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Friday, July 7, 2017
SOAPBOX: July 2017 ARS Spartan Sprint
K7TQ
For July I removed the internal battery from the KX2 and used it with my 20 m 1 Watter. Got 3 Qs with the usual suspects K4BAI, W5QLF, and WB5BKL. For some reason the 1 Watter's internal keyer kept slowing down. I called it quits in half an hour. Nice try, but next time I'll have a battery and rig that will last the full time.
K3RLL
Activity seemed to run a little more slowly this evening, no doubt impacted by the holiday festivities. Was enjoying a few nice contacts until along came insurmountable, overwhelming, spectacular QRM! Yes, the local municipal fireworks are just way too close to hear the radio, so it was a good time to curtail the radio fun and enjoy the night sky spectacle celebrating the birth of our wonderful country. God Bless America!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. A very poor showing this month. Not only did I have pops, bangs, snaps and crackles from the radio, I also had them from outside! The fireworks upset the dog, who usually is the dependable second Op. The 13 Colonies contest was another distraction. Five states with best signals: 20M - AB0CD, 40M - K4BAI, 80M - K4BAI. As alway, my thanks to all. Had fun.
K4BAI
20M open to midwest and north east, but not much activity. 40M in good shape, but lot of QRM from the 13 Colonies K2x stations and not much Spartan Sprint action. 80M was noisy and only stations worked and heard in the sprint were WB5BKL in TX and AB9CA in AL. Hope for more activity next month. 73/72, John, K4BAI
KFØN
My antenna was an 80-meter loop. The holiday and summertime QRN seem to have taken their toll on this months participation. Not many stations heard on 20M or 40M here in the rf black hole of the Midwest. I heard Del, KD6L on 20M but was not able to make contact with my massive 2-watt ATS-3. Maybe next month Del. The QRN was so intense here from local thunderstorms, I went QRT at 9 pm local time. Thanks to the few with whom I was able to make a contact. Larry, KFØN
KB1M
20M, 2 Qs, 1 on 40m for 3 states. 40 was crowded with non-Sprinter stations so never tried a CQ on that band. 73, Walt
For July I removed the internal battery from the KX2 and used it with my 20 m 1 Watter. Got 3 Qs with the usual suspects K4BAI, W5QLF, and WB5BKL. For some reason the 1 Watter's internal keyer kept slowing down. I called it quits in half an hour. Nice try, but next time I'll have a battery and rig that will last the full time.
K3RLL
Activity seemed to run a little more slowly this evening, no doubt impacted by the holiday festivities. Was enjoying a few nice contacts until along came insurmountable, overwhelming, spectacular QRM! Yes, the local municipal fireworks are just way too close to hear the radio, so it was a good time to curtail the radio fun and enjoy the night sky spectacle celebrating the birth of our wonderful country. God Bless America!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. A very poor showing this month. Not only did I have pops, bangs, snaps and crackles from the radio, I also had them from outside! The fireworks upset the dog, who usually is the dependable second Op. The 13 Colonies contest was another distraction. Five states with best signals: 20M - AB0CD, 40M - K4BAI, 80M - K4BAI. As alway, my thanks to all. Had fun.
