 
|
January 21, 2005 80M Straight Key Sprint Final Official Results: Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bonus Final Awd Antenna K8NQQ 48 35 83 21 1743 x2 3,486 1 80M inv vee @ 33' N9NE 50 34 84 20 1680 x2 3,360 2 176' dblt @ 65' WA8REI 30 23 53 19 1007 x2 2,014 3 dipole @ 48' K3WWP 28 22 50 17 850 x2 1,700 ~110' attic rndm wire K4CHT 20 15 35 15 525 x2 1,050 dipole @ 25' W3DCG 21 18 39 13 507 x2 1,014 G5RV @ 15' abv roof AE5X 28 23 51 17 867 867 dipole @ 65' NU4B 19 14 33 13 429 x2 858 Carolina windom W2LJ 17 14 31 11 341 x2 682 G5RV K4JPN 13 12 25 8 200 x2 400 80M CF Zepp @ 32' WA5TCZ 10 9 19 9 171 x2 342 135' dipole @ 60' K8KFJ 10 8 18 8 144 x2 288 dipole N2COD 9 7 16 8 128 x2 256 ? K2EKM 8 6 14 8 112 x2 224 88' dblt @ 20' K4BAI 12 10 22 9 198 198 ? N3JV 12 9 21 9 189 189 70' wire on roof N4FI 7 6 13 7 91 x2 182 120' rndm wire *W2AGN 7 5 12 7 84 x2 168 ? AE4Y 10 9 19 8 152 152 dipole K4UK 10 8 18 8 144 144 160M inv vee K4YMQ 9 7 16 8 128 128 dipole N3IW 6 4 10 6 60 x2 120 vert & dipole K9EW 8 7 15 8 120 120 top load vertical N5EBD 9 6 15 6 90 90 ? @W5MSQ 8 6 14 6 84 84 ? KB3LFC 6 3 9 4 36 x2 72 ~225' rnd wire @ 16' KG4HTT 5 4 9 4 36 x2 72 54' attic dipole KF0XV 4 4 8 4 32 x2 64 ? WA3FIR 4 3 7 4 28 x2 56 inv vee K7RMJ 5 4 9 5 45 45 inv L @ 25' KM0Y 3 1 4 2 8 x2 16 inv vee AI4II 2 1 3 2 6 x2 12 Butternut HF9V vert NU7T 3 0 3 2 6 x2 12 210' dipole @ 40' KB7MBI 2 1 3 2 6 x2 12 GAP Titan WB8WTU 2 1 3 2 6 x2 12 attic G5RV *W5ESE 2 2 4 1 4 x2 8 80M horiz loop W1OH 2 2 4 2 8 8 40M attic dipole AB0VM 1 1 2 1 2 x2 4 ? @ - KA5HZV operator * - Special Award (QRPp) entrants: W2AGN, W5ESE Special Award (QRPp) winner - W2AGNSOAPBOX: K3WWP - As I said to myself when I got up from my seat at the key after two hours in the sprint, "Ain't no way I'm getting a second place in this one as I did in the previous two." I had too much local QRN plus the band went long here shortly after 0200Z and my attic wire is not as effective on longer skip on 80M. Still it must have been fun since I stuck with it the whole two hours. We're getting a lot of logs coming in already just shortly after the end of the sprint. I never heard some of those stations nor some of the stations that were in their logs. Apparently there was a lot more activity than I at first thought, and just the conditions here were keeping me from hearing a lot of it. My apologies to someone (probably K4YMQ) with a K and Y in their call - I just couldn't pull you through my noise here. Let's hear your thoughts on the sprint and band conditions at your location. KA5HZV - Thanks John (and Tom)... It was GREAT fun. Can't wait until the next time... Ron K7RMJ - Got started an hour late. The band was hopping until about 03:00Z then it seemed to die out until the sprint was over. The band came back around 03:45Z and signals picked up again. Great lil contest. Lets do it again soon. 72's & oo AI4II (ex-N4GSD) - Great contest as always! Even with just two QSO's had an excellent time. Look forward to the next contest. N3IW - Rig used was a Ten-Tec Argosy II running 5W into a vertical and a dipole. Key was a Navy Flameproof straight key. A Nye-Viking Master key was on standby as was the Omni VI+, but I stuck it out with the Argosy. Conditions were not great, the band started out noisy, but quieted down later. Lots of fun and I enjoyed the sprint. Looking forward to the next one. 73 KF0XV - Had fun for the short time I was on. Got in late and missed a lot of you guys, sorry. Met my neighbor, AB0VM, He's about 20 miles air miles North West of me. KM0Y - Conditions were horrible. I was using a straight key to a Kenwood 430 at 5 watts into an inverted vee antenna. Hoping for better conditions next year. NU4B - 1st time in the sprint - made for a very enjoyable evening. First time I used my straight key in over 20 years. Thanks to all and 73 - Larry KB7MBI - Heard numerous stations but only worked 2. Hope to have another antenna next week other than the GAP TITAN for comparison purposes W2LJ - I had a really good time. 40 Meters was dead and I couldn't hear either of the QRP-L Foxes; so I spent my time on 80 Meters with NAQCC. It was really good to hear all the stations on the band! I was doing pretty good until the XYL turned on the computer upstairs and gave me an S9 noise from 3.560 to about 3.563! I can't wait for the nexr Sprint! K9EW - Only caught the last half-hour, but condx were decent, so made 8 QSOs. Running 3w with an Argonaut 515 to a top-loaded vertical. Forgot to use my J-38, so can't double my score. Next time I'll remember. 