Saturday, May 7, 2011
Soapbox Comments: May 2011 Spartan Sprint
WB5BKL
K1 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop. Since the K1's little tuner cannot get a good match on 40M, I operated only on 20M. It appears that everyone migrated down after about 0145Z. I only made two additional QRP QSOs in the last hour. I did make several additional Qs with QRO stations (20 to 100W) but they are not
included in my total. The 20M delta loop has directivity NE/SW so it is nicely effective northeast of Texas. Had fun.
WA8HSB
This month business took me to Forsyth, GA. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my W3EDP up as high as I would have liked and I got started late but, it was fun playing with my ATS3 again! Thanks to all who dug my 2W out of the noise. See you next month.
K4ORD
Started on 20M,band was open but only made 2 qso's , then on to 40M where I made 21 more, then to 80M where I made 4. Heard a WA8??? on 40M but unable to get his call, had a noise level of S7 to S8 and about the same level on 80M. Until next month.
NQ2W
Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. Seemed like quite a bit of actvitiy again this month. There were a lot of stations, not just ARS Sprinters, in our bit of the 40 meter spectrum. I seriously considered going tubby and firing up the Jupiter to take advantage of its fine filtering...maybe next month I'll run an experiment. That's what happened with KD9KC...he was calling and I responded...I didn't get his state and asked for a repeat...then the QRM. NIL ... Hopefully, next time we'll complete the QSO...I hope you're not the same station I said that to last month. Hi Hi Thanks for a great event. I look forward to it every month. Thanks to all the participants and thanks to the organizers.
AI3G
Icom 756 Pro II at 5 watts, Hustler mobile vertical in attic. Band conditions seemed better tonight than in the recent past. Still a fun contest for a limited amount of time. See you next month.
W5ESE
Used my AT Sprint 3 and 300' HOHPL. Terrible QRN from power line noise in wet weather on 40m. All QSO's on 20m this month.
W5ACM
I started on 20M. Conditions were not great, but acceptable. The first half hour was good for contacts with NG7Z, K4BAI and W4VHH. Then things slowed down a lot. I checked out 80M and managed a contact with AB9CA, but had far too much noise to continue. Back on 20M conditions were still good, but I only found two more stations. The grand total was six QSOs - five on 20M, and one on 80M. The antique vertical was working well and the new 170 mAh LiPo cells did great, even with periods of calling CQ. The power output stayed around 3 Watts for the duration.
AB9CA
Rig was the K2 at 5w to either the OCF dipole (E/W) or the 100' center fed wire (N/S), used both at different times. A fun evening. 20 did not seem to be too active with only 4 Q's early and one additional later - 5 SPC's though. 40 was the workhorse with 25 Q's and 16 SPC's. On 80, which was rather noisy but not too bad, managed 6 Q's and 5 SPC's. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. Worked K3RLL, K4BAI, K4ORD, K8CV, NG7Z, WA8HSB on 2 bands but no one on three. Somehow John, K4BAI, managed to hear me, and me him, on 20. That band is getting better! See ya'all next month! Special thanks to Richard and Chris and any others that do the work to make these fun events possible.
VE3HNE
First time on this sprint and hope to be back for the next one. Spent all my time doing S and P. thanks to all the stations that I worked. The rig here is a Yaesu ft-920 tuned back to 5 watts. Antenna on 20m was a Jr tribander up 30 feet, on 40m a dipole up at 27 feet. Will be looking forward to the next spring.
WA5BUC
Boy, what a night! The bands were a mess. I thought I had the wrong night. Then I heard AB9CA calling on 40. Made the Q. Worked KD5GM. Strongest signal of the night. Struggled to find stations working the Sprint. Went up and down the bands. Nothing until I found K4BAI on 40 late in the Sprint. Also heard AB9CA continuing to call for contacts. Not sure what his success was tonight, but give him an A+ for effort!
K6CSL
The bands were very good this evening. I had lots of fun with this one.
KD9KC
Not a good night as far as the sprint goes. I worked a 12 hour shift, got relieved 1 hour before the start. Fought traffic to get home, slammed down dinner... my station was still in the backpack from our last SOTA outing. Fortunately, the Li-Fe-Po battery was still fully charged. Started about 30 seconds late. Worked 5 stations on 20m, then nothing. Got one call on 40m, but he was sending about 50 percent faster than I can copy so I gave up and started CQing again. Tried 80m, not a single signal. Then I caught WT5RZ on 40m again. He is 15 miles away, 40m was great. We tried 80m and it was good. Tried 20 with no success, but surprisingly 15m worked! 10m and 6m were not successful. We were just going for 160m when we ran outof time. I heard F3ND calling CQ on 40m, so it was either my neighbor or DX
tonight on 40m. I will be off in June - looks good for the sprint. July will see me in Germany activating SOTA - no sprint for me that month.
WT5RZ
Arrived home from work real late. Conditions were noisy. I broke out the fat radio and started punching filters and noise reduction wothout much luck. The few folks I heard, would come, and then disappear; chasing ghosts. Tagged KD9KC, local, 3X! No threat from a fat man!
NG7Z
Finally had time to give the SS a full time effort. Started on 20M and worked John K4BAI right off the bat. Used the second radio to CQ on 15M but nothing heard. By 0142Z 20 more Q's were in the log. When CQing produced no new contacts, I spun the dial looking for new calls but none heard. Out here on the west coast, 40M isn't quite ready but worked it for one hour and picked up 6 more. I listened on the second radio between CQ's on 20M and 80M hoping to find more stations. Picked up NU7T on 80M for the only contact on that band. Was hoping Randy K7TQ would show up on 80M because I worked him on 40M. CQ'd on 80M for the last 15 mins while listening on 40M. Picked up K4ORD there for the final contact. Overall, I felt like 40M was not in good shape here. Great time had and thanks for the Q's.
