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Saturday, March 9, 2013
Soapbox: March 2013 Spartan Sprint
K1QO
Great to hear so many familiar calls from the QRP community and especially the QRP Foxhunt group. Breakdown was: 5 Q's on 3.5, 5 Q's on 7 and 2 on 20. I missed NK6A on 20 due to my own fault...Don you were a nice signal into NH, I had a problem on my end but by the time I fixed it I didn't hear you anymore :( As always K4BAI is a gentleman and FB op!! Nice hearing these other wonderful hounds/foxii; WB5BKL, N5GW (who I worked on two bands), N4SX (nice 1Watt signal), AB9CA, WA4ZOF and NQ2W. I also worked WA8ZBT. And of course my neighbor N1IX (three bands). Thanks to all!
K3RLL
Getting a bit more practice with the little Mountain Topper Altoids rig and amazed how tiny 1.3 Ah LiPo holds up. This may have been one of my best efforts tonight. Nice contacts tonight but missed a few with ‘near misses’. WB5BKL had best signal tonight into FL.
AB9CA
Had only an hour but was fun as always. Used the K2 at 5w. Started out on 20 but only 1 contact there. Went to 40 and picked up 5. Then went to 80 and picked up 12. Worked W2LJ, KE5G, and W3KC on both 40 and 80. 80 was in good shape and hardly any noise. 40 seemed to go long early. With the time change next month things will likely be different. See everyone then!
N5GW
Both 40 and 80 were quiet on the K1 tonight, even with a cold front moving in. My NiMH batteries and I faded at the same time (9:30), but I was able to work almost everyone I heard.
NØAR
I gave it my best but only lasted an hour. 4 q's on 40, 3 on 80. There's a big snow storm over my area and the qrn was only eclipsed by the lack of signal levels! Rig here was my K2 at 4 watts with the 240' inverted L and two low noise rx antennas, yea life in the burbs now mandates them. l'll work the rest of you next
month. :) 73 from snowy MN.
WA4ZOF
A lot of strong sigs this eve, thanks to everyone.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3 with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 11 QSOs this month. 20M was DEAD. I made five contacts on 40M, and worked six on 80M. That's a first for me, i.e. more contacts on 80M than 40M. The noise level wasn't too bad on 80M. My backyard vertical uses a resonator at the top for any very narrow piece of 80M that you wish to work. Mine is peaked at 3560, and it's nice when conditions cooperate. Hoping for some 20M ops next time!
K4BAI
Good conditions. Activity fair. 20M open to W6/7 at start. Two QSOs. 40M good beyond several hundred miles. 20 QSOs. DX out to CA, NH, and VE3. 80M good all over. DX out to NH, TX, MN and the catch of the contest, 6Y6T in Jamaica who was also QRP. Thanks for all QSOs. Hope to see you all and many others next month.
N4SX
Using a K2 w/internal battery and running 1 watt, I started out calling CQ on 40, but after 5 mins. and no takers, I checked out 20. Only heard 1 very weak station there, so checked out 80 and it was about the same. Went back to 40 where things picked up a bit and stayed there until 0300 or thereabouts and then dropped down to 80 for about 30 minutes until no new calls were heard and my battery was very low. I got 8 stations on 40 and 4 on 80. Thanks for all the qso's guys......it sure was fun.
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m, an inverted vee at 40ft for 40m, and a ground mounted, near bottom-loaded vertical for 80m. Two Qs on 20, eight on 40, and four on 80. Still battling some man made, intermittent QRN on 80. Quiet and then bam...S9 or above. Thanks for the repeats, I appreciate them...especially K4BAI and K1QO. Had doubles with NK6A and K4BAI. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Always a pleasure and a privilege to have the opportunity...until next time.
W3KC
Equal number of QSOs on 40m and 80m. 20m was in bad shape (zero QSO's there). Thanks to all the good operators - it was fun.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a wire delta loop, a dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. Completely forgot the sprint in February - just absentmindedness, I guess. 12 states this month with 80M being the money band. Worked NK6A and K4BAI on two bands. N4SX had a FB signal to TX with 1 Watt. My thanks to all the sprinters and the organizers.
Had fun.
