RESULTS: April 2020 ARS Spartan Sprint

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SOAPBOX: April 2020 ARS Spartan Sprint

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. Worked 8 states.  20M - 4 QSOs, 40m - 5 and 80M -1.  Best signals were:  20M -NK6A, 40M - K5MUG, 80m - W5ESE.  Some familiar calls missing.  Hope it was merely scheduling or Propagation - nothing worse. 40M conditions seemed unusual - heard more Texas stations than normal.  My time was limited, but I had fun.

AB9CA
Rig was K3 at 5w to vertical. Started on 20 and found 5 of those pesky Texans - WB5BKL N5EM W5ACM W5QLF W5ESE. I heard nothing but TX on 20. Then went to 40 and picked up 13 more. No 80m tonight. Only 2 banders were W5QLF and N5EM. Best DX would be either K6YK or NK6A in CA or K7TQ in ID. Had only 45 min as I needed to get some other stuff done. Thanks to all for the Q's. Hope to hear everyone, plus more, next month . . . 73 de Dave AB9CA

W5ACM
It was great fun to make some 20M contacts this month, and work some new stations. WB5BKL sent an event reminder via the Houston QRP remailer. Thanks Nick! All of my contacts were on 20M or 40M. I couldn’t get on 80M because I have not tuned the 80M whip on my new vertical antenna (Hustler 5-BTV), but it really didn’t matter. After the first hour my two 170 mAh batteries in the ATS3a were drained! They may have reached end of life, but I will run them again next month to see what happens. I have two 200 mAh LiPo batteries ready to go, but they will be slightly heavier. This has been the longest run for a pair of the small LiPo batteries I have had… No complaints.

WA4AAK
Pleased to see 20m open to TX, CA and NH at the start! Six contacts on 20m, two on 40m, zero on 80m. No luck after 1 hr. Forgot to pare down station weight before starting, so ran heavy. Mark, WB9HFK, once again had the strongest signal heard. Hope all stay well... 72, Evan - Huntsville, AL

KB1M
Nice to see 20 was open at the start, and was able to get 3 QSO's, 40 was very noisy and was able to make 3 Q's between static crashes, for total of 5 states.  72/73, Walt

WB9HFK
ICOM 7300 @ 5w. 40m - OCF dipole; 80m – vertical

W5ESE
Used an AT Sprint 3 from KD1JV I assembled about 15 years ago (2 watts).
Still a fun rig. Paddles were Whiterook MK-44 and used walkman type earphones. First entered Spartan Sprints in 2004, and glad that they're continuing! 73 – Scott

K5MUG
Hello to all, first time participating in the Spartan Sprint, nice event.  Thanks to Joe, W5QLF, for introducing me to the ARS Qrp group (and for tonight's local contact), and thanks to all for the fun tonight. Got a late start, made all contacts on 40m. Hope to have 80m antenna to work with soon to add to the pot. Thanks again to the group! – Cray, K5MUG

K7TQ
First SP in way too long a time. Good to contact several old friends. KX2 at 5W in my recently-completed mobile set-up which just sits waiting for when we can once again roam the countryside.

NØTA
13 Q's on 40m, 3 on 80m. 7 of the Q's were with stations in Texas! Thanks for the Qs. K3, Doublet, GenLog.

K3JZD
DST and getting on 40m one hour earlier made a difference.

W5QLF
A reasonable day in the neighborhood. One Q on 20m and One on 80m plus and additional 8 on 40m.  Apologies to John, N0TA for wasting valuable air time making him a dupe before I'd confirmed his call.  He graciously worked me on 80m giving me a second valid contact.  Thanks John. Charles, AB9CA, was my first contact on 20m and was the only signal I heard on 14 MHz. He graced my log again on 40m for another QSO count. Charles, your 40m signal held up quite well into the second hour. Cray, K5MUG, came back to me for an across-town contact on 40m. We both live in the San Antonio area and I'm sure we’ll discuss this contact at the next club meeting. Joe, W5QLF

N5EM
Running KX3 here on internal batteries. 2 Qs on 20M. Good signals, too. Hope to see more on 20 next month. Rest (6) were on 40M. I only had an hour, so cut it short. 72, Ed, N5EM