K4BAI
20M was good with some close in QSOs. 40M was quite good with no skip zone. 80M was a bit noisy but got three QSOs there. By band: 20M: 13. 40M: 26. 80M: 3. Thanks for all QSOs. Look for me from Bonaire PJ4/K4BAI May 24-31 and in CQ WPX CW as PJ4A.
WB4MNK
Another fun night of QRP cw. Will see every one next month.
WA8PGE
I was using my Softrock 6.3 RXTX SDR with my laptop running Rocky and a 5 watt amp, most QSO's were on 40, a few on 20. Antenna is an inverted Vee at 30' I switched off my amp towards the end of the contest and ran 1 watt and made a few more qso's on 40. This was my first log submission for any contest, it was a lot of fun.
KD5GM
Had a great time on the air. I only ran 40 meters since it is my current antenna. One of my 3 contacts was from Mexico City. My qrp was 5 watts since it is as low as the radio will tune. FT 897 to a vee at 30'. I'll be back again.
K3RLL
Nice to hear so many familiar calls and some new ones. Thanks for pulling me out of the noise.
KB5JO
Fun and simple.
N8WE
Used VE7SL Tini Tuna Xmitter at 100mw to an attic dipole. Longest SP contact was NG7Z, WA. for 1957 Miles. QRPP is fun! Receiver- IC 735.
K1 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop. Since the K1's little tuner cannot get a good match on 40M, I operated only on 20M. It appears that everyone migrated down after about 0145Z. I only made two additional QRP QSOs in the last hour. I did make several additional Qs with QRO stations (20 to 100W) but they are not
included in my total. The 20M delta loop has directivity NE/SW so it is nicely effective northeast of Texas. Had fun.
WA8HSB
This month business took me to Forsyth, GA. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my W3EDP up as high as I would have liked and I got started late but, it was fun playing with my ATS3 again! Thanks to all who dug my 2W out of the noise. See you next month.
K4ORD
Started on 20M,band was open but only made 2 qso's , then on to 40M where I made 21 more, then to 80M where I made 4. Heard a WA8??? on 40M but unable to get his call, had a noise level of S7 to S8 and about the same level on 80M. Until next month.
NQ2W
Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. Seemed like quite a bit of actvitiy again this month. There were a lot of stations, not just ARS Sprinters, in our bit of the 40 meter spectrum. I seriously considered going tubby and firing up the Jupiter to take advantage of its fine filtering...maybe next month I'll run an experiment. That's what happened with KD9KC...he was calling and I responded...I didn't get his state and asked for a repeat...then the QRM. NIL ... Hopefully, next time we'll complete the QSO...I hope you're not the same station I said that to last month. Hi Hi Thanks for a great event. I look forward to it every month. Thanks to all the participants and thanks to the organizers.
AI3G
Icom 756 Pro II at 5 watts, Hustler mobile vertical in attic. Band conditions seemed better tonight than in the recent past. Still a fun contest for a limited amount of time. See you next month.
W5ESE
Used my AT Sprint 3 and 300' HOHPL. Terrible QRN from power line noise in wet weather on 40m. All QSO's on 20m this month.
W5ACM
I started on 20M. Conditions were not great, but acceptable. The first half hour was good for contacts with NG7Z, K4BAI and W4VHH. Then things slowed down a lot. I checked out 80M and managed a contact with AB9CA, but had far too much noise to continue. Back on 20M conditions were still good, but I only found two more stations. The grand total was six QSOs - five on 20M, and one on 80M. The antique vertical was working well and the new 170 mAh LiPo cells did great, even with periods of calling CQ. The power output stayed around 3 Watts for the duration.
AB9CA
Rig was the K2 at 5w to either the OCF dipole (E/W) or the 100' center fed wire (N/S), used both at different times. A fun evening. 20 did not seem to be too active with only 4 Q's early and one additional later - 5 SPC's though. 40 was the workhorse with 25 Q's and 16 SPC's. On 80, which was rather noisy but not too bad, managed 6 Q's and 5 SPC's. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. Worked K3RLL, K4BAI, K4ORD, K8CV, NG7Z, WA8HSB on 2 bands but no one on three. Somehow John, K4BAI, managed to hear me, and me him, on 20. That band is getting better! See ya'all next month! Special thanks to Richard and Chris and any others that do the work to make these fun events possible.
VE3HNE
First time on this sprint and hope to be back for the next one. Spent all my time doing S and P. thanks to all the stations that I worked. The rig here is a Yaesu ft-920 tuned back to 5 watts. Antenna on 20m was a Jr tribander up 30 feet, on 40m a dipole up at 27 feet. Will be looking forward to the next spring.
WA5BUC
Boy, what a night! The bands were a mess. I thought I had the wrong night. Then I heard AB9CA calling on 40. Made the Q. Worked KD5GM. Strongest signal of the night. Struggled to find stations working the Sprint. Went up and down the bands. Nothing until I found K4BAI on 40 late in the Sprint. Also heard AB9CA continuing to call for contacts. Not sure what his success was tonight, but give him an A+ for effort!
K6CSL
The bands were very good this evening. I had lots of fun with this one.
KD9KC
Not a good night as far as the sprint goes. I worked a 12 hour shift, got relieved 1 hour before the start. Fought traffic to get home, slammed down dinner... my station was still in the backpack from our last SOTA outing. Fortunately, the Li-Fe-Po battery was still fully charged. Started about 30 seconds late. Worked 5 stations on 20m, then nothing. Got one call on 40m, but he was sending about 50 percent faster than I can copy so I gave up and started CQing again. Tried 80m, not a single signal. Then I caught WT5RZ on 40m again. He is 15 miles away, 40m was great. We tried 80m and it was good. Tried 20 with no success, but surprisingly 15m worked! 10m and 6m were not successful. We were just going for 160m when we ran outof time. I heard F3ND calling CQ on 40m, so it was either my neighbor or DX
tonight on 40m. I will be off in June - looks good for the sprint. July will see me in Germany activating SOTA - no sprint for me that month.
