SCOREBOARD: August 2022 Spartan Sprint

SOAPBOX: August 2022 ARS Spartan Sprint

K3RLL
Didn't expect much activity after such a nice FOBB yesterday so started out on 40m and waited until the crowd moved down from 20m. Yes, a smarter op would have started on 20m but ..., well you know.  Anyhow, 40m turned out well and picked up far more quickly than expected. Was running one a minute until the QRM got to me. But it was a great night with RBN and Signal Reports that gladden the heart. Now, if I only had a tower. 72/73 and thanks for the fun. - Don, K3RLL

WAØYDO
Just stopped working on rewiring the antenna grounding system and heard a CQ SP. Looked up the meaning and decided to try 5 watt operation. Made one contact using an R7 vertical and one using a dipole at 35 feet both on 40m. OPs were patient and I was able to make a couple contacts. I may try again next month. - Dave, WA0YDO

WB9HFK
Icom 7300 @ 5W. Hustler 6BTV Gnd Mtd with 60 Radials. Weight: 30 lbs.

K4BAI
Thunderstorm took out our power and was almost an hour late getting started.  No activity on 20 by that time. 40 was quite good with the best QSO distance to Don, NK6A in CA. 80M was pretty noisy, but worked WA8ZBT there for our second band. QSOs by band:  40M: 14, 80M: 1. 73 /72, John, K4BAI.

NØAR
I started out on 20 meters which was open to TX and IL of all places. Best signal came from El Paso KD5KC on 20 meters! 40 meters proved to be the workhorse band tonight. Ran the KX3, vertical on 20 and dipole on 40. Lots of good signals to go along with the TS QRN. 72s, Scott N0AR nr. St.Paul

KD5KC
WOW.  Two contests in two days?  First the FOBB, and now the Spartan Sprint. I said when I retired I’d try to work this more. The little Icom IC-705 with the smallest battery and a µ-key just makes 2.5 pounds. The key is pretty small, and my sometimes erratic sending shows it. Just before the start I checked the FT8 freqs on 10m and 15m.  10m was dead, 15m was weak.  So at 0100 UTC I started on 20m and had 7 in 25 minutes.  I called CQ on 20m for the rest of the hour with no further takers. At 0200 UTC I went to 40m where I got 4 more in 30 minutes.  At 0230 I went to 80m and only got one taker. So at 0250 I went back to 40m hoping the gray-line had moved a little. And I got one more. Static crashes were the most disturbing on 40m and 80m. There were a couple that I just could not pull out. Sorry. 20m = 7.  40m = 5.  80m = 1.  Total = 13.  States = CA, CO, ID, IL, IN, MN, NC, TX,VA, WI. I should plan a 4X4 expedition for the sprint one month. I’ll bet if I can get the JEEP and Trailer about 10 miles from the nearest pavement I can do a lot better. My portable 44-ft vertical works really well when camping. - Mike, KD5KC

N8HWV
Late start but one QSO in ten minutes. Thanks! Mtr4B with 9v battery and headphones. EFHW up 15 ft. - Nathan, N8HWV

K9DRP
Made all my contacts on 40. Didn't find anyone on 20 and the dual band HB-1A doesn't work 80. I also didn't realize it only puts out 3 watts, but it didn't seem to make much difference. I did dig out the SCAF-1 filter as the QRN went from bad to awful. My first time to work W3KC in the Sprint, and WA8ZBT for the first time in a long time. TNX all fer the contacts. -
72, Don, K9DRP

W3KC
Good to participate again. All contacts on 40m except for a couple on 80m. Lots of storm-induced QRN and had to quit when strikes were threatening. -
72, Chas, W3KC

W5ESE
Used my KD1JV AT Sprint 3, Whiterook MK-44 iambic paddles, wall-wart, and walk-man type earphones. Pretty good conditions on 40m. 80m noise was deafening. - 73, Scott, W5ESE