RESUTS: March 2020 ARS Spartan Sprint

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SOAPBOX: March 2020 ARS Spartan Sprint

WA4AAK
Heard very few Sprint stations and was fortunate to contact two: NØTA, and KB1M. Thanks, everyone! Evan WA4AAK, Huntsville, AL

KB1M
40 was noisy with QRN, QSB  and generally weak signals, WB9HFK had a consistently good signal. Six stations worked were all between 911 miles to 1136 miles with an average distance of 1057 miles. Thanks for QSO's, 72/73, Walt

AB9CA
Rig was FT-857 at 5w to Inv vee up about 35 ft. 40m only for me. My S8 noise was there at first but N0TA and W5QLF were able to punch through. It then went away for a few min. I called and logged W0ITT KFØN N4SO. Then it returned. Someone was answering a CQ when it came back and I could not copy through the noise. Sorry I could not pull you out. After that I shut down. No fun with all that noise. Thanks for the Q's! Next month I should be at another site and hopefully will be without the noise. 73 de dave, ab9ca/7

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. Nothing heard on 20 - 4 QSOs each on 40 and 80M.  40M seemed long. Best signals:  40M - WB9HFK, 80M - NØTA. Quit early but had fun.

K5GQ
Lots of work to get 80m module for ATS3 TO WORK and ONLY made 1 Q (on that band). TUNED up and down but did not find many stations. Maybe in June things will be better -  next Monday night available. Mark

KF5TWJ
First try. Not too good but still had fun. Will try again.

NØAR
Good to work so many station on 40 (six total). 80 was pretty bad in my neck of the woods, only one contact. Lots of TS crashes. Sure sign spring is on the way! 72's Scott

NØTA
Six on 40m, 4 on 80m. Thanks for the Q's.

K3JZD
Next Sprint, looking forward to DST and getting on 40m one hour earlier. 40m QCX - 3w - 40m dipole. Jody - K3JZD

K3RLL
QCX-40 and LiPO battery to black, after-dark-only 4-BTV: We certainly had a nice evening on 40 meters without the wicked QSB tonight. Signals were good (that is, except mine) and ran into a few ops I've not heard in a long time. Big signal heard here in FL this evening was KA4FDM in MD who was booming in as if he was next door.  Nice to hear N3FCS again.  Always fun to connect with K3JZD & KB1M. What a great hobby and a fun 40 minutes.  72 ... Don

RESULTS: February 2020 ARS Spartan Sprint

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SOAPBOX: February 2020 ARS Spartan Sprint

K3RLL

As they say, life begins (and ends) on 40m due to antenna restrictions here, and 40m was ripe with QSB this evening. But eight very skilled ops with good ears made it fun. Tried the KX3 tonight with the attached paddles that were acting up. My apologies.  RBN reports were dismal so was very pleased to make some contacts.  My appreciation to the entire staff of A.R.S. and good QRP ops for keeping the Spartan Sprint alive and well.  72/73 ... Don

NØTA

2 Q's on 40m, 9 on 80m. K3@5w, doublet at 25', GenLog.

K4BAI

Activity better tonight than recently.  Both 40 and 80M were in very good shape.  Worked from CO to NH on both bands.  40M was long and WB9HFK couldn't hear me calling him.  But 80M had pretty good short skip to AL and also good signals from CO, TX, NH, IL.  Thanks for all QSOs.  73/72, John, K4BAI.

K3JZD

40m propagation keeps killing me.  Gets crazy for me after  0100 zulu.  I had a long N-S path this time.  Heard and worked Don - K3RLL in FL.  I was hearing Don on 40m for about an hour. But I could not hear anyone else on 40m. During the second hour I slid down the 40m band and used my lightweight 3 watts to work a Dxpedition in El Salvador and then a DXpedition on Cocos Island. But they were not giving out Spartan Sprint exchanges, so I did not count them. Did I mention that my path was a long N-S path? QCX - 3w - 40m dipole.   Jody - K3JZD

