NAQCC April 2006 Sprint

Call   QSOs Mbrs Pts  Mul  Sco  Bonus  Final Awd 80 - 40 Antenna
*K3WWP  33   29   62   16  992    x2    1984  1  ~110' attic random wire
N2WN    30   28   58   14  812    x2    1624  2  1/4w vert-sloping dpl
*KD2MX  27   25   52   12  624    x2    1248     ~300' ef rndm wire @ 30'
KA8MPT  19   16   35   10  350    x2     700     ?? @ ??'
K4UK    17   14   31   11  341    x2     682     trap dipole @ ?'
VA3RKM  18   17   35    9  280    x2     630  #  dipole @ 18'
*KI4DEF 16   14   30   10  300    x2     600     88' dblt @ 53'
KA2KGP  14   13   27    9  243    x2     486     80m dipole @ 25'
KB3LFC  13   11   24    9  216    x2     432     ~100' random wire @ ?'
K2EKM   11   11   22    7  154    x2     308     88' dblt @ 20'
N4FI    11   11   22    7  154    x2     308     110' rnd wire-attic G5RV
W2JEK   11   10   21    7  147    x2     294     ef hertz @ 25'
W5TVW    6    6   12    5   60    x2     120     135' dipole @ 50'
WD4LST   6    5   11    5   55    x2     110     G5RV @ 30'
W9CC     6    6   12    4   48    x2      96     80/40 inv vee @ 35'
K4NVJ    4    4    8    4   32    x2      64     80M dipole @ 35'

# - Top score from a previous non-winner

* - Special Award (most 80M QSO's) entrants:
K3WWP (14)
KD2MX (11)
KI4DEF (11)

Special Award (most 80M QSO's) winner:
K3WWP

SOAPBOX:
K3WWP - (NOTE) Because of Passover and Easter, the results may be a bit late in being posted this month. - Our first 40/80 sprint of the season started out pretty good although activity on 40M seemed to vanish after about 0130 for some reason. Conditions continued to be good on 40 all the way to the end, but there was almost no sprint activity by the last half hour. 80M was better than I thought it would be and there was quite a bit of activity there in the last hour right up to the end. And a personal note - it was nice to work Steve, NU7T tonight. He is one of our very active West Coast members, but this is the first time we've had a QSO since the NAQCC got started. Oh and for a change my QRN wasn't all that bad on either band.

KD2MX - Conditions were OK, certainly not great as reflected by my fewer multipliers than last time out, which was of course limited to just 80M. At least the QRN wasn't that high! Activity seemed pretty good but the last 30 minutes were very slow for me. I was shooting for 30 QSOs. I fell short but did beat my past QSO high. A good time as always.

N2WN - 80M was pretty noisy, had a heck of a time with AA9L (thanks for the patience). Two non member QSOs with Bert KB2UZM in Niagara Falls and K5XU Mike in Ms. Chewed the fat with Bert for a bit. 40M was pretty crowded and had hoped to have a few longer haul QSOs, maybe the second session saw some DX action. Almost had 31 Q's, but the clock ticked out, sorry to miss K3WWP on both bands. Thanks to all. 72

VA3RKM - Moderate conditions on 80m, good on 40. Heard some 0-callsign stations but couldn't work them. Participation in these sprints over the last 8 months has helped improve my contesting ability a lot.

K4UK - Almost missed the Sprint - busy composing Emails - Hi! Only ran on 80 Meters. QRN quite heavy here in VA and also some QSB. This old man can't stay up for the "late" shift - Hi!

K2EKM - Had lots of fun in this one. I used two of my lowest-power rigs for the sprint. On 40m used a recently-built DC40 at 1w. Added a small-range vxo (about 4 Kc) and had several xtals around 7.040 so had a little room to play with. On 80m used an SW80+ at a little over 2watts. Actually had responses to several CQs on 80M. For me, this is what qrp is all about. I guess my most enjoyable hamming has become using very small rigs with low power. There is joy even at this low point of the cycle. See you next month - perhaps I'll crack open one of my Rockmites (have both 80m and 40m versions) - will depend on conditions. Conditions seemed great on 40m and 80 was ok even with a little noise.

KI4DEF - Thanks to everyone who operated this Sprint, especially those who stuck with me under poor condx to complete a QSO, often with many repeats (and to those who tried hard to hear me even if we didn't make it, especially Gary W9FNB). Rig Norcal Sierra at 3W and straight key. Started out intending to work all 80m. QRN was S6-S8 so after struggling through several QSOs in first 30 min, switched to 40m. Condx much better, but soon worked all stns I could hear in another 30 min. Switched back to 80m for second hour -- condx had improved a lot (only S4-S5 QRN), and heard many more sigs. All in all, there didn't seem to be as many sigs as previous months, but they might have been hiding in the QRN. Very nice clear sigs from some OMs on one or both bands--John K3WWP, John KA8MPT, Thomas KA2KGP and Stan K4UK (who may have accidentally hit the 100W switch on the K2 hihi! -- WOW! great sig, Stan). Hope to hear you all next month. --72--

KA2KGP - Yep, lot's-o-QRN again, we're getting into summer thunderstorm season & noise levels going up here in WNY. Thanks to all who dug out my signal. Hope for better conditions next sprint, Rig: TenTec Argosy II at 5 w., straight key as usual....73 to all.

W5TVW - Conditions were bad here. Lots of QRN and another contest going on in our allotted segment. I think band was just lousy. Guess I could have stayed awake and tried the later 2 hours, but I was fading out fast and figured I was gonna fall on my face any minute. That's why I like sprints as opposed to 24-48 hour contests! Just as much fun with no worn out feeling afterwards!

W9CC - Usual conditions for this year -- awful.

KB3LFC - Overall I thought band conditions were pretty fair here in western Pa. Recently I had to move may antenna due to impending road and bridge construction which will take some of our property, Moving the antenna meant shortening it (for now anyhow) and running it in a slightly different direction. Since then, My RST reports on 80 Meters have been a bit less favorable. However, my sprint scores are usually in the bottom half anyhow so it doesn't make that much of a difference. Maybe this spring I'll have an infinitely better antenna and manage to beat K3WWP! (Smile). Anyhow the sprint was a lot of fun, as usual and it was good to be on and hear many of my old friends. An NAQCC thank you to all who participated.

K4NVJ - Too many distractions, not enough fun

KA8MPT - Lots of qrn on 80 and 40m.s-7 to s-8 all night in Ohio. Solid fists from Stan K4uk and John K3wwp thanks guys. 40 m drop out around 0130 z and 80 m not much better for qrn. Had a lot of stations calling me but I just could not pull them out of the noise? BUT THE FUN IS IN QRP CW.

RULES:
Date and time:
Wednesday, April 12, 0030-0230 UTC -OR- 0330-0530 UTC
(Remember that's Tuesday evening here in the USA)

We received a couple of logs from West Coast members for the added time period in March so we will continue the experiment this month. Anyone can operate either or both time periods. If you operate both time periods, only one of the two will count for your score. The other time period will be only for your benefit in helping you toward our Worked Members Award, etc. DO NOT submit a log or score for the extra time period if you work both.

Bands Used This Month:
80 meters and 40 meters

Special Award:
To the one making the most 80 meter QSO's.

Entry Deadline:
All entries must be postmarked or email dated before 2400Z on April 18, 2006.

Other Rules:
For rules that are common to all of our sprints, check General Sprint Rules