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Dec 2011 Straight Key/Bug mW Sprint Notes from K3WWP - Since quite a few entrants operated "QRO" (more than 1 watt), I decided to put them all in a separate 'check log' category, so the results from the mW stations would show up more clearly. We wound up with 79 logs for a new record for one of our special mW or 160 meters sprints. Thanks to all of you for making our sprints among the most popular sprints in the ham radio world. Final Results SWA Category - W1 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna KB1PBA 13 12 25 10 250 x2 500 67' dblt@28' K1IEE 11 9 20 9 180 x2 360 ocf wire@30' KQ1P 9 9 18 7 126 x2 252 80 loop@30' WB1HGA 3 3 6 3 18 18 g5rv@27' @WA1GWH 12 10 22 8 176 x2 352 80 1/4w wire SWA Category - W2 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna KA2KGP 14 14 28 13 364 x2 728 abdpl@25',gnd mtd vert W2JEK 12 12 24 9 216 x2 432 110'ef@20' N2ESE 14 14 28 12 336 336 80 ocf dpl@25' K2GLS 7 7 14 7 98 x2 196 80 dpl@20',40 dpl@30' K2JT 7 6 13 5 65 x2 130 dpl@30' KD2MX 2 2 4 2 8 x2 16 600'loop@30' KC2VBU 2 2 4 2 8 x2 16 80 efhww@??' SWA Category - W3 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna K3WWP 35 33 68 17 1156 x2 2312 ~110' attic ef rnd wire KB3AAG 35 32 67 19 1273 1273 80 loop@35',g5rv@40' K3PXC 9 9 18 8 144 x2 288 sloper@30' WB3T 4 4 8 4 32 32 80 vert SWA Category - W4 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna K4ORD 42 38 80 18 1440 x2 2880 40 dpl@40',80 dpl@35' K4BAI 28 27 55 19 1045 x2 2090 40 dpl@50',80 invV@55' KB4QQJ 23 22 45 14 630 x2 1260 EF-80 Endfed@33', doublet@33' WD4E 30 28 58 16 928 928 wire vee@40' AA4GA 20 18 38 12 456 x2 912 135' dblt@45' NY4G 17 16 33 12 396 x2 792 g5rv@30' WG8Y 18 16 34 11 374 x2 748 85'efw@25' K4UK 16 14 30 11 330 x2 660 160 invV@??' K4JPN 11 11 22 8 176 x2 352 80 cfz@??' KW4JS 8 8 16 8 128 x1.5 192 80 dblt@??' NA4O 7 7 14 6 84 x2 168 cw@45',ocf dpl@30' W4DUK 8 8 16 5 80 x2 160 efz@20' K4KRW 6 5 11 4 44 x2 88 windom@20' WX4RM 5 5 10 4 40 x2 80 gnd mtd vert K3RLL 6 6 12 6 72 72 stealth vert KG4UPO 6 6 12 3 36 x2 72 windom@40' KI4WXI 3 3 6 3 18 x1.5 27 80 dblt@??' W4JVY 3 2 5 2 10 x2 20 invV@40' KD4UKW 1 1 2 1 2 x2 4 45'vert N4FI 1 1 2 1 2 x2 4 ii5'rnd wire@15' WB4SNU 1 1 2 1 2 2 40 dpl@10' K7HB 0 0 0 0 0 0 carolina windom@??' SWA Category - W5 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna W5YA 23 23 46 19 874 x2 1748 loop@45',ef wire@??'(op-KT5X) W5IQS 21 21 42 16 672 x2 1344 fan dpl@30' W5YDM 21 20 41 12 492 x2 984 fan dpl@22' N5RKD 16 16 32 13 416 x1.5 624 vert SWA Category - W6 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna WK6L 7 6 13 6 78 x2 156 invV@??' AA7EE 2 1 3 2 6 x2 12 66'invV@47' K6CSL 1 0 1 1 1 x2 2 dloop,efw,indoor dpl&hor loop SWA Category - W7 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna W7YSB 5 5 10 4 40 x2 80 110'dblt@30' NU7T 2 2 4 2 8 x2 16 40 dpl@18' AA7CU 2 2 4 1 4 4 mobile whip@12' W7GAH 1 1 2 1 2 x2 4 invV@48' SWA Category - W8 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna NI8N 28 26 54 16 864 x2 1728 80 dpl@40' W3NP 20 20 40 14 560 x2 1120 130'cfz@45' KU8T 22 21 43 14 602 602 invL@35' N8RQJ 12 11 23 10 230 x2 460 40 vert, 80 dpl@??' K8AG 19 17 36 12 432 432 ZS6BKW(?????)