NØAR

Good to hear a bunch of familiar calls. 40 and 80 were both loaded with QRN. Signals were overall poor with some serious QSB at times. Only heard one call West of me! Rig 590sg and rx loop, 43' vertical and lots of radials. 73, Scott, near St.Paul, MN

WB9HFK

Icom 7300 @ 5W. Antenna: 40M - OCF Dipole, 80M - 150 Ft. Random Wire

WA4AAK

Enjoyed contacting 7 Sprinters! 5 on 80m, 2 on 40m.  72, Evan WA4AAK - Huntsville, AL

WB5BKL

3/10 @ 5W to a 40M extended double Zepp. QSOs on 40 and 80M. Heard K4BAI and AB9CA/7 on 20 but not worked.  Best signals: 40M - K4BAI, 80M - W5ACM. Doubles with K4BAI and W5ACM. Both 40 and

80M seemed in good shape here.  No stations west of me except AB9CA/7 in AZ. Had fun.

KA5HZV

Had fun using my newly built QRP LABS QCX tranceiver at 3 watts into a (semi) mutiband dipole. Thanks to NØAR, K4BAI and N4SO for picking my little signal up. While working K4BAI I bumped something in the rig and jumped to another part of the band instantly. My apology was accepted by K4BAI and I was able to complete the QSO. Looking forward to next month and better condx. Ron

KB1M

Nothing heard on 20 and 40 seemed to be nearly dead, 3 QSOs, worked FL, GA, and AL. 72/73, Walt

KØNXV

First try using 5W to a multiband endfed - heard a number of calls on 40M but only got 2 contacts. Wasn't sure just what frequencies are considered QRP on the bands. For 40M I thought it was 7030 ad 7122 khz and probably spent too much time there but it seemed that everyone was in the 7138-7148 range. On 80M I tried 3560 khz but heard no one. Took me quite a while to figure out just what 72 meant! :)  Was very fun and I hope to get more people involved in the future. Thanks! Don - K0NXV PS - next time I'll use my 40M qrp rig and battery.

W5ACM

It was great fun to get back in the Spartan Sprint for me this month. WB5BKL sent a reminder via the Houston QRP remailer, and I had no time conflicts!. All contacts were on 40M or 80M. I had a few mechanical issues with the ATS-3a enclosure, but I burnished the homebrew key contacts, and had almost quality CW. The batteries are holding in there and the antique vertical is doing well! I think this is the longest run for a pair of the small LiPo batteries I have had… No complaints!

AB9CA/6

Still on the road. Have a noise issue in this location. For the first hour it was gone but then came back. When it is on it is about S8. Unless you are at least S5 to S6 I doubt I could hear you. After it came back I spun the knob for a while but then shut down. Made no contacts on 20 although did call there for a few min. 6 Qs on 40 (CO AL CA TX) and 2 on 80 (TX). Then the noise returned. Rig was FT-857 to an Inverted V on 40 and vertical on 80. Hope for better condx next month!  73 de dave ab9ca/7

K1QO

I made sure I was turned down to 5W this month!!!  2 on 40M and 4 on 80 M for me.  Thank you John, K4BAI for the two bander, and I’m sorry I had so much trouble...operating in the dark and being rusty was a bad combo for me, my apologies!!!  I promise to do better next time....I hit the wrong key on 40M so I sent an agn by accident, then on 80 I know my signal was very weak and I had a lot of noise.  It’s really great to have a contest like this to try out new things and I’m working on a new antenna for 80M this gave me the opportunity to test it out. I was shocked to hear N0TA booming into northern NH on 80M wow...and KEØTT was also pretty loud in MN.  The fourth contact was WB9HFK on 80..I’m pretty sure I heard Larry, W2LJ in there at some point but never made a contact.  I only had two contacts on 40M, John was one and the other was WA4AAK, however I missed out on W5QLF...I did hear but left or faded before I could try.  Many thanks to KI6SN for continuing this sprint!!!!   72/88 de K1QO, Ann

N4SO

Thanks to Spartan Sprint operators: AB9CA/7, NØAR, WB9HFK, W5ACM, KA5HZV and WB5BKL. KEØTT on the heard and failure to work list. Ken N4SO

RESULTS: January 2020 ARS Spartan Sprint

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