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Aug 9, 2006 80/40/20M Straight Key/Bug Sprint Final Official Results: SWA Category Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bonus Final Awd 80-40-20 Antenna W2JEK 21 21 42 12 504 x2 1008 1 efhz@25'-dpl@25'-gp@25' W2SH 18 15 33 12 396 x2 792 2 80M horiz. bisquare @75' K3WWP 18 17 35 10 350 x2 700 attic rndm wire/20m dpl W2LJ 16 15 31 11 341 x2 682 G5RV @25' *K4BAI 15 13 28 11 308 x2 616 40M dpl-88' cf zepp @40' KD2MX 16 15 31 9 279 x2 558 ~300' rnd wire @30' W5TVW 11 10 21 9 189 x2 378 135' cf dipole @50' WB7AVF 10 10 20 7 140 x2 280 # 40M dipole @ 100' KA2KGP 10 10 20 4 80 x2 160 all band vertical WB8LZG 11 10 21 7 147 147 dipole @30' K3PBY 8 8 16 6 96 x1.5 144 40M inv vee @35' KW4JS 7 7 14 4 56 x2 112 88' dblt @50' W9CC 6 6 12 4 48 x2 96 Fan Inv V's @35' W1SRB 6 6 12 4 48 x2 96 80/40/20 mb dpl @45' K4UK 5 4 9 4 36 x2 72 160M inv vee @??' AD5QB 4 4 8 4 32 x2 64 100' dipole @30' N1LT 5 5 10 3 30 x2 60 ocf windom @30' N9AKF 3 3 6 3 18 x2 36 120' random wire @20' W1OH 5 5 10 3 30 30 40M attic dblt K4JPN 2 2 4 2 8 x2 16 ? WY7N 2 1 3 2 6 x2 12 700' rnd wire @20' W1TF 1 1 2 1 2 x2 4 28'x7' indoor loop K9EW 1 1 2 1 2 x2 4 dipole @40' KB3LFC 1 1 2 1 2 x2 4 110' rndm wire @20' GAIN ANTENNA Category Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bonus Final Awd 80-40-20 Antenna No entrants # - Top score from a previous non-winner * - Special Award (Opposite coast stations) entrants: K4BAI (E-2) Special Award (Opposite coast stations) winner: K4BAI with 2 cross-country QSO'sSOAPBOX: K3WWP - Conditions rank right up there with the worst we've had for one of these sprints. I don't know if they were bad everywhere or if it was like the 'black hole' we had for one of our sprints about a year ago. The bands were almost dead after the first half hour until the final half hour. On top of that, and perhaps contributing to make things sound worse than they were was a very high local noise level. Oh, and similar to what Fibber McGee used to say about the hall closet, "I gotta clean up my computer noise on 20M one of these days." I just don't seem able to find the time to do it and I just can't hear QRP stations on 20M with it like it is. Sorry for the few (several) stations I couldn't copy who called me. Let's hope for better things come September and early fall. W1TF - 20M heard nothing 40M Heard lots of stations, only one heard me. 73 AD5QB - My first NAQCC Sprint, very noisy condx but enjoyed the challenge. Looking forward to the next one. N9AKF - I only worked a short time on 40 meters. Wish I'd have had more time as 40 sounded pretty active. KA2KGP - Lousy conditions here in WNY, 80 & 40 were high QRN, 20 was clearer but only 2 QSO's there as propogation was poor. I hope next sprint band conditions are better! Rig: TenTec Argosy II at 5 w. into vertical. K4UK - Conditions on all bands were not very good here in Virginia. Lots of QRN and QSB. Had a nice 22 minute chat with Lloyd, AA8PW who was not in the Sprint, but who gave me his power. I gave up at 0150 UTC when I couldn't get any answers to my CQ's on any of the three bands. K4BAI - Another late start due to a tennis match. 20M was open when I got on about 0130Z, but no contest activity and no answers to CQs on that band. Also heard no contest activity on 80M this month. 40M seemed to be short as I was able to QSO K4JPN also in GA and heard K4NVJ in AL. 73/72, John, K4BAI. WB8LZG - Started out on 20, es tried to make a few QSOs but it was not working so went to 40 es stayed there. 40 was very noisy but at least I was working them. I heard several stations that couldn't here me. Lots of fun tonight but it definetly took a bit more concentration to dig out the Q's. Only worked 1 west of Miss. Hopefully we will have better condx fer the next test. 73 Gregg KD2MX - Yeow! My ears were burning after toughing out two hours of S9+ QRN with not much to show for it but a dull ringing in my head. What a difference a day makes. I worked all corners of the country with my KX1 on 20M/40M during the ARS Sprint on Monday night. Nearly two-thirds of my QSOs tonight were in the Northeast. I never made it close to the Mississippi so I won't be competing for any special award this month. Best DX was MI. 20M was again a bust with next to nothing heard. I did hear WB8LZG but no qso. I moved to 40M after about 10 minutes. This was one of those nights that you wonder if your antenna is connected or if you have the wrong date. I had just two qsos in the first 35 minutes. It was as quiet (if you can call S9+ QRN quiet) as a sunny, summer Friday afternoon in the office when the phone doesn't ring once. Finally, activity perked up a bit but the last 30 minutes were also very slow. Apologies to at least a couple of stations that were calling me but I just couldn't dig you out of the noise. I checked out 80M during the last 15 minutes but only worked a local member. I suspect summer vacations might have cut into activity tonight. That coupled with the lousy conditions made this sprint a bit of a slog. Bright spot was working some new members. 