@35' WB8LZG 8 8 16 7 112 x2 224 dpl@30',vert WB8ENE 2 2 4 2 8 x2 16 102' dblt@15' N8VAR 0 0 0 0 0 0 dpl@20' SWA Category - W9 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna K9FO 18 17 35 12 420 x2 840 40 dpl@??',80 invL@??' W9CC 13 12 25 11 275 x2 550 80 loop@15' N9SF 14 13 27 10 270 270 invV@50' NF9D 8 7 15 8 120 x2 240 80 loop@30' W9UX 4 4 8 4 32 x2 64 dpl@25' K9IS 6 6 12 5 60 60 330' hor loop@35' WA9NPS 3 3 6 2 12 12 250' hor loop@15' SWA Category - W0 Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna KD0V 16 14 30 11 330 x2 660 dbl zepp@50' W0CH 14 12 26 11 286 x2 572 invL@45'+140' SWA Category - Canada Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna VE5BCS 6 5 11 5 55 x2 110 loop@25' VE3FUJ 3 3 6 3 18 x2 36 g5rv@50' SWA Category - DX Division Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna CO8CML 1 1 2 1 2 x2 4 invV@27' GAIN ANTENNA Category Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna Check Logs - More than 1 watt power Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final 80-40-20 Antenna NM1I 35 34 69 20 1380 1380 160 invL@??' NW2K 1 1 2 1 2 x2 4 loop@30' NQ2W 20 20 40 14 560 560 invV@40',gnd mtd vert AK3X 5 5 10 3 30 x2 60 40 invV@27' N3LL 18 17 35 13 455 455 40/80 dpl@40' WB4MNK 19 19 38 12 456 456 vert KJ4LEN 3 3 6 3 18 x2 36 40 invV@??', 80 invL KE5YUM 4 4 8 4 32 x2 64 invV@30' KI0I 14 14 28 13 364 x2 728 40 dlta loop@25',80 invV@55' VA3OR 10 9 19 9 171 x2 342 gnd mtd vert, 80 dpl@??'(op-VE3RCN) @ - Non-member not eligible for certificate or prize AWARD WINNERS: 1st SWA W1: KB1PBA 1st SWA W2: KA2KGP 1st SWA W3: K3WWP 1st SWA W4: K4ORD 1st SWA W5: W5YA (op-KT5X) 1st SWA W6: WK6L 1st SWA W7: W7YSB 1st SWA W8: NI8N 1st SWA W9: K9FO 1st SWA W0: KD0V 1st SWA Canada: VE5BCS 1st SWA DX: CO8CML 1st Gain: n/aSOAPBOX: K3WWP - (revised) Let's see.... Perhaps I should try using 900 mW in our regular sprints instead of 5 watts. My 900 mW was definitely working better tonight than my 5 watts back on December 14. Of course that's really due to propagation, I'm sure. Anyway I made 35 QSOs in 17 sections tonight vs. 31 in 18 sections in the regular sprint. All but a very few of the 35 (which were all on 80) had good signals here for mW power. All but a couple copied my info with no repeats necessary. That was a LOT of fun especially as I was thinking as I went to get my weather readings just before the sprint started that I'd be happy to get 10 QSOs tonight. Let's see what my previous best mW sprint was (Oh I'm sure tonight was the best). HI HI... 10 QSOs in 7 sections in December 2010. So, yes I did break my record by quite a bit tonight. Finally I'm sure the K2 receiver had something to do with that also. I probably copied stations easily I might not have even heard with my 570 or 480. As the logs come in, my results continue to amaze me. Since the 1960's, K4BAI has been a contesting 'hero' of mine. This may be the first time in all our sprints when we've both operated the full two hours that I've topped John's score. W9UX - Poor conditions again tonight. Still had fun. 72 Terry 0033 K9IS - This is the first time I tried the mw sprint, had to quit early but it was fun. 40 meters was a bust for me but 80 was a surprise with pretty good signals. N3LL - Lowest power I can do is 3 watts, but glad to give out the contact. Many strong signals. HNY to all WB4MNK - Good strong RTTY jump right on top of me when I had a good roll going. Other than that had a good time. W5YDM - K1 at 900mw. Stayed on 40m because the K1 has no 80m and I didn't think 20m would produce. The first hour went just as well as a regular sprint - one call right after another - but it slowed down dramatically after 1:30 UTC and by 1:45, everyone was gone. I enjoyed holding my ground when those digital squatters tried to move in. Both of my radios will pull out a weak