K7TQ
20 m finally had some life. I got 4 Qs there before everyone left for 40, or the band folded up. Next month with the longer daylight should be even better. Catch several of you then.
W1PID
I ran an IC-7000 at 5W to an OCF dipole. Operated for a half hour. Best DX was NK6A in CA. Next was K7TQ in ID. Not enough participation... but nice to meet old friends.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Soapbox: February 2013 Spartan Sprint
N4SX
Well this was the first Sprint I've worked in many moons, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Indeed. I turned my K2 down to 1 watt and commenced to having fun! Worked stations as far as TX, MN, and NH from here in GA. A number I could not make it to though, as you might expect. Did I mention it's been a looooong time since I've participated in a Sprint? :) K4BAI had the strongest signal, (can you say BOOMING?) being only a couple hours away, and K4ORD was the next in order. I plan to be back next month, and wish you all....excuse me........all y'all.....Happy QRP!
K3RLL
Still working with my MTR and tiny LiPo battery (that was dying) but not hearing many stations here on 40 tonight. Thanks for those who pulled me out of the noise.
W3KC
Good fun with 11 Qs on 80 and 4 Qs on 40.
K4ORD
Was busy and almost forgot about the Sprint, but got in the last 30 minutes all on 80M and made 10 QSOs.conditions seemed good here in VA all were good copy after I got some tuned in my narrow filter on the K3, antenna was 80M dipole up 35.' We need more activity!
K4BAI
20M was long and only one QSO there (NK6A). 40M was poor at first, but improved later on. 8 QSOs on 40. 80M was quite good, but there was little activity. 14 QSOs on 80. Worked NK6A on all three bands. Let's try to have more activity in Spartan Sprints so it will be interesting to work the whole 2-hour period.
W1PID
I operated for a little less than an hour. 20 meters was dead. I had 7 QSOs on 40M and 2 QSOs on 80M. I ran the Icom 7000 at 5W to an OCf dipole. Nice to work Larry W2LJ.
NK6A
S5 noise level on all bands. Couldn't hear a lot of activity for some reason. Did manage to work K4BAI on three bands. 80M for me is a real challenge. John has got very good ears.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3. It is now over eight years old and continues to perform quite well with three new 300 mAh LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 11 QSOs this month. 20M was OK into California (NK6A), but then went absolutely dead. I made six contacts on 40M, and worked four on 80M. The noise level wasn't too bad on 80M. My backyard vertical uses a resonator at the top for any very narrow piece of 80M that you wish to work. Mine is peaked at 3560, and it's nice when conditions cooperate. Hoping for more 20M ops next time!
WB4MNK
Bands seem down a bit but still had a blast. Thanks to all the stations that hung in there with me.
WA8MTI
FT817nd, T1 to 80m doublet. 20 was dead so started on 40 with three contacts. Slow going with lots of QRO QRM. Switched to 80 and added 5 more. Thanks to those wit the great ears that pulled out my 2.5w sig.
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m, an inverted V at 40ft for 40m, and a ground mounted, near bottom-loaded vertical for 80m. Started out on 20 - nuthin'. Went to 40 and was able to make 10 Qs with QRPers in FL, TX, IL, GA, AL, CO, and ON. Changed the filter board and made 6 more Q's on 80 with stations in GA, MD, NY, MI, VA, and ON. Logged K4BAI on both bands. Both 40 and 80 were noisy here. If you called and I didn't hear you it probably was because of the QRN here in Albany ... always a challenge on the lower bands. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Always a pleasure and a privilege to have the opportunity ... until next time ... dit dit.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Soapbox: January 2013 Spartan Sprint
N1DN
This was my first Spartan Sprint ever, and I got here through the back door. I was following the HAMjitsu Club Spotter site for flying pigs to add to my WAP award soaring total of "1". Larry, W2LJ was spotted by one of the reporting station. I'm a big fan of Larry's blog, so I wasted no time heading down to 80 meters to hear him calling CQ. Larry, I appreciate the contact! I realized from his exchange I'd found the SP, and I heard a number of additional stations calling. Thanks to AA4GA, KB8U, and K4ORD for the contacts. Ok...I showed up with 18 pounds of gear, so I "missed the boat" here, but I plan to be back next month with an FT-817 and small key.
