The Adventure Radio Society

Results: January '12 Spartan Sprint

2012-01-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

Soapbox Comments: January '12 Spartan Sprint

2012-01-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

N4BP
Quick three QSOs on 20M, then nothing. 40M condx were good, but sparse activity. Finished with K4BAI 2nd band QSO on 80M. Happy New Year to all!

K3RLL
K2 to indoor dipole - Tough sledding tonight with all the digital noise on 40 and didn't hear anyone on 80, but it was all fun. C.U. next month.

KS4L
ATS-4a at 3w, 11.1v, 1320 mah LiPo battery, 80m inv. vee. 2 contacts on 40m, rest on 80m. Best DX was VE3EDX and AA5B (NM on both 40 & 80). Sigs ranged from real 599 to almost ESP!

WBØOEW
2W to 3 ft mag loop

WB4MNK
The little KX1 got a good work out to night. Band was good here in FL and I had another great time working the Spartan Sprint. Thanks to the stations I worked tonight and hope you had as much fun as I did. See you next month.

NY4G
Good Sprint tonight. Rig was a pared and stripped down K2 (without internal battery and autotuner) - connected to a small external SLA and Palm Paddle. 20m was dead and 40m and 80m had the only signals. Tough operating under the QRM of PSK and other digital signals although 80 was trouble free. Antenna was a G5RV up 40 ft. Happy New Year to all.

W5ACM
My ATS-3a is still on the workbench, so I continue to use the heavier ATS-3 in the Altoids box (with a new lid). The two 650 mAh LiPo batteries in the ATS-3 were replaced (getting "puffy") 90 minutes prior to the event with three 300 mAh LiPo batteries. I got a reasonable charge on them and had 5W out this time! I even had enough "juice" for some "CQ" ops. The new pair of earbuds (JVC RIPTIDZ model HA-FX8-A) seem to be doing well. They fit in the ears, are sensitive and were inexpensive. TNX to KI0I for contacts on both 40 & 80. Hoping for better conditions next month!

KB1OOO
K1 running 5W into ZS6BKW. All contacts on 40m. Thanks to all for putting up with my sloppiness. I was forgetting to give pwr for the first few contacts.

AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to 100' dipole. Could only spend 30 minutes. 2 Q's on 20 and 17 on 40. 20 seemed to be very long and 40 seemed to be in good shape. Was a fun evening. Thanks to all who stopped by and see you next month.

NQ2W
An OHR 100-A running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 3 Q's on 20 meters and a Ten-Tec 1340 at 5W to an inverted vee at 40 ft for 10 Q's. Things quieted down quickly on 20 meters but was able to work from FL to TX to CA. 40 was crowded...am looking forward to getting my K1 done, up, and running...from what I understand the filtering will be much tighter than the 1340's...I'll comment on that after I put it on the air...but was able to work stations as close as NH and as far away as NM. Overall a FB sprint. Worked N4BP on two bands. K4ORD was loud on 40. Thanks to all that participated and thanks to the organizers. Hope to hear you all next month. Happy New Year!

K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, dipole, inverted vee. No sprint signals heard on 20M. 40M was great for the first hour. 37 QSOs on that band. Only 12 QSOs on 80M. 80M seemed good with QSOs from TX to PA and NY, but very little activity. Great to hear so many sprinters on 40 at the beginning. Thanks for all QSOs and Happy New Year to all.

W1PID
Wow... not much heard, not much worked.

AA5B
I keep thinking that I'm going to catch this event on a night when I have enough time to operate the whole thing, but I guess that'll have to wait. Spent the first few minutes on 20 meters, calling CQ and searching for anyone, but made exactly zero QSOs. Moved to 40 meters and had 29 contacts in the next 37 minutes. Then had to run some errands. Came back for 10 minutes near the end and worked several more, including my sole 80-mtr Q with KS4L.

K4ORD
I made 31 contacts in the Spartan Sprint 21 on 40M and 10 on 80M conditions were pretty good on both bands except they were a bit noisy. My rig was K3@5w ant's were 40 & 80M dipoles. The weight of my station was 30 pounds.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w to a 20m wire delta loop or a 40m extended double Zepp. Most of my Qs were on 40M. Tried 15m briefly. No three-banders, but worked K4ORD, NY4G and K4BAI on two. WB0OEW was the lowest power station I heard. HNY to all. Had fun.

VE3EDX
1 QSO on 20, 3 each on 40 and 80.

K5JHP
K3 with a 20mtr edz. All contacts on 40mtrs. Got in late - not much activity. Hope more next month - HNY to all.

VE3XT
First SS in a long time and had a great time, used my K1. Need to go and find my ATS3 and Bulldog paddle to make a try next month.

Results: December '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-12-10T06:59:00.000-08:00

For an enlarged view of the scoreboard, click on the image

Soapbox Comments: December '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-12-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

W1PID
ATS-2 at 3W with OCF dipole. Operated 30 minutes.

K3RLL
Bad QSB and weak signals here tonight. Tnx to all who pulled me through the noise.

WA5BUC
Glad to hear some Sprint activity on 40 and 80. Worked K4BAI twice (40 & 80), N4BP on 40, and K5JHP on 80. Then moved down to the low end of 40 and worked 4O3A Montenegro. Guess the band was long tonight. Usual setup: FT-817 to a 66' end-fed inverted "L" at about 25'. Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for a better 2012.

KB1OOO
Elecraft K1 Running 5W into a ZS6BKW up 60ft From N. Conway NH. All contacts on 40m.

W5DPT
40 meters sounded strong. worked WB0GKH AND K4BAI. Running into a ladder line fed doublet through the 989D tuner from the yeasu 897d. early to bed for work but had fun for 40 minutes.

N4BP
Single-band 40M for about 30 mins. Started with sked with K6JSS/7 (op AC7A, AZ) to fill in 49th state in ARCI Jubilee. Couple of QSOs later, UR2 called me with big signal. Condx were outstanding, those few that I did work had tremendous sigs, most an honest S9!

K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, inverted vee. 15 and 10M seemed dead. 20M was long with very loud signals from Asiatic Russia over the pole. Worked NK6A on 20M and heard no other sprinters there. 40M was relatively short for a few minutes and then went long. Nice to work the QRPARCI anniversary station K6JSS/7 in AZ (AC7A operating). 80M was quite good and I worked KE7LKW in AZ there. Only DX was VE3EDX on 40M. QSOs by band: 20: 1. 40: 20. 80: 8. Thanks for all QSOs. Happy Holidays to all and hope for more activity in January.

KK5NA
Forty and eighty were both pretty good. Rig = K3 @ 5W; ANT = EDZ @ 55ft.

WB4MNK
Enjoyed the sprint and hearing some nice signals in the clear. Used the KX1 at 4 watts to a S9 31’ vertical. Band seemed to be in good shape here in FL. Thanks to all the stations that we made contact with. I heard a few in there but not well enough to copy so maybe we will be able to work you next time. Thanks for trying.

W5ACM
My ATS-3a is still on the workbench, so I continue to use the heavier ATS-3 in the Altoids box. Two minutes into the event my noise level on 40M went to S9+20 and 20M was almost dead. All THREE of my contacts were on 80M. Thanks to K4BAI, WB5BKL and a patient AB8CA. The two 650 mAh LiPo batteries in the ATS-3 need replacement (getting "puffy"), but provided 2.5-3 Watts even with plenty of "CQ" ops. I did get a chance to try a new pair of earbuds though. They are JVC RIPTIDZ model HA-FX8-A. They fit in the ears very well, are sensitive and were inexpensive. It's time to get serious with upkeep on my mini-rigs! Hoping for better conditions next month!

AB9CA
Rig was the usual K2 @ 5w to one of two 100' wires. Condx seemed to be fairly good. Neither QRN nor QSB was too bad. Tried 20 for a few minutes with no answers. Did hear K7TQ and NK6A calling but they could not hear me. Went to 40 and it was the workhorse - 20 contacts there. From NH to WA and CA. The band seemed to be in good shape. Made 6 contacts on 80 but it was noisy so that was tough. I want to thank K6DGW for hanging around while I had some difficulty. Just as I started sending to him my dit paddle decided to become intermittent. He hung around for a few seconds while I cleaned it a bit. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and hope to see all of you, plus a few more, next month.

KD2MX
Condx seemed kind of lousy. K1/5W to my all-purpose loop.

NQ2W
An OHR 100-A running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 2 Q's on 20 meters and a Ten-Tec 1340 at 5W to an inverted vee at 40 ft for 5 Q's. Signals weren't that strong in NY's capital region for this sprint. Seemed like a little bit more activity but the signals just weren't there. Heard AB9CA on 40 a few times but he couldn't hear me. Hoping for better conditions and/or more participation next month. Thanks to everyone who gave it a go. Have a happy holiday season. C u all in 2012!

KB7MBI
In spite of the high 40-meter noise level East Coast stations had good signals into Seattle area. Rig used was Ten Tec Paragon II (1.8 KHz filter) running 5 watts and GAP Titan vertical.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w to a 20m wire delta loop or the 40m extended double Zepp. At least I did better than last month. 1 Q on 20M, 9 Qs on 40M and 4 Qs on 80M for 10 states. Worked AB9CA and K4BAI on two bands. AB9CA had the strongest signal. Thanks to all. Had fun.

K7TQ
December Spartan Sprints always seem tough to me. I have had 0 Qs in December in more than one year. This year was a bit better, but it still followed the pattern. 20 was good for a short period of time, about 10 minutes. It was good for ID to OK, NY, MI, and OH. Then it took a while before I could get things going on 40 and by then it too seemed void of calls. All I could scare up was FL. There is always next month.

N5GW
Rig is 15 yr old HB one watt xcvr for 40M by W1FB-xtal tx, dc rx (I call it the "kilomilliwatt") to HB tuner and CFZ. Expected QRN after recent rain front but band was quiet.

Results: November '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-11-11T07:25:00.000-08:00

Soapbox Comments: November '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-11-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

K7TQ
Started out on 15 m and worked TX and OH in 2 minutes then no one else seemed to be around. On 20 m K4BAI found me, worked him, and moved him to 15 where he was weak, but readable. So for the first 10 minutes, 15 m was open. Went back to 20 m and had good time until 0225. After that I could raise no one on either 20 or 40. Finally, gave up at 0245. Got K4BAI and WB5BKL on both 20 and 15. A good, but short, time in the Nov. SP.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w to a 20m wire delta loop or the 40m extended double Zepp. Not a good night here. 7 Qs on 20m and 2 on 40m. Worked WB4MNK and K7TQ on both bands. K7TQ had the strongest signal on 20m by far. Nothing heard on 80m. Thanks to all. Had fun.

AB1AV
ATS-3 to 88' doublet up 55'. Fun to get back into the Sprints, though participation seemed very light this time. 3 contacts on 40m, 1 on 80m.

WA5BUC
10 and 15 were dead at the start. Cruised 20 and 40, but heard no SP station. Called CQ on 20 a couple of times. Nada. Oh, well . . .

K4BAI
Not much activity this month. 15M was open at least to K7TQ in ID. 20M was long and I worked only MT and ID. 40M was also long. 80M was relatively quiet and open everywhere, but very little SP activity. W5ACM couldn't hear me on 40M. Heard AB1AV on 80M, but he was QRL and we had no QSO. Worked everyone I heard in the Sprint and got several calls from others not really in the contest. Thanks for all QSOs and let's have more activity next month!

NQ2W
An OHR 100-A running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 1 Q on 20 meters and a Ten-Tec 1340 at 5W to an inverted vee at 40 ft for 4 Q's. Worked WB5BKL on 20 and WA8PGE, W4VHH, K3RLL, and WB4MNK on 40. Heard K4BAI on 40 a few times but he couldn't hear me. Hoping for better conditions and/or more participation next month. Thanks to everyone who gave it a go.

WB4MNK
Didn't hear many sprinters but still had some fun. Lots of DX on 40.

NY4G
I thought I would try the KX1 for a change. It seems like there was not as may of us Spartans out there, I did better in August with the K2. The band noise was really terrible on 80m but I heard K4BAI calling CQ. 7030 was full of stations trying to call out to a DX station and so half my contacts were on 20m. I thought the KX1 held its own - though wiithout a separate spot tone - zero beating was a chore but doable. Thanks to all who participated.

K3RLL
Where was everybody? 40 Meters was hot but only heard 5 Sprinters. Running early K2 to indoor dipole.

Results: October '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-10-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

(To enlarge, please click on Scoreboard image)

Soapbox Comments: October '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-10-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

K7TQ

Had not been able to participate in an SP for too long. Started on 15 m and got 3 Qs in short order. GA and TX were the states. Moved to 20 m after about 10 minutes on 15 and had a nice time working stations there until around 0130 Z. 20 was still open, but seemed most folks had already moved to 40 m. I gave 80 m a couple of tries, but quite noisy here in ID. Worked K4BAI, John, and WB5BKL, Nick, on 3 bands and several others on 2 bands. Lots of good strong Signals and a few weak ones as well went into the log. Thanks to all who stopped by.

NK6A

could only put in an hour this time.

WB5BKL

K3/10 @ 5w to a 15m 2-element delta loop, a 20m wire delta loop or the 40m extended double Zepp. 15m was open (apparently to the west) when I started, but I could only work K7TQ. Tried to work K6CSL but he was almost exactly zero-beat with K7TQ and impossible copy for my old ears. Sorry Bert. Also made 11 Qs on 20m, 11 Qs on 40m and 4 on 80m. Did end up working K7TQ on 3 bands. Nice to hear increasing activity and some new (to me) calls. Thanks to all. Had fun.

WB5MNK

I want to apologize to the stations I could not copy but I had my filter set up wrong and did not realize it. I will do better next sprint. I had fun but was not very productive. Thanks to all the stations that I worked and the ones that called me but I was not able to copy.

NQ2W

An OHR 100-A running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 9 Q's on 20 meters and a Ten-Tec 1340 at 5W to an inverted vee at 40 ft for 4 Q's. I thought I was gonna break a record...the first few minutes on 20 were the best I've experienced in a quite a while...then reality settled in and the Q's became much more infrequent. Oh well, maybe next month. 40 was lousy, QRM and intermittent line noise made it very difficult copy (except K4ORD...he was loud). I'm thinking of adding some filtering to the 1340 and converting the main tuning knob to a 10 turn pot...we'll see if that's possible ... can't hurt. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Hope to see you all next month.

AE7CG

Thanks to Randy K7TQ, Bob N4BP, Scott W5ESE, and Nick WB5BKL for QSOs. I ran 2 watts to a 10-foot high dipole. The Spartan Sprint was great fun. See everyone next month!

KD2MX

just had a few minutes to spend. Nothing heard on 20, 40 was pretty good.

AB9CA

Fun, as always. The bands seems little punk but not too much noise. That was kinda nice. Rig was K2 at 5w to 100' dp. Worked NQ2W, NK6A, WT5RZ, W5ACM, W5ESE, and WB5BKL on 2 bands but no 3-banders. 20 seemed to be OK but few there, only worked 6. 40 was the workhorse with 26. And only 5 on 80. But it was good to hear Jay, AJ4AY, over in Mobile on there. We are so close it is hard for us to hear each other. Thanks go to the folks who do the work to make these happen. And thanks to all who stopped by . . . and hope to hear ya'all next month.

N4BP

Started on 20M, but band went belly up almost immediately! 40M was good, but not much participation. With that fall nip in the air (only getting to the upper 80's now), 80M is almost usable and managed one easy QSO there with K5JHP. Sure wish participation would pick up so I could sit in the chair for two hours instead of only one.

K4BAI

QSOs by band: 21: 1 (K7TQ); 14: 7; 7: 22; 3.5: 7. We could have used more activity. Band conditions were pretty good on 80 through 15. Thanks for all QSOs.

W5ESE

KD1JV AT Sprint 3 (@3W 80m/40m, @2W 20m), with a 9.6V wall wart and Whiterook MK-44 paddles. Antenna is a 300' horizontal loop, fed with open wire line. Good activity and conditions this month, although the QRN was pretty high on 80m. Will submit my log to ARRL's 'Logbook of the World.'

WA1ZCQ

Bands in poor shape during the times of this month's sprint. 40 was the only place I hear other station here in 1 land. Started late, 30 minutes into the sprint. First station heard was Jim - K4ORD-VA, RST 559, I received a 449. Listened around on 80 & 20 as well but no signals. Hung in there for about 60 minutes, no stations calling CQSP. Called on 7033.5 and 7044 with no luck. Station: 703 @ 5W with 60' indoor wire, inverted "L" configuration (approx: 22' flat-topped, 38' vertical) Total station weight: 703 + NiMH battery pack + Whiterook paddle + associated wiring/cabling = 5 lbs.

WT5RZ

Wow, what a fun night. 20 started out jumping with 6 quick contacts. @0 seemed to get quiet very quick so I shifted to 40 for another 14 contacts. I tried 80M a couple of times, but only logged 1 lone contact there, W5ESE. Somehow W5ESE and I managed to contact one another on the 3 bands. Had a good time!

WØPQ

K1 (5 WATTS) G5RV

W5ACM

I started on 20M with six excellent contacts, and would have liked to stay there, but the crowd thinned out early. There was still plenty of activity on other parts of the band, and conditions were reasonable. For me, 40M sounded very noisy and I only got one QSO - AB9CA. Surprisingly, 80M was better and I had some good contacts with AB9CA, WB5BKL and W5ESE. Overall, it was a fun event! My ATS-3A is still on the workbench - so once again, the ATS-3 that I built in 2004 was pressed into service. Since it has MUCH larger (and heavier) batteries, I can call CQ as much as I can stand, so I did! Using this antique, Altoids entombed rig doubles my weight, but it is a great performer, and the keyer paddle - made from relay parts - is much easier to tame than the ultra-light-weight spruce paddle on the ATS-3A. I am getting to like this rig! C U next month!

K4ORD

Made 5 qso's on 20M, best dx WA, CA, 20 qso's on40m, best dx ID, MT, WA and 2 on 80M. The QRN was back on 40M, S7 TO S9 , some signals were strong and some weak. Rig K3@5W ant's 40M and 160M dipoles. Thanks to all.

NØAR

Well this old "ham from Heath" got hooked on the GORC Heathkit Nostalgia Event, so out came the HW-8. Haven't used it in 5 years so was impressed that it fired right up. If you worked me it was on the old rig at a whooping 2 watts out. Nice to be able to hear most all of the contesters at one time. :) Seriously it was just a blast working so many familiar calls. I hung in there until my ears hurt. See you all in the next event with my trusty K2.

AI4SV

Finally, a chance to shed some pounds -- Tonight the rig was my well-traveled TenTec 1320, a 2Ah battery, and Palm Paddles. The antenna was attic dipole. Almost all the calls came in the first hour.

K5JHP

Bands seemed long with SSB stations on 40. Hope for better prop condx next month.

Results: September '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-09-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: September '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-09-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

NQ2W
An OHR 100-A running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 6 Qs on 20 meters and a Ten-Tec 1340 at 5W to an inverted vee at 40 ft for 6 Q's...the number of contacts on each band was identical to last month. Signals on both bands were not that strong. QRM, QRN, and QSB didn't help matters. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Hope to see you all next month.

KD6L
Old call AD6WE - Glad to be able to finally participate again and give out Wyoming with my new call. Five watts Index labs QRP+ 40 meter semi-horizontal delta loop . 12 contacts on 20, 6 contacts on 40.

N9BT
Power 5W, RIG is Yaesu FT-817ND, Antenna 40M dipole, band condx good. Sadly, I was inside.

AE4TC
Got a late start and had to QRT early but enjoyed it none the less. Worked 20 and 40m. 6 q's on 20 and 5 on 40m for a whopping total of 11 qso's. I was running an FT-817 with 5w into a 88' doublet up 45 feet. Thanks for the fun contest.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W and either a 20M delta loop or a 40M extended double Zepp. Most Qs on 20 with a few on 40 and two on 80M. Was not able to work anyone on all three bands. Removed two QRO QSOs and one dupe from score. 16 states this time and several new (to me) calls. My thanks to everyone. Had fun.

K4ORD
Nice to have less QRN this month and 20M in good shape, got 15 on 20M, 22 on 40M and 3 on 80M . Rig K3 @ 5W ant''s were 40 and 160M dipoles. Lost power for 11 hours just 5 Minutes after the sprint was over, HI. Looking forward to next month's sprint.

WA5BUC
First Sprint in several months. Good to be back. Worked N4BP on 20 & 40. New stations this month were NK6A in California and K9FO in Illinois. Thanks to all.

WB4MNK
Started on 20 meters and worked two stations but band was not good so went to 40 meters which was noisy and most signals seem weaker than than normal. Had fun and thanks to all I made contact with. See you next month.

K4BAI
20M was quite good at the start with east coast stations and lots of CA/AZ stations. 40M was also fair and best DX was NK6A, W9CF in AZ, and W7OM. 80M was surprisingly strong with good signals from as far away as NY and TX. We could use more activity, but the Sprint was fun. See you next month.

