring the east. The QSO's seemed very challenging to get. With so many stations out west and me in Pennsylvania, I may need to go in the field and put up west favoring antenna next month. I need to take the KX3 in the field to initiate it in it's proper use!
K8CN
I can't recall if I'd ever participated in a Spartan Sprint before. I enjoyed the chase and it helps me appreciate what I sound like to DX stations in the big contests. All contacts were made on 20 meters at 1 Watt transmit power, and I did check 40 and 15 meters, but to no avail. Operation here was cut short at 0130Z by nasty lightning storms, so I disconnected everything and didn't come back to the rig before 0300Z. I need to go on a (radio) diet - when my linear regulated power supply weighs more than all the rest of the gear combined, it's time to look into some small batteries. I suppose there's incentive to dig out my NorCal-40 rig and my homebrew 20 meter CW rig - together they weigh less than a pound, I suspect. Hope to put in a full effort next month!
N1DN
There was just a little time to operate tonight between thunderstorms. I used my Yaesu FT-817 at 0.5 watts to a ladder line fed dipole, and made 4 contacts pretty quickly. This included new 1,000 MPW contacts with K7TQ in Idaho and WVØH in Colorado. Thanks to all for a great time.
W7PUA
I've been away from this for a while. It was good to get back and work some stations on 40 and 20. I tried 15, but did not find anyone - maybe my timing was poor. I'm experimenting with a home-built DC-DC converter to power a K-1. This used an LM2586 to supply 13 Volts. The input range went down to 3.5 Volts, so I operated at 2 W RF power using 4 Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries. The DC-DC converter weighs 2.4 oz, which seems reasonable. The plan is to take this all backpacking next month.
W7QQ
My first Spartan Sprint and first CW contest. Pretty fun!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop or a 40M dipole. My thanks to WA8ZBT, K5JHP, W5ACM, KG3W and K6LEN for QSOs in the final 10 minutes of the sprint. We had supper guests who arrived 3 hours late (it was not their fault). I did not get to the rig until 0250Z. Too bad I
can't maintain that QSO rate for the entire sprint! Oh well, had fun anyway. . .
WVØH
That was a blast! While on holiday in Minnesota I got a chance to see what the Northlanders experience in HF QRP ops. Well, that little bit of latitude further north is considerable! The signals are just a bit weaker, the fades a bit deeper and you really have to work at getting an antenna up proper. I put up my WVØH Park Portable Doublet at 20 feet and left off my coil and cap tuner and just used the MiniBalun in the 4:1 position. It resulted in a 2.8:1 VSWR. My KX3 antenna tuner adjusted for a mostly efficient match. I started out working K5GQ then K7TQ. NQ2W and N5EM joined in. Then of course an old time favorite of yours and mine W1PID from NH came bursting onto the scene. Back and forth, TX then the northeast, TX, Northeast back and forth. W5ACM of course probably running a 1-ounce rig running 30 Qs an hour will no doubt place. Then the usuals, N1DN, AB9CA, and WA8ZBT were strong contenders. 1 watt signals from K8CN, K4JPN, and N1DN were impressive. My sister in law was standing over my shoulder at the time truly impressed by the beep strength as she put it. Nineteen QSOs were had on 20m and none on 40. 40 just seemed dead and noisy, so no joy there. Next month, I will be back home and hopefully won't forget the event. Thanks everybody for a great vacation break from "up north" where beep strength matters, the women are strong and the children are all above average. Keep your stick on the ice.
AB1LT
Tough night for the bands in New England. Only made contacts on 20 meters. Also had to quit early due to t-storm. Still, fun as usual. KX1 on internal batteries (3W at best) to a 63' end fed that's resonant on 40/20/15/10.
W1PID
20 meters was the only active band. Best DX: RX9JX, NK6A. K5GQ worked the hardest to pull me out! Thanks! Operated about a half an hour. K2 OCF dipole. Thanks all.