AA4GA
Sorry I haven't had a chance to get in on the Spartan Sprint in a while! I decided to use my Porta Paddle instead of the super-light touch keyer, thinking that my sending might be a little better with the PP due to the extra weight, but the paddle moved around more than I'd like causing some erratic sending - sorry folks! I was using a leg strap, but I can't get that tight enough around my leg to totally immobilize the paddle. I also used a 950 mAH LiPo that was not fully charged, and operated until I ran it as low as I dared! ATS-3B at 4 to 5 watts and 80m doublet. This is pretty close to what I would use on a SOTA activation, but will probably go a little lighter next time.
K7TQ
Tonight I used my 15+ year old Wilderness Radio 40A, earbuds, homebrew paddles, and 8 AA batteries. With the mighty 2 W I got 4 QSOs in the first 11 minutes, then no more. Heard WB5BKL and W1PID but I couldn't get their attention. W7IEX in nearby NV had a great signal. The 4 Qs spanned the US from NV to GA. I'll use the same setup in Feb and hope 40 m is more productive.
K3RLL
MTR xcvr with tiny LiPo battery and QRP paddle: Finally getting my station weight down, but not hearing many other Spartan Sprinters. 20 meters was dead here and 40 meters wasn’t that far behind tonight. Thanks for those who pulled me out of the noise tonight.
WVØH
Tough night, lots of neighborhood QRN to deal with. N5GW, VE3XT, VE3EDX and K4BAI were only Q's on 40, the rest on 80. Whew, glad that's over.
W1PID
I operated with an Icom 7000 and a Windom OCF on both 40 and 80 meters. made 4 QSOs on 40M and 5 QSOs on 80.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, dipole, inverted vee. 20M was dead. 6 QSOs on 40 M (NH, ID, CO, NJ, NY). 18 QSOs on 80: VA, MS, GA, CO, TX, PA, OK, MI, TN, MD, IL. 40M was OK. 80M
was quite good. Heard but did not work NQ2W on 80M. Heard a NV station on 40, but didn't hear his call. Too many QRPers must have been watching the BCS Championship. Hope for more stations on the air next month. Thanks for all QSOs. Happy New Year to all.
W3KC
Running 5 watts to a ZS6BKW antenna. All contacts were on 80 meters.
K5JHP
K3, inverted V for 80. It was a night for 80 meters. Worked one station on 40 the remainder were on 80. Noise and QSB were plentiful. Till next month.
N5GW
More QRN than SP stations on 40M. Interestingly, there was less QRN on 80M. I was using the CFZ hanging between two big oaks and the K1 with internal NiMH battery
pack, not fully charged. After the first hour, the voltage dropped to 8.6V, and the rig started chirping. So I dug out some alkaline AA cells for the second hour. I hope to be ready for FYBO and Feb. SP early next month.
NQ2W
K1 running 5W to a mini-beam at 25ft for 20m, an inverted vee at 40ft for 40m, and a ground mounted, near bottom-loaded vertical for 80m. Started out on 20m but heard
nothing and no one answered my CQs. Moved to 40m and made 8 Q's - 4 from TX, 1 each from CO, FL, GA, and MS. Changed the filter board out to move down to 80m where I
made 6 more Q's to MD, MI, MS, NH, TX, and VA. Had two banders with N5GW and WB5BKL. Thanks to all of the participants and thanks to the organizers. Always a pleasure . . . Happy New Year to everyone. Looking forward to next month.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a dipole or a 40m extended double Zepp. Started very slow, but activity picked up as the evening wore on - I suspect that was BCS-Championship related. Nothing heard on 20m but 40 and 80m were OK. Worked 13 states but only NQ2W on two bands. Thanks to all. Had fun.
W5ACM
Still using the ATS-3. It is now eight years old and continues to perform quite well with three LiPo batteries, providing 5W out and a final total of 13 QSOs. 20M was absolutely dead. I made six contacts on 40M including VE3XT in Ontario, and worked seven on 80M. The noise level wasn't too bad on 80M. My backyard vertical uses a resonator at the top for any very narrow piece of 80M that you wish to work. Mine is peaked at 3560, and it's nice when conditions cooperate.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
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