WT5RZ
Arrived home from work real late. Conditions were noisy. I broke out the fat radio and started punching filters and noise reduction wothout much luck. The few folks I heard, would come, and then disappear; chasing ghosts. Tagged KD9KC, local, 3X! No threat from a fat man!
NG7Z
Finally had time to give the SS a full time effort. Started on 20M and worked John K4BAI right off the bat. Used the second radio to CQ on 15M but nothing heard. By 0142Z 20 more Q's were in the log. When CQing produced no new contacts, I spun the dial looking for new calls but none heard. Out here on the west coast, 40M isn't quite ready but worked it for one hour and picked up 6 more. I listened on the second radio between CQ's on 20M and 80M hoping to find more stations. Picked up NU7T on 80M for the only contact on that band. Was hoping Randy K7TQ would show up on 80M because I worked him on 40M. CQ'd on 80M for the last 15 mins while listening on 40M. Picked up K4ORD there for the final contact. Overall, I felt like 40M was not in good shape here. Great time had and thanks for the Q's.
K4BAI
20M was good with some close in QSOs. 40M was quite good with no skip zone. 80M was a bit noisy but got three QSOs there. By band: 20M: 13. 40M: 26. 80M: 3. Thanks for all QSOs. Look for me from Bonaire PJ4/K4BAI May 24-31 and in CQ WPX CW as PJ4A.
WB4MNK
Another fun night of QRP cw. Will see every one next month.
WA8PGE
I was using my Softrock 6.3 RXTX SDR with my laptop running Rocky and a 5 watt amp, most QSO's were on 40, a few on 20. Antenna is an inverted Vee at 30' I switched off my amp towards the end of the contest and ran 1 watt and made a few more qso's on 40. This was my first log submission for any contest, it was a lot of fun.
KD5GM
Had a great time on the air. I only ran 40 meters since it is my current antenna. One of my 3 contacts was from Mexico City. My qrp was 5 watts since it is as low as the radio will tune. FT 897 to a vee at 30'. I'll be back again.
K3RLL
Nice to hear so many familiar calls and some new ones. Thanks for pulling me out of the noise.
KB5JO
Fun and simple.
N8WE
Used VE7SL Tini Tuna Xmitter at 100mw to an attic dipole. Longest SP contact was NG7Z, WA. for 1957 Miles. QRPP is fun! Receiver- IC 735.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Soapbox Comments: April '11 Spartan Sprint
NQ2W
TenTec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 ft. Seemed like there was quite a bit of activity and there were some stations I heard but didn't work because I couldn't get through the mini pile ups. I tuned away from them and, when I came back, they were gone. There was one station who called me and I just couldn't get his call because of QRN and QSB. Hopefully, next time we'll complete the QSO. For the most part, signals were tough copy but NK9G and K4ORD were FB into Albany. My homebrew paddle was acting up and made my sending less than acceptable - I apologize and hopefully have it adjusted for next month. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Hope to see you all next month.
K5GQ
Rig ATS-3; 5w; Force 12 C3SS; 40' ; dipole for 40M. Audio was low on 20M but OK on 40M not sure what could cause that. Did not hear many stations on 40M.
WB5BKL
K1 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop. I knew it was not going to be a good night when the K3 cratered minutes before the start of the sprint. I had to scramble to get the K1 wired and connected -it was evident that I need both more organization and standardization around here. The K1 (a 2-bander) did well on 20m but it did not like the 40M ED-Zepp. I made 7 Qs on 20M and 4 on 40M (with a big miss-match). 40M seemed on the noisy side to me. Oh well. Had fun.
W9CJS
Tough night. I guess most of us were watching the NCAA Basketball finals. The storm front east of us made receiving difficult even with DSP on and the narrow filter in ... But, as usual I had fun. K4ORD and K4BAI had terrific signals into the Chicago area. Other stations were typically 459.
WA8HSB
This month found me in northwestern MS near Clarksdale on business. Rig was my KX-1 @ 3 watts to my BuddiStick. Was only able to operate for a short period and there was quite a bit of QRN and wind in the area due to the storm that passed through a couple hours earlier. Thanks to all for making this a fun event!
K5JHP
Was only able to work 45 minutes of the contest. K3 transceiver, 20 meter EDZ on 20 and 40. Did not work 80. Be back next month. Condx seem to be getting better.
KIØII
30 minutes to play. 40 very noisy, did not try 80.
K4ORD
Was good to hear 20M open in the sprint, the QRN on 40M was very bad here at least S9, I may have missed some calls because of it. Listened on 80M but only heard QRN. I worked VE3MO and thought he said 5W, but he made it clear through the QRN he was running 500MW, HI. I missed the spring last month as I was building my new K3, it seems to be working great, now I have to get used to all the features, it can go down to 100MW so i can still do QRP with it. Hope to see everybody next month.
NK6A
20M sounded great for the first hour. Many stations in the log at 3W. The weather has turned to Spring so it might be time to head outdoors next month.
W5ESE
High winds in my area created unbelievable QRN.Rig is a KD1JV AT Sprint 3 (@3W), with a 9.6V wall wart and Whiterook MK-44 paddles. Antenna is a 300' horizontal loop, fed with open wire line. Will also submit my log to ARRL's 'Logbook of the World.'