AB9CA
A good sprint! Ran the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Got another late start by about 20 min. Started on 20 as it is Staying open later. Logged 22 there, including a couple of EU stations, before moving to 40. Logged 15 there. Finished with the last 10 min on 80 and logged 2 there. QRN was pretty bad, even on 20. Only the loudest were able to get through on 80. WA8ZBT, N5EM, NK6A and NQ2W were two-banders. No three banders. My RBN spots say that 20m was open and long. Quite a few 5w spots from the EU. Thanks to everyone that stopped by and to KI6SN for doing all the work! See everyone next month.
K3RLL
Back in PA for the summer and enjoying the ‘power’ of an outside antenna and no HOA Restrictions up here in the sticks. Hi Hi. Sprint seemed to start slowly and build. Big signals heard tonight included NQ2W & WA8ZBT. Dennis, followed you to 15m, but no go. Thanks for the fun and nice contacts. See you next month.
WB9G
Thanks for the QSOs, and 72.
K5GQ
Having trouble with ATS-3 audio very weak on 20M but OK on 40M. N4BP called me on 20M and had trouble hearing the signal. The audio is very low.
K5JHP
Bands were in reasonable shape. Worked 3 stations on 2 bands and one station on 3 bands. Be back next month. Hope for more stations on the air next month.
KG3W
I had a brand new set up for July's SP. I built the latest Mountain topper radio from Steve; KD1JV. It's a 3 band version for 30,20,and 17 mtrs. So I went single band - 20 meters. It's the size of a deck of cards but weighs less. Key is a whiterook paddle and used a 370 mah lipo. Put up my temporary backyard full wave delta loop for 20 meters and it tunes 1.1 to 1 on cw. So I can now ditch my T1 tuner for the evening. Radio is a real battery miser. Lipo 3s starts out at 12.4 volts and after 2 hours I still had 11.2 volts showing, which is the lipo's sweet spot. Still running 4.6 watts at contest end. LOVE this radio! Weight breakdown: Radio 4.32 oz; Key 1.44 oz; Battery 1.44 oz; Total weight is 7.2 oz or .45 lbs. I made 14 contacts. Best DX was NK6A in CA. Heard a 9A station but he was hit and run. Propagation was nice into Florida. Worked Art, WB4MNK, @ 4w and KG4GVL, GB, @ 1 watt. Thanks again for a FUN evening. Think I'm going to look for a smaller battery. Hi!
WB4MNK
Sure enjoyed using the little KX1, ear buds, ZM-2, Lipo battery and the tiny Dirt Cheap paddle. Fun event and thanks to all I made contact with.
N5GW
I had the KX3 running on internal batteries. The rig's wide range internal ATU works very well on my CFZ antenna. Almost all activity was on 20M. Only heard a couple of stations on 40M which was filled with moderate QRN. After the sprint was half over, I didn't hear many stations, so I suppose most ops had given up. Also my cat was sitting on my logbook, staring me in the face, so I quit.
W5ACM
It was really great to spend some time on 20M this month. The locations I worked from Houston were as far NE as N7UN in NJ and SW to NK6A in CA. I still have a small issue with 40M reception and the contacts on the keyer paddle. Only five QSOs on 40M, but FOUR of the FIVE were in Texas! Lots of activity down here! I will keep working on the paddle contacts. I cleaned them twice during the event, but there were still problems. The two 170 mAh LiPo batteries did quite well, but the power output with a nominal 7.4 VDC is 3 Watts, and once again started dropping just after the first hour. I was probably around 2 Watts toward the end.
K6DGW
QSOs: 13; States/Provinces: 7; Weight: 0.61 lb. Radio: KX1 [40/30/20] with ATU and paddle; Ear buds; 750 mAh Li-Poly battery. Antenna: Alexloop. Location: On our deck, Auburn CA.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. I started out on 15 m and was able to work NK6A. I moved to 20 and was privileged to make 8 QSOs. Then to 40 for 9 more. The QRN on 40 was problematic. Thanks for the repeats. Doubles with NK6A (15 & 20) and WB4MNK and AB9CA (20 & 40). Good to work K3RLL in PA! Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
N5EM
20M was not as good as June, but still managed 5 Qs. It seemed activity was down this month, but that might just be conditions here. Thanks to AB9CA for pulling me out on 80M near the end.