N4BP
Summer static still prevails from local thunderstorms. The Mich Labor Day Sprint overlapped the Spartan Sprint, so spent some time in both. The SP had the greater activity. Worked NW2K on three bands. Best DX W7OM in WA on 20/40.

NW2K
5W, matchbox, 80M loop at 30 feet. 20, 40, 80 (7, 21, 12 QSOs, respectively) in good shape with 80 being quiet here for a change. I think I should have stayed on 20 longer. Not usually able to participate because of a schedule conflict and thankful for the holiday. Thank you for the QSOs and see you next time.

K9FO
Enjoyed the sprint! Good activity and conditions on 40 and 20. Rig: Icom IC-703, dipole antennas. Thanks for having the test.

AB9CA
Rig was K2 to a field vertical - a 20' crappie pole lashed to a picnic bench. It was a 20m vertical with a load coil for 40. Nothing to use on 80. Still enough guys with good ears pulled me out to log 32 - 14 on 20, and 18 on 40. The crappie pole even made it to CA, AZ, and WA. Good ears out that way for sure. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. Maybe next month I can be a bit louder. Thanks to the guys who make these possible! See ya'all next month.

AB0CD
Used the realigned Heathkit HW-9 until I retuned the antenna. Then everything went dark. ??? Finished with the K2. Ran everything on 40 meters at 5W into an 88-foot doublet barely 20 feet up if that. Worked a few of the usual suspects. Fun mix with the MI QRP Club Labor Day Sprint.

WA8PGE
weight of my station included a laptop for the SDR. 20 started out well then died quickly, 6 QSO's there, best DX on 20 was NK6A in CA. 19 QSO's on 40, best DX on 40 was W7OM in WA. QSO with W1FMR got clobbered by QRM, couldn't count it. Rig: SDR Softrock RXTX 6.3 into a 5w amp, Software was Rocky 3.6.

W9CF
I used my ATS4a, W5JH baby black widow and a radio-quiet switching wall wart. I only had a few answers to my CQs -- I obviously need a better antenna. I only heard stations on 20 and 40. My CQs on 80 went unanswered. Antenna: inverted vee @ 35.'

K3RLL
I think we had more than a little competition from the MI QRP Club contest tonight and signals didn’t sound as strong as usual, but it was still fun. Thanks to Richard Fisher, KI6SN, his extensive staff and all those who make these ARS events possible.

Results: August '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-08-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: August '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-08-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

K8AX

WA8PGE suggested I enter this event. I followed that suggestion and had a great time. Conditions on 20 were not great, so most of the time was spent on 40. Here, most of the activity seemed to be around and above 7040 kHz. Lots of activity was heard around 7030 kHz, but that included few if any contest stations. Outdoor antennas are not permitted in my neighborhood, but I remain a good neighbor with a stealthy antenna and mostly operate with low power. Rig: Icom IC703+ set at 5 watts output. Antenna: Stealthy inverted L, 30 ft vertical, 40 ft horizontal.

W5ACM

I started on 20M and stayed there! Last month my ATS-3A developed a serious receiver problem. In other words it is totally deaf. The problem has not yet been solved, so out came the older and heavier ATS-3. It was built seven years ago in an Altoids box with a pair of 650 mAh LiPo cells, metal paddle, serious connectors, etc. The bottom line is that it is twice the weight, but very durable. After a little experimentation and re-education on its operation, I was on the air. The signals on 20M were not loud, but very easy to copy. Thanks to K7RE, W4VHH, WA8PGE and K8AX! I hope to have the ATS-3A fixed by September... We will see if that really happens... The power output stayed around 3 Watts for the duration with plenty of extra battery capacity for calling CQ.

NQ2W
Used my newly built OHR 100-A running 5W to a mini-beam at 25 ft for 6 Q's on 20 meters and my ole trusty Ten-Tec 1340 at 5W to an inverted vee at 40 ft for 6 Q's. The activity on 20 was kinda sparse even though I think it would have supported a lot of Q's - worked stations in IL, MO (x2), TX, SD, and BC. 40 was lively, as usual, and noisy, as usual, with propagation up and down the east coast. All in all, a good sprint and it's nice to have another band to play with without adding a lot of weight. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Hope to see you all next month.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w to a 20M wire delta loop. I guess everyone was tired after the FotBBs on Sunday. All contacts on 20M and most from the midwest - except K7RE's nice 1w signal from South Dakota. Tried 40M, but not enough 'oopmh' tonight for K4ORD to pick out my call. Thanks to all. Had fun.

KB1OOO
First time doing spartan sprint, lots of fun! Thanks to everyone for putting up with my keying, I was using my iphone app iDitDahText as paddle and keyer which I'm not as used to at 25wpm. Station is K1 running 5w into a ZS6BKW up about 35' at my parents lake house on beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee, Moultonborough NH. 12 contacts on 40M and 2 on 20M. I'll get the antenna up higher next time at my home QTH in N. Conway NH.

KD4UKW
My first-ever Spartan Sprint. I only had a few minutes to operate from the shack at home, but it was great! I made my first-ever 1,000 mi/watt contact with SD (1,277 miles, 1w both ways, on 20m), and my first-ever milliwatt contact (OH, 425 miles, 500mw). I'll be back! I ran a K2 on battery power to a 45' vertical wire. Hmm, I need a lighter battery and a mini/portable key to bring down my weight.

K7RE
I only did 20M, as the thunderstorm QRN was unbearable on 40M and below. I used my Sierra and a Chinese li-ion battery rated at 8 AH, but probably yields more like 4 AH. I sure wish that we could scare up more activity. I worked several 1W stations on the east coast, so propagation could not have been too bad. I alos was only running 1W out of the Sierra. Antenna was my 3 element ancient tribander.

WA8PGE
The night started out rather slow, I was not able to work (or hear) anyone for the first 45 minutes but things picked up towards the end of the event. I made 14 QSOs, most in the last half hour, more stations around 7.040 than 7.030. I worked 1 QRPp station: KD4UKW running 0.5 watts. Rig: SDR Softrock Ensemble (20,30,40m) into a 5w amp, Software was Rocky 3.6. Antenna: inverted vee @ 35'

K4BAI
I had looked forward to the SS this month, but got busy with the log for the US Counties QSO Party held last weekend and forgot about it. Got on for the lat 17 minutes. By that time, there were no SS signals on 20, 80 was noisy with no SS activity heard, and 40 was pretty good, but most of the activity was over. Managed 7 QSOs from TX to NY. Got K6JSS/7 in NV on 7031 just after the SS was over. Thanks to NW2K for the reminder about the SS that I did see in time to have a little fun. See you all next month for the whole two hours, I hope. This weekend in NAQP CW, I will be signing W4AN single op from the WW4LL station. Hope all of you will be active in that fun event.

KS4L
Nice to do a Spartan Sprint again. Used my newly completed ATS-4 with my 80m inverted vee. The ATS-4 was powered by a 3-cell (11.1v) LiPo battery. All contacts were on 40m. I quit about 0220 UTC. Never heard anybody on 20 or 80, in spite of several CQs and listening several times. There was a DX pileup around 7.033MHz that was LOUD at times! Thanks for the Q's!

NY4G
First Spartan sprint for me. Rig was a K2/10 with internal battery and a Palm Mini Paddle. Antenna was a G5RV. Contest was a blast. Started on 20m and found N5OE in TX operating QRP and 20m was relatively inactive. Immediately found K3RLL on 40 meters. Soon the region around 7040 was ablaze with activity calling CQ SP. I made most of my contacts there. The prize was back on 20m. SD was calling K7RE. I have the devil of a time getting SD QRO and now I can hear SD QRP power - WOW!!!. Thanks to all who participated.

K4ORD
Lots of S9 QRN on 40M again, made 1 qso on 20M and 13 on 40M, Two stations called that I could not get out of the noise, one had QL in the call. Rig K3 @ 5Want 40M dipole up 40.' Thanks to all.

WB4MNK
Enjoyed the sprint as usual. Hope to see everyone next month. Thanks to all I made contact with. KX1 and S9 vertical 31'

W1PID
Very few on 20 meters even though I think the band was in good shape. Stations on 40 were strong ... especially K3RLL and WA8ZBT. I think participation is approaching the lowest I remember. I only operated about 12 minutes. I ran an HB-1A at 4W with a 65 foot wire out a second story window. It's kind of an emergency antenna, but simulates conditions in the field pretty well. Thanks to all for the QSOs.

K3RLL
FT-817 to G5RVjr up 40’ – Nothing heard on 20 or 80 here. Signals sounded weak on 40 tonight, except for K4ORD of course, but appreciate all those who pulled me out of the noise. Nice to contact WB4MNK back in FL from here in rural PA summer home. Tnx to all.

K5JHP
Hoping for better prop condx next month.

Results: July '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-08-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: July '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-08-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

KD2MX

Have not played in a sprint in too many months. Broke out the K1 for a good time. Not much on 20M but did ok on 40M. Could not stay around for the entire two hours though. Ran K1@4W to my zig-zaggy ~600' loop up about 25-30'.

KH6B

Worked WB5BKL on 20 at 0255 utc He was 559 into Hilo HI. His signal was 589 just before the end of the SPRINT. WB5BKL was the only station I could read 0100-0300. Others were heard very weak 0230-0300 with much QSB. I was using my K2 at 5w

and a R5 vertical. Aloha.

WB5BKL

K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M wire delta loop or a 40M extended double Zepp. Called on 10, 15 and 80M but only made QSOs on 20 and 40. Only worked K4BAI on both bands. Also had a QRO QSO, but didn't count that in the total. Final contact was with Hawaii - that was pleasant. No fireworks here due to the fire danger, so it was

a nice end to the 4th. My thanks to all. Had fun.

NQ2W

Went back to the homebrew Ten-Tec 1340 to a 40m inverted vee at 40 feet. This limits me to one band but reduces my weight by a factor of four. All in all, always a lot of satisfaction out of making contacts with a homebrew key, keyer, rig, antenna supports, and antenna. No complaints from this station. Thanks to everyone that made it into my log. Hope to see you all and more next month...maybe I'll have my OHR 100-A for 20 meters done by then.

K4ORD

Started on 20M had 8 qso's there from GA to WA, on 40M where the QRN was rough made 26 qso's with best dx AB0CD in CO. A few stations I was unable to copy in the QRN on 40M, nice to work John, K3WWP in the closing seconds of the sprint. looking forward to next month, tnx to all.

W5FBQ

4 contacts using HW-9 and 1 contact using FT-817 Butternut vertical w/radials.

K4BAI

FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole 40, inverted vee dipole 80. Low bands were very noisy from local thunderstorms. 20M was fair, but needed more activity. 40 signals were strong with no skip zone. Worked two other stations in my state (GA). 80M: worked only N4DU on a QSY from 40M. Hope for more activity next month. Thanks for all QSOs. I will be W4AN in the IARU contest this weekend.

K1YAN

Thunderstorms, about 60 miles away, provided S9+ QRN on 80 and 40, limiting things to 20 meters. Propagation was not great but I managed to add 2 QSOs to my previous total. FT-817 @ 5 watts to a G5RV @ 30 ft.

W1PID

Operated about 20 minutes with HB-1A OCF dipole. Thanks all for the QSOs.

WB4MNK

20 was nice and quite but 40 was noisy so sorry if I was unable to copy you call but maybe next when 40 is not as noise. Had fun and was able to work K3RLL Don in PA who is responsible for getting me interested in this QRP CW stuff.

WD8KRV

Got in for the last 45 minutes on 20 meters. Lots of local QRN due to storms. Worked 1, but heard 3.

K3RLL

Limited time but nice to hear so many familiar calls tonight with pretty good conditions on 40 meters. Nothing heard here on 20 or 80.

K5JHP

K3 TO 20 METER EDZ DIDN'T FIND TOO MANY STATIONS ON. 20 METERS WAS GOOD. 1 CTC ON 40 HERE ON THE TX COAST.

So, what's a Spartan Sprint and how do I play?

2011-08-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Spartan Sprints are two-hour gatherings sponsored by the Adventure Radio Society, held the first Monday of every month.
The Spartan Sprints have a unique, three-faceted focus. They encourage outdoor operation with back country radio gear (if outdoor operation isn't practical, home-based operation is fine). They gather fascinating information about the upper atmosphere, documenting how low power signals can travel long distancs. And they encourage the growth of a like-minded community of amateur radio operator who generously share their knowedge and experiences.

What Time

Eastern	Central	Mountain	Pacific	UTC During Standard Time	UTC During Daylight Time
Start at 9PM End at 11PM	Start at 8PM End at 10 PM	Start at 7PM End at 9 PM	Start at 6PM End at 8PM	Start at 0200 End at 0400	Start at 0100 End at 0300

Which Bands

The bands will be 80 meters, 40 meters, 20 meters, 15 meters and 10 meters. You may operate any number of bands—your choice. Many Spartan Sprint operators gravitate to the QRP CW calling frequencies on these bands.

Equipment and Antennas

Spartan Sprinters use 5 Watts or less. We encourage you to experiment with 1 Watt or less. You will be surprised at how effective these low levels can be, and how much fun QRPp really is. Similarly, we encourage you to experiment with simple wire antennas. And we encourage sprinters to use equpment they built from "scratch," that is equipment built from schematics.

Exchange

Exchange RST, SPC (state, province or country) and power output. If you choose to call CQ, use the format "CQ SP," or "CQ QRP TEST." Give yourself one point for each contact. You can give yourself credit for working the same station on a second, third, or fourth band.

Submit Your Spartan Sprint Log

Use the linked page to log your results for the Spartan Sprint. We are now using streamlined logging system that's a lot more joyful than the spreadsheet we tried during the past 12 months. Try it--you'll like it. SS Log Submission
Check out the Spartan Sprint Results
The results of each month's contest appear roughly a week after the Sprint. You can find results from previous months in the links in the right-hand sidebar of this page.
What are the Rules?
Here they are. Spartan Sprint Rules

Results: June 2011 Spartan Sprint

2011-06-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: June 2011 Spartan Sprint

2011-06-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop. Tried 15m with no luck. Made 12 QSOs on 20M, 7 on 40M and 3 on 80M. Worked N4BP on three bands and four others on two bands. Nice to hear some new (to me) calls - Thanks to all. Had fun.

NQ2W
Ended up going the tubby route this month. Used my Ten-Tec Jupiter at 5 watts with assorted accessories to a mini beam at 25 feet, an inverted vee for 40 meters at 40 feet and a ground mounted homebrew vertical antenna for 80 meters. The money band was 20 meters - I haven't operated 20 meters during a Spartan Sprint in a long time, if ever!!! Made a few Q's on 40 meters - about the same number as when I use my Ten-Tec 1340 homebrew. Was hoping to add some 80 meter Q's to the log but no SP'ers there - maybe next month. Thanks to everyone that participated and thanks to the organizers. The Spartan Sprint always makes for an enjoyable evening. Hope to hear you all next month.

AA5CK
K1 at 5w into wire vertical. Too much fun!. Thanks to all!

AE7CG
Thanks to W5ESE for the QSO!

K1YAN
First Spartan Sprint. Only 5 Qs with a Yaesu FT-817 running 500 mW and a G5RV at 30ft. Lots of QSB on 20 and not many Sprint signals on 40.

W8YMO
Elecraft K3 near Cleveland.

N8WE
N4BP'S 20mtr signal was "BIG"!!! My power was 100 MW to outside dipole 12' high.

K9JWV
Ran 5 watts out of my ATS-4 to a new 43 foot vertical with an autotuner at the base. Condx on 20 were the pits (2 Qs) but 40 kinda started kicking in about an hour into the event but it just wasn't that much fun the first hour with only 12 Qs so I pulled the plug. Great to work Bob, N4BP, on 20 and 40, with the new antenna, especially getting a good report from him on 40!

W1PID
ATS-4 at 4W with an OCF dipole. Band conditions were pretty good. Best DX NK6A in CA and W7OM in WA. Highlight was working Bob N4BP on 3 bands. I miss the old spirit and the participation. Thanks all.

W5ESE
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. 40m was the money band for me this evening. Was disappointed not to hear more activity on 80m. Will also submit my log to ARRL's 'Logbook of the World.'

WB8LZG
Operated 20m fer abt 1/2 hr of the sprint. Vy gud condx with good sigs. Even K1YAN wid 1/2 watt doing FB here in Michigan. I'm a bit on the "tubby" side this month, K2 powered by deep cycle marine battery, and solar charged. Not exactly portable, but getting ready for Field Day.

NK6A
K3 at 5W to a Force 12 and using a new to me Graciella Begalli paddle. A lot of QRN and marginal conditions in So. CA. tonight. A few Candians and one Hawaiian station from the back of the beam.

W5ACM
I started on 20M and stayed there with the exception of a single contact with WB5BKL on 40M and a single contact (once again) with WB5BKL on 80M. Conditions were not great, but acceptable. It was fun making contacts on 20M with NY, WA, CA, CO, OH, FL and LA. The antique vertical was working well and the 170 mAh LiPo cells did great, even with periods of calling CQ. The power output stayed around 3 Watts for the duration.

WT5RZ
Began the night with WB5BKL on 20M and he finished me up on 40M. In between, I had a contact with XE1MW, Carlos of Mexico, who I do not believe knew he was catching a sprinter, but who was nice enough to make the exchange. I hope he comes back and joins us. Lots of noise at my QTH, everything seemed S7 or more, so passed many really faint signals, especially those ganged up in such a narrow range!

WØCH
It's been a while since I've worked the SP, but really enjoyed working the gang tonight. Hope to participate more often in the future.

K4ORD
Worked FL,MN,CA on 20M, then to 40M where I had S7 to S9 QRN,best dx was WA, hope I got everyone that called. Thanks to all.

K6CSL
Surprised with KH6B in Hawaii on 15 meters.

KD6KC
Tough night. 20m yielded 2 contacts, 40m got me another 6, for 8 total. My son has just decided that he is getting married, wonderful news. www.qrz.com/db/kc0wky. He called on the phone and that took about 30 min. out of my time. Still - the bands were rough. I skipped over the stations running 100+ wpm and stuck to the guys around a sedate 15 wpm or so. And I got to work my friend Jim in Utah. Congrats to Ron WT5RZ - he beat me! Thanks to the eight who heard me. Better luck next month, but I will be in Germany with an Alex-Loop. I might give it a try - so listen for me at about 15 wpm.

WB4MNK
Had fun and 20 meters was working real good. Thanks to all that I made contact with and hope to see everyone next month.

NKØE
played for about an hour using my K1 w/internal lithium AAs running about 2W into a half-size G5RV along the side of the house. Used my mouse paddle and logged with GOLog on my Handspring Visor connected to a portable Targus keyboard. This is going to be my setup for FD this year and the Sprint gave me a chance to see how things would work. Condx didn't seem great but if I could hear 'em I could work 'em.

N4BP
20M was outstanding for the first 30 minutes. QRN on 40M is getting potent as we approach summer in the SE, but many signals were well above the noise. Even managed to squeak out a couple of QSOs on 80M. Thanks for the Qs.

Results: May 2011 Spartan Sprint

2011-05-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: May 2011 Spartan Sprint

2011-05-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

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.

Results: April '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-04-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: April '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-04-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Results: March '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-03-11T16:08:00.000-08:00

For an enlarged view, click on the score box.

Soapbox Comments: March '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-03-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

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.

Results: February '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-02-12T10:11:00.001-08:00

Soapbox Comments: February '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-02-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

KBØKFX

I had fun trying my first Spartan Sprint. The bands seemed kind tough and tapered off towards the end. There were a few OPs moving along at blazing code speeds, but was able to return with my super slow straight key. I look forward to giving it a try again.

K5GQ
Called CQ on 40M - did not have anyone answer. Listened on 80 but did not hear anyone.

W5ACM
I could only hear signals on 80M, and it was NOISY! I spent a few minutes prior to the event burnishing the brass contacts on the ultra-thin plywood paddle. It certainly helped for better CW, but if you can't hear them, you can't work them. Thanks to W9CJS and WB5BKL for my TWO contacts. Can it get any worse? The rig was my somewhat tattered ATS-3A with two 200 mAh LiPo batteries and the now ancient 18AVQ vertical. Once again, my ears hurt! Come on 20M, or for that matter, 40M!

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp and a 20M wire delta loop. Made 1 contact on 20M, 8 on 40M and the remainder on 80M. Worked KD9KC on all three bands! Mike must have been just the right distance away this evening. Only worked N4BP and K4BAI on one band - very unusual. I missed a few on 80M but will put the blame on the S7-S8 noise level here. Thanks to all. Had fun.

AE4TC
Enjoyed this one a little more than previous ones. Ran my FT-817 on new rechargeable AA's which lowered the weight but I had to QRT with 30 minutes to go. The 817 was shifting back and forth between 5w and 2.5 w as the voltage was dropping on transmit. 40m was the best band for me with 12 QSO's and a lower than normal noise level. Best DX was W7OM in Wa. with NK6A a close second. K4ORD was my only contact on 80m. 13 QSO's total running a FT-817 5w into a vertical. Thanks!

