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Friday, December 10, 2010
Soapbox Comments: December '10 Spartan Sprint
AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to the OCF 80m dipole. Condx seemed to be fairly good. Worked 11 stations and 8 SPC's on 40 then 18 stations and 11 SPC's 80. Had only an hour and spent about 30 minutes on each band. On 40 worked from CA to NH and on 80 managed to work K7TQ in ID for the best DX there. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. Was a fun hour. Hope to hear ya'all next month!
WA8MTI
My third sprint. This time @ 2.5 watts with the internal batteries on the FT-817nd. Still had over 9V after the two hours. 20 was dead and 40 was pretty quiet here so only worked 80. Tried a couple times on 40 but no results. Thanks to those good ears who picked me out of the noise. Thanks ARS for putting this on.
W1PID
Not a lot of stations heard. I operated for five minutes. Ran 5 watts to an OCF dipole. Stations worked: K4ORD, AB9CA, C6AKQ (all on 40) and W4VVH (on 80). Thanks, guys.
C6AKQ (N4BP)
What a wild ride! 40M was hot to Europe. With 5W worked UR, UA, DL, EI, F, SP, OE, 9A, and UA2 in that order. Also worked a handful of regular Spartan Sprinters with super signals. When I went to 80M at 10:15 local, worked three stations in short order and then nothing for fifteen minutes. Wrapped it up at 10:30.Rig: K3 @ 5W. Antennas: 40M dipole @ 80ft, 80M dipole @ 100ft.
KB7MBI
As always it was very enjoyable and loved the challenge. Station was Ten Tec Paragon II @ 5W with GAP Titan Vertical. Contacts on 40 and 80m only.
W5ESE
40m was long, but 80m was excellent. Good participation this month. AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. Will submit my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. Merry Christmas and all the best in 2011 to all the Adventure Radio folks.
NQ2W
Used my Ten Tec 1340 to the inverted vee at 40 feet. C6AKQ was loud for long time. Worked three TX stations, one each in LA and NC. Not a lot of activity on 40 meters. Used my new homebrew paddle and CMOS-4 keyer that I built a few weeks ago. Everything, except the power supply, I'm using for the Spartan Sprint is homebrew from scratch (paddle, antenna, and antenna supports) or from a kit (transceiver and keyer). Quite a reward to QSO with stations on homebrewed equipment. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Happy holidays and hope to see you all next year!
K4BAI
Hard to find the link for log submission this month. 20 seemed dead at the beginning, so started on 40. It seemed long. NG7Z in WA was rocking there. Surprised to work W4VHH in NC and N5GW in MS and KD9KC in TX. Heard several more on 40 that I couldn't work including stations in TX, NQ2W, and K4ORD. Somebody within my skip zone was getting a lot of calls, but I didn't get many answers to CQs. After about 24 minutes, I went to 80. 80 conditions were pretty good, but activity was low. Was able to work NV1B in ME and NG7Z in WA on 80, as well as WI, MI, OH, NY, MO, many in TX and stations in the Southeast. Thanks for all QSOs and let's get out more activity next month! Happy Holidays to all.
AI4SV
A 4x improvement over last time. See, it pays to start off poorly!
W5ACM
I was dismayed by conditions on 20M and 40M. Yes, there were a few stations on 40M that I noted prior to the event, but it looked like 80M was going to be the band of preference. It was. My ears hurt. My seriously depressed LiPo batteries hurt. However, December was a LOT better than November! Thanks to AB9CA, K4BAI, W4VHH, AE8M, W5ESE, N5GW and W0CH, I survived then QRN and at least got 7 on 80! I really need to do a little tuning on the dot side of the key paddle though. My "fist" was terrible for the duration. I operated in the ARRL 160M contest last weekend running 3W as W5MSQ (one of several operators). I was amazed at what a full-size, resonant antenna can do, even with QRP, but we were in a rural area with plenty of space. That would be SOOOO nice on 80M at my house!! C U next month! Gear: ATS-3A and antique vertical.
N4KGL
One contact on 40 and five on 80. Rig was the Sierra 2w on 40 and 1w on 80 to doublet. Batteries were AAAs. I worked PA on 80 for 842 miles per watt. I could have been better on 40!
WA2OQJ
Yaesu FT-817nd @ 5 watts 80 meter dipole @ 25' - Lower bands here have been terrible the last couple of weeks...40 has been sounding more like 10 meters! Weird conditions tonight, heard some very light CQ SP's on 40 but by the time I would attempt to zero beat they were lost in the noise! C6AKQ was the exception...Wow! the "Baked Potato" was slamming in here a solid 599! Tnx Bob for the contact! went to 80 and same kind of strange conditions K4ORD was solid 599 when I called but when he gave his info it was all I could do to copy him in the noise..I called John K4BAI and heard nothing in response, waited then tuned away and as I passed back I swore I heard my call and was surprised to hear it was John calling! No big numbers but was happy to work all my 3 contacts and was fun to snag the Bahamas on 40!
NG7Z
Boy that was tuff going tonight. Not nearly as good conditions as last month. Only nine Q's on 40 and nine on 80. Exited 40M around 0230Z. First Q on 80M was at 0245 with K4ORD with a nice signal. Only three contacts during 0300Z to 0400Z. Searched and CQ'd the whole time. Very slim pickings. Best DX was NV1B in ME on 80M. Loudest signal was AE8M in OH also on 80M. K4BAI took me by surprise right at the start. I didn't expect a call on my first CQ! 72 all and thanks for the Q's.