K4BAI
20M was quite good at the start with good signals from New England, WI, TX, WY, and points west. Unfortunately, I had a logging problem at the start with the computer (my fault) and missed QSOs with K5JHP and K5GQ, who were calling me (very sorry guys). 10 QSOs on 20M. That band began to close here and I went to 40M. Signals on 40 were quite strong, but QRN was terrible. A line of strong thunderstorms was just west of us and passed through here an hour after the end of the Sprint. Think I pulled out everyone who was calling, but may have missed a few under the QRN. 28 QSOs on 40 as close as NC, AL, TN and FL and out to CA and ME. Only DX was VE3EDX on 20M. Activity seemed pretty good. Called CQ for a few minutes on 80M in the last 20 minutes, but heard no Sprinters under the very heavy QRN. Heard K6JSS/5 in NM on 20 and 40, but don't believe he was in the Sprint. Please join in the GA QSO Party this weekend. There are QRN awards for CW, SSB, and mixed modes. Click here for details. It is our 50th year of GQP and we expect activity from all 159 counties. I will be operating the KU8E/M station with N4DU. Our call will be W4R/M and we hope to operate in 35 GA counties. Work special one-by-one calls to spell out G-E-O-R-G-I-A for a special certificate. Also special recognitions for any who (like myself) operated in the first GQP in 1962 and in this year's event.
W1PID
ATS-4 at 3W with 8AA cells. OCF dipole. Operated for about 35 minutes. Best DX: NK6A in CA. 20M kept dying and coming back to life. Thanks all for the fun.
WT5RZ
Worked KD9KC on 40 and 80, we tried 20M early and late, but that was just a no go. WC7S, I worked twice but only once counts, thanks though because he is my first Wyoming CW contact, and that made the night worth it! WB6BKL, I am sorry, I seem to really have a hard time on your call sign. I guess I better work on that some.
W5ACM
My ATS-3a does not tune 15M, so I started on 20M. I heard someone working WA5BUC here in town. I heard and worked many regulars, but also some new ones in Wyoming, California and Florida. It was very good, but about 50 minutes into the event, the battery voltage began to sag. I checked out 40M and 80M, but got only noise with some unworkable signals buried in the QRN. The grand total was eight QSOs on 20M. It was GREAT to get back on 20M with the antique vertical. I checked the batteries and found that the recent 190 mAh replacement cell was puffing up. This is not a good sign for a Li-Po cell. Both cells have been retired - one to the trash, and the other (still hanging in there) to the Li-Po collection. I found two new 170 mAh, 3.7 V Li-Po cells in the shack and have installed them. First I cleaned out old epoxy, removed excess solder on the power leads, and got it all together without shorting anything out. It is important to keep the weight down! We will see if these new replacements can perform next month.
KD9KC
Yaesu FT-817 @ 5 watts. I was able to get my station weight a bit lower this contest. First, I pulled the internal battery pack, and used 3 A-123 LIFEPO4 cells in series externally. They have a really high power density, and only weigh 3 ounces each or 9 ounces total. Next, I picked up a little key on E-bay that only weighs 1.44 ounces. The old key was 3.73 ounces. 20m=5, 40m=6, 80m=1. Once again 40m was the band. I started off on 20m, and made only 4 contacts - K5GQ, K4BAI, NK6A and W5ACM. Good start. On 40m, I quickly worked WT5RZ, K4BAI, NK6A, W5ESE and WB5BKL. Not bad for 40m. After fruitlessly calling CQ on 40m a while, I went to 80m. On 80m, I worked WT5RZ. Now, WT5RZ is a good friend, and he lives about 15 miles away. That was it for 80m. I went back to 40m and caught KI0II, then back to 20m and really struggled to get K4ORD. Thank you James for trying on that one - it was rough. For the last 31 minutes I called CQ everywhere - no others heard. I am on day-shift next month, so I will just make it home in time. CU-all then.
WC7S
Was great warm up and fun to hear lots of friends, K4BAI - John Mr. Ears of Ga, K6CSL - Bert, Mr Patience of Ca, W5AJD and W5HNS and all the other great ops too. The radio is an AT4 with a 9v battery, and 720 foot of wire on 40 and a lonely vertical on 20. C U next time, with a serious effort... and a little radio. Thanks for all the fun.
WB4MNK
Had fun on 20,40 but QRN on 40 kept me from working 4 other stations. Just could not pull them through.
WA5BUC
Bands were noisier than I expected tonight, especially 40 and 80. Heard some activity on 15 before the Sprint, so started there. No response to my CQ. Then on to 20. 5 Q's there. My remaining 2 were on 40. Heard no Sprint activity on 80 tonight. 72's to all. Hope next month is better for us all.
AI4SV
I was running 5W to a ground-mounted vertical, more or less resonant on 40m. I've only participated since the winter, so this was my first time have contacts on 20m -- three of them towards the beginning of the event, two of them in Texas. Forty should be my strong band given antenna resonance, but in addition to my local noise there was some strong QRN. I poked down to 80m at couple points, but only heard one station calling. I called for the last 15 minutes or so, but no bites. I'm really looking forward to the next few SSs and hopefully some nice weather. I'm keen to try out my TenTec 1320 and for once weigh in as a skinny.
AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to OCF dp at 40'. Quit after 30 minutes. The storms were too close and too loud. There was someone, W9C??, calling at the end but he was nearly completely drowned out by the noise. Figured that was an omen. Thanks to those who stopped by. 9 contacts on 20 and 5 on 40. 20 sounded good but soon ran out of folks who could hear me. 40 was much too noisy. Fun, if to short of a time. See you next month.
TenTec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 ft. Seemed like there was quite a bit of activity and there were some stations I heard but didn't work because I couldn't get through the mini pile ups. I tuned away from them and, when I came back, they were gone. There was one station who called me and I just couldn't get his call because of QRN and QSB. Hopefully, next time we'll complete the QSO. For the most part, signals were tough copy but NK9G and K4ORD were FB into Albany. My homebrew paddle was acting up and made my sending less than acceptable - I apologize and hopefully have it adjusted for next month. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Hope to see you all next month.
K5GQ
Rig ATS-3; 5w; Force 12 C3SS; 40' ; dipole for 40M. Audio was low on 20M but OK on 40M not sure what could cause that. Did not hear many stations on 40M.
WB5BKL
K1 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop. I knew it was not going to be a good night when the K3 cratered minutes before the start of the sprint. I had to scramble to get the K1 wired and connected -it was evident that I need both more organization and standardization around here. The K1 (a 2-bander) did well on 20m but it did not like the 40M ED-Zepp. I made 7 Qs on 20M and 4 on 40M (with a big miss-match). 40M seemed on the noisy side to me. Oh well. Had fun.