KIØG
Long time, forgot what fun. 1W with KX, EFHW, AA batteries. - 72, Bob, KI0G

W4NLT
40M was the work horse tonight. Couple of early QSOs on 20M and one later on 80M. Thanks for the QSOs.- 72, Andy, W4NLT

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp or a dipole.  Only 6 states
this time.  Best signals:  20M - N0AR, 40M - K4BAI.  Doubles with
WB9HFK, N0AR, NK6A.  Might have heard Don - K3RLL - very, very faintly.
Tried 15M - nil.  80M was hopeless.  Fun to work K9DRP @ 3W and W5ESE @
2W.  Finally got my edZepp repaired! Woo-hoo! Thanks to all.  Had fun. - Nick, WB5BKL

AB9CA
Activity seemed to be a bit higher. Found only two stations on 20, but 20 stations on 40. Other obligations limited me to an hour, but it was a fairly busy hour. Only 2-bander was W5ESE. Thanks to everyone for the Qs! See you next month. - 73, Dave, AB9CA

WA9CWE
Had another good evening. At my location in central Indiana the band
conditions were poor with an S9 noise level on 40.  In any case I was able
to make 7 contacts in 7 States.  80 and 20 were dead, so I stuck it out on
40 and I appreciate some of you slowing down to exchange info with me.  The other observation was that I worked a number of stations that I had not worked in my 3 prior events. As always, I look forward to next month. BTW, the rig is a Xiegu X5105, straight key and G5RV at 20 feet. It actually has a really good receiver and gives a full 5 watts out. The internal battery lasts the 2 hours of my operation, loosing only about 10 percent of capacity. - 73, Steve, WA9CWE

K4GUJ
My third Spartan Sprint. Moved from all tube rig at 28 lbs. to solid state MFJ Cub transceiver plus peripherals at 7.7 lb. Think I can reduce weight with a battery, no matching network and lighter earphone next month. The MFJ Cub VFO feature was useful even though 2.5 watts versus the 5 watt crystal tube transmitter used last month yielded fewer contacts. I heard a number of stations calling CQ SP on 40M - encouraging to hear - but most couldn't hear me. Fun 2 hours. See you next month. - Dick Barnett, K4GUJ, Spotsylvania, Va.

AA9RK
This was the first time we were able to do backcountry operation for the Spartan Sprint - or at least, operate from a picnic table at our neighborhood park. Unfortunately, it gets dark early in the contest, so we operated for about 35 minutes until we couldn't see anymore. We used the QCX mini (40 meters) and a Spark Plug EFHW and had really positive results. I was surprised at the strong signals and easy copy. - Mike, AA9RK

KD9NZB
For the first Spartan Sprint this summer, we got to operate portable, and it was a great experience. Thanks for slowing down for me, as I am only 11 and still working on my CW. Also, thanks to my dad, AA9RK, for helping me copy. - Max, KD9NZB

Eleven-year-old Max Falk, KD9NZB, operated the August Spartan Sprint in a local park.

SCOREBOARD: July 2022 ARS Spartan Sprint

 

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SOAPBOX: July 2022 ARS Spartan Sprint

 K3RLL

signals seemed good on both 20m and 40m this evening but something really good must have come on TV about 01:30z as the party moved somewhere and I didn't get my invitation.  ;-)   Big signals tonight into rural PA were AK3X and K3JZD but NK6A was stronger than I've ever heard him. While it seems like things dried up a little early tonight, it was fun!  Happy to be operating from PA again with a modest but actual, real, outdoor antenna up in the clear!  No HOA here!  72 .. Don

W07T

There were spartan pickings in my very first Spartan Sprint. Was giving it my all with SW40+ rig running 2W from LifePO4 battery amplified audio through my Oontz powered speaker. Antenna was dipole up about 45'. I searched but did not find a logging program dedicated to the SP. Is there one?  Like a logging program was even needed for 3 contacts. 72 all!