K4ORD
Conditions were poor on both 40 & 80, some signals were strong and others were very weak. Made 6 qso's on 40M and 14 on 80M. Best dx was NG7Z WA on 80M, heard Randy K7TQ but unable to get him to hear me. Rig K2@5W ants were 40 & 160M dipoles. Thanks for all the QSOs.
K5JHP
Really bad condx tonight. QSB really bad. CU next year.
KD9KC
40m started off OK, but kind of ran out within 30 minutes. 80m was a struggle from the start. Thanks to those who slowed down for me, it really helped in the noise. Worked Ron - WT5RZ, he was the new ham that sat at my station a few months ago and watched me work the sprint. I picked up a tiny little straight key on the E-place, hope to shave a few more ounces off the weight. We will see.
WA5BUC
Changed out my antenna. Now using a 100' end-fed wire. C6AKQ on 40. N5GW, AB9CA, and W5ESE on 80. Will be glad when the website is finished. Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for 2011.
K6DGW
Disappointing turnout when 40 and 80 are really getting good. Did work Jim at C6. The QRP crowd really needs to settle on a frequency center on each band. 7030 and/or 7040, and likewise on 80 is not great. There's a lot of newer digital stuff just above 7030, strong here on the frontier. Calling CQ "SS", I had one guy tell me "Sweeps was last month." Is it SS or SP? (It's SP - Editor)
K3RLL
Where was everyone tonight? After a little flurry of activity on 40, it went empty as all the power ops went to 80. But even down on 80, I only heard a few participants. Must be all this cold weather here in FL. My antenna must be frozen.
Rig was K2 at 5w to the OCF 80m dipole. Condx seemed to be fairly good. Worked 11 stations and 8 SPC's on 40 then 18 stations and 11 SPC's 80. Had only an hour and spent about 30 minutes on each band. On 40 worked from CA to NH and on 80 managed to work K7TQ in ID for the best DX there. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. Was a fun hour. Hope to hear ya'all next month!
WA8MTI
My third sprint. This time @ 2.5 watts with the internal batteries on the FT-817nd. Still had over 9V after the two hours. 20 was dead and 40 was pretty quiet here so only worked 80. Tried a couple times on 40 but no results. Thanks to those good ears who picked me out of the noise. Thanks ARS for putting this on.
W1PID
Not a lot of stations heard. I operated for five minutes. Ran 5 watts to an OCF dipole. Stations worked: K4ORD, AB9CA, C6AKQ (all on 40) and W4VVH (on 80). Thanks, guys.
C6AKQ (N4BP)
What a wild ride! 40M was hot to Europe. With 5W worked UR, UA, DL, EI, F, SP, OE, 9A, and UA2 in that order. Also worked a handful of regular Spartan Sprinters with super signals. When I went to 80M at 10:15 local, worked three stations in short order and then nothing for fifteen minutes. Wrapped it up at 10:30.Rig: K3 @ 5W. Antennas: 40M dipole @ 80ft, 80M dipole @ 100ft.
KB7MBI
As always it was very enjoyable and loved the challenge. Station was Ten Tec Paragon II @ 5W with GAP Titan Vertical. Contacts on 40 and 80m only.
W5ESE
40m was long, but 80m was excellent. Good participation this month. AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. Will submit my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. Merry Christmas and all the best in 2011 to all the Adventure Radio folks.
NQ2W
Used my Ten Tec 1340 to the inverted vee at 40 feet. C6AKQ was loud for long time. Worked three TX stations, one each in LA and NC. Not a lot of activity on 40 meters. Used my new homebrew paddle and CMOS-4 keyer that I built a few weeks ago. Everything, except the power supply, I'm using for the Spartan Sprint is homebrew from scratch (paddle, antenna, and antenna supports) or from a kit (transceiver and keyer). Quite a reward to QSO with stations on homebrewed equipment. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Happy holidays and hope to see you all next year!
K4BAI
Hard to find the link for log submission this month. 20 seemed dead at the beginning, so started on 40. It seemed long. NG7Z in WA was rocking there. Surprised to work W4VHH in NC and N5GW in MS and KD9KC in TX. Heard several more on 40 that I couldn't work including stations in TX, NQ2W, and K4ORD. Somebody within my skip zone was getting a lot of calls, but I didn't get many answers to CQs. After about 24 minutes, I went to 80. 80 conditions were pretty good, but activity was low. Was able to work NV1B in ME and NG7Z in WA on 80, as well as WI, MI, OH, NY, MO, many in TX and stations in the Southeast. Thanks for all QSOs and let's get out more activity next month! Happy Holidays to all.
AI4SV
A 4x improvement over last time. See, it pays to start off poorly!
W5ACM
I was dismayed by conditions on 20M and 40M. Yes, there were a few stations on 40M that I noted prior to the event, but it looked like 80M was going to be the band of preference. It was. My ears hurt. My seriously depressed LiPo batteries hurt. However, December was a LOT better than November! Thanks to AB9CA, K4BAI, W4VHH, AE8M, W5ESE, N5GW and W0CH, I survived then QRN and at least got 7 on 80! I really need to do a little tuning on the dot side of the key paddle though. My "fist" was terrible for the duration. I operated in the ARRL 160M contest last weekend running 3W as W5MSQ (one of several operators). I was amazed at what a full-size, resonant antenna can do, even with QRP, but we were in a rural area with plenty of space. That would be SOOOO nice on 80M at my house!! C U next month! Gear: ATS-3A and antique vertical.