K4BAI
20M open to midwest and north east, but not much activity. 40M in good shape, but lot of QRM from the 13 Colonies K2x stations and not much Spartan Sprint action. 80M was noisy and only stations worked and heard in the sprint were WB5BKL in TX and AB9CA in AL. Hope for more activity next month. 73/72, John, K4BAI
KFØN
My antenna was an 80-meter loop. The holiday and summertime QRN seem to have taken their toll on this months participation. Not many stations heard on 20M or 40M here in the rf black hole of the Midwest. I heard Del, KD6L on 20M but was not able to make contact with my massive 2-watt ATS-3. Maybe next month Del. The QRN was so intense here from local thunderstorms, I went QRT at 9 pm local time. Thanks to the few with whom I was able to make a contact. Larry, KFØN
KB1M
20M, 2 Qs, 1 on 40m for 3 states. 40 was crowded with non-Sprinter stations so never tried a CQ on that band. 73, Walt
Monday, June 12, 2017
SOAPBOX: June 2017 ARS Spartan Sprint
N4EEV
2/80m (ME and TN); 6/40m (PA, GA, ME, MD, TX, GA); 3/80M (GA, MD, TX). WEIGHT 10.5LBS (K3 and BEGALI SIMPLEX). Surprised 20 was workable when I started as it was very watery, moved to 40m and found much better condx. Heard John K4BAI call me but had fast and deep QSB, later found him up the band and we moved to 80 where I finished up the sprint. Terrible static crashes and severe QRN. Managed to work K4BAI, WB5BKL, W3KC and K0ZK on 2 bands each. Thanks for the QSO, 72 Mike
KFØN
The participation seemed to be good this month, although propagation to western states was poor. This may have been due in part to later sunset times and correspondingly higher “D” layer absorption during the contest period. No CA stations were heard here, even on 20 meters. Strongest signals were W1PID and W3KC who were both 579. The QRN on 40 meters was brutal, though, which made for a lot of 229 and 339 reports. I lost one QSO with Mike, N4EEV when my little LiPo battery curled up and died in the last minutes of the contest. I hope we can make it next month Mike! My little toy poddle, Muffy, fussed and complained the whole time because her “Daddy” wasn’t out in the living room watching TV. She likes to curl up on my lap while I watch the television. Oh well, sometimes life just works out that way! Thanks to all who waded through the summertime QRN and gave me a call. If anyone needs a 2XQRP confirmation with Iowa, I’m good for it. 72’s to all, Larry, KFØN
W1PID
20 meters was quite good. Best DX was NK6A in CA. I worked 4 TX stations. Nice to have a little more activity. I operated for the first half hour. vy 73 to all and thanks for the Qs.
Jim W1PID
K3RLL
What a great time this evening on the June Spartan Sprint! Up north for the summer with an actual, outdoor, real wire antenna! Wow, what a difference from the highly compromised antennas dictated by Antenna Restrictions in Florida . My little G5RVjr here makes QRP fun again. But it still wouldn’t be much fun without all the skilled and patient QRP Ops with whom I had the good fortune to run into here again this evening on 40m. One was so much fun, we tried it twice. (You know who you are. Hi Hi ) Can’t wait for the July SP.
K4BAI
Good activity at the start, but dropped off rapidly. All three bands worked were in pretty good condition. Welcome to Mike, N4EEV, in GA. QSOs by band: 20M: 8. 40M: 17. 80M: 3. Thanks for all QSOs. Best DX on 20 and 40 was NK6A in CA. Best DX on 80M was W3KC in PA and WB5BKL in TX. 73/72, John, K4BAI.
W3KC
Fun. Conditions good on 40 and 20. 80 was very noisy. IC703 (5w) to a low 90 ft doublet via a homebrew link tuner on 40 and 80, vintage Harvey Wells Z-Match on 20. 72, Chas W3KC
AB9CA
Well . . . I fell asleep after dinner . . . was awakened by a text for something I have for sale on Craig's list . . . then realized I had missed nearly all of the Sprint . . . but there was still a few minutes left before the fat lady burst into song. Had the FT-857 set up so used it at 5w. Heard John, K4BAI, calling on 40. Answered him and time expired. At least I did get in for a short while. Hopefully will stay awake next month . . . 73, dave, ab9ca/4
K7TQ
I went into the mountains east of Moscow, ID for the June sprint. KX2 to a 20/40 m trap inverted vee held up by a Jacklite pole. A good first 1/2 hour on 20 m with 6 Qs. Not so good next hour and half with 4 Qs on 40m. Two banders with KF0N, who had a great signal on both 20 and 40, K4BAI, and WB5BKL. This sprint was the first time that antenna made it all the way across the U.S. Catch you again in July.
KB1M
One QSO on 20, five on 40, for five states. Calling CQ not very effective for me tonight with only two answers. Fun evening as always. 72/73, Walt
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. Finally, some propagation. 20M was nice with 10 QSOs. 40M was very noisy here lightning QRN. A line of t-storms was just leaving the area headed east and that resulted in my low "R" reports of 3 or 4 to several of my 9 contacts on 40. 80M was also noisy with only 3 QSOs. Best signals: 20M - K1SN, 40M - N4EEV, 80M - W5ACM. One QRO contact removed (but a nice chat about 40M QRN). I appreciate the efforts of everyone. And, as always, had fun.
K9QV
The bands seemed shorter than last month, but this allowed a few more contacts. 20m-6, 40m-4 and 80m-1. I didn't get K7TQ on 2 bands this time :( See you next month! 72 de Drew.