WOW - what a blast!!! THANK YOU everyone for the contacts! Due to home remodeling, I currently can't operate from home. So I decided to take my little radio out portable. I climbed a near-by SOTA summit, and played Spartan Sprint and SOTA at the same time. It was quite a success. I started the hike up at about 1715 local time, the skies were mostly cloudy and the temp was a pleasant 93º F. I hiked up slow and easy, no reason to hurry. Arrived on the summit with 15 minutes to spare. I set up on the west slope of the summit, hoping for a good take-off angle to the Pacific (hoping for some VK action on 15m). I started out on 15m calling CQ. My first contact was at 0103 from NK6A in CA. 15m got me CA, NJ, KS, OR, TX, AZ, TX and AZ for 8 total. With no more takers on 15m, at 0130 I switched to 20m. There I got AZ, TN, CA, TX, OR, CA and TX for 7 total on 20m. With no more takers on 20m, at 0200 I switched to 40m. It was still light out, but 40m got me 4 more with TX, TX, CA and TX in the log. I was disappointed with 40m, and after much more CQing on 40m, I gave up and switched to 80m. If 40m was poor, 80m was a disaster, and I only got 1 local in Texas. The antenna wasn't playing nice, and I had no tuner. The antenna worked at home, but not on the mountain. Well, (bad things) happen. I quickly gave up on 80m and went back to 20m. There I made more contacts as the band had shifted. I worked OR, QC-CAN, TX, TX, CA, CA, and with just 4 minutes to go KX7L in WA got in the log for 7 more on 20m. So 8 + 7 + 4 + 1 + 7 = 27 contacts. This was by far the best Spartan Sprint score I have ever done. 20m was my money band with 14 contacts, 15m with 8 contacts, 40m with 4 contacts, and 80m with just one lonely contact. I do not want the weight penalty of a tuner at the radio, so I need to work on the 80 antenna or just not use 80m portable again. It was a cool 84º F with a nice cool desert breeze when I started down. The
hike to the car was only 45 minutes, and a 10 minute drive to home. Thanks again to all the contacts. Looking forward to next month, work schedule permitting.
K7TQ
I operated from the forest east of Moscow, ID using a K2, 7 AHr gel cell, headphones, and a G4ZPY paddle. 20 meters was in good shape so I stayed there the entire time. The antenna was a SOTA Beams Band Hopper II. As is usually the case, the first QSO was with Jim, W1PID. Contacts ranged from nearby OR to distant FL. It was a pleasant evening sitting in the shade of the pine trees and looking out over the forest. The non-radio highlight was a Goshawk flying through the tree canopy.
AB5SS
This was my first Spartan Sprint and a chance to try QRP with my new KX3. I started out on 15m and made 2 contacts before the band faded out. 20m was by far the best band for me and I had little trouble making contacts with only 5W. Next time, I might have to drop down to 3W and give that a try. Switched to 40m for the last 15 minutes of the contest and made one contact. I had fun working everyone and look forward to doing this again and getting the weight down on my station.
N7UN
Horrible QRN (S7-S8) on 20m. Surprised and it was fun that 15m was open a bit. I need to do more of these sprints!
W9JFK
This was my first Spartan Sprint ever - or in a very long time. I may have done a few 10 years or so ago . . . I can't recall for sure. Rig was a KX3 with internal batteries, tuner and integrated keyer. Antenna was a 135' long inverted-L favoring the east. The QSO's seemed very challenging to get. With so many stations out west and me in Pennsylvania, I may need to go in the field and put up west favoring antenna next month. I need to take the KX3 in the field to initiate it in it's proper use!