WA4SQM
40M was THE band here. It was quite active at the beginning of the sprint but I had to interrupt ops for about an hour. When I returned, it was just about dead...talk about bad timing!

K4ORD
Some stations were very strong and some very weak on both 40 and 80M. The QRN level was very low so that helped a lot. Activity was way down this time. Made 6 QSOs on 40M and 11 on 80M. Rig K2 @ 5W, ants were 40 and 160M dipoles. Thanks to all.

NK6A
Used new K3-P3 at 5W to my Force 12C4. All 40M.

W5HNS
40 meters was it for me. With my propagation, signals were mostly weak. Contacts included both coasts, WA,CA and FL, SC. Seven of my contacts answered my CQs. Several callers I missed as they were at ESP levels. I called the other two.

KE4YH
Rig used was SW-40 running 1.5 watts to a loop at 24 feet. I had fun and will try to remember next month. Thanks to NQ2W for trying but no contact.

N4BP
Where was everybody? Quit after a half hour, nobody to work. One QSO on 80M with K6JSS/

, the ARCI 50th Anniversary club station, from MN this week.

K4BAI
Let the time slip up on me this month and only got on for the last five minutes. I'll do better next month.

NQ2W
Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. No real loud signals...except those calling VP8ORK! The stations worked were just above the noise or right in it. There was a KE4 that called me but QSB took him away before we could complete the QSO...hopefully, next time we'll QSO. I heard KD9KC calling CQ once or twice and then he was gone. Heard N4BP down in the QRN but he didn't hear me. All in all, there was enough going on to keep it interesting, challenging, and fun. Thanks to all the participants and thanks to the organizers. I hope to hear you all next month.

K5JHP
Lousy band condx here tonite. Did not hear many stations on at all. Don't know if it was propagation or lack of interest. Band was plagued with deep QSB and seemed to be extra long. Hope for better condx next month.

KD9KC
After a stressful day at work, the Spartan Sprint was just what I needed. My only 20m contact was WB5BKL. After 10 minutes of calling CQ on 20m, I switched to 40m. 40m was the band - worked NK6A, K7TQ, WB5BKL (again), W7OM, KK5NA and W5HNS. At the top of the hour I went to 80m and worked WT5RZ and WB5BKL (again). Called CQ on 20m, 40, and 80m after that with no replies. In the final 15 minutes I heard W9CJS and W5ACM, but neither replied to my calls to them. It was fun.

N4SAM
2w, ATS3/9v battery, antenna delta loop apex 55 feet. One contact on 40, five on 80. Conditions on 80 seemed to be good.

AI4SV
Could barely hear beyond the noise on 40, and 80 was a qsb roller coaster. I tried calling CQ rather than S&P for the first time, so I guess that's something (if nothing else, it speaks of desperation.

WT5RZ
had fun. Hard to hear. KD9KC's DSP unit (from W4RT) allowed him to get a couple of contacts that I could not hear well enough to get all of call sign to try!

W1PID
Man ... that was the roughest spartan sprint ever. Very poor participation and bands were poor with rapid QSB. Nothing on 20 meters. 3 QSOs on 40m. 7 QSOs on 80m. Best DX W7OM in WA on 40. Rig: ATS4 at 3 watts with OCF Dipole. 8 AA batteries at about 11V. Thanks all for the fun.

Results: January '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-01-07T05:46:00.000-08:00

(For enlarged view, click on the Scoreboard image.)

Soapbox Comments: January '11 Spartan Sprint

2011-01-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5 Watts to a 40M extended double-Zepp. Nice to be back after missing the December sprint. Enjoyed working some new calls. TX led the state count, followed by GA - but that might have been due to my extended time on 80M. I only made one contact with a state to the west (AZ - W9CF). Thanks to all. Had fun.

WB4MNK
First time I have played in the ARS sprint. Just getting into QRP and this sprint really helped me. Hope you guy’s didn’t mind a few mistakes from me. I will be listening out for everyone next month.

AE4TC
Got a late start but was able to manage 9 contacts, 4 on 40 and 5 on 80. Using the usual FT817 5w into a ground mounted vertical. Best dx was TX. Thanks to all.

K9FO
Had fun with Flexradio 1500 and laptop. Conditions OK on 40 and 80. 7 out of 16 QSOs in TEXAS! Happy New Year to all. Thanks for having the contest.

KEØG
Elecraft K-3 at 4 watts to 2 switchable dipoles, each 74' long and 50' up. Fed with balanced lines and 2 Johnson Matchboxes. Also made 4 QSO's on 80M with 50' T-top vertical. Thanks to all for the great ears out there. 2 QSO's (40 and 80M) with K4ORD. W5ESE, W5ACM. K4BAI and I QSO'd on 80M, then went to 40M to try it, but no copy either way. Big sigs in MN: W5ACM on 40M; W8SX on 80.

KIØII
First SP in quite a while and only 20 minutes. Had fun.

AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w mostly to OCF dipole but also used the 160m Inv L. Had only an hour to spend. 40 was the most active. 20 Q's there - CA to NH and SC to ID. Nothing very close. The band seemed in good shape but somewhat long. Did not try 20. Not much activity on 80, at least while I was there. Only 3 contacts. Hopefully it picked up later. Noise level was OK on all bands. Thanks to all who stopped by and hope to hear you next month. Thanks to all who do the work to make these fun evenings possible.

WA4SQM
20M was dead here. Propagation to the west was in on 40M but still didn't hear very many stations.

N4BP
Started a half hour late and quickly ran out of sprinters to work on 40M. S9+ noise level on 80M, no signals copyable. Had to quit after 30 minutes.

K4BAI
Again this month, conditions on 40 and 80 were pretty good, but activity is still low compared to past years. Thanks for all QSOs. Happy New Year.

W5ESE
Almost forgot about the Sprint, so had to hurry out to the shack to avoid missing it. I was a tubby this month. The radio was my Ten-Tec Omni 6, and the antenna was a 300' horizontal loop. Good participation this month. Thanks to everyone for the QSOs.

NQ2W
Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40'. Didn't hear much activity...worked the three stations I heard CQing and no one answered my CQs. I submitted a reminder/announcement regarding the Sprint on QRZ.com in an effort to boost participation. From my perspective, it didn't help. Hopefully, other stations benefitted from the announcement. Hope to hear more folks next month.

W5ACM
Bounced between 40M and 80M with some periods of "rig off" to conserve batteries. Conditions were poor all over, but at least the noise level dropped as the night wore on and eight contacts were logged! The rig was my somewhat tattered ATS-3A with two 200 mAh LiPo batteries and the now ancient 18AVQ vertical. A few new calls were logged, like K9FO and WB5BKL. KE0G was contacted on both 40M and 80M. Once again, my ears hurt! Come on 20M!

W9CF
I was testing my newly built ATS-4a on 40m running about 5W when I heard CQ SP. I looked up the rules to make sure I knew the exchange and made 2 contacts. Afterward I weighed everything. The W5JH baby black widow paddle, 12V switching power supply, and their cables really added to the weight.

W5HNS
40m was the band for me. Heard nothing on the other bands. Heard only one sig west of me and that was KI0II. I am in San Antonio. Strongest sig was AB9CA followed by John K4BAI. John tried to tell me something after the exchange but deep QSB took him out right then.

WA5BUC
This is my best Spartan Sprint ever. Slow start, but things picked up. K5JHP, KI0II, N4BP, K4LY and WB4MNK on 40. K5JHP, KE0G, W5ESE, and WB5BKL on 80. Rig: FT-817ND running 5 watts to a 100' end fed wire. Best wishes for 2011 to all.

K4ORD
Conditions here were pretty good with low noise on both 40 and 80M .made 5 qso's on 40M and 20 on 80M. Best dx was K6DGW in CA on 40M. Checked 20M several times but heard nothing. Rig K2 @ 5W and 160 and 40M dipoles. Thanks to all and HNY.

KB2FCV
I orignally tried firing up my little Rockmite on 40 meters around 9 p.m. EST but there was no activity whatsoever. Since I don't own anything small and lightweight for other bands, I used my Icom 746 with the power all the way down to 5w on 80 meters and made about 5 QSOs in the last 15 minutes. This is my first try at this Sprint. I'll plan on getting on earlier to try to catch some 40m activity with my Rockmite. Down the road I'll build a KX1 which is replacing my K2 (now sold). I think I have a Pixie II for 80m somewhere which I may try to find and put on the air next month since all of the activity I heard was on 80. This is definitely fun!

AJ4MJ
First time. My “spartan” rig was 40M only – band was too noisy. Switched to my “tubby” and worked 80M. Great fun!

K5JHP
Fair night, I suppose, but not too many stations on. 4 contacts on 80 meters and 12 on 40. 20 meters was void here in South Texas. Hope for better prop next month.

Results: December '10 Spartan Sprint

2010-12-10T06:10:00.001-08:00

For an enlarged view, click on the scoreboard image

Soapbox Comments: December '10 Spartan Sprint

2010-12-10T06:10:00.000-08:00

AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to the OCF 80m dipole. Condx seemed to be fairly good. Worked 11 stations and 8 SPC's on 40 then 18 stations and 11 SPC's 80. Had only an hour and spent about 30 minutes on each band. On 40 worked from CA to NH and on 80 managed to work K7TQ in ID for the best DX there. Thanks to everyone that stopped by. Was a fun hour. Hope to hear ya'all next month!

WA8MTI
My third sprint. This time @ 2.5 watts with the internal batteries on the FT-817nd. Still had over 9V after the two hours. 20 was dead and 40 was pretty quiet here so only worked 80. Tried a couple times on 40 but no results. Thanks to those good ears who picked me out of the noise. Thanks ARS for putting this on.

W1PID
Not a lot of stations heard. I operated for five minutes. Ran 5 watts to an OCF dipole. Stations worked: K4ORD, AB9CA, C6AKQ (all on 40) and W4VVH (on 80). Thanks, guys.

C6AKQ (N4BP)
What a wild ride! 40M was hot to Europe. With 5W worked UR, UA, DL, EI, F, SP, OE, 9A, and UA2 in that order. Also worked a handful of regular Spartan Sprinters with super signals. When I went to 80M at 10:15 local, worked three stations in short order and then nothing for fifteen minutes. Wrapped it up at 10:30.Rig: K3 @ 5W. Antennas: 40M dipole @ 80ft, 80M dipole @ 100ft.

KB7MBI
As always it was very enjoyable and loved the challenge. Station was Ten Tec Paragon II @ 5W with GAP Titan Vertical. Contacts on 40 and 80m only.

W5ESE
40m was long, but 80m was excellent. Good participation this month. AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. Will submit my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. Merry Christmas and all the best in 2011 to all the Adventure Radio folks.

NQ2W
Used my Ten Tec 1340 to the inverted vee at 40 feet. C6AKQ was loud for long time. Worked three TX stations, one each in LA and NC. Not a lot of activity on 40 meters. Used my new homebrew paddle and CMOS-4 keyer that I built a few weeks ago. Everything, except the power supply, I'm using for the Spartan Sprint is homebrew from scratch (paddle, antenna, and antenna supports) or from a kit (transceiver and keyer). Quite a reward to QSO with stations on homebrewed equipment. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Happy holidays and hope to see you all next year!

K4BAI
Hard to find the link for log submission this month. 20 seemed dead at the beginning, so started on 40. It seemed long. NG7Z in WA was rocking there. Surprised to work W4VHH in NC and N5GW in MS and KD9KC in TX. Heard several more on 40 that I couldn't work including stations in TX, NQ2W, and K4ORD. Somebody within my skip zone was getting a lot of calls, but I didn't get many answers to CQs. After about 24 minutes, I went to 80. 80 conditions were pretty good, but activity was low. Was able to work NV1B in ME and NG7Z in WA on 80, as well as WI, MI, OH, NY, MO, many in TX and stations in the Southeast. Thanks for all QSOs and let's get out more activity next month! Happy Holidays to all.

AI4SV
A 4x improvement over last time. See, it pays to start off poorly!

W5ACM
I was dismayed by conditions on 20M and 40M. Yes, there were a few stations on 40M that I noted prior to the event, but it looked like 80M was going to be the band of preference. It was. My ears hurt. My seriously depressed LiPo batteries hurt. However, December was a LOT better than November! Thanks to AB9CA, K4BAI, W4VHH, AE8M, W5ESE, N5GW and W0CH, I survived then QRN and at least got 7 on 80! I really need to do a little tuning on the dot side of the key paddle though. My "fist" was terrible for the duration. I operated in the ARRL 160M contest last weekend running 3W as W5MSQ (one of several operators). I was amazed at what a full-size, resonant antenna can do, even with QRP, but we were in a rural area with plenty of space. That would be SOOOO nice on 80M at my house!! C U next month! Gear: ATS-3A and antique vertical.

N4KGL
One contact on 40 and five on 80. Rig was the Sierra 2w on 40 and 1w on 80 to doublet. Batteries were AAAs. I worked PA on 80 for 842 miles per watt. I could have been better on 40!

WA2OQJ
Yaesu FT-817nd @ 5 watts 80 meter dipole @ 25' - Lower bands here have been terrible the last couple of weeks...40 has been sounding more like 10 meters! Weird conditions tonight, heard some very light CQ SP's on 40 but by the time I would attempt to zero beat they were lost in the noise! C6AKQ was the exception...Wow! the "Baked Potato" was slamming in here a solid 599! Tnx Bob for the contact! went to 80 and same kind of strange conditions K4ORD was solid 599 when I called but when he gave his info it was all I could do to copy him in the noise..I called John K4BAI and heard nothing in response, waited then tuned away and as I passed back I swore I heard my call and was surprised to hear it was John calling! No big numbers but was happy to work all my 3 contacts and was fun to snag the Bahamas on 40!

NG7Z
Boy that was tuff going tonight. Not nearly as good conditions as last month. Only nine Q's on 40 and nine on 80. Exited 40M around 0230Z. First Q on 80M was at 0245 with K4ORD with a nice signal. Only three contacts during 0300Z to 0400Z. Searched and CQ'd the whole time. Very slim pickings. Best DX was NV1B in ME on 80M. Loudest signal was AE8M in OH also on 80M. K4BAI took me by surprise right at the start. I didn't expect a call on my first CQ! 72 all and thanks for the Q's.

K4ORD
Conditions were poor on both 40 & 80, some signals were strong and others were very weak. Made 6 qso's on 40M and 14 on 80M. Best dx was NG7Z WA on 80M, heard Randy K7TQ but unable to get him to hear me. Rig K2@5W ants were 40 & 160M dipoles. Thanks for all the QSOs.

K5JHP
Really bad condx tonight. QSB really bad. CU next year.

KD9KC
40m started off OK, but kind of ran out within 30 minutes. 80m was a struggle from the start. Thanks to those who slowed down for me, it really helped in the noise. Worked Ron - WT5RZ, he was the new ham that sat at my station a few months ago and watched me work the sprint. I picked up a tiny little straight key on the E-place, hope to shave a few more ounces off the weight. We will see.

WA5BUC
Changed out my antenna. Now using a 100' end-fed wire. C6AKQ on 40. N5GW, AB9CA, and W5ESE on 80. Will be glad when the website is finished. Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for 2011.

K6DGW
Disappointing turnout when 40 and 80 are really getting good. Did work Jim at C6. The QRP crowd really needs to settle on a frequency center on each band. 7030 and/or 7040, and likewise on 80 is not great. There's a lot of newer digital stuff just above 7030, strong here on the frontier. Calling CQ "SS", I had one guy tell me "Sweeps was last month." Is it SS or SP? (It's SP - Editor)

K3RLL
Where was everyone tonight? After a little flurry of activity on 40, it went empty as all the power ops went to 80. But even down on 80, I only heard a few participants. Must be all this cold weather here in FL. My antenna must be frozen.

Results: November '10 Spartan Sprint

2010-11-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

Click on the score boxes for a sharper view.

Soapbox Comments: November '10 Spartan Sprint

2010-11-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

AI4SV
Just caught a CQ at the end of the Sprint and decided to look up the rules. Seems like fun.

KF6U
Rig: Hendricks PFR-3, Ant: 180 ft Horz Delta Loop at 30 ft. 20 M was dead. 40 was ok for a short while, then faded away. Still had fun and thanks to you folks who hang in there!

W5ACM
The heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A are still hanging in there! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to the lowest number of contacts yet for me during a Spartan Sprint. With poor band conditions and a storm just to the north, I barely completed THREE contacts on 40M and 80M combined. Can it get any worse? I doubt it! Come on December!

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W and 20M delta loop or 40M extended double Zepp. Only 1 on 20M (lost K7TQ in a deep fade) and 3 on 40M. Just got going on 80M when a t-storm developed to my NW. Radar showed it moving SE, so I pulled the plug and disconnected everything. One lightning strike taught me a lesson. At least my Monday night was better than the Texas Rangers'... Had fun.

W6GMT
Rig: Icom 703 @ 5w. 40 meters only. 6 Contacts

KG4GVL
Had a blast, made my first contact with my RockMite 80, can't wait for winter!

W9CJS
Bands were terrible but had fun anyway

K7TQ
A good 1st hour on 40. Didn't hear anything on 20. After beginning of second hour, 40 was not so good so I went to 80. Got Paul, NG7Z, but that was all. See you next time around.

W5ESE
The band was long tonight. Used my AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. Good to work a few folks I hadn't contacted before in the Sprint. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World. My ears still hurt from the QRN on 80 meters.

AE4TC
FT817 @ 5w, ground mounted vertical. Was able to reduce weight this sprint with a new portable battery. 13 QSOs on 40m and 2 on 80m.

NK6A
Playing with computer logging and new K3.

W8YMO
Elecraft K3 @ 5 Watts. Harry, near Cleveland, OH.

N8WE
No sigs heard on 20. WA8ZBT had best signal here in Centerville, OH.

AB9CA
Rig was the old IC707 cranked back to 5w. Ant was the usual OCF 80m dp at about 40'. Got a late start - first Q not until 0124z. Either the bands were real crummy or the participation was light. Total of only 16 Q's. Never heard anyone on 20. 40 was the 'workhorse' with 13 Q's but heard very few calling there. Indeed when I first scanned the band heard no one. Did hear a few later on - pretty sure I heard Randy, K7TQ, but due to condx never made contact. The band did seem to be long with stations in CA (2), WA (2), NY and NH coming in fairly well. 80 was very noisy with quick QSB that sucked out parts of characters, only 3 contacts there. Isn't this the time of year when 80 should be getting quiet? Despite the noise John, K4BAI, who is about 200 miles away, was armchair copy ever time I went by him. A total of about 45 minutes tonight, too many other things going on. Last Q was at 0209z. Still a fun evening. We'll hope for better condx next month.

W1PID
I ran the DSW-80 at 2 watts on 80 meters with an OCF dipole. Highlight was working AA1TJ in VT who was running 75mw! Later in the Sprint 80 fell off and 40 came alive in waves. I worked 3 more stations with the K2, but didn't count them in the log because of the weight issues. Thanks to all.

K4BAI
I was tired after CQ WW SSB over the weekend and forgot about the Spartan Sprint until the first half hour had passed. By the time I was QRV, there were no SP signals on 20 and almost none on 40. I heard, but did not work, KD2MX and K5JHP on 40 and did work QRO station WA3FAE. No answers to CQs on that band. So, the rest of the time was on 80M, where I found only 15 stations to work. Band was in pretty good shape with four stations from TX, one each from IL, WV, and PA and the rest from the fourth call area. Hope for more activity next month. Look for me (with KU8E, K9YC, and N3ZZ) to be QRV from the new DXCC entity of Bonaire Nov 23-30 using PJ4/home calls and in the CQ WW CW contest using PJ4A.

NQ2W
Using my Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 ft. Seemed like quite a bit of activity at first - heard W7OM but couldn't work him - hoped to hear him later but didn't. Some stations answered my CQ - some I was able to work - some I couldn't pick out of the QRN - hopefully, we'll connect in future events. Thanks to all the participants and thanks to the organizers. I'm looking forward to next month.

KB7MBI
Ten Tec Paragon II, 5w, GAP Titan vertical and managed contacts on 80,40,20,15 and 10m. Heard many East Coast stations coming in strong but unable to work them.

W2MFT
My first Spartan Sprint. Had fun with FT817 and delta loop.

N4KGL
This time I got my weight down by 0.64 lbs by using AAAs and ear buds. On 40 I worked MD, NY, VA, OH and MA. MA was the furthest for 1,160 mi or 580 mi per watt. On 80 I worked 2 X GA and the furthest was 261 miles for 261 mi per watt. The rig was the Sierra with 2 watts on 40 and 1 watt on 80 and a 135 foot doublet antenna. Lots of QRP fun!

NG7Z
Where was everyone? Must have been tough condx all around. Surprised to get anyone on 20M but raised five there. The rest were on 40M. Worked Alan, KB7MBI, all bands except 160M. Thanks Alan! He must have thought I was crazy moving him around like that. But hey, ya gotta do whatcha gotta do for qso's!