W5ACM
Great to be back with the Spartan Sprint! The ATS-3a was operating superbly with 3W out to the vertical, and my CW was acceptable, even without cleaning the copper contacts. They could use some attention though. Conditions on 20M were excellent, and represented 6 of my 10 contacts. It was great to have 20M contacts with NH, GA, CA, MD, ID and IN. 40M was OK, but the coverage was sparse and there were few takers – 3 contacts. Conditions on 80M were noisy but I managed one QSO with WB5BKL, Nick over on Lake Buchanan near Austin. Hoping for better in July, but glad that we had something happening this month after I missed May. Need more participants and better conditions! 72 de Andy W5ACM Houston, TX EL29eq
2/80m (ME and TN); 6/40m (PA, GA, ME, MD, TX, GA); 3/80M (GA, MD, TX). WEIGHT 10.5LBS (K3 and BEGALI SIMPLEX). Surprised 20 was workable when I started as it was very watery, moved to 40m and found much better condx. Heard John K4BAI call me but had fast and deep QSB, later found him up the band and we moved to 80 where I finished up the sprint. Terrible static crashes and severe QRN. Managed to work K4BAI, WB5BKL, W3KC and K0ZK on 2 bands each. Thanks for the QSO, 72 Mike
KFØN
The participation seemed to be good this month, although propagation to western states was poor. This may have been due in part to later sunset times and correspondingly higher “D” layer absorption during the contest period. No CA stations were heard here, even on 20 meters. Strongest signals were W1PID and W3KC who were both 579. The QRN on 40 meters was brutal, though, which made for a lot of 229 and 339 reports. I lost one QSO with Mike, N4EEV when my little LiPo battery curled up and died in the last minutes of the contest. I hope we can make it next month Mike! My little toy poddle, Muffy, fussed and complained the whole time because her “Daddy” wasn’t out in the living room watching TV. She likes to curl up on my lap while I watch the television. Oh well, sometimes life just works out that way! Thanks to all who waded through the summertime QRN and gave me a call. If anyone needs a 2XQRP confirmation with Iowa, I’m good for it. 72’s to all, Larry, KFØN
W1PID
20 meters was quite good. Best DX was NK6A in CA. I worked 4 TX stations. Nice to have a little more activity. I operated for the first half hour. vy 73 to all and thanks for the Qs.
Jim W1PID
K3RLL
What a great time this evening on the June Spartan Sprint! Up north for the summer with an actual, outdoor, real wire antenna! Wow, what a difference from the highly compromised antennas dictated by Antenna Restrictions in Florida . My little G5RVjr here makes QRP fun again. But it still wouldn’t be much fun without all the skilled and patient QRP Ops with whom I had the good fortune to run into here again this evening on 40m. One was so much fun, we tried it twice. (You know who you are. Hi Hi ) Can’t wait for the July SP.
K4BAI
Good activity at the start, but dropped off rapidly. All three bands worked were in pretty good condition. Welcome to Mike, N4EEV, in GA. QSOs by band: 20M: 8. 40M: 17. 80M: 3. Thanks for all QSOs. Best DX on 20 and 40 was NK6A in CA. Best DX on 80M was W3KC in PA and WB5BKL in TX. 73/72, John, K4BAI.
W3KC
Fun. Conditions good on 40 and 20. 80 was very noisy. IC703 (5w) to a low 90 ft doublet via a homebrew link tuner on 40 and 80, vintage Harvey Wells Z-Match on 20. 72, Chas W3KC
AB9CA
Well . . . I fell asleep after dinner . . . was awakened by a text for something I have for sale on Craig's list . . . then realized I had missed nearly all of the Sprint . . . but there was still a few minutes left before the fat lady burst into song. Had the FT-857 set up so used it at 5w. Heard John, K4BAI, calling on 40. Answered him and time expired. At least I did get in for a short while. Hopefully will stay awake next month . . . 73, dave, ab9ca/4
K7TQ
I went into the mountains east of Moscow, ID for the June sprint. KX2 to a 20/40 m trap inverted vee held up by a Jacklite pole. A good first 1/2 hour on 20 m with 6 Qs. Not so good next hour and half with 4 Qs on 40m. Two banders with KF0N, who had a great signal on both 20 and 40, K4BAI, and WB5BKL. This sprint was the first time that antenna made it all the way across the U.S. Catch you again in July.