W9CJS
Tough night. I guess most of us were watching the NCAA Basketball finals. The storm front east of us made receiving difficult even with DSP on and the narrow filter in ... But, as usual I had fun. K4ORD and K4BAI had terrific signals into the Chicago area. Other stations were typically 459.
WA8HSB
This month found me in northwestern MS near Clarksdale on business. Rig was my KX-1 @ 3 watts to my BuddiStick. Was only able to operate for a short period and there was quite a bit of QRN and wind in the area due to the storm that passed through a couple hours earlier. Thanks to all for making this a fun event!
K5JHP
Was only able to work 45 minutes of the contest. K3 transceiver, 20 meter EDZ on 20 and 40. Did not work 80. Be back next month. Condx seem to be getting better.
KIØII
30 minutes to play. 40 very noisy, did not try 80.
K4ORD
Was good to hear 20M open in the sprint, the QRN on 40M was very bad here at least S9, I may have missed some calls because of it. Listened on 80M but only heard QRN. I worked VE3MO and thought he said 5W, but he made it clear through the QRN he was running 500MW, HI. I missed the spring last month as I was building my new K3, it seems to be working great, now I have to get used to all the features, it can go down to 100MW so i can still do QRP with it. Hope to see everybody next month.
NK6A
20M sounded great for the first hour. Many stations in the log at 3W. The weather has turned to Spring so it might be time to head outdoors next month.
W5ESE
High winds in my area created unbelievable QRN.Rig is a KD1JV AT Sprint 3 (@3W), with a 9.6V wall wart and Whiterook MK-44 paddles. Antenna is a 300' horizontal loop, fed with open wire line. Will also submit my log to ARRL's 'Logbook of the World.'
K4BAI
20M was quite good at the start with good signals from New England, WI, TX, WY, and points west. Unfortunately, I had a logging problem at the start with the computer (my fault) and missed QSOs with K5JHP and K5GQ, who were calling me (very sorry guys). 10 QSOs on 20M. That band began to close here and I went to 40M. Signals on 40 were quite strong, but QRN was terrible. A line of strong thunderstorms was just west of us and passed through here an hour after the end of the Sprint. Think I pulled out everyone who was calling, but may have missed a few under the QRN. 28 QSOs on 40 as close as NC, AL, TN and FL and out to CA and ME. Only DX was VE3EDX on 20M. Activity seemed pretty good. Called CQ for a few minutes on 80M in the last 20 minutes, but heard no Sprinters under the very heavy QRN. Heard K6JSS/5 in NM on 20 and 40, but don't believe he was in the Sprint. Please join in the GA QSO Party this weekend. There are QRN awards for CW, SSB, and mixed modes. Click here for details. It is our 50th year of GQP and we expect activity from all 159 counties. I will be operating the KU8E/M station with N4DU. Our call will be W4R/M and we hope to operate in 35 GA counties. Work special one-by-one calls to spell out G-E-O-R-G-I-A for a special certificate. Also special recognitions for any who (like myself) operated in the first GQP in 1962 and in this year's event.
W1PID
ATS-4 at 3W with 8AA cells. OCF dipole. Operated for about 35 minutes. Best DX: NK6A in CA. 20M kept dying and coming back to life. Thanks all for the fun.
WT5RZ
Worked KD9KC on 40 and 80, we tried 20M early and late, but that was just a no go. WC7S, I worked twice but only once counts, thanks though because he is my first Wyoming CW contact, and that made the night worth it! WB6BKL, I am sorry, I seem to really have a hard time on your call sign. I guess I better work on that some.
W5ACM
My ATS-3a does not tune 15M, so I started on 20M. I heard someone working WA5BUC here in town. I heard and worked many regulars, but also some new ones in Wyoming, California and Florida. It was very good, but about 50 minutes into the event, the battery voltage began to sag. I checked out 40M and 80M, but got only noise with some unworkable signals buried in the QRN. The grand total was eight QSOs on 20M. It was GREAT to get back on 20M with the antique vertical. I checked the batteries and found that the recent 190 mAh replacement cell was puffing up. This is not a good sign for a Li-Po cell. Both cells have been retired - one to the trash, and the other (still hanging in there) to the Li-Po collection. I found two new 170 mAh, 3.7 V Li-Po cells in the shack and have installed them. First I cleaned out old epoxy, removed excess solder on the power leads, and got it all together without shorting anything out. It is important to keep the weight down! We will see if these new replacements can perform next month.
KD9KC
Yaesu FT-817 @ 5 watts. I was able to get my station weight a bit lower this contest. First, I pulled the internal battery pack, and used 3 A-123 LIFEPO4 cells in series externally. They have a really high power density, and only weigh 3 ounces each or 9 ounces total. Next, I picked up a little key on E-bay that only weighs 1.44 ounces. The old key was 3.73 ounces. 20m=5, 40m=6, 80m=1. Once again 40m was the band. I started off on 20m, and made only 4 contacts - K5GQ, K4BAI, NK6A and W5ACM. Good start. On 40m, I quickly worked WT5RZ, K4BAI, NK6A, W5ESE and WB5BKL. Not bad for 40m. After fruitlessly calling CQ on 40m a while, I went to 80m. On 80m, I worked WT5RZ. Now, WT5RZ is a good friend, and he lives about 15 miles away. That was it for 80m. I went back to 40m and caught KI0II, then back to 20m and really struggled to get K4ORD. Thank you James for trying on that one - it was rough. For the last 31 minutes I called CQ everywhere - no others heard. I am on day-shift next month, so I will just make it home in time. CU-all then.