WA5BUC
Reconfigured my 20 meter EFHWA to a 40 meter vertical. With the FT-817 at 5w, worked K5JHP, K5GQ, and

K6CSL
I hate to say it, my XYL was keeping track of the World Series Baseball game. I heard a big whoop when Rentaria of the SF Giants hit that 3 run homer in the top of the 7th inning and that ended my attention to the radio for tonight. TNX to K2ZU up in WA for my one QSO on 40 this evening. I listened for a few minutes on 20 and it sounded dead at the start of the Sprint, so I went to 40. See you all next month.

K4ORD
40M seemed long, able to get WA easy but TX was hard, could not get 2 stations in TX to hear me. There was very little qrn on 40 & 80. made 6 qso's on 40M and 15 on 80M. Rig K2@5W, ant's were 40M & 80M dipoles. Thanks for all the qso's.

KD5GM
I had a good time working the 40 meter band and was surprised that I actually made a contact on the B&W-65, running 5 watts out.

K5JHP
Noise on bands was unbelievable. Almost no signals heard. Could copy some stations for a partial transmission then they would fade out. Sorry to those stations that I couldn't copy enough to qso. Maybe next month.

Results: October '10 Spartan Sprint

2010-10-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: October '10 Spartan Sprint

2010-10-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

W8YMO
K3 @ 5 watts. Near Cleveland, OH.

WA4SQM
This was the black hole of Sprints! I heard ZERO activity on 20M and 40M was not a lot better here. The stations I did hear I could not raise, and QSB was significant. At first I thought I had radio or antenna issues, but I tried switching around all the gear and experienced the same results. Well... there's always next month!

AE6N
This was the first time I have operated the Sprint for a couple years. All contacts were on 40 meters. The band was very noisEy here in Arizona.

N4KGL
Rig: Sierra 2W on 40 mtr, 1W on 80 mtr Antenna: Doublet. Power 11 AA cells. This was my first Spartan. I enjoyed the QRP to QRP contacts.

K4BAI
FT1-MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. I was determined to participate this month despite cataract surgery on my "good eye" Monday morning. I have distoted vision in the other eye due to macular degeneration. I set up the program early and failed to check the comuter keying. When the contest period started, I discovered the computer wouldn't key the rig. This has happened once before, but I don't know why. After the first QSO, I rebooted the computer, but that didn't help, so I used my keyer and paddle for the entire two hours. 20M was open from CO west and north, but WG0AT was the only strong Sprinter heard. K7TQ was solid copy. I called a few other western stations without success and changed to 40M. 40M seemed very good, little noise, and little QRM. But there didn't seem to be the usual activity level and the skip zone was out as far as VA. West coast signals, particularly W7OM, were strong. I took off three minutes at 02Z for a state traffic net and tried 80M after the net. 80M w as also quiet with good signals out to TX, VA and IN, but noting from the ME. See you next month.

WB8LZG
Used the Big Rig tonight with the power turned down, to dipole @ 30ft. Had the K2 on the bench for recal. 20m was dead hr in Mich. at start of the sprint. 40m was vy noisy, es vy hard to pull some out of the mud. went to 80 es grabbed a couple Q's but didnt hr alot of activity. pulled the plug after an hr. see u all next time.

VE3MO
Wow, conditions were rough last night. I was receiving better signal reports then I was giving which makes me wonder if my QRN is locaL. 80m was my producing band but I was using a wire sloper cut for 20m and 40m to receive on and my windom, up 40 feet, to transmit on. Thanks to those who were persistent enough to stick with me.

KB2FEL
Ft817 set at 1w into a G5RV up about 55ft. I had a geat time and thanks for the event.

NG7Z
Well, another sprint is in the books. I finally broke the 30 Q barrier tonight. I started out on 20M and picked up five before the band died. Moved to 40M at 0110 and stayed there until the end. 40M was pretty busy up until 0200 and then things slowed WAY down. Thanks to Randy, K7TQ, for the only Q on 80M. Got two band contacts with K7HBN, W5ACM and WA5BKL. Texas was very well represented. See y'all next month.

KD0GAF
My first Sprint. Only managed two contacts in the short time I was able to play, but had a good time dragging out the PFR-3. I'll do better next month.

W5ACM
One more time with the heavily used pair of 3.7 VDC, 200 mAh LiPo batteries on my ATS-3A! They did well for the whole event, but that's probably due to fewer contacts and judicious "CQ-ing". I was hoping for some time on 20M, but conditions only allowed one QSO with NG7Z up there. The majority of the QSOs were on 40M with lots of familiar calls like N4BP, AB9CA, K4BAI and W5ESE. The noise on 80M was terrible, but I did manage three QSOs before I ran back to 40M for a final QSO with K3RLL. This was a tough one. I am hoping for better conditions in November. Perhaps the LiPo batteries will go yet another month. We'll give it a try! The old vertical is doing fine, and the rebuilt micro-thin-plywood keyer paddle is holding up well. The weight varies from month to month due to the number of bands I operate. Three bands means three daughter boards, thus more weight.

K6CSL
My station is Tubby, home station on commercial power. A Yaesu FT-450 running 5W output to 1 of 3 antennas. A Delta Loop, an Indoor- end-fed, coaxial dipole that is mounted on the center ceiling beam of my mobile home. An Indoor Horizontal Square Loop 12ft on each side, mounted in the ceiling of my radio room. I live in a mobile home park that allows no visible antennas.

KF6U
Rig is Hendricks PFR-3A running 3W out with internal batteries. Antenna 180 ft horizontal delta loop at 30 ft. Worked 40 meters only. Experienced a lot of QSB, and band went long during last 30 min. Enjoyed the sprint and thanks to all who participated.

K3RLL
Conditions sounded better this evening so even though my time was limited, it was nice to make some contacts. Many thanks to those who pulled me out of the noise tonight.

AB9CA
Rig was K2 at 5w to OCF 80m dp. Condx didn't seem to be too bad but weren't all that good either. Made no contacts on 20. Stayed there only a short time. Thought 20 might be weak when I could barely hear W1AW's Kw signal. Made 26 contacts on 40 and 9 on 80. Was a good evening despite the QSB. The noise seemed to be down a bit. Maybe winter condx will soon be here. The QSB made for especially tough copy of a couple of Q's - KD1JV being one of those. Sorry, Steve, but parts of your call kept getting sucked out every time - but we eventually made it. Thanks to everyone who stopped by - and for all the fills - and especially to those who do the work to make these sprints possible. Hope to hear you next month!

K5JHP
Someone turned off 20 after 10 minutes. 40 and 80 were good except for the QSB and noise here on the coast. Let's hope for less noise next month!

K7HBN
I used a Ten Tec R4020 on alkaline batteries, and I sent 5 watts as my power, but I think it was actually between 3 and 4 watts.

N4BP
In spite of working with our power company for months, my power line noise is about as bad as it's ever been. Apologies to those I could not copy tonight who were lost in the noise. Rig: K3. Antennas: A4S, 40/80 Trap Dipole.

WA5BUC
Went with my RockMight 20 tonight to keep the weight down. Heard some activity at the start. W5ESE. Guess the event starts too late for 20 to do much before it folds. Turned on my FT-817 to confirm the band was dead at about 0140Z. Let's see what next month brings.

N8WE
AB9CA was the best signal. N4BP, K5JHP, W5SNI, K3RLL, and tried hard to get KD1JV!

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w to a 20M delta loop or a 40M extended double Zepp. My QSOs were roughly evenly split between 20, 40 and 80M. Nothing heard here on 15M. I had hopes of working several on all three bands, but no joy. Best signals: on 20M - K7TQ, on 40M - AB9CA and on 80M - W5ESE (full disclosure: Scott is pretty darn close). It was nice to hear several 1W signals. Had fun.

W5ESE
Had fun in the Spartan Sprint. First time back on the Sprint since June. Used an AT Sprint 3 and a 300' horizontal loop fed with open wire ladder line. 80m was the money band for me. Submitted my log to the ARRL's Logbook of the World.

AE4TC
Had a good time. Thanks to all who pulled me out of the noise. 20m was a disappointment, didn't hear a peep. Managed 13 contacts. 8 on 40m and 5 on 80m. Rig was a FT817, 5w into a ground mounted vertical.

NQ2W
Used my TenTec 1340 to the inverted vee at 40 feet. The band was in and out and short and long. N4BP and K4BAI were not as loud as usual. AB9CA was strong. Worked IN and TX. Heard W7OM - was loud - and then was gone. Thanks to everyone for the Q's and thanks to the organizers. Please listen for me during the NYQP - CU then or next month.

W1PID
I got home late from work and operated for 8 minutes and worked 6 stations on 40 meters. I haven't missed a Spartan Sprint in at least 10 years! Thanks all.

WA5RML
FT-817nd @5wts + 80/40M dipole; First Spartan Sprint in almost a year. Could only get on for the last 30 minutes – probably the worst time slot! Band conditions seemed to be very poor. At first, I was wondering whether I’d missed the event completely. I still managed to snag AB9CA (Dave), NG7Z (Paul), NQ2W (Tony?), and WB5BKL (Nick). Alabama, Washington, New York, and Texas in that order – go figure. Thanks, guys, for digging my signal out of the noise!

Results: September 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-09-10T17:40:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: September Spartan Sprint

2010-09-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

KB5JO
K2 @ 5 watts to an 88-foot doublet.

WA5BUC
Was limited to 20 meters tonight. Seemed like a lot of QRN. Glad for the 3 Q's.

KØNWT
Home tonight on the G5RV. I heard NK6A in CA from GA tonight, but he couldn't hear my 5W. I did get to connect with NG7Z in WA on 2 bands.

K5JHP
Using K3 to a TA33jr for 20 and a 20 meter EDZ for 40 and 80. 20 yielded good results for the first half hour, 11 ctcs, with 10 on 40 and 2 on 80. All in all a fair night. Be back next month.

AB9CA
Rig was an old Icom IC-707 dialed back to 5w. Antenna was usual OCF 80m dp. Most of the activity seemed to be on 40. Tried 20 early but only 1 Q there. Did get 3 Q's on 80 late in the 'test - the rest were on 40. Lots of noise here with all the tropical activity. Know I missed a few that I just could not pull out. Total time was about a hour with a break or two in there. Thanks to all who stopped by and we'll look for you next month. Thanks to the guys who do the work to make it possible. Always a fun event!

WØLGU
Good conditions and great fun. A brief thunderstorm added to the adventure.

WA2OQJ
Yaesu Ft-817 @ various power levels - 1 QSO @ 500mw, 1 QSO @ 1 watt 3 QSO's @ 5 watts....Ant: 80 mtr Dipole laying on the roof...My 1st go at a Spartan Sprint, didnt even venture near 20 meters, 40 had most action that I could find although after some really great milliwatt success this past 2 weeks, I couldnt seem to buy at a contact at QRPp levels tonight (finally snagged W2SH/1 on 80 for my mw Q!) now that I have one under my belt I'll be back to actually produce a score next time!

K6DGW
Labor Day, didn't expect a huge amount of activity, but was somewhat surprised. 9 states. KX1 [w/tuner and 30m] and paddle with Li-Poly 800 mAh battery, ear buds. Half and half, 40 and 20.

NG7Z
Finally had a chance to do the sprint after many months. Started off SO2R on 20M and 40M but only one Q on 40. The rest were on 20M so stayed there for the first half hour then went to 40M. That yielded 16 contacts. CQ'd on 40 and 80 and picked up 2 on 80 until the end. Had several 2 band contacts and WA8ZBT on 3 bands. Didn't hear N4BP which was surprising. Usually Bob is an easy Q on 20 and 40. Nice to work familiar calls again. 80 should be better in October. CU next time.

KD9KC
Where to begin. Certainly not my best Spartan Sprint effort. I had a visitor in the shack, Ron - WT5RZ. Ron is a relatively new ham, has a Yaesu FT-817, and has never tried a CW contest, or even tried CW for that matter. Ron came by especially to watch me work the Spartan Sprint. Why he asked me to show him CW I don't know ... We spent as much time chatting as we did anything else. I did work 5 stations. I ran the whole contest at 2.5 watts. Usually I swap batteries in the middle of the sprint. I wanted to see if I could go the whole 2 hours on 1 battery. I did, but I am not sure it was a real test with only 5 contacts and a few CQs. As 15m was dead here, I started on 20m. First was N7TQ in Idaho, then KG7Z in Washington state, and last on 20m was AF4O who answered my CQ. I tried several more CQs on 20m with no luck, so I jumped to 40m. On 40m I worked W5HNS near San Antonio and WA8ZBT near Dallas, both Texans. . With about 30 minutes to go Ron and I looked at 80m, but didn't make any contacts. It was just too noisy. So we just chatted a little more. I either need to do this more often, or not at all.

W1PID
I operated about a half hour with an IC-7000 at 5W and an OCF dipole. Best DX was NK6A on 20M. Thanks all.

K4BAI
All three bands seemed to be in good condition. Activity was only fair on 20M, pretty good on 40, and almost NIL on 80. Did work K0NWT and K4ORD on 80. Thanks for all QSOs.

K4UPG
This was my second Sprint and the bands were much better. Due to rain I setup a portable station on my porch and ran my Sierra to a 44" doublet with peak at 20 ft and ends at 16.5 ft thanks to new Black Widow Crappie poles. It tuned up well and I was amazed to be hearing Eu stations on 40m again! Great to hear the ionosphere still has some bounce left in it! Did not make too many contacts but had fun reading the mail and listening to the various qso's from MI and some other contest that seemed to be going on at the same time. Worked 6 states last night but heard about about 10 Eu stations, 4 VE's and some Latin American SSB activity too. Fun way to spend the night.

NI8N
What a cool way to check out a new antenna. I ran a K3 at 5 watts into a new 40 meter delta loop. By plotting the sections worked, I could see where the main lobes were.

WA4SQM
Started on 20M but the band seemed to go pretty quick here. 40M was defintely the best band for last night. Running a little less than 2W, I was amazed at the great ears of the OP's, particularly W7OM -Atlanta to Seattle on that power on 40M is amazing! Thanks also to the patience of several stations, including W5HNS. The noise that my dogs can generate can really be distracting and it always seems to happen when I am on the air.

N4UN
ATS-3A at 5 W, Vertical Loop and OCF Dipole. LiPo battery pack, KX1 paddle, and ear buds. 20m was in better shape this month. 40m was very active, but not many SP stations heard. Only one Q on 80m, lots of QRN here. Nice signals from WA, AB, and CA on 20m. Thanks to all.

AI3G
Another fun sprint. KX1 @ 3 watts, longwire antenna indoors. Will try again next month.

W5ACM
The 200 mAh LiPo batteries in the ATS-3A are starting to fade! One cell was dropping fast just 20 minutes prior to the end of the event. I had to shut down completely 15 minutes early, but still had a great time. Twenty Meters tried to cooperate, and it was fun. However, 40M wasn’t bad and easily provided 10 of my 14 contacts. It was great to work W5HNS who recently moved out of Houston, and also WG0AT up in CO. There were lots of familiar callsigns and a few new ones – excellent! The old vertical is still doing well, but it looks like new batteries will be needed before next month.

NQ2W
Used my Ten Tec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. Seems to be working okay. Pretty happy with the results and some stations actually answered my CQ SP. Thanks to everyone that participated and thanks to the organizers. Hope to see you all next month.

W4NJK
Most fun was when NY then MN responded to my CQSP. Antenna: 40M Half SQ wire ~25 feet.

AF40
My nearby field site is nice except got another visit from PD. Not a bad thing just a tad unnerving. Evidentially this is a place on a routine patrol because it was about the same time as the last visit. No big deal though, after i explain the unusual nature of what I'm doing this one said "carry on." 20 was closing down but held long enough to make a few contacts. 40 was good but the usual crowding and summer crashes. My pneumatic launcher made from an old fire extinguisher, metal pipe fittings and a pvc barrel proved to work well especially spraying wd40 down the barrel. Cleared an approx 100' tree trailing the #20 wire directly into the tree. This made for a nice 100' vertical with 5 radials thrown on the ground. I use a pvc capsule for the ammo. Fun to hear everyone. Cooler months coming and im ready for them. Been a long hot summer here.

KS4L
Using my new K3 at 5w into 80m inverted vee at 45'. Only had 45 minutes, but enjoyed 40m with moderate noise level and got 10 contacts there, then 80m with high noise and weak signals for 3 more contacts.

WB5BKL
K1 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + 20m delta loop. All but three of my Qs were on 20M. The K1 does not match the 40M extended double Zepp well. However, even with the big miss-match, I did get W0LGU, K4BAI and WA7OJY on both bands. This is also my first non-tubby submission. Note to self: Motorcycle batteries are heavy! Had fun.

K4ORD
Activity was much better than August made 9 qso's on 20M, 27 on 40M and 2 on 80M. 20M was pretty good, 40M had lots of qrn up to S9, 80M had heavy qrn. Rig K2@ 5W ant's were 40M and 160M dipoles and 20M wire vee. Hope to see everyone next month.

K7TQ
20 m was good for most of the time, even late, but few takers after 0130 Z. I even got an 80 m QSO.

Results: August 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-08-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

For an enlarged view, click on the images.

Soapbox Comments: August 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-08-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

K6DGW
I'm tubby, K2+SLA battery on our deck. 9 on 20, 4 on 40, had to QRT about 30min early.

K5JHP
Boy the bands were in terrible shape. Must have been the solar event of several days ago. Looking fwd to next month, without the solar activity.

KØNWT
FT-450AT at home in the AC into a g5rv running 5 watts. Lots of noise tonight, but still fun! Good to hear John K4BAI again. ThankS!

KB1PBA
Very bad QRM on 40m.

K6CSL
Beginning 20 was lively but very noisey. K7TQ had a big, big signal on 40. CU all again next month. Bert, K6CSL PS: My station is Tubby, but runs 5W.

WA5BUC
Good to work K4BAI, K5JHP, W4VAB, N4UN, WA9TZE, N5GW, & NQ2W. Also heard K5GQ but couldn't connect. Let's see what September brings.

AE7CG
Worked Andy, W5ACM in Houston, TX and Gene, N5GW in Vicksburg, MS. So nice that QRP operators listen for QRP signals!

NQ2W
Rig used this month was a TenTec 1340 to an inverted vee at 40 feet. The last few times I used this rig I didn't make any contacts so I re-aligned it. My efforts paid off as I was able to work each station I heard. Unfortunately, the 40m band conditions here weren't that great. Thanks to everyone that heard me and thanks to the organizers. Hope to CU in the NAQP and next month during the SP.

K4BAI
20M was open at the start, but no one answered my CQs on that band and the two stations I could hear, K6DGW and NU7T couldn't hear me calling them. After ten minutes, I went to 40, which seemed OK, but activity was down. 19 QSOs on 40 . I could hear and work stations as close as TN. Best DX on 40 was K7TQ in ID and VE3MO. Best signal on 40 and 80 was WA9TZE, but Jim was chirpy. 80M was a pleasant surprise with 13 QSOs. Pretty good for August. Best DX on 80 was W2JEK in NJ and WB5BKL in TX. Rig: FT1000MP at 5W, WM-2 watt meter, 88' CF zepp, 40M dipole, 80M inverted vee dipole. Hope for more activity and therefore more fun next month. And hope to work you all in NAQP CW this Saturday.

W1PID
20 meters was long at the very beginning of the sprint. I worked K7TQ in ID, NU7T in NV, K6DGW in CA and W7OM in WA in the first ten minutes of the sprint. Periodically the band went dead. It went long in several waves during the next hour. I quit after about 40 minutes, but listened on an hour for another half hour. I ran the FT-817 and an OCF dipole. Thanks for all the QSOs.

N1VWD
I have been away for a while, good to be back, I had a good time. IC-703+ @ 5W into a Windom at about 35 feet.

N4UN
KX1 at 4 W into an OCF dipole at 25 feet. External AA battery pack, Palm mini paddle, and ear buds. Started off on 20m with no luck. Did hear K6DGW and NU7T, but they could not copy me. On to 40m for a few contacts, but lots of QSB. Stayed too long on 20 and 40 searching. On 80m there was lots of activity. Better luck here even with 4 watts; surprising to me. Thanks much to all.

WA4SQM
20M band was pretty quiet here. 40M was typically noisy with summertime static.

K6APW
Weak propagation. Heard several participants on 20 and 40 meters but almost buried by QRN.

N5GW
K1 with paddlette on battery to hb tuner and cfz. Too hot for outdoors (heat index 107).

W5ACM
Band conditions were not quite as reasonable for the sprint this month compared to July. The QSB on 20M was a bit difficult, but I got nine contacts before moving down to 40M. The ATS-3A continues to perform well. The two 200-maH LiPo's were charged after the July sprint and then again just before the start time for the August event, and held up with no problems, even with a fair amount of CQ ops. Unlike last month, the conditions on 40M were not as good as expected, but when I moved to 80M, I could only make one contact with K4BAI before the noise level got to me. It was an exciting Spartan Sprint! Three contacts were with stations running less than three Watts, including KI6J at one Watt and AE7CG and WA4SQM at two Watts. Nice!