N4KGL
One contact on 40 and five on 80. Rig was the Sierra 2w on 40 and 1w on 80 to doublet. Batteries were AAAs. I worked PA on 80 for 842 miles per watt. I could have been better on 40!
WA2OQJ
Yaesu FT-817nd @ 5 watts 80 meter dipole @ 25' - Lower bands here have been terrible the last couple of weeks...40 has been sounding more like 10 meters! Weird conditions tonight, heard some very light CQ SP's on 40 but by the time I would attempt to zero beat they were lost in the noise! C6AKQ was the exception...Wow! the "Baked Potato" was slamming in here a solid 599! Tnx Bob for the contact! went to 80 and same kind of strange conditions K4ORD was solid 599 when I called but when he gave his info it was all I could do to copy him in the noise..I called John K4BAI and heard nothing in response, waited then tuned away and as I passed back I swore I heard my call and was surprised to hear it was John calling! No big numbers but was happy to work all my 3 contacts and was fun to snag the Bahamas on 40!
NG7Z
Boy that was tuff going tonight. Not nearly as good conditions as last month. Only nine Q's on 40 and nine on 80. Exited 40M around 0230Z. First Q on 80M was at 0245 with K4ORD with a nice signal. Only three contacts during 0300Z to 0400Z. Searched and CQ'd the whole time. Very slim pickings. Best DX was NV1B in ME on 80M. Loudest signal was AE8M in OH also on 80M. K4BAI took me by surprise right at the start. I didn't expect a call on my first CQ! 72 all and thanks for the Q's.
K4ORD
Conditions were poor on both 40 & 80, some signals were strong and others were very weak. Made 6 qso's on 40M and 14 on 80M. Best dx was NG7Z WA on 80M, heard Randy K7TQ but unable to get him to hear me. Rig K2@5W ants were 40 & 160M dipoles. Thanks for all the QSOs.
K5JHP
Really bad condx tonight. QSB really bad. CU next year.
KD9KC
40m started off OK, but kind of ran out within 30 minutes. 80m was a struggle from the start. Thanks to those who slowed down for me, it really helped in the noise. Worked Ron - WT5RZ, he was the new ham that sat at my station a few months ago and watched me work the sprint. I picked up a tiny little straight key on the E-place, hope to shave a few more ounces off the weight. We will see.
WA5BUC
Changed out my antenna. Now using a 100' end-fed wire. C6AKQ on 40. N5GW, AB9CA, and W5ESE on 80. Will be glad when the website is finished. Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for 2011.
K6DGW
Disappointing turnout when 40 and 80 are really getting good. Did work Jim at C6. The QRP crowd really needs to settle on a frequency center on each band. 7030 and/or 7040, and likewise on 80 is not great. There's a lot of newer digital stuff just above 7030, strong here on the frontier. Calling CQ "SS", I had one guy tell me "Sweeps was last month." Is it SS or SP? (It's SP - Editor)
K3RLL
Where was everyone tonight? After a little flurry of activity on 40, it went empty as all the power ops went to 80. But even down on 80, I only heard a few participants. Must be all this cold weather here in FL. My antenna must be frozen.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Soapbox Comments: November '10 Spartan Sprint
AI4SV
Just caught a CQ at the end of the Sprint and decided to look up the rules. Seems like fun.
KF6U
Rig: Hendricks PFR-3, Ant: 180 ft Horz Delta Loop at 30 ft. 20 M was dead. 40 was ok for a short while, then faded away. Still had fun and thanks to you folks who hang in there!
W5ACM
The heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A are still hanging in there! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to the lowest number of contacts yet for me during a Spartan Sprint. With poor band conditions and a storm just to the north, I barely completed THREE contacts on 40M and 80M combined. Can it get any worse? I doubt it! Come on December!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W and 20M delta loop or 40M extended double Zepp. Only 1 on 20M (lost K7TQ in a deep fade) and 3 on 40M. Just got going on 80M when a t-storm developed to my NW. Radar showed it moving SE, so I pulled the plug and disconnected everything. One lightning strike taught me a lesson. At least my Monday night was better than the Texas Rangers'... Had fun.
W6GMT
Rig: Icom 703 @ 5w. 40 meters only. 6 Contacts
KG4GVL
Had a blast, made my first contact with my RockMite 80, can't wait for winter!
W9CJS
Bands were terrible but had fun anyway
K7TQ
A good 1st hour on 40. Didn't hear anything on 20. After beginning of second hour, 40 was not so good so I went to 80. Got Paul, NG7Z, but that was all. See you next time around.
W5ESE
The band was long tonight. Used my AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. Good to work a few folks I hadn't contacted before in the Sprint. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. My ears still hurt from the QRN on 80 meters.
AE4TC
FT817 @ 5w, ground mounted vertical. Was able to reduce weight this sprint with a new portable battery. 13 QSOs on 40m and 2 on 80m.
NK6A
Playing with computer logging and new K3.
W8YMO
Elecraft K3 @ 5 Watts. Harry, near Cleveland, OH.