K9DRP

I was surprised to hear so many sigs on the band during the fireworks!  I worked several "new" calls; glad to see folks joining us. All my contacts were on 40 using my Argo V. There was one station, who really tried, I just couldn't pull out. If K2C had been spotted, on one of his rather infrequent appearances, I would have gone off chasing him. But no worries there. Hope everyone had a great 4th. 72, Don, K9DRP 

WB9HFK

Icom 7300 to a Hustler 6BTV ground mounted with 60 radials. Thanks for administering ARS events. 72, Mark, WB9HFK

KD5KC

I was in Germany and missed June, so I was determined to run the sprint for July. In a word, it was terrible Monday night. I took my IC-705 up on the overlook in Franklin Mountain State Park. I started calling on 15m.  There were no RBN hits on 15m, but a local guy worked me. On 20m I got several stations, TX-PR-ID-NY-MO-GA. RBN hits showed coast to coast and Hawaii, but the noise was S-7+ and static crashes! There were others calling that I could just not pull out. SORRY. Only contact on 40m and 80m was the local guy. RBN said 40m was getting out. Something was up on 80m cause the 75-ft long-wire would not stay tuned. There were storms in the area. All was well as I set up. But the Sierra Madre mountains in Mexico got an outflow from the south and set that wind going vertical on the southern slopes. That up-draft quickly turned into a near-by T-storm. I was watching it closely, but as it hit the southern tip of the Franklins in downtown El Paso the mountains deflected it to the east side. I was safe about 10 miles north on the western slope. I never felt a drop. The winds did pick up and cool me off some, that was nice. A lightning strike hit putting a portion of the city in the dark, but I'm retired so not my problem anymore. IC-705 with little battery and µ-key = 2.5 pounds. 10 contacts.  Score = 4 QSOs per pound. Vy 73, Mike, KD5KC

W1MT

Hunted for a bit and got 3 on 40m. Then called CQ SP for 20 minutes on 7.0315 with no takers. Went to bed. Call me tubby with the KX3 this time. Maybe I'll break out the ATS-3 next time. Mike, W1MT

WA9TGT

I stayed on 40 meters the entire night. The band seemed to be in decent shape. My contacts started off slow but activity seemed to increase about 30 minutes into the contest. Station setup was the same as my prior Spartan Sprint contests except for a lighter weight transceiver this month. Antenna 80~10 meter EFHW, 12v 2.6mAh Li-ion, Apple Earbuds. Donnie / WA9TGT / Muncie, IN

K4GUJ

Total No. Contacts: 7 (IN, NJ, VA, MA, IN, IL, NH, FL) My second Spartan Sprint. 14,060 was really quiet here in VA. Was on 7030 QRP calling frequency for two whole hours. Did great for an hour - CQ SP and almost all responses were Spartan Sprint QRP folks.The second hour was a surprise - no responses at all. The band was open and active, but no 7030 SP calls heard. I'll have to give some thought to my operating technique. Being rock bound, I thought calling CQ was the way to go and it worked for the first hour, but then nothing. Perhaps more tuning around, less calling.  Hopefully my 3560 xtal will arrive in time for next month's Sprint and I will be able to band hop some as well. See you next month. Dick, K4GUJ, Spotsylvania, VA

K3JZD

Low activity due to the holiday I guess.  I had to soothe a dog that did not like the fireworks with one hand while keying with the other hand.  All of my QSOs were on 40m.  Purpose built 40m QCX Mini, small 500mAH LiPo battery pack, small 3D printed key, and ear buds.  40m Dipole at 25'.    73 - Jody - K3JZD

Max, KD9NZB and Michael, AA9RK

AA9RK

Our QCX mini arrived a couple weeks ago and we were eager to try it out portable.  Unfortunately, thunderstorms changed our plan to operating portable in our backyard, and eventually drove us into the shack entirely, but with our portable setup. Along with the 40-meter QCX mini, we used a Talentcell battery, a CWmorse.us travel double paddle, and the earbuds from my old iRiver mp3 player. Conditions were decent and the operators were all top-notch. Michael, AA9RK