W8YMO
Elecraft K3 near Cleveland, OH.

WA9TZE
5W to Kenwood TS-870 to a 3 el beam at 50 feet. Enjoyed getting back in the Sprints again. 20M, had 9 QSOs AND 6 states. And on 40m had 19 QSOs and 13 states. 80M had a lot of QRN due to approaching storms, but got 10 QSOs and 8 states. See you next month.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + 20m delta loop. Worked a few new (to me) calls and got WA9TZE on three bands. Though most of my Qs were on 20m, it seemed pretty tough to me. Had fun.

KD2MX
Got off to a quick start on 20M as the band was long. Worked NU7T, K7TQ, K5JHP & N5GW in quick succession. K6DGW was very loud here but he didn't have a clue that I was there. Tried for a good while to work him and then the band dropped out. Nothing heard on 40M. Tried some CQs to no avail. Just used my FT-897 @5watts into the home big loop.

AE4TC
This was a challenging sprint for me. I felt like my ears were going to bleed at the end of it. 5 QSO's on 20m the best dx was W7OM in Wa. 2 QSO's on 40m and had to break out the ZM2 tuner for 80m were I was able to make 5 more QSO's. Total QSO's 12 running a FT817 @ 5w into a ground mounted vertical with 40 radials.

K4ORD
Made 5 QSOs on 20M best DW was WA, 10 on 40M and 10 on 80M. The QRN was low on 80M for a change. Near the end on 40M the QRM was very bad from digital signals or whatever it was. Rig was K2 @ 5W ANTs were 160M and 40M dipoles and 20M wire vee. Thanks to all for the qso's, CU next month.

WA8HSB
Business travel took me and my KX-1 & Buddistick to Umatilla, OR this month. Operated from McNary Beach overlooking the Columbia River just upriver from McNary Dam. Nice view and weather! It was interesting operating from the NW. Had 4 Qs on 20m and 2 Qs on 40m. Heard a couple of East Coast stations on 20m; W1PID and one from ME but, signals weren't strong enough to make a go.

Results: July 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-07-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

For an enlarged view, click on the images.

Soapbox Comments: July 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-07-09T09:02:00.000-07:00

K3RLL
FT817 to G5RVjr - Nice to hear some really, really strong QRP signals tonight on 40 meters for the Sprint. Thanks to those who pulled me out of the noise tonight.

K7TQ
K3, Force 12 C4SXL @ 60 feet. Good conditions this month. 20 m lasted over an hour and 40 was decent too. Got K4BAI, NU7T, and AB0CD on 20 and 40 m. Had a couple of non-Spartan Sprinters stop by for a short chat.

WA5BUC
Fun Sprint. Rig: FT-817 2W to a 40 meter EFHWA up about 30'.

KØNWT
PFR-3A for a couple, FT450 for the rest, all 5W;50'Speaker wire EFZ + G5RV; all battery power; Great Fun!

K6CSL
Again tonight I started on 10m with no luck, moved to 15m, no luck their either, then moved on to 20m and 40m. Both 20 and 40 were quite noisey here this evening.

W2VV
FT-817ND @ 5W into an 80 foot zip-cord dipole at 50 feet. I was backyard portable in Ohio, visiting family for the 4th. I got a late start but managed to make seven contacts on 40m and 80m. 80m was very noisy here but 40m was much better. Thanks everyone for another fun sprint.

ABØCD
Rough conditions, but nice challenge for me. Of course, I was fired up for the first summer 20 meter foxhunt and was wondering why I wasn't hearing KT5E or N0UR when it dawned on me it was Spartan Sprint night and the fox hunt was set for Tuesday! 3Qs on 20 and 8Qs on 40. Elecraft K-2 into homebrew 88-foot doublet at 25-feet fed with 300 ohm twin-lead/LDG 4:1 balun.

W5ACM
Band conditions were quite reasonable for the sprint this month. All of the QRN from the stormsaround Houston was gone by 8PM, and although the QSB on 20M was a bit difficult, I still got five contacts before moving down to 40M. The ATS-3A continues to perform well. The two 200-maH LiPo's were charged just before the start time, and held up with no problems, even with a fair amount of CQ ops. There was no need to move to 80M, and I noticed that several stations on 40M were quite active right up to the end. With the exception of a QRO station on 7040 that never ID'ed, and appeared to be testing/tuning an amplifier, it was an excellent Spartan Sprint!

WA3FAE
A little more challenging than Field Day, the noise level was higher and QSB was more prevalent. Everybody seemed to roll down to the next band at the same time. Must have been lousy conditions at their location too! Good time and good perseverance by all operators to make the contact.

K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, zepp, dipole, inverted vee. Activity much better this month. 20M was good for the first half hour. 40M was excellent. 80M had high QRN, but still made QSOs as far away as PA and IL. Hope to work many of you in IARU HF contest this weekend as W4AN from the QTH of W8JI.

AB9CA
Rig was ATS-3 at 3w with 8 pack of AA NiMH for power. One pack lasted the whole sprint but they did seem to be getting tired near the end. 20 seemed in good shape - 26 q's there. The band was maybe a bit long with q's from CA, NV, DE, 3 from ON, MA, ME and some other longish ones. 40 seemed to have decent prop - 30 q's - but the noise was pretty bad. Did not find much activity on 80, only 6 q's there. Worked WA8ZBT on 3 bands, think he was the only 3 bander tonight. Worked W2SH, WA3FAE, K4BAI, AF4O, W5ACM, WB5BKL, NQ2W, K4ORD, W9CJS, AE4TC, W4VHH, and maybe one or two others that I have overlooked, on 2 bands. There seemed to be more activity than I've heard for a while. Good to hear so many familiar calls and especially good to hear some new ones in there. If you are new, welcome, and hope to hear you lots more. As always - thanks go to the guys who do the work to make these fun evenings possible!

WA5BDU
Fun! This was my second or third Spartan Sprint. I slimmed down a little by making a paper clip and bottle cap paddle and a battery bank of three small LiPo cells in a box. Rig is an ATS-3. My exchange was RST - AR - 5W. QSOs came about 50/50 on 20 and 40 meters. A fair amount of QRN on 40, otherwise conditions were OK.

K4UPG
My first attempt at the SP. Always wanted to play but being antenna restricted and having a church mission team meeting on the first Monday each month normally restrict my chances. Took advantage of the 4th of July day off to get an antenna up temporarily and give it a go. Wish I could play more and use a real antenna instead of a portable low NVIS type sky hook. Enjoyed the challenge!

N3ZL
Fun two hours, brought back memories of operating in some spartan sprints a few years ago before I was ready to operate in full blown cw contests. Seemed to me as if everyone was staying on 40m and not moving to 80m, but maybe I just missed them when I took a quick break to work a few DX stations on 20m.

AI3G
KX-1 at 3 watts, antenna end fed wire indoors. Had fun again with QRP. Thanks to K4BAI for his patience with my signal.

WA8MTI
This time conditions were much improved. The FT817nd, T1 tuner and LDG 4:1 balun fed my 80m doublet on 80, 40 and 20. I used a 7AH battery for 5 watts. Think next month I'll just use the internal batteries and try 1 or 2.5w and get the weight down to 3lbs 12.5oz. Thanks to all who worked me and my rusty fist. Was using a newAmerican Morse Iambic key and after using a paddle for 40+ years, I just couldn't get the hang of it.

W1PID
I ran a DSW40 with 2 watts to an OCF dipole for about 20 minutes. Later I went on 20 meters with the tubby rig just for fun and to see how 20 was. I made 5 more QSOs, but didn't add them to my score. Thanks all. CU next month.

AF4O
My first Spartan Sprint. I have a place not far from my house on the edge of town behind an unused building at the edge of a long field. Ive been there several times for portable operation where going to the parks was not feasible. I wondered how long it would be before i got a visit from the PD. This time it happened. He said he was just checking out the vehicle. I told him what i was doing and showed him my HB-1A. He asked how far i had talked so far. I asked if i was harming anything and he did not mind at all, even saying he was sorry he bothered me. Of course i said he wasn't bothering me. I guess they have to check on nuts sitting in the back of their trucks behind abandoned buildings near dark :-). Antenna was a long wire about 65' with a approx 30 ground wire and L tuner. A short video on my youtube channel (plantopguy5) soon.

NQ2W
Started out on 10 meters - listened and called - nothing. Went to 15 meters - listened and called - nothing. Went to 20 meters and made 5 Q's. Down to 40 meters and made 8 more. New rig and antennas out in the weather make a big difference - 40/20-meter inverted vee/fan at 40 feet and 2-element phased 10-meter quad at 25 feet on roof mounted, 8-foot, homebrew quad tower - see FD '10 soapbox for picture. Cool set-up but I'm not completely satisfied, yet. Stay tuned as I'm thinking about some improvements...Thanks for hearing me and thanks to everyone that helps make this Sprint possible.

AE4TC
Had a great time. Was able to reduce my station weight this month with a smaller power supply and improved the number of contacts this Sprint. 19 total Q's, 3 on 20 and the rest on 40m with 12 different states. I was using a FT817, 5w into a Hustler vertical. Thanks!

W9CJS
80 M sounded dead but opened up an hour into the sprint. 40M was hopping the entire 2 hours. I use my IC-703 @ 5w. I'm amazed that some of the stations were running near 1 watt and I could hear them and work them. Like most ops I also have a 100 watt transceiver but there's something about the challenge of QRP that I enjoy.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + 20m delta loop. All my Qs were on 20 and 40m. There were a couple I just could not pull out on 20m - my apologies. Usually, I only make one or two contacts with TX but this time there were 5. Activity seemed up a little - which is always good. Had fun.

K4ORD
Had company so only able to get on for last 46 minutes, nothing heard on 20m , on 40m made 9 QSO'S and on 80m made 1. Best dx was K7TQ, ID & AB0CD, CO. Rig, K2 @ 5W and ant's were 40M & 160M dipoles. Thanks to all, cu next month.

Results: June 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-06-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: June 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-06-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

K4PQC
Two watts using an A T S -3 and 160 Meter horizontal loop at 30.' Band conditions were fairly good on 20 meters (9 contacts) and just fair on 40 (6 contacts.) 15 total contacts with 8 different States including WA. Even though band conditions were good I was not able to start until just before the beginning of the second hour. Are the Spartan Sprints fun or what? Thanks to all who make them happen!

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w with 40M EDZepp + delta loops for 20, 15 & 10M. Nice to have Qs with the four corners: ME, WA, CA and FL. Most were on 20M with a few on 40M and one each on 10 and 15M - thanks to K4BAI. Worked John on 10, 15, and 40M, but never heard him on 20M. 80M yielded zip here. I tried to publicize the sprint locally (HLARC, AQRP, QRPadillos), but only worked one other Texan, W5ACM. I could hear folks working Scott, W5ESE, but I never even heard a whisper of his signal. Had fun.

K4ORD
The bands were in great shape, worked K4BAI on 5 bands and WA8ZBT on 3 20m,15m and 10m pays to check the higher bands this time of year you never know, HI. 80m, 1 QSO; 40m, 15 QSOs; 20m, 15 QSOs; 15m, 2 QSOs; and 10m, 1 QSO. Rig: K2 @ 5W. ANTs: 80m and 160m dipoles and 20m vee. Thanks to all and looking forward to the July sprint.

W5ESE
I used an AT Sprint 3 and a 300' Horizontal Loop this month. All contacts were on 20 meters. Conditions seems to be okay. Thanks everyone for the contacts.

K7TQ
Good time on 20 for first 1/2 hour. My 40 m antenna was down so that was end of this month's Spartan Sprint.

KD2MX
Not much time tonight but enjoyed what time I had to spend. Conditions on 20M were pretty good and signals were strong. Managed one QSO on 15m. 40M was very noisy and I didn't want to play there. Just used my FT-897 @5watts into the home big loop.

K5GQ
Dipole for both 20 & 40m. Signals were up and down on 20M. Just could not get a good run started. On 40 M there were thunder storms in the area; just enough static to make it hard to work stations. Then the rig developed a keying problem. It was an open on one of the legs in the SM connector. (Just when I was starting to work a few calls.) Worked three stations on both bands.

NQ2W
Started out with my Ten Tec 1340 but no one heard me - gotta check the alignment. In desperation I switched to the ole Icom-745 and made three Q's. Unfortunately, my weight more than tripled. Hopefully, next month will be better - most likely will be using a new rig hooked up to antennas that are actually outside.

AE4TC
Using a FT817 at 5w into a ground mounted Hustler 6BTV with 40 ground radials. 7 Q's on 40m and 6 Q's on 20m. I heard someone on 15 but not long enough to make a contact. Had a great time.

K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W output, TH6DXX stuck south, 88' center fed zepp, 40M half wave dipole, 80M inverted vee dipole. Took 20 minutes out at 0200Z for a CW traffic net. All five bands were open. Thanks to K4ORD for the tip on 10 and 15M. QSOs per band: 80: 2; 40: 27; 20: 9; 15: 3; 10: 3. There didn't seem to be much of a skip zone and I was able to work NC, TN and FL on 20M and another GA station, AL, TN, NC, and FL on 40M. 40 and 80 had a lot of QRN and could find only K4ORD and WA8ZBT there. Had five band QSOs with K4ORD and WA8ZBT and also worked WB5BKL on 10 and 15M. Still could use more activity. Thanks for all QSOs and CU next month.

N4BP
Good opening on 20M. 40M very noisy with local thunderstorms.

W1PID
I ran an icom 7000 at 5W and an OCF dipole. Six QSOs on 20M, six QSOs on 40M and two QSOs on 80m. I operated for about half an hour. The bands aren't great, but the real issue is lack of participation. Thanks all.

W5ACM
Like so many previous months, I was hoping for some 20M activity, and I got it! Conditions on 20M were curious. I started on 20M, made some contacts, thought it was gone, went to 40M, got tired of the noise, and went back to 20M. MORE contacts! Finally, about 90 minutes into the event, I gave up, relented, and headed back to 40M. A VERY patient NF0R tried hard to get my call, but the batteries were headed south... I was down to 1W, and knew that if I kept trying, one or both of the LiPo's would die. That was it! Thanks to all! The ATS-3a and backyard vertical did well, even with some above-average CQ-calling ops. The two LiPo, 200 mAh batteries, held up well. The good news is that they survived, and will be good to go in July.

K5JHP
Bad night, lots of noise and only a few stations on, maybe better next month.

K6CSL
Bands 20 and 40 in very poor shape for this one. Almost every station heard here was weak and unstable with severe QSB.

Results: May 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-05-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

Soapbox Comments: May 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-05-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp + 20 delta loop. My son helped me hang a 20m wire delta loop which worked well once I remembered to switch to it. Most of my Qs were on 20M. 40 and 80m were not as productive here.I had one late Q (not included in my total) and two that were "odd." Worked K4BAI on three bands. Had fun.

K4PQC
Two watts using an ATS-3 and 160 Meter horizontal loop at 30'. Band conditions were fairly good on 40 meters (18 contacts) and just fair on 80 (4 contacts.) I apologize to K9VIY for failing to make contact, we tried 5 or 6 times calling each other never making an exchange....

W5ACM
Two days before the event, the key paddle on my ATS-3A micro-weight transceiver broke off. Since this 1/32"-thick plywood paddle is integral to the case, it was not something to be replaced, but repaired. A straight pin, some super glue and five-minute epoxy did the job. It was also a good opportunity to clean the copper-sheet key contacts and redo the alignment and spacing. Hopefully my CW sounded a bit cleaner for this Spartan Sprint. It was nice to make a few contacts on 20M prior to the obligatory move to 40M. Power out at the beginning of the two-hour period was 3W, and only declined to 2.5W by the end. The 200 mAh LiPo's are doing well. Four of the 12 stations worked were running less than 5W. That was good to hear!

W9CJS
Used the IC-703 on battery power. The low battery indicator came on just as the contest period ended. I surely enjoy the Spartan Sprints ... thanks to all.

K4ORD
Started on 20M made 11 qso''s in first 22 minutes then seemed to run out of new stations, on 40M made 12 contacts & on 80M made 8. Rig K2 @ 5w ants 160M & 40M dipoles and 20M wire vee beam. Thanks for all the QSOs.

NQ2W
I listened and called. I called and listened. Heard some stations but no one heard me. One station answered my CQ but I couldn't pull him out of the mud. Using a Ten Tec 1340 at 3W to a dipole in the attic wasn't cuttin' the mustard this time - antenna work is in process - maybe next month. Keep listenin.'

W2SH
This was my first sprint in quite a while. Only nine QSOs, but they comprised seven SPCs. Got a late start and 20m had already gone to bed. 40m was noisy but do-able. I managed three QSOs on 80m, but the noise was so bad that my ears hurt. Returning to 40m I found that the band had gone very long. There was Doc, KØEVZ, in NM, a very readable 559. I switched from my 80m dipole to the inverted L (85' up and 85' out, hung from a tall tree) I use on 160m and nailed him. It took me 20 minutes to bag my last contact. I could hear N6VOH in CA fairly well, but stations much closer to him, and not me, were getting answered. I kept calling, struggled through a couple of his QRZs, heard him sending pieces of my callsign, and finally, two minutes before the party ended, the QSO occurred. A big thank-you to Barry for hanging in with me. I went to bed a happy camper after getting my 5 Watts across those 2,428 miles.

K7RE
I used my ATS IIIB and 8 NIMH AA cells. Antenna on 20M was my triband beam up 30 feet. I cranked it down due to our high winds (55 MPH). On 40M I used a simple dipole inverted V up 40 feet at the center. Power out was about 3W. I haven't done this event in many months, and I was really happy getting back into the SP. If you need a QRP SD QSL, please send an SASE, or use LOTW.

KFØN
Rig: ATS-3B at 3 watts to a vertical 240' loop up 35 to 50 feet. The contest started out with some fairly bleak signal strengths on 20 Meters. Signal strengths varied during a single exchange from 579 to just below the noise much of the time and that caused some interesting conditions! I know I missed some guys who I simply could not copy. After a handful of contacts on 20M I QSY'ed to 40M which was the most productive watering hole for the evening. The QRN wasn't bad for May and gave 21 QSO's. My best DX for the evening was WA7OJY and N6VOH in California. Thanks for pulling my tiny signal out of the noise guys; I know it was more like ESP than a contest exchange! NU7T had a great 1-watt signal from Nevada and K7RE had a good 3-watt signal from South Dakota, both very rare states for QRPer's! All in all, a very enjoyable evening. Thanks so much to all who stopped by and made it a great contest. I hope we can do it again in June.

KF7ADB
K1 to EFHW up about 40’. Worked 20/40/80. Biggest signals were K4BAI, K4PQC, and K4ORD. Best DX was ABØCD in CO. Thanks for the QSOs. See you next month.

K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W output, TH6DXX, zepp, inverted vee, dipole. 20 meters seemed almost dead before 0100Z, but it came alive around 14060 when the contest period started with good signals from New England west to MN, CO and TX. Stations as close as NC were workable, but most sprinters apparently skipped 20M. 8 QSOs in 18 mins on 20. 40 was pretty good all over with little discernable skip zone. QSOs made as far away as ON, NH, MN. CO. 31 QSOs in about one hour on 40M. 80M was noisy, but signals were pretty good. Worked from NJ to MN, IA, and TX. If more sprinters checked 80M, more QSOs would have been possible. 8 QSOs in about 45 minutes. Thanks for all QSOs and look forward to next month's sprint. Hope to meet many of you at Dayton.

W1PID
I operated for a half hour with an IC-7000 at 5 watts to an OCF dipole. Made 3 Qs on 20 meters and 4 Qs on 40 meters. Best DX was Brian K7RE in SD. Thanks to all.

K9UQN
7030 - 7040 filled with PSK-31 signals at my QTH. Makes for a tough sprint.

NG7Z
Got on for a few minutes near the end on 40M and worked K7RE, K6CSL, W7DFO, WB4YZA and VE7DSN. See you next month.

K6CSL
Bands are starting to be in a little better condition. I started out on 10M after hearing an Arizona Beacon there. I thought I might hear something on 15 when I checked there. Then I moved to 20 and worked MN and TX, then moved on to 40 and worked NV and WA. I was very surprized at the solid signal from NU7T in NV with 1W. I'll look forward to the next Spartan Sprint.

ABØCD
Great fun. 7Qs on 20 and 13Qs on 40. Glad to work Doc, KØEVZ. K-2 (S/N #00070) into homebrew 88-foot doublet at 25-feet fed with 300 ohm twin-lead/LDG 4:1 balun.

K3RLL
GA was loud down here tonight in FL, but heard little else.

WA8HSB
Business travel took me and my KX-1 to Elkton, MD this month. Both 20 & 40 were sketchy with a lot of QSB on 40. Thought I had a couple of contacts and then the signals went to ESP levels before we could complete the exchange. Next month will be better. Enjoyed the Sprint!

KB7MBI
Station was a Ten Tec Paragon II, 5 watts, GAP Titan vertical and Bencher straight key. KFØN was strongest station at a 579 most of the sprint. The few stations I heard were at or near the noise floor.