cw signal, right through their noise, so they might as well get back up on .070 where they belong. (AMEN - Well said Bob. Them stinkin' RTTY sigs don't bother us. - K3WWP) KQ1P - Started out on 40 meters with my SW40 at 500 mW. Heard KN0E and NY4G but no success with any station or calling CQ. Moved to 80 meters with the Argonaut throttled down to 900 mW (as close as I can measure with my watt meter). Great sprint to end the year 2011 with NAQCC! Hope to work more NAQCC members at or above the noise floor in 2012. John K3RLL - K2 @ 800 mW: After several years of this and with only a half-hour to play this evening, one would think I'd get it right but my apologies to NI8N and AK3X for sending the wrong member number. Duh! Old age is not for sissies! (For shame - an NAQCC number should be drilled in a brain. All other club numbers should have to be looked up if ever needed - HI - K3WWP) NU7T - 900mw from K3 with Bencher RJ-2 WB3T - Signals were faint tonight, I managed to make only a handful of Qs. Still I stuck to my guns and stayed in the milliwatt range (900 mW) using my Wilderness Sierra, so it was a fun challenge. I am curious to see how the other milliwatters did! Thanks to the guys who did dig me out and Happy New Year all! See you on SKN. 72, Bob. AA7CU - Worked the sprint from Arizona. N8RQJ - Had fun dusting off the rig. Thanks everyone for your patience! W0CH - I enjoyed operating the MW sprint using Wilderness Radio 40A on the workbench powered by a 8-pack of AA batteries. Single band rig for 40 meters adjusted to 900 milliwatts output into an inverted "L" antenna. Keyed with a WW2 surplus J-44 hand key. Been a while since I've used a hand key and the fist felt pretty rusty. 73, Dave W0CH Seneca, MO N5RKD - 0.95W on 40m. Took a look at 80m but didn't hear much there so all QSOs on 40m. My best showing so far in Sprints. KJ4LEN - This was my first NAQCC Sprint. I really enjoyed it. I heard many stations but not many heard me. QRN on 40 and 80 was really bad. I look forward to the next one. Ray NA4O - First time at mW level- very exciting! KD4UKW - I had never done any of the mW sprints as far as I could remember, and I wanted to participate despite missing all but the last 15 minutes. A quick scan on 40m turned up nothing. On 80m I could hear KU8T, and I was happy to snag him with 900 mW on a fairly loud band. I\'ll look forward to the next mW sprint! W7GAH - My first mW Sprint. Unable to make contact with W5IQS, W5YDM and NU7T. Maybe next time. Thanks N5RKD for working with me and completing contact. Rig: K2 @ 0.9W. Enjoyed the sprint as always. 73/72 WX4RM - My first sprint using less than a watt. Watt a hoot! Did almost as good as using 5 watts. Conditions good tonite, but wasted half the contest on 20 meters, never made a qso. New Mexico worked on 40 meters, and Ind Penn NY heard my peanut whistle on 80 meters. That was fun, wish 20 was open though! KW4JS - Great evening for mW CW. Thanks to everyone who participated. See ya next sprint. John KI0I - Kind of a slow start, I couldn`t find anyone! No sigs on 20 and mostly Digital on 40m.Got with Brion VE3FUUJ on 40 then moved to 80m and to my surprise there was all the activity.Some gud signals tonite on 80 ,but were probably like me , QRP not QRPP! My stuff won`t go that low, but wanted to try and make some qso`s with the MW guys.Hope you all have a good new year.72 Mark KI0I IC-746/5w K4KRW - Wow! What fun. Can't believe I got as many contacts as I did on 80m with a 40 meter Windom at 20 feet and 900 mW. My