72 - ed N2COD - Lots of fun ! Nice NA turnout with pileups in the general portion, but more QSO's needed in the novice section. Heard NO sigs on color burst freq. 3.579. Good band conditions, but I sure wish operators would LISTEN between calls. K4JPN - Conditions so so, lot of QRN, but had fun. Forgot how tiring a str key is vs the keyer. Hi Hi. W1OH - This time, conditions a bit noisy in the condo complex :-( Heard a bunch of folks over the hour or so that I was on, but only two contacts. Still, I enjoy giving it a shot on 80M in spite of my attic 40M dipole. Rig this time is my FT-897 at 5W via MFJ941E tuner to the 40M attic dipole. Thanks for organizing these events; I especially like the short 2 hour sprint format (I enter the ARS first monday of the month sprints as often as I can). It fits well with my overly hectic life (gotta do something about that, too :-) W2AGN - Once again, going for "most unusual rig" used a Chinese Army Model 74 Packset. Capable of about 2 watts, although I ran it just under 1 watt. Surprisingly, had an excellent CW filter built in, and was capable of "single-signal" CW reception, unusual in this old miltary gear. All solid state, runs on -24 VDC (thats right, MINUS 24 VDC). I connected 2 SLA batteries in series and it hardly touched the charge on them. I have attached a couple pictures of it, if anyone is interested. Conditions stunk. Very high QRN level. I assume N9NE was running a KW ;-) Let me add, I was using my 80M FW Horizontal loop. The key was the matching Chinese Straight key for the Packset. Very nice, chromed and heavy key, BUT the key return spring must have been made for a gorilla! I clipped off about 1/3 of it, and it still is a pretty heavy action. Those Chinese Army guys must send using Kung Fu! NU7T - Rig: 5 watts from FT847 Key: Kent SP-1 shorted to be a cootie key Ant: 210' ( I think ) of #12 center-fed wire rising up 40' on a home brew mast at back of city lot, horizontal to a 40'tower and then sloping down to the fence at the street K4UK - Wasn't able to get on at the start of the Sprint, because we held our "Appreciation Dinner" for the FISTS QSL Bureau staff and their wives. I ran my K2 at 5 Watts into a 160 Meter dipole which, due to high wind a couple weeks ago is now in an Inverted Vee configuration. The "key" was a Bencher Paddle. I hadn't downloaded the announcement before the Sprint so wasn't aware of the Straight Key bonus. If I had known, I would have run the Navy "flameproof" key I used in the SKN. Interestingly 6 of my 10 contacts were with FISTS members. So QRP is enjoyed by many of our FISTS members. Look forward to the next event. WA8REI - My first NAQCC contest. Lots of fine signals out there! Noise was about S-4 here, not too bad! Rig: FT-817 at 5 watts; Ant: Sloping dipole 48' down to 5' Straight Key: 1952 vintage railroad key, very similar to but not a J-38. The only thing that could be improved would be to have only ONE general freq. range instead of TWO. In a Straight Key contest, nobody is super fast, so no need for a set of "slow code" freqs, in my opinion. I liked the fact that it was on a weeknight, rather than on weekends when contesters with QRO signals would wipe out most of the (QRP) sigs. Also Thursday does not conflict with the ARS Spartan Sprints, which many of us like to "play" in. Great contest with lots of activity! Tnx to all for working me. K8KFJ - Lots of FISTS activity tonight making for crowded conditions. I forgot to check 3705-3715 (again). Tops signals here were K4BAI & K8NQQ. Was happy to hook up with Larry finally (W2LJ #35). It sure is fun using the straight key. Lots of snow outside so a good night for radio. W5ESE - Wow, a QRP Sprint in the middle of the week, on 80 meters, with bonus points for straight keys. You are some creative minds! I had fun, though only made 2 contacts, both to stations here in Texas. I don't use my Pixie 2 very often, so it was fun to fire it up. Made both contacts on the 3560 khz crystal; no joy on the colorburst frequency. There are crystals also commonly available for 3686.4 khz (in the Novice/Tech+ segment); perhaps add that one to your list of frequencies to watch, too? N3JV - My first NAQCC event, and my first event since getting back on the air after moving to a new QTH. Station consisted of a TS-570S at 5W with a temporary