AB9CA/5
Was camped on the beach at South Padre Island National Seashore near Corpus Christi, TX. About 100' from the water. Great place to spend a few days so long as the wind does not get too strong! The little Sony earbuds did a good job of blocking the never ending roar of the surf. You may have peace and solitude there, but you will not have quiet! Station was an ATS-3 at about 3w powered by an 8 pack of AA NiMH. Ant was elevated 20m vert. Did not have an antenna for any other band so stayed on 20 the whole time. The band was long but in fair shape. Ended up with 11 contacts and 11 SPC's. Don't recall ever having no dupes in the SPC list. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Worked everyone I could hear except one. KD6L/5 was copyable but never heard me. Closest was John, K4BAI, in GA. Did get both ME and CA. Obviously no pesky Texans from that QTH on 20. See ya' next month!

Results: April 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-04-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

For an enlarged view, click on the score sheets.

Soapbox: April 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-04-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

K5GQ
ATS3 5w dipole up 18 feet. Low audio 20M (ATS-3 problem) New stations worked: K4ORD, WD9F, KFØN, KF7ADV, K8CV.

K4PQC
2 Watts using ATS-3 with AC power supply and 160 Meter horizontal loop at 30.' Band conditions were fairly noisy on 80 where I only made one contact the rest were on 40 meters.

K9FO
Rig, Icom IC 703 @ 5 watts. dipole antennas 80 very noisy but 40 OK. Just learning to run the IC 703 I got at an estate sale. Added a 500 Hz filter and it works great.

W5ACM
Like March, I was hoping for some 20M activity, but the band was dead. Conditions on 40M were reasonable but noisy. I stayed on 40M for the complete sprint. The ATS-3a and backyard vertical did well, even with some above-average CQ-calling ops. The two LiPo, 200 mAh batteries held up well, but they were dropping fast near the end of the event. Come on 20M!

W5ESE
Was busy fiddling with my old Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 when I realized the Spartan Sprint was half over. Decided to just use the Argonaut in the Sprint. I understand that in the "olde days," some folks actually did backpack with this rig (which weighs about 6 lbs)! Also used my J-37 straight key.

K5JHP
5 Watts with a K3 to 20mtr EDZ. Worked only first 30 minutes and last 10 minutes.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. I made an effort on 10m, 15m and 20m with zip results. Even a long series of CQs on 80m yielded nothing. 40m was all that worked for me and most were faint - with two exceptions: K4BAI @ 5w from GA and K4PQC @ 2w (also GA). Both had outstanding signals - John's was 599+. A curious evening. Had fun.

WA9TZE
Kenwood TS-870 @ 5W. Antenna is two Alpha Delta-DX'-A'S - Counterpoise through tower and beam capacative hat. No QSOs on 20M after 15 minutes of calling CQ. Went to 40M and picked up 18 QSOs with heavy static. At 0200Z went to 80M and got two QSOs when a line of lightning and thunder came through South Milwaukee. Went QRT - Could hardly hear a station. Thanks to everyone. CU next month.

WA8MTI
My first Spartan Sprint. Two TX stations: WB5BKL and W5ACM on 40. WX was not my friend tonight with rain and static so stayed in and used the FT-2000 @ 5w. Could only hear the loudest stations through the noise. Next month look for me on my FT817 @ 1w w/solar-charged batteries. WA8MTI (mighty tiny input).

AB1AV
ATS-3 to 88' doublet up 40'. Using a bigger battery, called CQ and got a short run going. All contacts on 40m, and more than half to 5-land. Wonder if that geomagnetic storm is responsible? Called it quits about 0300z.

KF7ADB
Rig was my new K1 @ 5W to EFHW up about 30.’ Nothing heard on 20. Spent the rest of the contest on 40. Best signals were KFØN and K5JHP. Got lots of practice pulling out weak signals – it’s usually the other way around. It got lonely on 40 after the first hour – most everyone must have moved to 80. I’ll be back next month with an 80m antenna. Thanks for all the fun!

K4BAI
20M was dead from about 2300Z on Monday. 40M was great for about 20 minutes. Then, activity dropped off and QRN came up. Made about half of my QSOs on 40M in the first 20 minutes. Then the second half on 80 and 40 during the next 100 minutes. Thanks for the QSOs. Looking forard to next month. FT1000MP at 5W, WM-2 QRP wattmeter, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. Best DX on 40: VE3MO, W7WA, NG7Z. And great to work Doc, KØEVZ. Best DX on 80M: WGØAT in CO. Please look for me and KU8E as K4BAI/M in many GA counties in the Ga QSO Party this weekend, April 10 and 11.

W1PID
This was one of the strangest sprints ever. A large geomagnetic storm shut down 20. The only station I could work on 40 was K4BAI. I managed to work 2 stations on 80 ... K4ORD and W1JSB (who is 3 miles away). There was VERY heavy auroral flutter between W1JSB and me. I would have thought we would be ground wave?! I was running an IC-703 at 5 watts to a Windom OCF dipole. Thanks all.

wGØAT
Strong dry winds ragging over the Colorado Rockies the last few days created major QRN for the SP event tonight. Tonight I was really excited to try out a new rig ... a K2. But first the story behind this K2. A good ham friend John-KA9I recently went SK. John was a neat guy, always had great stories to share or a funny joke to keep you smiling. He was an avid QRPer and his enthusiasm for ham radio was very contagious! He led a local slow speed on 10m for his club and was the kinda person that knows everyone even if he's never meet them! Basically a fun guy to be around ! Well he'll be missed but John's K2 lives on! So with John's K2 and my CFZepp at 55' I started on 20m but nay a signal to be heard! Headed for 40m but QRN made for rough copy with lots of repeats! 30-minutes of torturous QRN was about all I could handle before I bolted for 80m! WA8REI's DC40 1-watter somehow made it through my noise ...quite amazing! Good work Ken! Tubby 40m-log: N5WG, K5JHP, WA8REI, K9FO, K8CV WA9TZE, K4BAI, AD5VC , K3RLL, WDØK. But 80m wasn't any better in fact it was worse. K2's DSP, AF filters and IF filters were no competition for the 30db over 9 QRN ... finally after pulling out 2-Qs I said GN to the April SP! Tubby 80m-log: K4BAI, WD4MSM. Still better than watching Dancing with the Stars! (Rooster and Peanut meanwhile watched Animal Planet.)

W2VV
QTH was a bench in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I spent the first hour cutting a new antenna wire, raising it into a tree, and trying to get a new multi-band tuner to work that I had just built from a kit. The tuner was completely nonfunctional so I eventually went back to my trusty EndFedz EF-40 matchbox, which worked great. Rig was an FT-817nd, with porta-paddle 2 key. I'm a novice CW op and so most of the QSOs were going too fast for me to follow. I found an empty spot near 7.030 and called CQ SP for a bit and got one reply: N5OBC running 1W in Oklahoma. Another station tried responding later but I couldn't dig him out of the noise. Even though I only logged one QSO it was fun, and I need all the CW practice I can get. I'll be back.

NG7Z
Started off right at the bell on 20M but didn't hear any sprinters. Called CQ for five minutes with no replies. Switched to 40M on 7040 and then 7030 but the sun is still up. I could hear a couple of SP CQs but no one could hear me. Still too early here so I did some chores and came back at 0200Z hoping that condx would be better. Called CQ and made 5 contacts. I could barely make out the ones I worked and still heard callers but it was no use. The atmospheric noise was abominable so called it quits at 0218Z. Thanks to John K4BAI who held in there until I could get his call. Same for WA5ZBT at 1W and W5ESE at 2W both of whom were in TX. The other two I got were Doc KØEVZ who was booming as usual and W5ACM with his 3W in TX. Had to move a few hz down because some PSK clown started up zero beat with me. 7040 is becoming unusable. I did notice during the ARCI contest this weekend that most everyone was using 7030 but that was probably due to the EA RTTY contest. Nevertheless, the 7040 watering hole is fast becoming a digital haven. 72 and see you next month.

N5OBC
OK, this was my first sprint in maybe two years as I fixed up one house, sold it moved to a new one, fixed it up and finally put hamming on the board. New house is a no antenna place so I'm learning to adapt. Wit h15 minutes left I got on and the slinky in the attic is much better than the shorter wire was. Its also better than the gutter ... Dave W2VV had a great signal into my one watt SST fed by 10 nicads to the slinky. This proves there is hope for hamming here at the new diggs. Thanks for the sprints they are still great fun.

WA5BUC
Once again 20 meters was dead. I had hoped for better as I had made several 0100Z contacts just last week. Also, once again heard a week station at the start. Rig: RockMite 20. Ant: 66'7" end-fed wire.

K4ORD
Rig was K2 @ 5W Antennas: 160M and 40M dipoles. Nothing heard on 20M. 40M was very odd at first signals were strong, then very weak and most of what I heard were from the south. 80M had S9+ QRN, only able to get W1PID and K4BAI. 2 QSOS on 80M and 9 on 40M. Hope next month is better.

KFØN
Rig: ATS-3 @ 3-watts to a 240 foot loop antenna. Wow, what a difference a month makes! Only 10 contacts this month compared to 39 a month ago. The QRN was murder here due to local thunderstorms roaming through Iowa and points east. Only had a half an hour before a check of the local radar on the PC showed that the whole area was lightning up like a Christmas tree (!) and it was time to put the QRP toys away for the night. Only 40M was usable here. I checked 80M but, as I thought, it was a lost cause. My poor little ATS-3 receiver was in saturation due to the lightning in the area! Let's hope that things quiet down a bit for May's contest. Rod, W7OM, had a great signal from Washington state which was my best DX for the evening. Thanks to all who called in. I hope we can make a go of it again next month.

WD4MSM
What an awful night; the bands were frightful. I'm shocked to have made 5 contacts! These guys have really good ears. And just when I though the bands were getting better ...

K3RLL
Only had a short time to play this evening, but finally, finally had the good fortune to make contact with wGØAT. That's a successful Sprint for me, indoor antenna or not!

Results: March 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-03-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Soapbox: March 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-03-05T12:59:00.000-08:00

W1PID
Operated for half and hour. 6 QSOs on 40. 3 QSOs on 80.I ran an ATS-2 with 8 AA cells (solar charged). I think I had about 3 watts out. Thanks all.

K5GQ
Using ATS3 5w dipole up 18 feet. Having problems on 20M and not sure how to look for problem. No antenna for 80M, so make the best of 40M. New stations worked: K9UQN, NØAR, NI8N, AB1AV, K4ORD, KD9KC, K3RLL, KFØN, W9CJS, W1NB, WS4AN. Thanks.

KK5NA
Forty and eighty were both pretty good. Rig = K3 @ 5W; ANT = EDZ @ 55ft.

K5JHP
K3 to 20 mtr EDZ. 8Qs on 80. 11Qs on 40. Neither band was in good shape.

N4BP
40M seemed to go long very early. Signals were strong on 80M, but so was power line noise.

K6CSL
Home station: 5W-Yaesu FT-450-3. Single element wire antennas.

NØAR
Good to work so many familiar calls. Twenty was zip, so stayed on 40 & 80. Big signal goes to KFØN with that NVIS magic, 40+! Rig: K2 antenna half wave end fed wire up 35 feet. Tried the netbook and N1MM, works!

KD9KC
Wow - my ears got a workout. Started out on 20m, worked K7TQ-ID and N6EU-CA right at the start, but 20m wasn't doing well. Gave a few CQs on 20m and then moved to 40m at 0205Z. 40m was active. I spent an hour plus on 40m, working N4BP-FL, K5GQ-TX, NØAR-MN, KFØN-IA, WB5BKL-TX, K7TQ-ID, W7OM-WA, K4BAI-GA, WA9TZE-WI, and KEØG-MN. Put about 10 minutes into calling CQ with no luck. Switched to 80m at 0315Z. 80m had an S-8+ noise. I worked N4BP-FL, AB9CA-AL, WA9TZE-WI, K7TQ-ID, NØAR-MN, WB5BKL-TX, KEØG-MN before I ran out of contacts. Started calling CQ at 0350Z and snagged K4ORD-VA for my final contact. Thanks to all the folks who slowed for me - it is much appreciated. See you all next month.

K3RLL
Tough digging signals out of digital din. Thanks to those skilled and patient ops who copied me.

AB9CA
Seemed to be a pretty good Sprint tonight. Rig was ATS-3 with an 8 pack of AA batteries, White Rook paddles, and ear buds. Output was about 3w. 40 seemed to be in good shape but crowded. Had to move a few times. Tried down by 7030 but no one found me there. Had some success up around 7048. Ended up with 19 contacts on 40 including one dupe. 80 was pretty good. The noise was not as bad as I had feared given that we had thunderstorms in the early evening. Made 21 contacts there. Thanks to all who stopped by . . . and a special thanks to those who do the work to make these possible!

W5ACM
I started with K4ORD on 40M, and finished with K4ORD on 80M. It was a pleasure to have contacts with so many regulars, and a few new ops! I was hoping for some 20M activity, but the band was dead. Conditions on 40M were good and the ATS-3a and backyard vertical did well, even with some above-average CQ-calling ops. The two LiPo, 200 mAh batteries held up well. The home-brew, built-in keyer paddle was a bit intermittent, but thanks to some patient operators, I got through it. Come on 20M!

VE3MO
Once again, 80m was the producer for me tonight. There was nothing heard on 20m and only 1 station picked up on 40. I managed 10 contacts in the 1st hour and 6 more in the final hour. My thanks to those stations who I requested to send their info more then once, especially KF7ADB who was riding the noise floor - with the QRN and the QSB you were barely there. My Sierra, at 4 watts, and the windom were pushed to their limits tonight with full use of the abx filter, the RF gain and turning the AGC between fast and slow to drag out every call that I heard. See ya in the spring... what a beautiful thought!

WA5BUC
Rig: Rockmite 20 and EFHWA. Sent CQs every 5 minutes for the first hour and then from time-to-time thereafter. No takers. Thought I heard a faint signal at the beginning, but too weak to copy.

KFØN
The rig was an ATS-3 running between 3 and 4 watts to a 240 foot loop strung between two trees on the city lot. Conditions seemed very good with many stations participating. It is nice to see the skip shortening up with the longer days and higher flux numbers we are enjoying now. 40M stays open well into the evening hours while the skip on 80M lets us have QSOs with neighboring states all evening. Dan, KEØG, reported that my four watts was S9 +15 DB in Minnesota! I have been wondering where all my RF was going! There were a few stations that I simply could not pull out of the background sizzle and I regret missing several of you. Maybe we can make it next month. The QRN from some storms in the southlands were strong here at times; signs of approaching Spring for sure. Many thanks to all who stopped by.

KF7ADB
My first Spartan Sprint. What a great time. IC-718 @ 5W to an end-fed 40M dipole (sloper) with one end up about 40.' I had 21 QSOs total, but three were same-band dupes. Worked both 40M & 80M. Thanks to everyone who pulled me out of the noise, especially on 80M. See you next month.

AB1AV
ATS-3 with touchkeyer running 4 watts to an 88' doublet up 40', at home. Back in the SS after a long break, kept it simple with search&pounce. 20m was dead here, 40m was hopping but long, and I made a few contacts on 80m before deciding it was bedtime around 0315z.

K4BAI
20M was open at the beginning of the contest period to W7, UAØ, and JT1. I had just increased power to call (unsuccessfully JT1BH). I forgot to lower it and worked K7TQ while running about 75W. Couldn't get Randy to answer me again with only 5W. So, that QSO counts for him, but not for me, and is not included in my total. Only other SP signal heard on 20M was some station in AZ. No one answered my CQs there. So, on to 40, which was very good beyond the skip zone, but the closest QSOs possible were in OH. I heard briefly, but missed W9CJS in IL on 40, but worked him later on 80. Best DX QSOs were NK6A in CA and W7OM in WA (very loud). 80M had some QRN, but I was able to work everyone I heard there except K7TQ, WGØAT, and KG1W, who couldn't hear me calling them. Best DX on 80 were VE3MO and AB1AV in NH. QSOs were about even between 40 and 80. This is a fun event, but would benefit from more stations being active for the entire 2-hour period. See you all next month.

W8YMO
Harry, near Cleveland, OH.

WA9TZE
20m - Worked 5 QSOs- with 3 CA-,1 AZ-and 1 VA-and band died here after 15 min. 40m ran 23 stations in 55 minutes and then no QSOs. Went to 80m and made 20 QSOs till the end. Seemed like the bands were weak and high QRN on 80m. Last month was much better. Rig here is Kenwood TS-870 at 5w to twin Alpha-Delta DX-A's[n/s-e/w switchable] at 40 ft and ends up 12ft. This is a counterpoise setup on a 50ft tower with 34 radials at base with 4ft grd rods on each one, also four 8ft rods at base of tower all with heavy Epson Salts on everything. The beam at top is a Hygain EX-14[40-10m] acts as a capacitive hat. Had fun and look forward to next month.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. One QSO on 20m, the rest on 40 and 80. Best DX was K7TQ - also the most miles/watt (296). Closest was WA5RML (147 miles to my NNE), and that was the least miles/watt. Georgia was the most popular state in my log. Lotsa familiar calls and a few new ones. Had fun.

KEØG
Ran a K-3 at 5 watts, 35 A-H gell cell. Ant is two switchable 74' dipoles with balanced feedlines and a Johnson Matchbox. On 80M run one of them as a T-top vertical. Big Sigs hr in MN: 80M: WA9TZE at 20 dB over, 40M: K4ORD booming in at 10 dB over. Thanks for all the fun !

K7TQ
20 m was open to TX and GA from ID at beginning of contest. Most of the activity was on 40 m where I caught KL7CW in AK. About 40 minutes into the contest, I thought 40 started to fade so on to 80 m. Took a while before it warmed up, but last hour or so it, too, was good. Great signals from WB5BKL on 20 and KF0N on 80. See you all next month.

K4ORD
K2 @ 5W, 160M & 40M dipoles and 20M wire vee beam. Made 16 QSOs on 80M and 15 on 40M, heard nothing on 20M. Conditions were good here and the noise was low, even on 80M. Look forward to next month.

W9CJS
Didn't do as well as last month, but had a good time. I run a 703 with battery power for the entire 2 hours. Works well.

N5GW
HW-9 with mods (SWR meter, keyer, 250 Hz xtal filter, improved muting circuit) - fellow ham said it's an HW-9 PLUS - hi. It still drifts, but a Band-aid approach is to warm it up for 30 minutes before using. I hear that trying to improve the short term drift creates more problems than it solves. Anyway the set up here was in a cabin on the Tennessee Cumberland plateau at elevation 2K ft.using a homebrew balanced L-network tuner to an inverted V config.CFZ with apex at 50 ft. in an oak tree. The antenna covers 80 thru 6 meters. 40 meters was QRN here with snow, so I gave up soon.

K4PQC
3 watts using KD1JV’s ATS-3 and lightweight AC power supply. 160+ Meter loop at 30 feet, Homebrew paddles. Great band conditions on 40 and 80 and didn’t hear any stations on 20.

K4AVX
Not as much activity as usual on 80, little on 40.

Results: February 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-02-05T13:45:00.000-08:00

For an enlarged view of the scoreboards, please click on the images.

Soapbox: February 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-02-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

NG7Z
Elecraft K-1 @5W, 2L yagi for 40M, 80M loop at 90ft. Missed last month so was determined to make this month. Great conditions coast to coast and it's been a long time coming. A rather slow start but q's came more quickly as time rolled on. 25 q's and 17 states on 40 in one hour. Had to break it off at 0300Z but got back at 0330Z and hit 80M. IA MI GA WI NV and TX. Best DX on 80M was John K4BAI. As usual, Jim WA9TZE was pounding in S-9. Nice to see Alan KO7X in the mix. Wonder where N6RO went? Thanks for the q's and cu next month.

KK5NA
Started a bit late Monday night. Ran a K3 @ 5W. ANT = EDZ @ 55'

WBØOEW
Stayed on 40m, good sigs, low QRN. K1 @ 5W into EF dipole. N5GW's 1W booming into AZ from MS all evening. Sri for confusion, W9CJS. TNX everyone!

KFØN
WOW! What a contest! There were more stations on the air than I have heard in quite a long time. Amazing what a little more sunshine on the old "F" layer plus some new sunspots can do for the HF spectrum. Conditions on 40M were wonderful. So many guys were calling at times that I know I missed some of you and I apologize for that! I spent the past month repackaging the old ATS-3 rig and building a new "finger tapper" key from some ABS plastic stock in the work shop here. The key turned out great but the operator definitely cannot send for sour apples with the new key! What a disaster as many of my friends out there who tried to copy me can attest! I guess that project will require some more work or a new key design for future Sprints! Many thanks to all of the gang who made this contest a memorable one indeed. Lots of old faces and some new ones as well. It looks like QRP is alive and well. Thanks to ARS for a wonderful evening. I hope to see all of you folks again next month.