Sierra did a great job of pulling out the signals as usual. For the brief time I was on 40m I heard only one signal and they could not hear me. Glad 80m worked for me tonight. Thanks AA4GA for your patience on my first contact tonight. Thanks also to N4DU (non-member - Join up!). KB4QQJ - First time I've been able to be home for the mW sprint. Lots of signals on 80 but zip on 40 or 20. t the last minute I worked N1WPU on 40 and he wasn't in the contest hi hi. He was 5w on his 570d so we exchanged numbers. Lots and lots of signals on 80 meters and all loud. Some were 40 over!! That's as far as the K2 goes. Many S9 signals so guess 80 was the band of choice tonight. Rig = K2 @ 500mW and 900 mW using an attenuator Ant = PAR Endfedz EF-80 and 5band doublet at 33 feet Key = Navy Flameproof CJB (Bunell) See you all in 2012 for SKN!! W5YA (op-KT5X) - My power supply quit in the middle of an exchange. It had bn acting strangely since the lightning strike some months ago ;-) TNX great activity, gee, can hardly believe we can hear one another at under one watt! - 73, Fred K4ORD - Started on 40M but didn't hear much so checked out 20M, but nothin there so on to 80M where all the action was had a great run made 41 qso's on 80M, best dx was NM KS ME & FL some of the signals were as much as 20db over S9 and some weak, the noise level was about as good it gets here around S6 to S7 that was a big help. made one qso on 40M late in the sprint. Thanks for all the Qso's and Happy New Year to all 72/73 Riley KI4WXI - THANS FOR ALL THE CONTACTS! 72, MICHAEL AA4GA - Been a while since I've gotten on for an NAQCC Sprint - saw the notice and decided to get on for a bit. But mw!? I'm used to QRO at 5 watts! Really surprised how well the half-watt signal worked out, especially on 80m! Rig here: FT817ND at 1/2 watt on 135' doublet up ~45' or so. K6CSL - 20M sounded dead until I found K6JSS/KH6 calling. I worked him on the first call. The band however was very noisey this evening. After working K6JSS I moved to 40. The band was extremely noisey. I started looking for the noise source and quickly found it to be Wall Wart for my brand new, just installed Wireless Computer Router. I bought the XYL Nook, book reader for Christmas and it requires WiFi) I settled the noise down with new ferrites on all of its leads. At least the noise is better, but I may have to look into another Wireless Router. The wireless router I installed was Belkin N300. I am wondering if anyone out there has had experience with this and could possibly recommend a wireless router that might be cleaner? 73's to all and wishing all a safe and Happy New Year. Bert NY4G - My first Milliwatt sprint. Started out slow and heard a few signals on 40 mostly dominated by strong stations. A DX station answered my call I concluded that 40 will be difficult and switched to 80m. 80 meters had a lot of static and so I put on the attenuator to dig out the weak signals. Then all of a sudden 80m came alive and it seems like everybody was on 80m. WG8Y from OH was first then John K3WWP from PA was the second QSO on 80 and then a lot of Q's and the lion's share the last hour. Great sprint. Thanks to all who dug out my weak signal. K4BAI - FT1000MP, WM-2 QRP Watt Meter, 950mW, dipole, inverted vee. No sprint signals heard on 20. 40 and 80 were quiet. 40 was very good for a few minutes, but skip went out rapidly. 11 QSOs on 40 in 60 minutes. 