KB1M
One QSO on 20, five on 40, for five states. Calling CQ not very effective for me tonight with only two answers. Fun evening as always. 72/73, Walt
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. Finally, some propagation. 20M was nice with 10 QSOs. 40M was very noisy here lightning QRN. A line of t-storms was just leaving the area headed east and that resulted in my low "R" reports of 3 or 4 to several of my 9 contacts on 40. 80M was also noisy with only 3 QSOs. Best signals: 20M - K1SN, 40M - N4EEV, 80M - W5ACM. One QRO contact removed (but a nice chat about 40M QRN). I appreciate the efforts of everyone. And, as always, had fun.
K9QV
The bands seemed shorter than last month, but this allowed a few more contacts. 20m-6, 40m-4 and 80m-1. I didn't get K7TQ on 2 bands this time :( See you next month! 72 de Drew.
W5ACM
Great to be back with the Spartan Sprint! The ATS-3a was operating superbly with 3W out to the vertical, and my CW was acceptable, even without cleaning the copper contacts. They could use some attention though. Conditions on 20M were excellent, and represented 6 of my 10 contacts. It was great to have 20M contacts with NH, GA, CA, MD, ID and IN. 40M was OK, but the coverage was sparse and there were few takers – 3 contacts. Conditions on 80M were noisy but I managed one QSO with WB5BKL, Nick over on Lake Buchanan near Austin. Hoping for better in July, but glad that we had something happening this month after I missed May. Need more participants and better conditions! 72 de Andy W5ACM Houston, TX EL29eq
Saturday, May 6, 2017
SOAPBOX: May 2017 ARS Spartan Sprint
K3RLL
Nice to hear 20 meters open this evening but didn’t sound like many others discovered it for the Sprint. 40m was really noisy here in Florida this evening and not many Spartan Sprinters there — OR I couldn’t hear them. Chased W1PID Jim and N5EBD unsuccessfully. Maybe next time. Thanks for the fun evening. 72/73 … Don
W5QLF
I was surprised at the number of stations I heard tonight. After a long dry spell of only 2 or 3 contacts during the Spartan Spring, it was refreshing to total up numbers in the teens again! Thank you to those folks that suffered through my “AGN AGN” replays. There was just enough fading to cover up a couple of letters in your calls. Maybe we’re back on the road to decent propagation. 73, Joe W5QLF
N0TA
Started late and ended early. 5 on 40, and 1 on 80 - thanks for the Q's. Kx2 & vertical.
KF7WNS
20 and 40m both in good shape. WB5BKL and W5QLF two bandsers tonight. Sorry, Drew/K9QV tough copy noise and QSB caught you at the same place every time...finally got it right...thanks. Lots of fun, 72, Gary/KF7WNS
K7TQ
A good evening with the KX2, internal battery, and paddles feeding a Force 12 C4SXL at 60 feet. Good first half hour on 20 m with 7 Qs, then good second half hour on 40 with 7 more Qs. Not so good last hour on 40 for a total of 11 Qs on 40. WB5BKL, K9QV, and KF0N were two band catches. The internal battery was on its last leg at 10.0 V on transmit after starting with a full charge. Just right for a Spartan Sprint. Catch many of you again in June.
K4BAI
Tired after operating Florida QSO Party with W8UE as W4AN/M. Only operated 30 minutes in SP.. Good activity for a change. QSOs per Band: 40: 7. 80: 2. Heard, but could not work N0TA on 80M. 73/72, John, K4BAI
KF0N
Hey, what a night! I was listening to my new rig, an IC-7200, when I checked 14,060 kHz for grins just to see if there was any activity in the May Sprint (participation in past months has seemed to have been fairly sparse). Wow, the old S-meter really jumped! Lots of great signals; my first QSO was with Randy, K7TQ, who sported a good S-5 to S-7 signal. After 5 QSO’s, the band seemed to fold so I went down to 40M and worked more stations through the Spring QRN. Forty yielded ten more contacts, the most notable being N8WE who was running only 1-watt! Nice going Glen! Guess I’m going to have to take my little ATS-1 out of mothballs for the June Sprint; then I won’t have to enter in the “Tubby” division! I only worked an hour but what fun! Nice to see you all. If anyone needs Iowa confirmed, I’m good for it. 72’s to all who pulled me out of their local QRN! Larry, KF0N
KB1M
5 Q's on 20, 2 on 40, for 4 states. 40 was noisy. MY thanks to all, 73 Walt
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. Finally, some propagation. In the middle of the session, I suddenly lost the CW sidetone - which resulted in my sending even more gibberish than I normally send. I found the problem about 20 minutes later, but will send my apologies to N5EBD for the very strange QSO. Best signals: 20M - KF0N, 40 and 80M - K4BAI. 10 States this time but no 3-banders. K9QV(?) was the most difficult QSO. My thanks, and best regards to all. Had fun.