AB9CA
Well I sure enjoyed it from this end - not sure how much fun you guys had digging me out! Station was an ATS-3 with White Rook paddles and power was 4 AA alkaline cells so power out was maybe 1w at the beginning but it fell as the evening went along. Using the Elecraft dummy load I measured it when the sprint was over and got 0.9w on 80, 0.75 on 40, and 0.68 on 20. So if you pulled me out give yourself a big 'ataboy! 40 was the main band with 15 Q's, then 4 on 20, and 3 on 80. QSB was not too bad and the noise level was fairly low. Most stations were fairly easy copy but I guess they would be since ya'all were a few dB stronger than me. Only actually lost one, WA7OJY, and there I got everything but the state and then he disappeared. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and struggled to hear me. And thanks to the guys who do all the work to put these on. Always fun! See ya' next month!

K4ORD
I ran my K2 @ 5W ant's were 160M & 40M dipoles and 20M wire vee beam. Made 13 QSOs on 80m, 14 on 40M and 6 on 20M. Conditions seemed pretty good, 20m went dead and then had to go down to 40 & 80.Have a copy of the schedule of this sprint now so maybe I won't forget it next time.

K5JHP
K3 to 20mtr EDZ: 13 Qs on 40; 7Qs on 80.

KO7X
Just got on for a half hour to hand out some QSOs.

N4BP
K3 @ 5W, Sewper Armadillo 40/80 Coax Trap Dipole, N1MM Logger. Right out of the gate on 40M, Randy, K7TQ, called at about the loudest I've ever heard him. Further CQs produced nothing and scanning 40M found only Randy calling CQ. Signals started trickling in shortly and made 37 Qs (including my one DX, NP4KT) before switching to 80M. Loudest on 80M were K4ORD and K4BAI with booming sigs. Another 11 Qs on 80 made a total of 48, exactly what I had last month!

K4BAI
20M was wide open at the beginning of the Sprint, but few knew it. 40 and 80M were very good with strong signals from all over and skip not too long. Easily worked AZ, CA, and WA on 40 and best DX was NG7Z in WA on 80M. Activity is still low and hope that will improve next month. Thanks for all QSOs. Especially for three bands from WA9TZE and W5ESE.

W1PID
Operated about a half hour. K4ORD was 10 over S9 here! Best DX was WA9TZE in WI. Thanks to all for the fun.

NI8N
What fun! Who would have thought you could 'run' with 5 watts. Worked 1 watt stations over quite a distance. Lots of GL's and TU's. Good bunch of guys.

AI3G
Conditions certainly seemed a lot better this month. First time I have heard anyone on 20 meters at night in a long time. 40 Meters seemed pretty good until near the end of the sprint. See everyone next month.

KA8LLE
K-2, 110 ft doublet, 5 watts. Only worked 1 hour, all but 2 contacts on 40, had one on 80, and one on 20. Did not hear much activity on either of those bands. Out of the 12 contacts I had 10 states. Thanks for another fine Spartan Sprint, this was my first in several months and my CW has gotten rusty.

VE3MO
80m was quite noisey last night which was ever so noticable when I removed my headphones after 2 hours of "hash" - "my lord, I've gone deaf!" Anyway, it was a good evening although 40m only gave up 1 contact. I was using my sierra to a windom at 30 feet.

WA9TZE
Rig: Kenwood TS-870. Antennas: two Apha Delta DX-A's at 40 ft with 32 radials at base and 4-8 foot ground rods plus 4-foot ground rod at end of each radial, on 50 ft tower. On top is the Hy gain EX-14 beam at 50 ft acting as a capactive top hat all fed with RG-213 cable. 20m: 16 QSOs, but band ran out after half hour; 40m: 36 QSOs, and lasted for 45 minutes; 80m: 22 QSOs to finish the night. Signals were weak and QRN. Missed 6-10 stations - sorry. Enjoyed the night. Look forward to next month. K4BAI, thanks for 3 band QSOs.

WA5RML
Omni VI at 5 wts to 80M/40M dipole; Vibroplex bug. Missed the first hour, but had fun anyway. Glad to make QSOs on both 40M and 80M. Thanks to KFØN, KK5NA, WB5BKL, WBØOEW, NG7Z, NU7T, W5ESE, and K4BAI!

W5ESE
KD1JV AT Sprint 3, Whiterook MK-44 paddles, 9.6V wall wart.My antenna was a 100m Horizontal Loop. 20 meters was fading
fast at the start of the contest, but was able to snatch a couple QSOs before it petered out. The propagation seemed quite good on 40m. The atmospheric noise was pretty high here on 80m, but the band was open. Participation was outstanding! The 32 contacts I was able to complete may be the most I have ever made in this event. It was good to hear many new participants, as well as old friends.

N8WE
No contacts. Was able to copy N5GW, at 1 watt, from ms on my Softrock Lite 40 receiver using the attic dipole. What a really sensitive receiver.

K8KFJ
Rig = FT-817nd; Power = 5w; Ants = 80m dipole, 40-10m ground mounted vertical.

WB8ZOM
All on 40 m band in and out in Mi. Rig is QRP Spirit II at 5 watts. Hope to do better next time. Worked: KFØN,NI8H, WA9TZE.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. One QSO on 20m, the rest on 40 and 80m. Worked 4 stations on 2 bands: KF0N, W5ESE, K4BAI and AB9CA (Actually, I worked AB9CA 3 times on 2 bands - I had a senior moment). Conditions seemed better to me this month.Had fun.

W8YMO
It's Harry, near Cleveland, OH.

AA9KH
All QSOs were on 80 metres at 5 watts output. A li'l more publicity about your events, please. Ops calling "CQ SP" didn't give me ANY clue. Will come up with a better rig before next time.

WA7OJY
K1/88' Doublet @ 30 feet. Nice to have some better condx. From Southern California I was able to work most regions of the country except the north east states. AB9CA's 1 watt from Alabama was also workable from here. NG7Z had a great signal from Washington state. I'm looking forward to the next one!

W9CJS
Blessings and 73.

K5GQ
5W ATS-3 dipole. Had trouble hearing stations on 20m; maybe a rig problem. 40M seemed closer to normal. I had low noise.

K7TQ
Good to get back in a Sprint. Always a good sign when you can make a QSO in the first 30 seconds, especially when it is with N4BP. WA9TZE had a great signal. Noteworthy was N5GW at 1 Watt. Could only get half an hour in, but great time on 40 m. Hope to catch many of you in FYBO this Saturday.

KI4FW
Lots of fun on 80m. TUBBY: 16 QSOs, 14 states / provinces. About 10 lbs. worth of radio + dipole + coax.

Results: January 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-01-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

Soapbox: January 2010 Spartan Sprint

2010-01-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

W1PID
I operated for about 45 minutes and stayed on 80m the whole time using an MFJ Cub at 2W to a Windom OCF dipole. I used a 750 ma lithium ion battery. What a hoot! There were quite a few stations on 80. Best DX was KO7X in WY! Thanks all and HNY!

K9IS
12 QSO'S: 4 on 40 METERS; 8 on 80 METERS; 10 SPCs

N7RVD
Worked 80 meters tonight from Florala State Park - right on the border between Florida and Alabama. Wouldn't ya think this far south it would be higher than 25 F? Can't do anything. Might as well play on the radio. Condx poor. Lots of noise. Worked up and down the east coast, a few Midwest and Texas stations, and nothing from the west coast. Tnx. See you next month.

KB5JO
All contacts on 80M using SW+80 / 2W / 88' doublet.

KFØN
I started out on 40M but the skip was very long so QSY'ed to 80M which proved to be the band to be on tonight. Thanks to all of you who participated. There were not too many strong signals on 80M tonight but managed to work a few of you. I have a rather high local power line noise level so I am sorry for the few I heard under the sizzle of Alliant Power Company lines that I just couldn't pull through the ear buds! Maybe next month. WD4MSM had a great signal from Indiana with 2 watts and so did Jim, W1PID from New Hampshire. Congratulations to both of you! Not many stations heard west of here except KO7X from my old home state of Wyoming. Nice to work you! A fun contest for the middle of Winter. See you fellas next month.

NØAR
Good to hear so many familiar calls. 20 and 40 were dead, only worked 80 with an S-7 noise level, Yikes! Kind of ironic 5 watts RF and 500 watt heater to keep warm. It was fun!

WD4MSM
All of my contacts were on 80 meters. Our local operators were clogging up 40 meters and that made 40 meters unusable for Sprint purposes for me. What a great group of operators took part. They must be great operators because they were able to drag my puny signal out of the mud. I had contacts from Maine to the state of Washington, but most of the contacts were close by in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc. (I'm located in northern Indiana). I tried 160 meters but nary a signal was heard. After just an hour and a half the signals disappeared (or maybe the operators disappeared) and I did not have a single contact in the last half hour! Thanks to the Adventure Radio Society for putting on the Sprint.

K8KFJ
Got on the air late but picked up a quick 10 contacts on 80m. My thanks to KB2FEL, W4VHH, KD2MX, KFØN, VE3MO, K4BAI, K4AVX, N7RVD, NØAR and KEØG for the QSOs and points. The band sounded in good shape here on my end. Many thanks for the sponsorship.

KD9KC
Things were not going well at work today - typical for a Monday following a holiday weekend. But I managed to get home with enough time to get the radio and tuner set up and checked out. Working from inside the house again - no headphones, so my station weight is 2.90 pounds. Glass of tea, pad and
pencil... 20m is dead. WOW - nothing but heterodynes on 30m - looks like 40m it is but it might be another rough one. Worked 40m the first hour plus - averaged 4 Qs an hour, got GA, FL, AL, GA. Switched to 80m at 0310Z. 80M was worse than 40m. At first I thought there was no hope, I had an S-8 noise level. But the band started to get better, and I struggled through 4 more Qs with MN, WI, MN and TX for 8 Qs total. About 0350 I started calling CQ - thought I heard a W9C-something calling me, but it just was not to be. Sorry, we ran out of time. THANKS to all for slowing to my speed - and Happy New Year.

N4BP
Wow, condx on 80M must have been fantastic for me to be able to copy 21 stations through the noise - and some of them were quite strong! Even worked my first Spartan Sprint DX in many moons, NP4KT with a good signal also on 80M. I probably missed a few due to the noise, but condx seemed much better on 80M than usual. But 40M, another story, and 20M dead from the start as expected.

WA8HSB
Got a late start so I missed any activity on 40 or 20m. Used my TS-850S at 5 watts and 18AVQ vertical again. Tnx to all! Hope to be on next month from PA (business trip) with my KX1. See you then.

K5JHP
K3 running 5 watts to 20mtr EDZ; 6 Qs on 40; 16 Qs on 80.

KO7X
It's been a long time since I participated in one of these. Heard some familiar calls and worked some unfamiliar calls. Mostly 5W stations but a couple of 2W and one 1W station. One station gave me 200W. I had one duplicate QSO so I did not count it. I did not hear anyone on 20M and did not even listen on 10 or 15. Both 80 and 40 were fair. I run 5 watts output from an FT1000. The antennas are: 80 - 1/2 wavelength sloper; 40 - inverted V dipole hanging off a 66' tower. I operated for about one hour. QTH is Carpenter, Wyoming - about 20 miles east of Cheyenne.

K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, WM-2 QRP Wattmeter, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. 20 was dead as expected. 40 was pretty good, but activity was light (but better than last month). 12 QSOs on 40 from PA and OH to FL and from as far west as TX and NM (Doc, KØEVZ). Sorry couldn't raise WØMHS. 80M was OK, but signals from outside the 4th call area were generally much weaker than last month. 28 QSOs from ME to FL and from MN, IA, WY, to TX. I thought once I heard N9BT calling, but couldn't hear a response. Sorry if I missed any callers. Thanks for all the QSOs and Happy New Year to everyone. Hope to work you all in NAQP CW this Saturday.

KD2MX
Conditions were decent for a change on both 40 & 80. 80M was interesting. KB2FEL in WV had a huge signal here in NJ. I meant to give him 599 but sent the more traditional 559. 1PID is usually very strong from NH but I could barely copy his signal in the Sprint.

WA9TZE
Seemed like slim pickings on 40m but made 14 qso's in one hour-most med-weak. Ran out at 00300z. Went to 80m and slightly more activity getting 20 qso's in the final hour. Last 30 min was very weak with qrn/qsb and may have missed a few-sorry. Had a good time as always and look forward to next month. [had 19 states from MA to WA-6 from TX] Happy New year to all.

AI3G
First Spartan Sprint in quite a while. Rig - FT857 @ 5 watts; Antenna - random wire in garage. Not great results but still fun to try. Too cold to go outside (26 degrees) and try to work it. See you again next month.

KØZK
It's been a year or two since my last Spartan Sprint. I just happened upon it at 0255Z so I missed the first hour. I stayed on 80 metres since propagation seemed pretty good. QTH is Kennebunkport, Maine.

K4AVX
Worked the sprint with ATS-3. May go back to tubby since holding the little plastic paddles down to have half a chance to send with them was a pain. Don't have the knack of loading the memories in the little rig yet, and my sending was horrific. Recent snow storm took one end of my doublet down, so it's at 8 feet now.

W8YMO
Some strong 80 meter signals with QRS. QTH is Ohio. K3 running 5W.

W5ACM
That has got to be one of the most difficult Spartan Sprints for me! I had six contacts on 40M and five on 80M. My ears were ringing from the noise on 80M when the batteries in my ATS-3A finally started sagging. I can't wait for some 20M ops! Come on sunspots!

VE3MO
Real tough conditions last night with very fast qsb. I was using a K2 at 5 watts to a windom antenna up 30 feet. Almost quit in the first 15 minutes but persevered until just after 2200 local time.

K4JPN
40M seemed dead and worked only one station, 80M was the band to be on.

AB9CA
Station was K2 @ 5w to Inv Vee draped over an oak tree. Made 12 contacts on 40 and 12 on 80. Worked for about 70 minutes. No activity on 20 at all and 40 was kinda slow. Better on 80 and the noise was not too bad. Enjoyable evening, as always. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. See ya' next month!

KB2FEL
Worked my FT 817 at one watt on internal battery into a G5RV up about 55 ft. Lots of QSB but had a great time.

KG4FXG
Sorry, I would have made more but late start because I had to run GTN 3549 slow CW net and I have a 4 year old. I was at 5 watts in Lawrenceville, GA.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. Updated the firmware (and corrected a pilot error) on the K3, which made for much easier listening. Just 2 QSOs on 40M - all others on 80M. The 'patience of Job' award goes to the WA8?H? station who tried valiantly to get me to pull him out of the mud - without any luck. Had fun.

NØEAX
I enjoyed the event with my OHR-400 and 80 meter inverted vee operating from Missouri. All contacts were on 80 meters. I ran 5 watts but several I contacted ran less power. It is interesting to learn just how well 1 or 2 watts can perform. Also, I listened and found that many, if not most of the S&P operators, repeat the call of the station calling CQ rather than just their own call. I continue to learn more with each QRP event.

KEØG
QTH MN. Ran a K-3 at 5 watts to a switchable pair of 74' dipoles up about 50' fed with balanced lines and a Matchbox. Also connected one dipole as a vertical with a 74' top hat "T" with the best luck. All QSO's on 80M. Big Signal was N0EAX from MO. QSO's included FL, GA, AL, to TX, ME, WV, and WA.

Results: December '09 Spartan Sprint

2009-12-11T11:14:00.001-08:00

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Soapbox comments: December '09 Spartan Sprint

2009-12-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

K9UQN
Wouldn't be in this one if it weren't for W9CJS getting my interest up.

KS4L
Using ATS 3b.1, 5w, 80 dipole. All Q's on 80m. Couldn't find anyone on 40. The QRN was painful! My ears are ringing, what with no gain control on the ATS!

N0NBD
Only worked 80 meters for a short while but was fun to work a few guys Rig was OHR 400 at 5 watts dipole at 50 ft.

KK5NA
Just a short time on tonight. 40 Meters was noisy, K3 @5W,ANT = EDZ@55'

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. Most of my contacts were on 80M - nothing heard on 20M. The second hour was more productive for me. Nice to work some new calls and hear old friends. Had fun.

W9CJS
Propagation terrible but QRP got through on 80m only.

WA9TZE
The bands were not good. 10-15-20 had no activity. 40m had just one qso with N4BP. Tried for 25 min and no qso' after that. Going to 80m had 12 qso's, very weak but got a little stronger after 1 hour-but with 30 min's left all disappeared. Had a good time-sorry for those I missed.--Best 72's to all and Happy Holiday and a New Year.

KF0N
Nice to see some familiar faces again after being gone for a while due to no antenna!

W5ESE
KD1JV AT Sprint 3, Whiterook MK-44 paddles, 9.6V wall wart. My antenna was a 100m Horizontal Loop, fed as a top-loaded vertical against radials. I struggled valiantly to make some contacts on 40m, but no luck. Finally gave up and went to 80m, where I made all 12 of my contacts in this month's
Sprint. Good to hear the calls of familiar friends, and some new faces, too.

K4BAI
Very little activity. No signals on 20M. No sprint signals on 40M at the start and no answers to my CQs on that band. 80M was in very good shape. I worked 28 stations on 80 from WA to ME and TX to FL. Went back to 40 at suggestion of N4BP at 0338Z and worked Bob and also Bill, K5JHP. No further callers on 40M, so went back to 80M and got no more calls. About 0350Z, I went to sleep in the chair with the computer on REPEAT sending CQ QRP TEST. I woke up at 0410Z when a VE2 called me. I assume I would have been awakened by any earlier callers. First time that has happened to me in many years and the first time that the computer kept on sending while I was asleep. Hope more sprinters will turn out in January to keep me and the others awake and alert.

W1PID
I operated for about a half hour. Pretty rough condx. I ran an IC-7000 at 5W to a Windom OCF dipole. Best DX was Larry KF0N in Iowa. I worked Bob, N4BP, on both 40 and 80. Thanks to all.

N4BP
Condx seemed quite poor on 40M. Made more QSOs than expected on 80M. Static not too bad for a change. Rig: K3 Ant: 40/80 Trap Dipole @ 62ft.

W5ACM
20M was DEAD and 40M was marginal - good for only 2 contacts. 80M was surprisingly usable. I had 12 contacts on 80M, and my ears still work! While I worked NG7Z on 40M, the best "DX" on 80M was Florida... The ATS-3a did very well, even with all of the "CQ'ing" I had to do. Power output eld at 3W. The antique 18AVQ antenna is still going strong. When it goes, I will refurb my 14AVQ and add an 80M mobile whip to the top. It was a fun event due to the surprise of 80M quality ops, but let's hope for some 20M activity next time!

KD9KC
An hour before the sprint the temp was 55º, and the winds were picking up. We were expecting a storm from the Pacific Coast, with gusts of up to 70 mph and rain/snow mix. Wind is nothing new to El Paso, but rain is rare and snow even more so. I decided that working from the patio was not a good idea tonight. So I went back inside the house. After setting up my FT-817ND, I gave 20m a quick check. It was DEAD! So it was 40m and 80m or nothing. Using the indoor home location means I didn't need to use the headphones, which lowered my weight to 2.90 pounds. I could also use the computer to log instead of the usual paper log.At 0201 UTC I worked NG7Z in WA on 40m 5-5-9. 26 minutes later I forced N4BP in FL to strain for our 40m contact. That was all for 40m. At 0259 N4BP was again forced to try me on 80m. Thanks for struggling through it with me. The static crashes were getting louder and I was ready to throw in the towel. But signals started getting louder about this time too, so I hung in there. At 0317 I snagged W5ESE, then at 0331 WA9TZE heard me. N7RVD and W5ACM also got stronger and heard me. My last contact was NG7Z at 0355 UTC, he was also my first contact two hours previously. I was hoping to finally work my friend Fred - K6DGW - but I never heard him. So - 8 contacts / 2.9 pounds = 2.7586 points. Not great - but the best I could do under the conditions. Thanks to all of you for slowing down and struggling to hear me. I have a NIB Hustler 6BTV - maybe its time to try a vertical. I have lots of room for radials. Wow - an E-mail just came in from K6DGW. Power out for 15 hours plus, 30º and dropping outside, 49º inside, and his wire antenna is down. This is the storm that is coming to us. Global warming? NOT! Maybe next time, Fred.

NG7Z
I started out on 40 for 20 minutes until it dried up. Only five contacts there so switched to 80 and heard a few tiny signals and worked five more. Took a break to help the XYL trim the tree and came back at 0325Z. Tuff sledding this month and not much to show. I could hear signals at the ESP level but didn't dare try to work them. So I cq'd until the end of the sprint and worked eight more. Nice to hear Brian N7RVD way back in GA. Surprised we hooked up. Nice going Brian. The last Q was with Garie K8KFJ in WV which was a real bonus. See ya'll next month.

WA8HSB
My first Spartan Sprint in a good while. Started listening on 20m (nothing heard), then to 40m (nothing heard there either), then to 80m where the activity appeared to be. Noise level was very high here on all 3 bands. 18 Qs in 10 States with the best DX being WA. Rig: TS-850S at 5 watts and 18AVQ Vertical. Tnx to all. Hope to be back next month!