N8WE
No sigs heard on 20. WA8ZBT had best signal here in Centerville, OH.
AB9CA
Rig was the old IC707 cranked back to 5w. Ant was the usual OCF 80m dp at about 40'. Got a late start - first Q not until 0124z. Either the bands were real crummy or the participation was light. Total of only 16 Q's. Never heard anyone on 20. 40 was the 'workhorse' with 13 Q's but heard very few calling there. Indeed when I first scanned the band heard no one. Did hear a few later on - pretty sure I heard Randy, K7TQ, but due to condx never made contact. The band did seem to be long with stations in CA (2), WA (2), NY and NH coming in fairly well. 80 was very noisy with quick QSB that sucked out parts of characters, only 3 contacts there. Isn't this the time of year when 80 should be getting quiet? Despite the noise John, K4BAI, who is about 200 miles away, was armchair copy ever time I went by him. A total of about 45 minutes tonight, too many other things going on. Last Q was at 0209z. Still a fun evening. We'll hope for better condx next month.
W1PID
I ran the DSW-80 at 2 watts on 80 meters with an OCF dipole. Highlight was working AA1TJ in VT who was running 75mw! Later in the Sprint 80 fell off and 40 came alive in waves. I worked 3 more stations with the K2, but didn't count them in the log because of the weight issues. Thanks to all.
K4BAI
I was tired after CQ WW SSB over the weekend and forgot about the Spartan Sprint until the first half hour had passed. By the time I was QRV, there were no SP signals on 20 and almost none on 40. I heard, but did not work, KD2MX and K5JHP on 40 and did work QRO station WA3FAE. No answers to CQs on that band. So, the rest of the time was on 80M, where I found only 15 stations to work. Band was in pretty good shape with four stations from TX, one each from IL, WV, and PA and the rest from the fourth call area. Hope for more activity next month. Look for me (with KU8E, K9YC, and N3ZZ) to be QRV from the new DXCC entity of Bonaire Nov 23-30 using PJ4/home calls and in the CQ WW CW contest using PJ4A.
NQ2W
Using my Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 ft. Seemed like quite a bit of activity at first - heard W7OM but couldn't work him - hoped to hear him later but didn't. Some stations answered my CQ - some I was able to work - some I couldn't pick out of the QRN - hopefully, we'll connect in future events. Thanks to all the participants and thanks to the organizers. I'm looking forward to next month.
KB7MBI
Ten Tec Paragon II, 5w, GAP Titan vertical and managed contacts on 80,40,20,15 and 10m. Heard many East Coast stations coming in strong but unable to work them.
W2MFT
My first Spartan Sprint. Had fun with FT817 and delta loop.
N4KGL
This time I got my weight down by 0.64 lbs by using AAAs and ear buds. On 40 I worked MD, NY, VA, OH and MA. MA was the furthest for 1,160 mi or 580 mi per watt. On 80 I worked 2 X GA and the furthest was 261 miles for 261 mi per watt. The rig was the Sierra with 2 watts on 40 and 1 watt on 80 and a 135 foot doublet antenna. Lots of QRP fun!
NG7Z
Where was everyone? Must have been tough condx all around. Surprised to get anyone on 20M but raised five there. The rest were on 40M. Worked Alan, KB7MBI, all bands except 160M. Thanks Alan! He must have thought I was crazy moving him around like that. But hey, ya gotta do whatcha gotta do for qso's!
WA5BUC
Reconfigured my 20 meter EFHWA to a 40 meter vertical. With the FT-817 at 5w, worked K5JHP, K5GQ, and
K6CSL
I hate to say it, my XYL was keeping track of the World Series Baseball game. I heard a big whoop when Rentaria of the SF Giants hit that 3 run homer in the top of the 7th inning and that ended my attention to the radio for tonight. TNX to K2ZU up in WA for my one QSO on 40 this evening. I listened for a few minutes on 20 and it sounded dead at the start of the Sprint, so I went to 40. See you all next month.
K4ORD
40M seemed long, able to get WA easy but TX was hard, could not get 2 stations in TX to hear me. There was very little qrn on 40 & 80. made 6 qso's on 40M and 15 on 80M. Rig K2@5W, ant's were 40M & 80M dipoles. Thanks for all the qso's.
KD5GM
I had a good time working the 40 meter band and was surprised that I actually made a contact on the B&W-65, running 5 watts out.
K5JHP
Noise on bands was unbelievable. Almost no signals heard. Could copy some stations for a partial transmission then they would fade out. Sorry to those stations that I couldn't copy enough to qso. Maybe next month.
Just caught a CQ at the end of the Sprint and decided to look up the rules. Seems like fun.
KF6U
Rig: Hendricks PFR-3, Ant: 180 ft Horz Delta Loop at 30 ft. 20 M was dead. 40 was ok for a short while, then faded away. Still had fun and thanks to you folks who hang in there!
W5ACM
The heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A are still hanging in there! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to the lowest number of contacts yet for me during a Spartan Sprint. With poor band conditions and a storm just to the north, I barely completed THREE contacts on 40M and 80M combined. Can it get any worse? I doubt it! Come on December!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W and 20M delta loop or 40M extended double Zepp. Only 1 on 20M (lost K7TQ in a deep fade) and 3 on 40M. Just got going on 80M when a t-storm developed to my NW. Radar showed it moving SE, so I pulled the plug and disconnected everything. One lightning strike taught me a lesson. At least my Monday night was better than the Texas Rangers'... Had fun.