K9QV
Reduced weight by using smaller battery and homebrew key. Had some key problems, but was able to fix after an hour. Battery was VERY low by the end. Still managed more contacts than last month. No contacts on 80m. 72 de Drew.
Nice to hear 20 meters open this evening but didn’t sound like many others discovered it for the Sprint. 40m was really noisy here in Florida this evening and not many Spartan Sprinters there — OR I couldn’t hear them. Chased W1PID Jim and N5EBD unsuccessfully. Maybe next time. Thanks for the fun evening. 72/73 … Don
W5QLF
I was surprised at the number of stations I heard tonight. After a long dry spell of only 2 or 3 contacts during the Spartan Spring, it was refreshing to total up numbers in the teens again! Thank you to those folks that suffered through my “AGN AGN” replays. There was just enough fading to cover up a couple of letters in your calls. Maybe we’re back on the road to decent propagation. 73, Joe W5QLF
N0TA
Started late and ended early. 5 on 40, and 1 on 80 - thanks for the Q's. Kx2 & vertical.
KF7WNS
20 and 40m both in good shape. WB5BKL and W5QLF two bandsers tonight. Sorry, Drew/K9QV tough copy noise and QSB caught you at the same place every time...finally got it right...thanks. Lots of fun, 72, Gary/KF7WNS
K7TQ
A good evening with the KX2, internal battery, and paddles feeding a Force 12 C4SXL at 60 feet. Good first half hour on 20 m with 7 Qs, then good second half hour on 40 with 7 more Qs. Not so good last hour on 40 for a total of 11 Qs on 40. WB5BKL, K9QV, and KF0N were two band catches. The internal battery was on its last leg at 10.0 V on transmit after starting with a full charge. Just right for a Spartan Sprint. Catch many of you again in June.
K4BAI
Tired after operating Florida QSO Party with W8UE as W4AN/M. Only operated 30 minutes in SP.. Good activity for a change. QSOs per Band: 40: 7. 80: 2. Heard, but could not work N0TA on 80M. 73/72, John, K4BAI
KF0N
Hey, what a night! I was listening to my new rig, an IC-7200, when I checked 14,060 kHz for grins just to see if there was any activity in the May Sprint (participation in past months has seemed to have been fairly sparse). Wow, the old S-meter really jumped! Lots of great signals; my first QSO was with Randy, K7TQ, who sported a good S-5 to S-7 signal. After 5 QSO’s, the band seemed to fold so I went down to 40M and worked more stations through the Spring QRN. Forty yielded ten more contacts, the most notable being N8WE who was running only 1-watt! Nice going Glen! Guess I’m going to have to take my little ATS-1 out of mothballs for the June Sprint; then I won’t have to enter in the “Tubby” division! I only worked an hour but what fun! Nice to see you all. If anyone needs Iowa confirmed, I’m good for it. 72’s to all who pulled me out of their local QRN! Larry, KF0N
KB1M
5 Q's on 20, 2 on 40, for 4 states. 40 was noisy. MY thanks to all, 73 Walt
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M extended double Zepp. Finally, some propagation. In the middle of the session, I suddenly lost the CW sidetone - which resulted in my sending even more gibberish than I normally send. I found the problem about 20 minutes later, but will send my apologies to N5EBD for the very strange QSO. Best signals: 20M - KF0N, 40 and 80M - K4BAI. 10 States this time but no 3-banders. K9QV(?) was the most difficult QSO. My thanks, and best regards to all. Had fun.
K9QV
Reduced weight by using smaller battery and homebrew key. Had some key problems, but was able to fix after an hour. Battery was VERY low by the end. Still managed more contacts than last month. No contacts on 80m. 72 de Drew.
Friday, April 7, 2017
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