80 was pretty good and was surprised to work W5YA (KT5X on key) in NM there and also NM1I in MA. Called a lot of sprinters on 40 and 80 who didn't hear me or came back and didn't acknowledge my report. Lots of fun once a year with QRPP. Thanks for all QSOs for those who tried and didn't get through. Happy New Year to all. 73/72, John AK3X - Poor condx on 40, but that is the band I had to use (no 80M rig). Had fun working the weak signals, all of which were stronger than W1AW tonight. Thanks to W5YA for hanging in there... signals would just disappear under the noise every now and then, usually at just the wrong time. I need to investigate a lower voltage battery pack for the next mw sprint since my rig is not adjustable but supposedly will work with as little as 8 volts. 72 and HNY Peter VA3OR (op-VE3RCN) - Operating as VA3OR due to my TS2000 being unable to dial down to less than 5 watts. Thus, I operated as a Non Member. I only had an hour to help out, but, although all signals heard are WINNERS, I must remark that the 900mw signal from W0CH was quite strong on my ground mounted trapped vertical on 40m. Happy to hand out the ON multiplier. HNY to everyone. Kevin KD0V - It was interesting at best. On 40M, I thought I was being intentionally JAMMED. One of the none members thought QRP was dumb. Band conditions were good in Southern MN. I had trouble getting going on 80M the last hour. I work several stations that I had worked in the SKCC spring the night before. It is good to see NAQCC members being active. (SURE IS! - K3WWP) 73, until the next sprint in January, Merlin. KA2KGP - Wow, a great night for a MW sprint! While 20m. was nil, I snagged 5 stations on 40m. & another 9 on 80m. Rig: TenTec Argosy II at 1w. into either an all band gnd mtd vert. or a 5 band dipole up 25 ft. with a straight key. Happy New Year to all. 73 W4DUK - Corsair II at 500mW on 80m. An enjoyable time. 73 Dave WB8ENE - Wow! I had a local noise level of S7. Not very good for operating during a milliwatt sprint. If it weren't for my MFJ1026 noise canceller, I wouldn't have been able to hear anyone (except possibly W0CH, who was around S7; nice signal here in OH from MO). The MFJ1026 knocked the noise down to about S3. I'm still not sure if W5YDM copied all of my info since I did not hear his "QSL". I decided to call it quits early. See you next year. 73, Art WB8LZG - HELLO FELLOW SPRINTERS. i CRANKED THE K2 DOWN TO 900MW FER THW SPRINT. IT STILL AMAIZES ME WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH FLEA PWR. THE BANDS SEEMED TO BE IN GUD SHAPE, ES I WAS DOING WELL ON 40M FER THE 1ST 1/2 HR. THE SOUTHLAND SEEMED MY BEST DIRECTION TONIGHT. AS USUALL THERE WERE SEVERAL STNS THAT I HEARD WHO DIDNT HEAR ME ES VISA -VERSA. I WENT TO 80 ES HEARD SEVERAL STNS THERE BUT ONLY BAGGED K3WWP, NO ANSWERS TO ANY OTHER CALLS THERE, EVEN THO I HEARD SEVERL S5 COPY HERE IN MICH. AT 900MW ON 80M MY TRAP VERT JUST DONT HAVE THE OMPAH! WRAPED IT UP EARLY AFTER ONLY 45 MINS, BUT HAD A BLAST. HOPE TO SEE U ALL NEXT SPRINT ES MAYBE DURING SKN. 73 GREGG KE5YUM - Good conditons here on 40 meters in Oklahoma. HNY! Terry N9SF - My 1st time in a sprint. It was fun. All 80 meter S&P. Listened on 40 meters a couple times, but only heard one station, and it was too weak to copy. Looking forward to the next time. W3NP - Missed the first hour - (Wednesday eve church and stop at market). I just stayed on 80 so I don't know how the other bands were here in WV. There was a goodly amount of activity on 80. I started out with S&P and then was able to hold a frequency for the last part of my hour. My apologies to the station that called that I