W6GMT
Rig: Icom 703 @ 5w. 40 meters only. 6 Contacts
KG4GVL
Had a blast, made my first contact with my RockMite 80, can't wait for winter!
W9CJS
Bands were terrible but had fun anyway
K7TQ
A good 1st hour on 40. Didn't hear anything on 20. After beginning of second hour, 40 was not so good so I went to 80. Got Paul, NG7Z, but that was all. See you next time around.
W5ESE
The band was long tonight. Used my AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. Good to work a few folks I hadn't contacted before in the Sprint. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. My ears still hurt from the QRN on 80 meters.
AE4TC
FT817 @ 5w, ground mounted vertical. Was able to reduce weight this sprint with a new portable battery. 13 QSOs on 40m and 2 on 80m.
NK6A
Playing with computer logging and new K3.
W8YMO
Elecraft K3 @ 5 Watts. Harry, near Cleveland, OH.
N8WE
No sigs heard on 20. WA8ZBT had best signal here in Centerville, OH.
AB9CA
Rig was the old IC707 cranked back to 5w. Ant was the usual OCF 80m dp at about 40'. Got a late start - first Q not until 0124z. Either the bands were real crummy or the participation was light. Total of only 16 Q's. Never heard anyone on 20. 40 was the 'workhorse' with 13 Q's but heard very few calling there. Indeed when I first scanned the band heard no one. Did hear a few later on - pretty sure I heard Randy, K7TQ, but due to condx never made contact. The band did seem to be long with stations in CA (2), WA (2), NY and NH coming in fairly well. 80 was very noisy with quick QSB that sucked out parts of characters, only 3 contacts there. Isn't this the time of year when 80 should be getting quiet? Despite the noise John, K4BAI, who is about 200 miles away, was armchair copy ever time I went by him. A total of about 45 minutes tonight, too many other things going on. Last Q was at 0209z. Still a fun evening. We'll hope for better condx next month.
W1PID
I ran the DSW-80 at 2 watts on 80 meters with an OCF dipole. Highlight was working AA1TJ in VT who was running 75mw! Later in the Sprint 80 fell off and 40 came alive in waves. I worked 3 more stations with the K2, but didn't count them in the log because of the weight issues. Thanks to all.
K4BAI
I was tired after CQ WW SSB over the weekend and forgot about the Spartan Sprint until the first half hour had passed. By the time I was QRV, there were no SP signals on 20 and almost none on 40. I heard, but did not work, KD2MX and K5JHP on 40 and did work QRO station WA3FAE. No answers to CQs on that band. So, the rest of the time was on 80M, where I found only 15 stations to work. Band was in pretty good shape with four stations from TX, one each from IL, WV, and PA and the rest from the fourth call area. Hope for more activity next month. Look for me (with KU8E, K9YC, and N3ZZ) to be QRV from the new DXCC entity of Bonaire Nov 23-30 using PJ4/home calls and in the CQ WW CW contest using PJ4A.
NQ2W
Using my Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 ft. Seemed like quite a bit of activity at first - heard W7OM but couldn't work him - hoped to hear him later but didn't. Some stations answered my CQ - some I was able to work - some I couldn't pick out of the QRN - hopefully, we'll connect in future events. Thanks to all the participants and thanks to the organizers. I'm looking forward to next month.
KB7MBI
Ten Tec Paragon II, 5w, GAP Titan vertical and managed contacts on 80,40,20,15 and 10m. Heard many East Coast stations coming in strong but unable to work them.
W2MFT
My first Spartan Sprint. Had fun with FT817 and delta loop.
N4KGL
This time I got my weight down by 0.64 lbs by using AAAs and ear buds. On 40 I worked MD, NY, VA, OH and MA. MA was the furthest for 1,160 mi or 580 mi per watt. On 80 I worked 2 X GA and the furthest was 261 miles for 261 mi per watt. The rig was the Sierra with 2 watts on 40 and 1 watt on 80 and a 135 foot doublet antenna. Lots of QRP fun!
NG7Z
Where was everyone? Must have been tough condx all around. Surprised to get anyone on 20M but raised five there. The rest were on 40M. Worked Alan, KB7MBI, all bands except 160M. Thanks Alan! He must have thought I was crazy moving him around like that. But hey, ya gotta do whatcha gotta do for qso's!
WA5BUC
Reconfigured my 20 meter EFHWA to a 40 meter vertical. With the FT-817 at 5w, worked K5JHP, K5GQ, and
K6CSL
I hate to say it, my XYL was keeping track of the World Series Baseball game. I heard a big whoop when Rentaria of the SF Giants hit that 3 run homer in the top of the 7th inning and that ended my attention to the radio for tonight. TNX to K2ZU up in WA for my one QSO on 40 this evening. I listened for a few minutes on 20 and it sounded dead at the start of the Sprint, so I went to 40. See you all next month.
K4ORD
40M seemed long, able to get WA easy but TX was hard, could not get 2 stations in TX to hear me. There was very little qrn on 40 & 80. made 6 qso's on 40M and 15 on 80M. Rig K2@5W, ant's were 40M & 80M dipoles. Thanks for all the qso's.