long wire (somewhere around 60 - 70ft) stapled to the roof of the house. Used the bencher paddle since I couldn't find the box with the straight key (J-38); I found it the next morning - go figure. So much for the x2 multiplier! Enjoyed the event very much, despite not having the best antenna for 80M. Happy to work a good friend in MI (WA8REI) & 8 other members, along with 3 non-members. Listened between 3.705 - 3.715 several times but never heard a station there; all QSOs were between 3.555 - 3.565. Heard a fair amount of activity here and had a great time. My apologies to those stations calling me that I could not copy and thanks to those that stuck with me to get the exchange info. I'm looking forward to the next event! W3DCG - Well, I had lots of fun! A pleasant surprise anytime anyone called. Special thanks to Stan K4UK for rescuing me from a plaguing moment of evil interference and asking me to move away from it to complete the contact. I got a late start thanks to life's blessings. I had lots of fun. Many thanks to all who called and all who answered. It would have been very cool ending the log with K4BAI in it, however, there's no way I could have completed the exchange in time with my straight key. I had a laugh and giggles trying though! Thanks for calling John, just the same. K3WWP and KB3LFC, thanks guys for creating it all. Super club concept, great ideas. This event was pursued via non-resonant, standard G5RV 102' dipole, flat-topped about 15 feet above the apex of my roof. The ends of it dangle 8' on both sides to make it fit, about 67-68 feet of coax connect it to an MFJ 993 auto-tuner. Ten Tec Pegasus at 4 to 5 Watts output, controlled completely via mouse. Inexpensive (aka cheap) eBay Special Speed X classic Oval connected via alligator clip leads to the left post and left arm of my paddle. 73/72 had a blast. Darin, W3DCG. KG4HTT - Used a Ten Tec Argonaut 509 at 5 watts, to a 54 ft. bent dipole in my townhouse attic. AE5X - The contest was a lot of fun, although I could only operate for a bit over an hour. I was using my ATS-3 powered by 8 AAA batteries (with several hours of usage already on them) for an output of about 3 watts. Antenna was an 80m dipole at 65 feet. QSB was fast and deep - often I would copy the first letter of a station's call at 599 and by the time the last letter was sent, the signal would be down to 449 - all in the space of 2 or 3 seconds. I forgot to check the colorburst for activity - was anyone there? AE4Y - Enjoyed the contest and will be looking forward to more from the NAQCC. K2EKM - This time I used my "backup" 80M rig - a Rockmite. My main rig, a Ten-Tec Argonaut V had been sent back to the factory for warrantee work. Even though I had added a vxo to the RM, I still had a very small window - about 2Khz centered at 3.560, so that was my "world" during the sprint. I still had fun even though conditions and the less than ideal rx of the RM made it a challenge. Power was around 1.7 watts (give-or-take) to an 88ft doublet up about 20 feet. I used the same Speed-x key I had when I got my novice license in Oct of '57. N9NE - Rig: K2 @ 5W. Antenna: 176' doublet up 65'. (WOW, no wonder he sounds like a KW as W2AGN mentioned above - HI - K3WWP) Key: J-47 Hand Key. Enjoyed this contest very much and met a new bunch of fellow QRP'rs! I took some time out during the 'test to work the two Foxes as well as to listen for the N2XE Beacon (50mW) on 160 meters. WA3FIR - I couldn't get on until 0300 but had fun anyway. Great idea for a short sprint. I was using an IC706 turned down to 5w to an inverted vee. K8NQQ - Had a huge time in the contest, two hours is my limit anymore getting too old and delapidated for the long contest. Stayed on one frequency (356175) the entire contest, only used the RIT occasionally. Signals ranged from: - blow your ears off to down in the QRN. I believe I only lost two stations in the QRN. NO QRM, used narrow filters. Worked 35 members, 14 non members and 20 states. On to the next one. WB8WTU - 5 watts into an Attic G5RV. QRN was major problem, but N9NE had a monster signal. Hopefully less noise next time. WA5TCZ - I would like to apologize to all that were answering me half way through the contest. I noticed I had the 600 Hz filter on. I could not figure why no answers. HI HI. Great QRP club and great ideas, good sprint. Next time will check rig. HI HI. Hand key from Novice days 37 years ago. J-38 WWII. |