K8CN
I can't recall if I'd ever participated in a Spartan Sprint before. I enjoyed the chase and it helps me appreciate what I sound like to DX stations in the big contests. All contacts were made on 20 meters at 1 Watt transmit power, and I did check 40 and 15 meters, but to no avail. Operation here was cut short at 0130Z by nasty lightning storms, so I disconnected everything and didn't come back to the rig before 0300Z. I need to go on a (radio) diet - when my linear regulated power supply weighs more than all the rest of the gear combined, it's time to look into some small batteries. I suppose there's incentive to dig out my NorCal-40 rig and my homebrew 20 meter CW rig - together they weigh less than a pound, I suspect. Hope to put in a full effort next month!
N1DN
There was just a little time to operate tonight between thunderstorms. I used my Yaesu FT-817 at 0.5 watts to a ladder line fed dipole, and made 4 contacts pretty quickly. This included new 1,000 MPW contacts with K7TQ in Idaho and WVØH in Colorado. Thanks to all for a great time.
W7PUA
I've been away from this for a while. It was good to get back and work some stations on 40 and 20. I tried 15, but did not find anyone - maybe my timing was poor. I'm experimenting with a home-built DC-DC converter to power a K-1. This used an LM2586 to supply 13 Volts. The input range went down to 3.5 Volts, so I operated at 2 W RF power using 4 Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries. The DC-DC converter weighs 2.4 oz, which seems reasonable. The plan is to take this all backpacking next month.
W7QQ
My first Spartan Sprint and first CW contest. Pretty fun!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop or a 40M dipole. My thanks to WA8ZBT, K5JHP, W5ACM, KG3W and K6LEN for QSOs in the final 10 minutes of the sprint. We had supper guests who arrived 3 hours late (it was not their fault). I did not get to the rig until 0250Z. Too bad I
can't maintain that QSO rate for the entire sprint! Oh well, had fun anyway. . .
WVØH
That was a blast! While on holiday in Minnesota I got a chance to see what the Northlanders experience in HF QRP ops. Well, that little bit of latitude further north is considerable! The signals are just a bit weaker, the fades a bit deeper and you really have to work at getting an antenna up proper. I put up my WVØH Park Portable Doublet at 20 feet and left off my coil and cap tuner and just used the MiniBalun in the 4:1 position. It resulted in a 2.8:1 VSWR. My KX3 antenna tuner adjusted for a mostly efficient match. I started out working K5GQ then K7TQ. NQ2W and N5EM joined in. Then of course an old time favorite of yours and mine W1PID from NH came bursting onto the scene. Back and forth, TX then the northeast, TX, Northeast back and forth. W5ACM of course probably running a 1-ounce rig running 30 Qs an hour will no doubt place. Then the usuals, N1DN, AB9CA, and WA8ZBT were strong contenders. 1 watt signals from K8CN, K4JPN, and N1DN were impressive. My sister in law was standing over my shoulder at the time truly impressed by the beep strength as she put it. Nineteen QSOs were had on 20m and none on 40. 40 just seemed dead and noisy, so no joy there. Next month, I will be back home and hopefully won't forget the event. Thanks everybody for a great vacation break from "up north" where beep strength matters, the women are strong and the children are all above average. Keep your stick on the ice.
AB1LT
Tough night for the bands in New England. Only made contacts on 20 meters. Also had to quit early due to t-storm. Still, fun as usual. KX1 on internal batteries (3W at best) to a 63' end fed that's resonant on 40/20/15/10.
W1PID
20 meters was the only active band. Best DX: RX9JX, NK6A. K5GQ worked the hardest to pull me out! Thanks! Operated about a half an hour. K2 OCF dipole. Thanks all.
AB9CA
A good sprint! Ran the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Got another late start by about 20 min. Started on 20 as it is Staying open later. Logged 22 there, including a couple of EU stations, before moving to 40. Logged 15 there. Finished with the last 10 min on 80 and logged 2 there. QRN was pretty bad, even on 20. Only the loudest were able to get through on 80. WA8ZBT, N5EM, NK6A and NQ2W were two-banders. No three banders. My RBN spots say that 20m was open and long. Quite a few 5w spots from the EU. Thanks to everyone that stopped by and to KI6SN for doing all the work! See everyone next month.