KD5GM
I had a good time working the 40 meter band and was surprised that I actually made a contact on the B&W-65, running 5 watts out.
K5JHP
Noise on bands was unbelievable. Almost no signals heard. Could copy some stations for a partial transmission then they would fade out. Sorry to those stations that I couldn't copy enough to qso. Maybe next month.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Soapbox Comments: October '10 Spartan Sprint
W8YMO
K3 @ 5 watts. Near Cleveland, OH.
WA4SQM
This was the black hole of Sprints! I heard ZERO activity on 20M and 40M was not a lot better here. The stations I did hear I could not raise, and QSB was significant. At first I thought I had radio or antenna issues, but I tried switching around all the gear and experienced the same results. Well... there's always next month!
AE6N
This was the first time I have operated the Sprint for a couple years. All contacts were on 40 meters. The band was very noisEy here in Arizona.
N4KGL
Rig: Sierra 2W on 40 mtr, 1W on 80 mtr Antenna: Doublet. Power 11 AA cells. This was my first Spartan. I enjoyed the QRP to QRP contacts.
K4BAI
FT1-MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. I was determined to participate this month despite cataract surgery on my "good eye" Monday morning. I have distoted vision in the other eye due to macular degeneration. I set up the program early and failed to check the comuter keying. When the contest period started, I discovered the computer wouldn't key the rig. This has happened once before, but I don't know why. After the first QSO, I rebooted the computer, but that didn't help, so I used my keyer and paddle for the entire two hours. 20M was open from CO west and north, but WG0AT was the only strong Sprinter heard. K7TQ was solid copy. I called a few other western stations without success and changed to 40M. 40M seemed very good, little noise, and little QRM. But there didn't seem to be the usual activity level and the skip zone was out as far as VA. West coast signals, particularly W7OM, were strong. I took off three minutes at 02Z for a state traffic net and tried 80M after the net. 80M w as also quiet with good signals out to TX, VA and IN, but noting from the ME. See you next month.
WB8LZG
Used the Big Rig tonight with the power turned down, to dipole @ 30ft. Had the K2 on the bench for recal. 20m was dead hr in Mich. at start of the sprint. 40m was vy noisy, es vy hard to pull some out of the mud. went to 80 es grabbed a couple Q's but didnt hr alot of activity. pulled the plug after an hr. see u all next time.
VE3MO
Wow, conditions were rough last night. I was receiving better signal reports then I was giving which makes me wonder if my QRN is locaL. 80m was my producing band but I was using a wire sloper cut for 20m and 40m to receive on and my windom, up 40 feet, to transmit on. Thanks to those who were persistent enough to stick with me.
KB2FEL
Ft817 set at 1w into a G5RV up about 55ft. I had a geat time and thanks for the event.
NG7Z
Well, another sprint is in the books. I finally broke the 30 Q barrier tonight. I started out on 20M and picked up five before the band died. Moved to 40M at 0110 and stayed there until the end. 40M was pretty busy up until 0200 and then things slowed WAY down. Thanks to Randy, K7TQ, for the only Q on 80M. Got two band contacts with K7HBN, W5ACM and WA5BKL. Texas was very well represented. See y'all next month.
KD0GAF
My first Sprint. Only managed two contacts in the short time I was able to play, but had a good time dragging out the PFR-3. I'll do better next month.
W5ACM
One more time with the heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to fewer contacts and judicious "CQ-ing". I was hoping for some time on 20M, but conditions only allowed one QSO with NG7Z up there. The majority of the QSOs were on 40M with lots of familiar calls like N4BP, AB9CA, K4BAI and W5ESE. The noise on 80M was terrible, but I did manage three QSOs before I ran back to 40M for a final QSO with K3RLL. This was a tough one. I am hoping for better conditions in November. Perhaps the LiPo batteries will go yet another month. We'll give it a try! The old vertical is doing fine, and the rebuilt micro-thin-plywood keyer paddle is holding up well. The weight varies from month to month due to the number of bands I operate. Three bands means three daughter boards, thus more weight.
K6CSL
My station is Tubby, home station on commercial power. A Yaesu FT-450 running 5W output to 1 of 3 antennas. A Delta Loop, an Indoor- end-fed, coaxial dipole that is mounted on the center ceiling beam of my mobile home. An Indoor Horizontal Square Loop 12ft on each side, mounted in the ceiling of my radio room. I live in a mobile home park that allows no visible antennas.
KF6U
Rig is Hendricks PFR-3A running 3W out with internal batteries. Antenna 180 ft horizontal delta loop at 30 ft. Worked 40 meters only. Experienced a lot of QSB, and band went long during last 30 min. Enjoyed the sprint and thanks to all who participated.
K3RLL
Conditions sounded better this evening so even though my time was limited, it was nice to make some contacts. Many thanks to those who pulled me out of the noise tonight.
AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to OCF 80m dp. Condx didn't seem to be too bad but weren't all that good either. Made no contacts on 20. Stayed there only a short time. Thought 20 might be weak when I could barely hear W1AW's Kw signal. Made 26 contacts on 40 and 9 on 80. Was a good evening despite the QSB. The noise seemed to be down a bit. Maybe winter condx will soon be here. The QSB made for especially tough copy of a couple of Q's - KD1JV being one of those. Sorry, Steve, but parts of your call kept getting sucked out every time - but we eventually made it. Thanks to everyone who stopped by - and for all the fills - and especially to those who do the work to make these sprints possible. Hope to hear you next month!