WC7S
Was great warm up and fun to hear lots of friends, K4BAI - John Mr. Ears of Ga, K6CSL - Bert, Mr Patience of Ca, W5AJD and W5HNS and all the other great ops too. The radio is an AT4 with a 9v battery, and 720 foot of wire on 40 and a lonely vertical on 20. C U next time, with a serious effort... and a little radio. Thanks for all the fun.
WB4MNK
Had fun on 20,40 but QRN on 40 kept me from working 4 other stations. Just could not pull them through.
WA5BUC
Bands were noisier than I expected tonight, especially 40 and 80. Heard some activity on 15 before the Sprint, so started there. No response to my CQ. Then on to 20. 5 Q's there. My remaining 2 were on 40. Heard no Sprint activity on 80 tonight. 72's to all. Hope next month is better for us all.
AI4SV
I was running 5W to a ground-mounted vertical, more or less resonant on 40m. I've only participated since the winter, so this was my first time have contacts on 20m -- three of them towards the beginning of the event, two of them in Texas. Forty should be my strong band given antenna resonance, but in addition to my local noise there was some strong QRN. I poked down to 80m at couple points, but only heard one station calling. I called for the last 15 minutes or so, but no bites. I'm really looking forward to the next few SSs and hopefully some nice weather. I'm keen to try out my TenTec 1320 and for once weigh in as a skinny.
AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to OCF dp at 40'. Quit after 30 minutes. The storms were too close and too loud. There was someone, W9C??, calling at the end but he was nearly completely drowned out by the noise. Figured that was an omen. Thanks to those who stopped by. 9 contacts on 20 and 5 on 40. 20 sounded good but soon ran out of folks who could hear me. 40 was much too noisy. Fun, if to short of a time. See you next month.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Soapbox Comments: March '11 Spartan Sprint
NQ2W
TenTec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. The antenna was covered with 3/8 inch of ice and the SWR was much higher than usual. I had to use my tuner to feel comfortable transmitting with such a high SWR. It took me nearly an hour to make my first QSO using search and pounce and I think there was more activity than the past few Sprints. Oh well...I don't think I'll have to worry about ice next month but you never know. AB0CD almost heard me but then QSB took him out of the picture...thanks for the try...maybe next month we'll complete the QSO. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Hopefully, we'll connect next month.
K6JSS/7 (K7TQ)
I used the QRP ARCI Club call to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Since I announced my fq on QRPSPOTS, the score should not be counted in the standings. In any case, it was a fun time. 20 m was open for a few minutes. 40 m was, as usual, the workhorse band. 80 m didn't yield much success. The number of folks on the air brought back memories of when the Spartan Sprint yielded nearly 100 Qs. Thanks to all who stopped by.
AI4SV
The background noise on 40m decent, and I have the impression that propagation was generally good this evening, so I would have liked to have done better, but I guess I'm still learning the ropes. I'm definitely doing better when calling, so I think I need to work on my pouncing skills. Until next month - cheers.
AE4TC
Good to hear some new calls. Was surprised to make a contact on 20m. Managed 16 QSO's mostly 40m. Running the FT817 at 5w into a ground mounted vertical. Thanks to all.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop. Started out skinny but the m/c battery dropped to 10.4V on transmit, so I went back to mains power. After removing dupes, I had 1 Q on 20M (K6JSS/7), 11 on 40M and 10 on 80M. It was very pleasant to enter four new (to me) calls in the log. Most difficult station to hear: W5ACM. Easiest: W5ESE. All three of us are in TX. Had fun.
WB4MNK
Sure enjoyed the Sprint and was able to use my KX1 to a S9v antenna which work really good. Just need the operator to practice a little more and become efficient. The kind of fun an old man should have.
W9CJS
As the contest period started, both 80 and 40 were essentially dead. I only worked 2 stations the first half hour. I returned after a half hour break and voila!! There were more stations on both 40 and 80meters, but signals weren't too loud. I received one RST of 339 ... at least he was honest. .... heh
W4NJK
Excellent conditions for a time on 20M got 3 SPC's; On 40M got 4 SPC's inall worked GA, ID, WA, CA, AZ, MN, TX from here in CA. Ant. 40M half Square @ 5W in Icom.
NK6A
Forty meters sounded great but only had 45 min to operate. Got real windy here in Southern California and I had to crank down my antenna and disconnect cables.
W5ACM
I could only hear signals on 80M, and it was NOISY! Then, one of my LiPo batteries puffed up and DIED with a QSO almost in progress and about 25 minutes left in the event. Others in the Houston area heard and worked stations on 40M, but I didn’t. The RTTY stations took over. Thanks to WB5BKL, K4BAI and W4VHH for my 3 contacts. The rig was my usual ATS-3A with two 200 mAh LiPo batteries and the ancient 18AVQ vertical. I have removed the dead battery, and have another similar (used) 190 mAh cell epoxied into the balsa case – ready for next month. I have been hearing and working DX on 10M during the day, and was hoping for some 20M contacts, but not yet. Maybe next time!
KIØII
20 was good but short lived. 40 was decent and busy. 80 was tuff going. Enjoyed the SP.
VA3RKM
K2, 5w, verticaLl.
AA4GA
My first Spartan Sprint. All QSOs on 40m, I made a pass through 20m about half-way through the contest and heard RK0AB with no takers, so I called him and he came right back...unfortunately I couldn't get his power, so I couldn't count the QSO for the SS! Running FT817ND on internal batteries at 5 watts to a Par 10/20/40 up about 50' or so. The Bencher paddle really added to the weight...I'll have to do something about that to work on my skinny score! CU next time!
W5ESE
Good conditions and participation this month. I used a KD1JV AT Sprint 3A with a 9.6V wall wart and Whiterook MK-44 paddles. My antenna was a 300' horizontal loop, fed with open wire line. Good to hear some new folks playing in this event that I hadn't contacted before (welcome!), as well as old friends.