73/72 until next time. K3PBY - ENJOYED MY FIRST NAQCC SPRINT. BAND CONDX WERE POOR WITH LOTS OF QRN HERE IN FLORIDA. W5TVW - Conditions here were truly dismal. Signals weak, QRN was peaking S9. 20 meters was dead here. Nothing at all heard on 80. Noise/conditions made me quit early. Getting replies that were not readable except for fragments. Maybe better next month provided a hurricane doesn't wash us away this year. WB7AVF - Fun! Gotta put in the ladder line feed. W1SRB - This was the 3rd sprint I've participated in and I really enjoy them. It's particularily nice that the code speed is down at the rate that I can copy (I'm just getting back on the air and back into CW after a 40 year hiatus). I tried the N.A. QSO party last weekend but virtually everyone was sending far too fast for me to copy, so I ended up with only one QSO. My first QSO last night was with K3WWP on 20m. After that QSO, I went to 40m and immediately heard K3WWP again, so that was my 2nd QSO. By the way, was 80m really as dead as it seemed to be? I didn't hear anyone on 80m, and had no response to my CQs. Bob KW4JS - Worked all contacts with straight key fabricated from Lead Pen and its pocket clip. (Neat - K3WWP) Thanks to all the stations I worked. K9EW - The Good News: I worked everyone I heard. The Bad News: I worked everyone I heard. 72/73, ed KB3LFC - Called CQ on 20M for a half hour with no answer. Made 1 QSO on 40M. Nothing heard on 80M. Hope conditions are better next month. We have to take the bad with the good. W1OH - Well, only had a few minutes as we'd just returned from vacation to PEI the previous evening, and had just unpacked and reconnected my FT897 and paraphernalia by about 9PM here! Listened and called on 20M for about 10 minutes with no results, then tried 40M, which also didn't sound too good! Then I heard Larry, W2LJ, not too strong, but workable. And then suddenly a little burst in signal strengths, 4 more contacts, then a quick ragchew with a station in CT who didn't realize I was in the Sprint. And then it was time to shut down and wrap up my evening. Thanks for the fun, NAQCC!! 73, geoff W2SH - Starting on 20M, I heard WB7AVF very weakly. Great, I thought; I've already QSOd across the Mississippi. My heart sank when his SPC came through as NY (only 30 miles distant). On 40M, I switched to "search and pounce", abandoning CQ calls when I realized I couldn't adequately copy the responses through the noise. Only made one 80M QSO. W2JEK - Great contest, but nothing west of the Mississippi. W5TVW in Louisiana was close but my map showed him east of the big river. (For simplicity all of LA is considered east of the Mississippi. See the info on the Participation Award page for a definition of east and west states - K3WWP WY7N - Here's my 2nd sprint. I trippled my prior score! I spend half my time in CA. This was a CA week. I've got a portable station there (no permanent antennas). I started setting up in a field next to where I work about 2 hours before the contest began. It took more time than I thought. There were only 45 minutes remaining when I got on the air. I first tried 20 m. That was a bad choice. I could hear stations in there, but no sprinters. I tried calling CQ for a while with no response. I switched to 40 m and quickly pounced on NU7T. His signal was booming in to San Jose. I couldn't hear anyone else except for KI7NG as he worked NU7T. I moved down frequency a bit and called CQ, hoping KI7NG would find me. It worked! Next month will be a CA month as well. I'll make three changes. 1) Set up antennas the night before. 2) Start on time. 3) Find a mountaintop QTH in hopes of better propagation. Be sure to look for us western guys on 20! (Yes, please do. We want our sprints to be for all of the USA and Canada, not just the eastern half. Also we would like some DX participation as well. - K3WWWP) W2LJ - Whoa! Was it just me, or did band conditions really stink this month? I heard NO activity on 20 Meters and was scared to try 80 Meters with the QRN as bad as it was on 40 Meters. I didn't work anyone west of the Mississippi; so count me out there. I don't remember a Sprint where I've been so confined to the eastern half of the country like this before. One bright spot was my last QSO with KB3KRW which turned into a nice ragchew. Doug was curious about all the "CQ NA"s that he was hearing and we had a nice chat about it. He's not much into QRP or contesting; but I did due diligence and put the NAQCC bug in his ear! 73 till next month - hope the bands are better! 73 de Larry See General Sprint Rules for rules common to every NAQCC sprint. RULES specific to this month's sprint: Date and time: Wednesday, Aug 9, 0030-0230 UTC (Remember that's Tuesday evening here in the USA) Bands Used This Month: 80 meters, 40 meters, and 20 meters Special Award: For the station east of the Mississippi River working the most stations west of the Mississippi River and vice versa (west working east stations). Entry Deadline: All entries must be postmarked or email dated before 2400Z on Aug 15, 2006. |