KD9NZB

I had fun on this Sprint and thanks for slowing down for me. I am only 10 years old and still working on my sending, so thanks to my dad AA9RK for helping me copy. "TU" and 72! Max, KD9NZB

WB5BKL

K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp or a dipole.  Only 5 states this month.  Best signals:  20M - NK6A, 40M - WB9HFK.  One QRO QSO not counted. Only one double (NK6A).  Fun to work K9DRP @ 3W.  Never tried 80M.  Having some antenna issues with the 40M edZ.  Hope to have them repaired by next month.  Had fun.

K4BAI

Limited time this month due to the 13 Colonies Special Event station (K2G). Nice to catch 3 of the sprinters at the end of the period. All QSOs on 40M. 73/72, John, K4BAI

K4PQC

Nearby fireworks distracted me from starting almost 3/4 of an hour late.  I decided to stick with only 40 meters to shave weight from adding additional band filters.  A little slow at first and then contacts picked up and I started calling CW. I didn't hear too many nearby stations and those I heard didn't return my calls. The weather is warm and there are some nearby storms causing static crashes. The Rig is a modified Steve Weber - KD1JV  AT Sprint III, lightened earphone, paddles and a 250 ma 3 cell LiPo battery. 72/73 to all and thanks for the QSOs, see you next month.

W9TCR operated crystal controlled with his Bayou Jumper.

W9TCR

Stuck with the Bayou Jumper this month for the 4th of July. Xtal control is more of a challenge. Did not hear any SP calling this month. Be back in August. See you them.

WA9CWE

Had another great time in the Sprint this month although band conditions weren’t too favorable. Made all of my contacts on 40 Meters. I appreciate the old-timers who slow down to exchange reports with me, as I’m still working on improving my skills. My 8 contacts were in 7 States, so I was pleased. I look forward to next month’s event. 73, Steve, WA9CWE

SCOREBOARD: June 2022 ARS Spartan Sprint

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SOAPBOX: June 2022 ARS Spartan Sprint

 K4GUJ

6 states: (GA, NJ, NH, GA, NY, IL). All Tube HB Tx: 15.8 lb; R-75 Rx: 6.8 lb; Peripherals (matcher, key, antenna switch):5.4 lb) = 28 lbs. My first Spartan Sprint. Was on 7030 QRP calling frequency for two hours. Did great for an hour - CQ SP and all responses were Spartan Sprint QRP folks. Frustrated by a 45 minute reg chew by two powerhouses on nearby frequency who saturated my receiver during the second hour. Ordered a 3560 Khz FT 243 crystal last night so next month I can band hop 80 to 40 to 20.  My all tube home brew is a 6AG7 xtal oscillator driving a 6L6 final. The xtal oscillator output is resistor loaded and the final grid bias is adjusted so that a 3 db pad on the tx output makes me fully QRP at just under 5 watts. Lots of fun for this old-timer. See you next month. Dick Barnett, K4GUJ, Spotsylvania, VA

K3RLL

So nice to have 20m open this evening and some nice signals rolling in. First call came from NK6A Don in CA! Even RBN gave occasional good reports. The party seemed to wrap up about 01:30z so tried to follow the crowd down to 40m but few showed up. Got only one double as 40m was a muddy field, at least from here. How bad was it?  Well on 40m, RBN never heard my whopping 4 watts. Hats off to VE3NRT with good signal from ONT with ONE WATT! That's impressive. This was one of the more enjoyable SPs with conditions that made contacts a lot easier to make tonight.  ARS must have made a $ contribution to the ionosphere.  Thank you.  ... 72/73 ... Don

NQ2W

Another fine Spartan Sprint. 1 QSO on 15, 10 on 20, and 9 on 40. Tried 80m but received no replies to my CQs. WB5BKL on 3 bands...the 40m QSO was almost ESP but I believe we made the exchange! K3RLL and K9DRP on 2 bands. Signals were pretty good on 20m, not so much on 40m. Thanks to everyone for the contacts...thanks to KI6SN for putting this all together for us. Hope to see you next month! 72, Will, NQ2W

K4BAI

20, 40, and 80 pretty good here. Some QRN on 80. Worked per bands: 20M:  4. 40M: 16. 80M: 1.Thanks for the QSOs. Time of operation 1.5 hours. 73/72, John, K4BAI.