K5JHP
Slow start and no sigs on 40. Worked only 2 stations on 40. 80 was good tonight. Be back next year.

KB5JO
K2, 5W, 80M, 88' doublet

N7RVD
A Work-Fun contest tonight. The more work you do, the more fun ya have!! Worked 80 meters exclusively from Georgia. Lots of QRN. Had to turn all the filters down just to cut the noise. I gave everybody a 55n report, but, truely just about everybody was 2-2-9 or worse. Tnx. C U next month.

Results: November '09 Spartan Sprint

2009-11-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

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Soapbox comments: November '09 Spartan Sprint

2009-11-06T08:56:00.000-08:00

KF6U
Was my first Spartan Sprint. 20 and 30 meters were dead. Weak signals weren't doing well on 40. I had a high noise level on 80, but did manage to work 2 stations who busted through. Was it fun? YOU BET! I'll be back. It can only get better.

KB7MBI
After about an hour of hearing and making only one contact on 40m I then resorted to calling CQ with 100 watts and finally after 30 minutes made 4 more contacts on 40m. As soon as I would get a call back I reduced the power to 5 watts for the exchange. Noise level here was S6. Antenna was a GAP Titan DX vertical.

KE5TC
This was my first Spartan Sprint and all the contacts were on 80 meters. Lots of fun, Thanks.

W5ACM
Activity on 40M was slow, but provided three QSOs from CA, UT and NJ. 80M was noisy, but the only game in town. Nice 80M contacts were made with stations in the south east, and even one with K8DD in MI. Where are the sunspots? The AT-Sprint 3a did very well with the new pair of 200 mAh LiPo batteries. While the power output started at 3W, it only dropped to 2.5W when the sprint was over. The antique multi-band vertical continues to perform. It was challenging, but a lot of fun. Thanks to all I contacted!

NG7Z
Slim pickings tonight. Started out on 40M and only 4 contacts in 16 minutes. No answers to continued cq's so switched to 80M and picked up 4 more in 25 minutes. Again no answer to CQ's so I listened for a few minutes and gave up. Came back at 0330 and picked up 4 more and that was it. Where was everyone?

K5JHP
5W Strange night on 40 meters here on the Gulf Coast. . .

N5PJ
I made 1 contact using my "tubby" station. I ran 5 watts on my TS 480SAT and my 40 meter dipole (Buddipole) was the antenna for the evening. It made the trip to Maine from Oklahoma. I worked AA1MY.

K8DD
Somehow I was late and only got in the last 30 minutes!

KS4L
ATS 3b.1 to 80m inv. vee at 45'. Heard nothing on 40, and no one answered my CQs. All contacts on 80m. QRN was bad, but it was fun anyway. My first time in the Sprint in a long time!

AB9CA
Rig was K2 to OCF 80m dipole run over the top of an oak tree. Not much heard on 40 - only 2 contacts and those were WA and UT - not a good omen for my run as Fox in about 10 days. But 80 was pretty good, 18 Q's there but almost all were east of the Mississippi river. A couple in TX were the only ones west of there. There was some noise but not too bad. 80 should improve for the next few weeks. Ought to be in good shape for next month. Thanks to all who stopped by and see ya' nex time 'round . . .

N7RVD
Rough contest. 45 minutes work on 40 meters netted one contact. Skipped down to 80. Locally heavy QRN in Memphis, TN was deafening. With the K2 IF filters narrow and the noise blanker and DSP set to max, I could barely hear any signals. That I made 14 qso's is a testament to how hard you guys worked. I needed fills and repeats from just about everybody. Thanks. See u next month.

K9IS
Pretty much all on 80. 40 was disappointing, only 2 Q's.

KB5JO
2W, SW+40, ZEPP, GUD CONDX, FEW QRP STNS.

Results: October '09 Spartan Sprint

2009-10-09T09:56:00.001-07:00

SKINNY

Station	Contacts	Weight	Pts / Lbs
W5ACM	6	0.15	40
W1PID	6	1.25	4.8
N7RVD	18	4.1	4.39
K5JHP	7	2.5	2.8
KD2MX	9	5	1.8
K8DD	31	30	1.03
WB0OEW	7	10	0.7
K8MM	18	30	0.6
N4BP	17	30	0.57
K4BAI	17	30	0.57
NG7Z	15	30	0.5
WB5BKL	13	30	0.43
AB9CA/4	11	30	0.37
N1LU	2	10	0.2
KK5NA	3	18	0.17
W4NJK	2	30	0.07
K6CSL	1	30	0.03


TUBBY

Station	Contacts	Weight	Pts / Lbs
K8DD	31	30	1.03
N7RVD	18	4.1	4.39
K8MM	18	30	0.6
N4BP	17	30	0.57
K4BAI	17	30	0.57
NG7Z	15	30	0.5
WB5BKL	13	30	0.43
AB9CA/4	11	30	0.37
KD2MX	9	5	1.8
WB0OEW	7	10	0.7
K5JHP	7	2.5	2.8
W5ACM	6	0.15	40
W1PID	6	1.25	4.8
KK5NA	3	18	0.17
N1LU	2	10	0.2
W4NJK	2	30	0.07
K6CSL	1	30	0.03

Soapbox comments: October '09 Spartan Sprint

2009-10-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

K5JHP
20 meters went out early. 40 was heavy with QRM. Bad night here on the Texas coast. Tried the Spartan Sprint computer logging program for the first time. Works A-OK. Will try to use it again. Be back next month.

WB0OEW
EFHW on 40 meters.

W5ACM
Activity on 40M was slow, with more noise than last month. 80M was worse. The AT-Sprint 3a did well, especially with the new pair of 200 mAh LiPo batteries. The antique multi-band vertical continues to perform. It was challenging, but enjoyable. Thanks to all I contacted!

W1PID
I operated 40 meters with the little Chinese HB-1A. I only operated for about 20 minutes. 20 meters was dead. I switched to an FT-817 and worked 4 more QSOs on 80, but I didn't count them because of the heavier rig. Wish the HB-1A had 80 meters. Thanks for the fun.

KD2MX
Got off to a quick start but it didn't last long on 40M. The band was kind of crappy. After too long I finally went to 80M where I made most of my QSOs. Packed it in after a bit less than an hour.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. Most of my contacts were on 40M - John (K4BAI) was tough on 80M. Propagation seemed a little odd. Nice to hear some new (to me) calls, though. Had fun.

W4NJK
Nothing heard on 20M here in CA and although 80M was open could not raise anyone. 40 M seemed good and heard several more stations but no QSO (e.g. KI6HJN). Hopefully almost there with the bands.

N4BP
Horrible condx. 20M was dead at the start, no big surprise. But 40M also sounded near dead, just a few ESP level signals to be worked. Fortunately the noise level on 80M is beginning to slightly abate and was able to pull four Q's from the noise. Gave up at the end of the first hour, hopefully next month will be better.

AB9CA/4
Slim pickin's over this way. Started on 20 and heard no one. Went to 40 and thought it was going to be the same. But eventually 6 guys heard me. Then went to 80 (which is getting a lot quieter) and added 5 more. Went back and forth between 40 and 80 but heard no one else. Hung it up at 0215z. Rig was K2 to either 80m inv vee at 36 ft or 1/2 size G5RV as inv vee at 30'. Both seemed to work equally poorly . . . Maybe next month? Thanks to all who stopped by.

K4BAI
20M was open to the west, but no Sprinters were audible and my CQs were unanswered. 40M was very long, but sigs from NH, MN, WA were quite good. Anything closer was within the skip zone. I missed W7OM on 40. Went to 80M very early and it was in good shape here. Some QRN, but not bad. Other stations seemed to have much higher QRN levels. Worked everyone I heard on 80M. Activity was light. We need more publicity to the general QRP operator population. 40M: 4 QSOs. 80M: 13 QSOs. Thanks for every QSO and I look forward to next month.

N7RVD
That was a blast. I managed 18 Qs the first hour on 40 meters working from Minneapolis, MN. On the first Q, I goofed and had the K2's power knob turned all the way down (What's that? 50 mw? 100 mw?). K4BAI pulled out my signal on the very first call. Amazing. The antenna is a dinky screwdriver on a RV ladder. I worked a bunch of the regular QRPers. Then, I slowed my code way down and worked a whole bunch of new folks. I don't know if I worked the new folks due to this QTH instead of Seattle, or because my CQs were slower than the others running stations? I gave everybody a 55n report. However, the low signal report of the month goes to Randy K7TQ - way down in the noise. An "honest" RST would have been 2-1-9. This was a lot of fun.

KK5NA
Only got on for a short time. Two contacts on 20M, 1 on 40M. Rig was K3 at 5 watts and antenna EDZ at 55.

K8MM
I had a lot of power line noise, sorry to those I couldn't pull through. Thanks to K8DD for QSOs on 5 bands.

NG7Z
Slim pickings tonight. 20M had almost expired at 0100Z but got three Texans. Thanks WB5BKL, WA8ZBT and K5JHP. Jumped to 40M at 0114 and snagged nine more until the XYL got home so had to fix a quick dinner. Got back at 0211 on 40M and once again met up with Nick WB5BKL. But 10 mins of CQing produced no more on that band. Switched to 80M and found two nets operating on 3560 and 3562. Started CQing on 3563 but no takers. Heard K8DD CQ'ing away on 3560.37 just above the net and worked Hank. Got yanked out of the chair for another half hour and made one last Q with Ian, K8MM at 0249. I heard NF0R but he could not hear me. I was momentarily tempted to switch on the amp but was successful in restraining that foolish inclination. If not for the interruptions, I may have had a few more on 40M but the band did not sound very good so maybe I didn't miss much. Equipment used was an Icom 756P3 at 5 watts, Force12 C3, Cushcraft 40-2CD and an 80M full wave loop which faces east. Thanks for the contacts and hoping the fall brings better conditions on the low bands for the SS.

K6CSL
Yaesu FT-450 running 5W to "Stealth" Antennas. 20 appeared dead from the start tonight and 40 was very noisey here in Central CA. Thanks to Elwood WB0OEW for the QSO.

K8DD
It was an 80 and 40 Sprint!

Results: Sept. '09 Spartan Sprint

2009-09-11T10:11:00.001-07:00

SKINNY

Station	Contacts	Weight	Pts / Lbs
W5ACM	15	0.138	108.7
W5ESE	30	0.844	35.55
K5JHP	22	2.5	8.8
K9JWV	20	2.3	8.7
W1PID	25	4.25	5.88
N4BP	61	30	2.03
N0AR	20	10	2
AF4LQ	10	5	2
K8DD	55	30	1.83
K4BAI	54	30	1.8
K7TQ	43	30	1.43
NG7Z	42	30	1.4
N8WE	3	2.2	1.36
AB9CA	32	30	1.07
WA5RML	24	26	0.92
K9FO	18	30	0.6
WB5BKL	16	30	0.53
N7MFB	9	25	0.36
N0EVH	2	8	0.25
KC1JB	7	30	0.23
N1AW	1	5	0.2
K6DGW	9	47.5	0.19
KH6B	0	8	0


TUBBY

Station	Contacts	Weight	Pts / Lbs
N4BP	61	30	2.03
K8DD	55	30	1.83
K4BAI	54	30	1.8
K7TQ	43	30	1.43
NG7Z	42	30	1.4
AB9CA	32	30	1.07
W5ESE	30	0.844	35.55
W1PID	25	4.25	5.88
WA5RML	24	26	0.92
K5JHP	22	2.5	8.8
K9JWV	20	2.3	8.7
N0AR	20	10	2
K9FO	18	30	0.6
WB5BKL	16	30	0.53
W5ACM	15	0.138	108.7
AF4LQ	10	5	2
N7MFB	9	25	0.36
K6DGW	9	47.5	0.19
KC1JB	7	30	0.23
N8WE	3	2.2	1.36
N0EVH	2	8	0.25
N1AW	1	5	0.2
KH6B	0	8	0

Soapbox comments: Sept. '09 Spartan Sprint

2009-09-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

K6DGW
I'm a tubby, lots of reasons for not going out on the deck, very low activity, all on 40, it was Labor Day after all. I will likely miss the Oct, I'll have just returned from N6A for the CQP.

W5ACM
Noise levels were reasonable in South Texas, and 20 Meters was open and quite usable. Fifty percent of my contacts this month were via 20 Meters. The vertical once again was the antenna of choice. The current pair of 200 mAh Li-Po batteries are just about dead. I will need to change them out for next month since operation was curtailed by the premature battery failure. The power level was announced as 3W, but ranged from 2.5W at the beginning of the event to as low as 0.5W near the end. However, this was an excellent sprint!

K9JWV
Glad to see some of the regulars. Worked John, K4BAI, on 20 and 40; Paul, NG7Z on 40 only this go around. 20 was good for 8 QSOs and 40 offered up 12 and all of the 40 meter QSOs were to the East Coast and Washington State; not a local soul heard. Sure will be glad to see winter months arrive with a little more stability on 40 and 80. One of the better "Sprint evenings," lately, on 40 meters for me out here in the communications outback of s/w Utah. Good to hear old friends like John, K4BAI on both bands and Paul, NG7Z, on 40. Never heard any one from the midwest, mountain states or California and that's been the standard this summer - tuff to hear what I call "north/south locals" in the evening hours. Rig: Wilderness Sierra, 10 AA battery pack, lightweight key and ear buds.

N0EVH
I was short on time and the bands seemed marginal. At least I gave out a couple of Q's from the K3 and 80 meter loop. Thanks for the sprint.

WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5w + 40M EDZepp. Most of my QSOs were on 40M. My apologies to those who called me on 20M that I had trouble hearing. I had a S8-S9+ intermittent noise level (that's my excuse anyway). Had fun!

N8WE
KK4R (best RST of the Sprint), N4BP and K5GQ. All 40 mtr.

K9FO
40 meters only this time. Rig - Tentec Orion @ 5W, Antenna, Dipole.
One hour to operate but finished strong. Thanks for having the sprint.

W5ESE
AT Sprint 3 at 3 watts; Whiterook MK-44 iambic paddles; 300' horizontal loop on 20m, 40m inverted V on 40m. Wow; I haven't made 30 contacts in the Spartan Sprint since 2006! Think we benefitted from favorable propagation and also increased interest and participation. I was surprised to work Texas and Louisiana on 20 meters. It's not often I experience sporadic E on 20. Kudos to the leadership of ARS for patiently rebuilding participation in this event.

KH6B
Heard N4BP 0100 - 0130 14.060 RST 229 and building to about 339. I decided to call but the band changed. Heard a zero RST 339 but didn't get the call. This was about 0140-0145. Nothing
more heard when stopped listening at 0230.

KC1JB
This was my first Spartan Sprint. I'm looking forward to the next one!

K4BAI
20M, which had seemed dead earlier, came back to life at the beginning of the SS and QSOs were possible from GA to FL, VA, LA, TX, UT, ID, WA, MI and a very surprising one with AB9CA in AL. I was unable to raise WA7OJY in CA, but worked him on 40 later. 40 was very good to most areas of the country, but seemed a bit weak to the North East. There seemed to be no long skip on 40. 80M was noisy here, but I managed QSOs with N4BP and W2SH. WA8ZBT in TX couldn't hear me on 80. Thanks for all the QSOs and look forward to next month.

N4BP
5W from Elecraft K3, Cushcraft A4S, Sewper Armadillo 40/80 dipole. Good opening on 20M that extended just past a half hour. 40M was reasonably quiet for a change. Lots of activity.

WA5RML
Ten Tec Omni VI @ 5wts; 20M vertical, G5RV 40M; Great fun! Lots of activity on 20M & 40M; Nice to work Doc, K0EVZ. See everyone next month!

W1PID
Remarkable Spartan Sprint. I ran a new (to me) K2 at 5 watts with a Windom OCF dipole.
Best DX was on 40M with W7OM in WA. I worked K7TQ in ID on 2 bands, 20m and 40m. I worked N4BP on 2 bands, 20m and 40m. I worked Hank K8DD on 2 bands, 40m and 80m.
I worked Mike AA1TJ in VT. Mike was running 85mw! I operated for a little more than an hour
and had a great time. Thanks to all.

N7MFB
Conditions not the best. The most surprizing contact was AA4XX with 1/4 watt. Nicely done!
It is somewhat sad that some digital stations are "parking" around 7.040 now. Quite a bit of QRM made it hard to hear everyone.

N1AW
Used HW-8 at home with 160' end-fed wire. The only station I heard calling CQ SP on 80 was W1PID, who came right back. Heard several calling CQ SP on 40 but they didn't hear me.

NG7Z
Not a bad night in the 'ol town tonight. 20M was good until 0143Z at which time I took a 5 min break. 40M was hopping and spent the rest of the time there. Most surprising contact was VE2EMZ in Quebec. Several east coast stations got in the log this month unlike last month. I
think I should have at least took a listen on 80M but just forgot. Congrats to Doug AC7T for jumping in the fray. His first time at the SP. See you next month. Equipment was an Icom 756P3 at 5W, a Force12 C3 on 20M and a 2 element shorty forty on 40.

N0AR
Only ran on 40 meters and suffered through the QRN. Lots of familiar calls in the log. Rig was a K2 antenna was a 1 wavelength wire up 35 feet, my 80 m EFHW. Heard two contacts that had me rolling, one at 500w and the other at 20w.

K7TQ
First use of my new K3! Finished assembly on Saturday and on the air for SP. 20 m good for 1st half hour. Most states were east of MS river. 40 m open from CA to NH. Lots of Texans out in force tonight. Tried 80 m, but no SP heard. At 0259 got a call from AA4XX, Paul, running 200 mW. He was one of the louder stations of the evening.

AF4LQ
Ran a Sierra at 3w's to a short doublet up 25ft, casual S/P'ing between other chores. Fun as always, c'ya next month.

AB9CA
Station was K2 to OCF 80m Inv Vee. Thanks to all who stopped by. Was a fun evening despite the difficulties getting used to a different set of paddles. Am something of a klutz so always mess up some sending, but tonight, with a different set of paddles, was worse than normal. Thanks to all who tolerated the errors! The activity was about evenly split, 17 Q's on 20 and 15 on 40. Worked as close as about 200 miles (K4BAI) and as far away as about 2000 (NG7Z) on both bands. Haven't done that in some time. Listened on 80 but heard no one and there was quite a bit of noise so no contacts there. Maybe the wintertime prop is beginning to appear? See ya'all next month!

K5JHP
Running with the K-1 this time with small paddles and NMH batteries. 20 was hot while it lasted. 40 was Ok but some QRM from slow CW. I would like to see some of the stations on 20 meters spread out more. Seems like they were all in the first 2KC of "60" and QRM'd each other. 40 was some better but still on top of each other. Be back next month.

Aug. '09 Spartan Sprint results

2009-08-07T05:57:00.001-07:00

SKINNY

Station	Contacts	Weight	Pts / Lbs
W5ACM	12	0.138	86.956521
K4PQC	19	0.21875	86.857142
K5GQ	25	0.39	64.1
W0RSP	26	0.812499	32
KF0N	7	0.317	22.08
W5ESE	16	0.844	18.96
W2NED	10	1.2	8.33
W1PID	17	2.6	6.54
K8DD	39	10	3.9
K6DGW	3	0.823	3.65
NK6A	20	6	3.33
WB8LZG	10	4	2.5
N4BP	66	30	2.2
N1LN	65	30	2.17
KA9UDA	9	5	1.8
NG7Z	48	30	1.6
N8WE	3	2	1.5
K7TQ	35	30	1.17
KK5NA	20	18	1.11
KE0G	39	35	1.11
WB8RTJ	33	30	1.1
N5GW	29	30	0.97
AB9CA	26	30	0.87
WA1ZCQ	4	5	0.8
K9FO	23	30	0.77
W5JHP	21	30	0.7
WB5BKL	18	30	0.6
N1LU	10	30	0.33
K6CSL	4	30	0.13
N0BN	1	30	0.03
KH6B	0	8	0


TUBBY

Station	Contacts	Weight	Pts / Lbs
N4BP	66	30	2.2
N1LN	65	30	2.17
NG7Z	48	30	1.6
K8DD	39	10	3.9
KE0G	39	35	1.11
K7TQ	35	30	1.17
WB8RTJ	33	30	1.1
N5GW	29	30	0.97
W0RSP	26	0.812499	32
AB9CA	26	30	0.87
K5GQ	25	0.39	64.1
K9FO	23	30	0.77
W5JHP	21	30	0.7
NK6A	20	6	3.33
KK5NA	20	18	1.11
K4PQC	19	0.21875	86.857142
WB5BKL	18	30	0.6
W1PID	17	2.6	6.54
W5ESE	16	0.844	18.96
W5ACM	12	0.138	86.956521
W2NED	10	1.2	8.33
WB8LZG	10	4	2.5
N1LU	10	30	0.33
KA9UDA	9	5	1.8
KF0N	7	0.317	22.08
WA1ZCQ	4	5	0.8
K6CSL	4	30	0.13
K6DGW	3	0.823	3.65
N8WE	3	2	1.5
N0BN	1	30	0.03
KH6B	0	8	0