K4BAI
20M was open to the west at the start (4 QSOs). 40M was quite good for stations as far away as AZ and WA and NH and as close in as VA and FL. Know NC and GA stations were QRV, but they were within my skip zone. Great bonus to work the QRPARCI 50th Anniversary celebration station for this week in ID, K6JSS/7, operated by Randy, K7TQ. 24 QSOs on 40. 80M was fair with QSOs out to NM. A few in TX and CO couldn't hear me calling. Did hear VE3CGC on 40M calling W5ESE, but no QSO this month. With increasing sunspots, we need to be sure to check 20M in the sprints rather than going straight to 40M. See you all next month.
K3RLL
Plagued by digital QRM all over what used to be "our" QRP frequencies, I almost gave up but came back later and found a few Spartan Sprinters on 40 meters -- including K6JSS/7. (Thank you!) Nothing heard here in FL on 80 or 20. Am submitting my log to save someone else from being last on the list.
KU7Y
I'm not even sure if the second contact copied my info ok or not as he went into the noise as he came back to me! At least I worked K6JSS/7 for the test!
WT5RZ
Got a 30 minute late start due to some personal obligations, but had a blast...heard a lot of folks, but couldn't seem to get my signal to all of them.
ABØCD
First time I put the Hendricks QRP Kits PFR3 (Steve Weber KD1JV design) on the air for the Spartan Sprint. Just had 20/40 available for the contest. Good band condx until 40 went quiet. Great test for the rig. Operated from home with an 88-foot doublet up 23 feet and a Palm paddle using the PFR3's internal keyer. Ran the PFR3 on 8 internal AAs that have been in the rig for several months. Looking forward to the summer Bumble Bee.
KD9KC
The wind was howling in El Paso, so out-door operating was out of the question tonight. Started out on 20m. Got 3 contacts in 18 minutes, and another 5 minutes of CQing got nothing more, so off to 40m. Got 5 contacts in 40 minutes on 40m, then tried 80m at the top of the hour. Averaged about 1 contact every 10 minutes on 80m. There were a few stations calling who just couldn't hear a reply. I heard WA5BUC and KI0II get several replies, but they just kept on CQing.... frustrating. Heard several new calls in the sprint - WELCOME to you all - please do come back. All in all, another fun sprint. Looking forward to next month.
WA5BUC
Good Sprint tonight. Started on 20. Gave a couple of CQ's before moving to 40. Made 9 Q's on 40. Then went to 80 for 2 Q's before finishing on 40 with another Q. Rig tonight was my FT-817ND at 5w to a 100' end-fed inverted vee up 40' or so in Houston.
K6CSL
Just a short hunt to find ZL1CDX on 28019KHz. I found no one on 15M or 20M, then I finally found AE6N in AZ on 40M.
KBØKFX
This was my second sprint and had much better results this time. I think I ran out of 40M contacts working only this single band. The band was very quiet with easy to copy signals. I notice this sprint seems to have a wide variety of speeds compared to others I have participated it. Elecraft K1, 5W, 80M Loop up 25ft.
WD8KRV
Ten Tec 1340 and Center Fed Zepp. 5W.
K5JHP
K3 to 20 meter EDZ . 40 was good for first 45 minutes, then seemed to go away, at least everyone seemed to leave. North and South prop seemed to be the best. Worked from GA to NH to MI but CO was only state west of the Mississippi heard from the TX coast. Looking forward to next month.
W1PID
ATS-4 3W OCF dipole.
NW2K
First time. Need to put the station on a diet.
KB5JO
1W, ATS-3B, 88' doublet.
K5GQ
ATS-3 5W dipole at 25' WOW those RTTY stations were strong. Did not hear anyone on 20M. Went to 40 and found a clear spot. ATS-3 has a narrow 400Hz filter Thanks to W8RTJ; KE0G; K4BAI; K5JHP; WA4AN; W4VHH; WT5RZ for working me.
Also glad to work a new station WT5RZ.
TenTec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. The antenna was covered with 3/8 inch of ice and the SWR was much higher than usual. I had to use my tuner to feel comfortable transmitting with such a high SWR. It took me nearly an hour to make my first QSO using search and pounce and I think there was more activity than the past few Sprints. Oh well...I don't think I'll have to worry about ice next month but you never know. AB0CD almost heard me but then QSB took him out of the picture...thanks for the try...maybe next month we'll complete the QSO. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Hopefully, we'll connect next month.
K6JSS/7 (K7TQ)
I used the QRP ARCI Club call to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Since I announced my fq on QRPSPOTS, the score should not be counted in the standings. In any case, it was a fun time. 20 m was open for a few minutes. 40 m was, as usual, the workhorse band. 80 m didn't yield much success. The number of folks on the air brought back memories of when the Spartan Sprint yielded nearly 100 Qs. Thanks to all who stopped by.
AI4SV
The background noise on 40m decent, and I have the impression that propagation was generally good this evening, so I would have liked to have done better, but I guess I'm still learning the ropes. I'm definitely doing better when calling, so I think I need to work on my pouncing skills. Until next month - cheers.
AE4TC
Good to hear some new calls. Was surprised to make a contact on 20m. Managed 16 QSO's mostly 40m. Running the FT817 at 5w into a ground mounted vertical. Thanks to all.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop. Started out skinny but the m/c battery dropped to 10.4V on transmit, so I went back to mains power. After removing dupes, I had 1 Q on 20M (K6JSS/7), 11 on 40M and 10 on 80M. It was very pleasant to enter four new (to me) calls in the log. Most difficult station to hear: W5ACM. Easiest: W5ESE. All three of us are in TX. Had fun.
WB4MNK
Sure enjoyed the Sprint and was able to use my KX1 to a S9v antenna which work really good. Just need the operator to practice a little more and become efficient. The kind of fun an old man should have.