K5JHP
Someone turned off 20 after 10 minutes. 40 and 80 were good except for the QSB and noise here on the coast. Let's hope for less noise next month!
K7HBN
I used a Ten Tec R4020 on alkaline batteries, and I sent 5 watts as my power, but I think it was actually between 3 and 4 watts.
N4BP
In spite of working with our power company for months, my power line noise is about as bad as it's ever been. Apologies to those I could not copy tonight who were lost in the noise. Rig: K3. Antennas: A4S, 40/80 Trap Dipole.
WA5BUC
Went with my RockMight 20 tonight to keep the weight down. Heard some activity at the start. W5ESE. Guess the event starts too late for 20 to do much before it folds. Turned on my FT-817 to confirm the band was dead at about 0140Z. Let's see what next month brings.
N8WE
AB9CA was the best signal. N4BP, K5JHP, W5SNI, K3RLL, and tried hard to get KD1JV!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w to a 20M delta loop or a 40M extended double Zepp. My QSOs were roughly evenly split between 20, 40 and 80M. Nothing heard here on 15M. I had hopes of working several on all three bands, but no joy. Best signals: on 20M - K7TQ, on 40M - AB9CA and on 80M - W5ESE (full disclosure: Scott is pretty darn close). It was nice to hear several 1W signals. Had fun.
W5ESE
Had fun in the Spartan Sprint. First time back on the Sprint since June. Used an AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. 80m was the money band for me. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World.
AE4TC
Had a good time. Thanks to all who pulled me out of the noise. 20m was a disappointment, didn't hear a peep. Managed 13 contacts. 8 on 40m and 5 on 80m. Rig was a FT817, 5w into a ground mounted vertical.
NQ2W
Used my TenTec 1340 to the inverted vee at 40 feet. The band was in and out and short and long. N4BP and K4BAI were not as loud as usual. AB9CA was strong. Worked IN and TX. Heard W7OM - was loud - and then was gone. Thanks to everyone for the Q's and thanks to the organizers. Please listen for me during the NYQP - CU then or next month.
W1PID
I got home late from work and operated for 8 minutes and worked 6 stations on 40 meters. I haven't missed a Spartan Sprint in at least 10 years! Thanks all.
WA5RML
FT-817nd @5wts + 80/40M dipole; First Spartan Sprint in almost a year. Could only get on for the last 30 minutes – probably the worst time slot! Band conditions seemed to be very poor. At first, I was wondering whether I’d missed the event completely. I still managed to snag AB9CA (Dave), NG7Z (Paul), NQ2W (Tony?), and WB5BKL (Nick). Alabama, Washington, New York, and Texas in that order – go figure. Thanks, guys, for digging my signal out of the noise!
K3 @ 5 watts. Near Cleveland, OH.
WA4SQM
This was the black hole of Sprints! I heard ZERO activity on 20M and 40M was not a lot better here. The stations I did hear I could not raise, and QSB was significant. At first I thought I had radio or antenna issues, but I tried switching around all the gear and experienced the same results. Well... there's always next month!
AE6N
This was the first time I have operated the Sprint for a couple years. All contacts were on 40 meters. The band was very noisEy here in Arizona.
N4KGL
Rig: Sierra 2W on 40 mtr, 1W on 80 mtr Antenna: Doublet. Power 11 AA cells. This was my first Spartan. I enjoyed the QRP to QRP contacts.
K4BAI
FT1-MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. I was determined to participate this month despite cataract surgery on my "good eye" Monday morning. I have distoted vision in the other eye due to macular degeneration. I set up the program early and failed to check the comuter keying. When the contest period started, I discovered the computer wouldn't key the rig. This has happened once before, but I don't know why. After the first QSO, I rebooted the computer, but that didn't help, so I used my keyer and paddle for the entire two hours. 20M was open from CO west and north, but WG0AT was the only strong Sprinter heard. K7TQ was solid copy. I called a few other western stations without success and changed to 40M. 40M seemed very good, little noise, and little QRM. But there didn't seem to be the usual activity level and the skip zone was out as far as VA. West coast signals, particularly W7OM, were strong. I took off three minutes at 02Z for a state traffic net and tried 80M after the net. 80M w as also quiet with good signals out to TX, VA and IN, but noting from the ME. See you next month.
WB8LZG
Used the Big Rig tonight with the power turned down, to dipole @ 30ft. Had the K2 on the bench for recal. 20m was dead hr in Mich. at start of the sprint. 40m was vy noisy, es vy hard to pull some out of the mud. went to 80 es grabbed a couple Q's but didnt hr alot of activity. pulled the plug after an hr. see u all next time.
VE3MO
Wow, conditions were rough last night. I was receiving better signal reports then I was giving which makes me wonder if my QRN is locaL. 80m was my producing band but I was using a wire sloper cut for 20m and 40m to receive on and my windom, up 40 feet, to transmit on. Thanks to those who were persistent enough to stick with me.
KB2FEL
Ft817 set at 1w into a G5RV up about 55ft. I had a geat time and thanks for the event.