K3RLL
Back in PA for the summer and enjoying the ‘power’ of an outside antenna and no HOA Restrictions up here in the sticks. Hi Hi. Sprint seemed to start slowly and build. Big signals heard tonight included NQ2W & WA8ZBT. Dennis, followed you to 15m, but no go. Thanks for the fun and nice contacts. See you next month.
WB9G
Thanks for the QSOs, and 72.
K5GQ
Having trouble with ATS-3 audio very weak on 20M but OK on 40M. N4BP called me on 20M and had trouble hearing the signal. The audio is very low.
K5JHP
Bands were in reasonable shape. Worked 3 stations on 2 bands and one station on 3 bands. Be back next month. Hope for more stations on the air next month.
KG3W
I had a brand new set up for July's SP. I built the latest Mountain topper radio from Steve; KD1JV. It's a 3 band version for 30,20,and 17 mtrs. So I went single band - 20 meters. It's the size of a deck of cards but weighs less. Key is a whiterook paddle and used a 370 mah lipo. Put up my temporary backyard full wave delta loop for 20 meters and it tunes 1.1 to 1 on cw. So I can now ditch my T1 tuner for the evening. Radio is a real battery miser. Lipo 3s starts out at 12.4 volts and after 2 hours I still had 11.2 volts showing, which is the lipo's sweet spot. Still running 4.6 watts at contest end. LOVE this radio! Weight breakdown: Radio 4.32 oz; Key 1.44 oz; Battery 1.44 oz; Total weight is 7.2 oz or .45 lbs. I made 14 contacts. Best DX was NK6A in CA. Heard a 9A station but he was hit and run. Propagation was nice into Florida. Worked Art, WB4MNK, @ 4w and KG4GVL, GB, @ 1 watt. Thanks again for a FUN evening. Think I'm going to look for a smaller battery. Hi!
WB4MNK
Sure enjoyed using the little KX1, ear buds, ZM-2, Lipo battery and the tiny Dirt Cheap paddle. Fun event and thanks to all I made contact with.
N5GW
I had the KX3 running on internal batteries. The rig's wide range internal ATU works very well on my CFZ antenna. Almost all activity was on 20M. Only heard a couple of stations on 40M which was filled with moderate QRN. After the sprint was half over, I didn't hear many stations, so I suppose most ops had given up. Also my cat was sitting on my logbook, staring me in the face, so I quit.
W5ACM
It was really great to spend some time on 20M this month. The locations I worked from Houston were as far NE as N7UN in NJ and SW to NK6A in CA. I still have a small issue with 40M reception and the contacts on the keyer paddle. Only five QSOs on 40M, but FOUR of the FIVE were in Texas! Lots of activity down here! I will keep working on the paddle contacts. I cleaned them twice during the event, but there were still problems. The two 170 mAh LiPo batteries did quite well, but the power output with a nominal 7.4 VDC is 3 Watts, and once again started dropping just after the first hour. I was probably around 2 Watts toward the end.
K6DGW
QSOs: 13; States/Provinces: 7; Weight: 0.61 lb. Radio: KX1 [40/30/20] with ATU and paddle; Ear buds; 750 mAh Li-Poly battery. Antenna: Alexloop. Location: On our deck, Auburn CA.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. I started out on 15 m and was able to work NK6A. I moved to 20 and was privileged to make 8 QSOs. Then to 40 for 9 more. The QRN on 40 was problematic. Thanks for the repeats. Doubles with NK6A (15 & 20) and WB4MNK and AB9CA (20 & 40). Good to work K3RLL in PA! Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
N5EM
20M was not as good as June, but still managed 5 Qs. It seemed activity was down this month, but that might just be conditions here. Thanks to AB9CA for pulling me out on 80M near the end.
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