W9CJS
As the contest period started, both 80 and 40 were essentially dead. I only worked 2 stations the first half hour. I returned after a half hour break and voila!! There were more stations on both 40 and 80meters, but signals weren't too loud. I received one RST of 339 ... at least he was honest. .... heh
W4NJK
Excellent conditions for a time on 20M got 3 SPC's; On 40M got 4 SPC's inall worked GA, ID, WA, CA, AZ, MN, TX from here in CA. Ant. 40M half Square @ 5W in Icom.
NK6A
Forty meters sounded great but only had 45 min to operate. Got real windy here in Southern California and I had to crank down my antenna and disconnect cables.
W5ACM
I could only hear signals on 80M, and it was NOISY! Then, one of my LiPo batteries puffed up and DIED with a QSO almost in progress and about 25 minutes left in the event. Others in the Houston area heard and worked stations on 40M, but I didn’t. The RTTY stations took over. Thanks to WB5BKL, K4BAI and W4VHH for my 3 contacts. The rig was my usual ATS-3A with two 200 mAh LiPo batteries and the ancient 18AVQ vertical. I have removed the dead battery, and have another similar (used) 190 mAh cell epoxied into the balsa case – ready for next month. I have been hearing and working DX on 10M during the day, and was hoping for some 20M contacts, but not yet. Maybe next time!
KIØII
20 was good but short lived. 40 was decent and busy. 80 was tuff going. Enjoyed the SP.
VA3RKM
K2, 5w, verticaLl.
AA4GA
My first Spartan Sprint. All QSOs on 40m, I made a pass through 20m about half-way through the contest and heard RK0AB with no takers, so I called him and he came right back...unfortunately I couldn't get his power, so I couldn't count the QSO for the SS! Running FT817ND on internal batteries at 5 watts to a Par 10/20/40 up about 50' or so. The Bencher paddle really added to the weight...I'll have to do something about that to work on my skinny score! CU next time!
W5ESE
Good conditions and participation this month. I used a KD1JV AT Sprint 3A with a 9.6V wall wart and Whiterook MK-44 paddles. My antenna was a 300' horizontal loop, fed with open wire line. Good to hear some new folks playing in this event that I hadn't contacted before (welcome!), as well as old friends.
K4BAI
20M was open to the west at the start (4 QSOs). 40M was quite good for stations as far away as AZ and WA and NH and as close in as VA and FL. Know NC and GA stations were QRV, but they were within my skip zone. Great bonus to work the QRPARCI 50th Anniversary celebration station for this week in ID, K6JSS/7, operated by Randy, K7TQ. 24 QSOs on 40. 80M was fair with QSOs out to NM. A few in TX and CO couldn't hear me calling. Did hear VE3CGC on 40M calling W5ESE, but no QSO this month. With increasing sunspots, we need to be sure to check 20M in the sprints rather than going straight to 40M. See you all next month.
K3RLL
Plagued by digital QRM all over what used to be "our" QRP frequencies, I almost gave up but came back later and found a few Spartan Sprinters on 40 meters -- including K6JSS/7. (Thank you!) Nothing heard here in FL on 80 or 20. Am submitting my log to save someone else from being last on the list.
KU7Y
I'm not even sure if the second contact copied my info ok or not as he went into the noise as he came back to me! At least I worked K6JSS/7 for the test!
WT5RZ
Got a 30 minute late start due to some personal obligations, but had a blast...heard a lot of folks, but couldn't seem to get my signal to all of them.
ABØCD
First time I put the Hendricks QRP Kits PFR3 (Steve Weber KD1JV design) on the air for the Spartan Sprint. Just had 20/40 available for the contest. Good band condx until 40 went quiet. Great test for the rig. Operated from home with an 88-foot doublet up 23 feet and a Palm paddle using the PFR3's internal keyer. Ran the PFR3 on 8 internal AAs that have been in the rig for several months. Looking forward to the summer Bumble Bee.
KD9KC
The wind was howling in El Paso, so out-door operating was out of the question tonight. Started out on 20m. Got 3 contacts in 18 minutes, and another 5 minutes of CQing got nothing more, so off to 40m. Got 5 contacts in 40 minutes on 40m, then tried 80m at the top of the hour. Averaged about 1 contact every 10 minutes on 80m. There were a few stations calling who just couldn't hear a reply. I heard WA5BUC and KI0II get several replies, but they just kept on CQing.... frustrating. Heard several new calls in the sprint - WELCOME to you all - please do come back. All in all, another fun sprint. Looking forward to next month.
WA5BUC
Good Sprint tonight. Started on 20. Gave a couple of CQ's before moving to 40. Made 9 Q's on 40. Then went to 80 for 2 Q's before finishing on 40 with another Q. Rig tonight was my FT-817ND at 5w to a 100' end-fed inverted vee up 40' or so in Houston.
K6CSL
Just a short hunt to find ZL1CDX on 28019KHz. I found no one on 15M or 20M, then I finally found AE6N in AZ on 40M.
KBØKFX
This was my second sprint and had much better results this time. I think I ran out of 40M contacts working only this single band. The band was very quiet with easy to copy signals. I notice this sprint seems to have a wide variety of speeds compared to others I have participated it. Elecraft K1, 5W, 80M Loop up 25ft.
WD8KRV
Ten Tec 1340 and Center Fed Zepp. 5W.
K5JHP
K3 to 20 meter EDZ . 40 was good for first 45 minutes, then seemed to go away, at least everyone seemed to leave. North and South prop seemed to be the best. Worked from GA to NH to MI but CO was only state west of the Mississippi heard from the TX coast. Looking forward to next month.
W1PID
ATS-4 3W OCF dipole.
NW2K
First time. Need to put the station on a diet.
KB5JO
1W, ATS-3B, 88' doublet.
K5GQ
ATS-3 5W dipole at 25' WOW those RTTY stations were strong. Did not hear anyone on 20M. Went to 40 and found a clear spot. ATS-3 has a narrow 400Hz filter Thanks to W8RTJ; KE0G; K4BAI; K5JHP; WA4AN; W4VHH; WT5RZ for working me.
Also glad to work a new station WT5RZ.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
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