N8HWV

Lots of static on my efhw in WI. Went with the MTR4B again with the 8 AA’s and an Adventure Paddle. Nice light weight combo. K4BAI- I didn’t count our 40m dupe. Was really getting hard to hear by that time. Always Fun. 73, Nate

WB9HFK

Rig: Icom 7300 @ 5W Antenna: Gnd Mtd Hustler 6BTV with 60 Radials Weight: 30 Lbs

AC2YD

Not sure if I've done an SP before; if so, it's been quite a while since ... stumbled on a CQ SP while looking for Lewis and Clark Trail stations! Looked it up on WA7BNM Contest Calendar, and caught the last 45 minutes or so ... Recognized a few callsigns including WB9HFK and K4BAI, although I was a little too late to work John (K4BAI) ... Got distracted in final minutes checking 20m for SP activity ... worked ES3AX (Estonia) on 20m (first call using 5w; he heard me better than most stateside SP stations did!), and got back to 40m right at 11pm to just miss John's final CQ.  Bummer. But fun!  I'll try to do this more often!  Rig:  Hermes Lite 2 (rig-in-a-box at base of antenna controlled via WiFi), Quisk s/w transceiver, 1/4-wave fan vertical with 32 radials. Thanks! - Ben, AC2YD

K9DRP

I engaged my SW-3B for the sprint, so no 80 meters for me (after last month I wasn't too concerned). 4 QSOs on 20 and 8 on 40. I worked WB5BKL on both bands; Nick has the ears and patience to dig out the sigs from the noise.  I think I worked AC2YD and N8HWV for the first time tonight; thanks guys!  And thanks to all for the QSOs. 73, Don, K9DRP

W9TCR

Another month with zero contacts but I was there pounding the Key .  Yesterday was the 87 Anniversary of D-Day so I fired up the 4SQRP Group "Bayou Jumper" I built. It is their recreation of the WW2 "Paraset" that helped win the war.    This was the first time with it on the air so maybe next time there will be fewer operator problems but had fun regardless...  Will see you next month, 73 Tim W9TCR

WB5BKL

K3/10 @ 5W to a 2-element 15M delta loop or a 40M extended double Zepp. Only 5 states this month.  Best signals:  15M - NQ2W, 20M - K9DRP, 40M - WA8ZBT. One QRO QSO not counted. A triple with NQ2W and doubles with NK6A and K9DRP. Never tried 80M.  Took numerous breaks to check on UT in the WCWS. They had fun and so did I...

W4NLT

Started with a bang on 20M then drifted down to 40M. Worked the crowd around 7040-7044 then tried for a three-fer with John K4BAI but no joy. Only one QSO on 80M. 72/73, Andy

K4PQC

I started a few minutes late and didn't hear anything on 40 meters and then changed the band filter to 80 meters and looked up and down the band...  then looked at the calendar to make sure that the date was correct. Then went to 20 meters and found the water hole. The weather is warm here at 80-degrees F, clear and found fairly quiet band conditions... too quiet. The Rig is a modified Steve Weber - KD1JV  AT Sprint III,  lightened earphone, paddles and a 200 ma 3 cell LiPo battery. 72/73 to all and thanks for the QSOs, see you next month.

SCOREBOARD: May 2022 ARS Spartan Sprint

 

For an enlarged view, please click on the Scoreboard.