NG7Z
Well, another sprint is in the books. I finally broke the 30 Q barrier tonight. I started out on 20M and picked up five before the band died. Moved to 40M at 0110 and stayed there until the end. 40M was pretty busy up until 0200 and then things slowed WAY down. Thanks to Randy, K7TQ, for the only Q on 80M. Got two band contacts with K7HBN, W5ACM and WA5BKL. Texas was very well represented. See y'all next month.
KD0GAF
My first Sprint. Only managed two contacts in the short time I was able to play, but had a good time dragging out the PFR-3. I'll do better next month.
W5ACM
One more time with the heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to fewer contacts and judicious "CQ-ing". I was hoping for some time on 20M, but conditions only allowed one QSO with NG7Z up there. The majority of the QSOs were on 40M with lots of familiar calls like N4BP, AB9CA, K4BAI and W5ESE. The noise on 80M was terrible, but I did manage three QSOs before I ran back to 40M for a final QSO with K3RLL. This was a tough one. I am hoping for better conditions in November. Perhaps the LiPo batteries will go yet another month. We'll give it a try! The old vertical is doing fine, and the rebuilt micro-thin-plywood keyer paddle is holding up well. The weight varies from month to month due to the number of bands I operate. Three bands means three daughter boards, thus more weight.
K6CSL
My station is Tubby, home station on commercial power. A Yaesu FT-450 running 5W output to 1 of 3 antennas. A Delta Loop, an Indoor- end-fed, coaxial dipole that is mounted on the center ceiling beam of my mobile home. An Indoor Horizontal Square Loop 12ft on each side, mounted in the ceiling of my radio room. I live in a mobile home park that allows no visible antennas.
KF6U
Rig is Hendricks PFR-3A running 3W out with internal batteries. Antenna 180 ft horizontal delta loop at 30 ft. Worked 40 meters only. Experienced a lot of QSB, and band went long during last 30 min. Enjoyed the sprint and thanks to all who participated.
K3RLL
Conditions sounded better this evening so even though my time was limited, it was nice to make some contacts. Many thanks to those who pulled me out of the noise tonight.
AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to OCF 80m dp. Condx didn't seem to be too bad but weren't all that good either. Made no contacts on 20. Stayed there only a short time. Thought 20 might be weak when I could barely hear W1AW's Kw signal. Made 26 contacts on 40 and 9 on 80. Was a good evening despite the QSB. The noise seemed to be down a bit. Maybe winter condx will soon be here. The QSB made for especially tough copy of a couple of Q's - KD1JV being one of those. Sorry, Steve, but parts of your call kept getting sucked out every time - but we eventually made it. Thanks to everyone who stopped by - and for all the fills - and especially to those who do the work to make these sprints possible. Hope to hear you next month!
K5JHP
Someone turned off 20 after 10 minutes. 40 and 80 were good except for the QSB and noise here on the coast. Let's hope for less noise next month!
K7HBN
I used a Ten Tec R4020 on alkaline batteries, and I sent 5 watts as my power, but I think it was actually between 3 and 4 watts.
N4BP
In spite of working with our power company for months, my power line noise is about as bad as it's ever been. Apologies to those I could not copy tonight who were lost in the noise. Rig: K3. Antennas: A4S, 40/80 Trap Dipole.
WA5BUC
Went with my RockMight 20 tonight to keep the weight down. Heard some activity at the start. W5ESE. Guess the event starts too late for 20 to do much before it folds. Turned on my FT-817 to confirm the band was dead at about 0140Z. Let's see what next month brings.
N8WE
AB9CA was the best signal. N4BP, K5JHP, W5SNI, K3RLL, and tried hard to get KD1JV!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w to a 20M delta loop or a 40M extended double Zepp. My QSOs were roughly evenly split between 20, 40 and 80M. Nothing heard here on 15M. I had hopes of working several on all three bands, but no joy. Best signals: on 20M - K7TQ, on 40M - AB9CA and on 80M - W5ESE (full disclosure: Scott is pretty darn close). It was nice to hear several 1W signals. Had fun.
W5ESE
Had fun in the Spartan Sprint. First time back on the Sprint since June. Used an AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. 80m was the money band for me. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World.
AE4TC
Had a good time. Thanks to all who pulled me out of the noise. 20m was a disappointment, didn't hear a peep. Managed 13 contacts. 8 on 40m and 5 on 80m. Rig was a FT817, 5w into a ground mounted vertical.
NQ2W
Used my TenTec 1340 to the inverted vee at 40 feet. The band was in and out and short and long. N4BP and K4BAI were not as loud as usual. AB9CA was strong. Worked IN and TX. Heard W7OM - was loud - and then was gone. Thanks to everyone for the Q's and thanks to the organizers. Please listen for me during the NYQP - CU then or next month.
W1PID
I got home late from work and operated for 8 minutes and worked 6 stations on 40 meters. I haven't missed a Spartan Sprint in at least 10 years! Thanks all.
WA5RML
FT-817nd @5wts + 80/40M dipole; First Spartan Sprint in almost a year. Could only get on for the last 30 minutes – probably the worst time slot! Band conditions seemed to be very poor. At first, I was wondering whether I’d missed the event completely. I still managed to snag AB9CA (Dave), NG7Z (Paul), NQ2W (Tony?), and WB5BKL (Nick). Alabama, Washington, New York, and Texas in that order – go figure. Thanks, guys, for digging my signal out of the noise!
Friday, September 10, 2010
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