just could not pull out. I would like to see more MW sprints - especially in the winter months when the bands are quieter (usually). I heard some really good QRPp sigs and it shows just what low power can do with a simple antenna. I would love to see just one week of 5 watts max on the CW portions of the bands - rtty included - no exceptions. I think many would be surprised at how well they could do without the stations that run more pwr than necessary. Rig here was my Ten Tec Eagle with an output power of about 700 - 750 mw. I love the receiver in that rig. Antenna is fed with 600 ohm open wire through a Viking KW Matchbox - don't want any arc-overs when getting up close to one watt!!! Used my oft neglected Bencher straight key. I had a really good time - just wished I could have had the entire 2 hours. 73 de WV - Dave KG4UPO - I used my K1 @ .9 watts to a Windom @ 40 feet. Since I was using a tiny rig at tiny power I decided to use my tiny key, an American Morse KK1 Precision Straight key. Things were going to be tough anyway so I decided to use battery power. 20 meters was dead for me, 80 unavailable on this rig so I was stuck on 40 which was noisey in my area. I didn't do well, only 6 contacts, but I had fun! The highlight of the evening was a contact with N5RKD. How my tiny RF made it that far I don't know but was delighted. The band went dead for me so I decided to QRT early. Not much success but lots of fun. Thanks to all of you who struggled with my weak signal. 73, KG4UPO, Wiley WD4E - My first sprint at the mw level. Great conditions on 80M and my new wire vee beam worked well. VE5BCS - My first try at 1 watt. Its a challange. Happy new year to all. CU next year. Harold NM1I - Use as Checklog. Unable to milliwatt the Jupiter, but still enjoyed contest. gotta get me an antennuator. 73 Butch dit dit N8VAR - Well, I was skunked tonight. The only person I could hear was wb4mnk but never could get back to him. I tried calling cq for about 30 minutes with no luck and decided to give up. I checked out 20m but all I could hear was noise. I had fun trying anyway. 72 NF9D - Only had an hour to play. 40 was dead, so I tried 80 with a quick CQ and things took off. Sigs were 599. After 30 minutes it got quiet and I had to struggle to make the final QSO. Great fun, as always. QRPp is where it's at. :) NI8N - Great fun. WA1GWH - My first NAQCC event. Very nice! KB3AAG - Wow! Great sprint, started out with John my first contact (by the eay you were the loudest I have ever heard you). (Don't recall ever hearing you stronger either, 5 watts or mW! - K3WWP) 80 was the band, only one on 40 (W5YDM thanks for Texas!). Makes me wonder if 40 was enpty or if every one was just busy on 80? To I think WD4E, SORRY for all the repeats I was blundering around on Genlog, your number in the call space, your call in the state place and such. Old people ought not be alowed! Frank K8AG - Every sprint I get to be a better operator. At 0.9W it really gets interesting. Amazing what we can do witha wire in the trees. 72 N4FI - ONLY HAD THE LAST 15 MINUTES OF THE SPRINT. TRIED 20 mW WITHOUT SUCCESS, THEN 200 mW. TNX TO NI8N FOR PULLING OUT MY PUNY SIG. 73 K9FO - Rig: IC 703 @ 0.9 Watts Had trouble getting started with high SWR. Only 2 contacts on 40, rest on 80. John, K3WWP, was about the same signal strength as with 5 watts. hihi (and I can say the same about you and several other stations. Great propagation on 80! - K3WWP) I did miss a couple that called. I finished fast with 5 contacts in the last 10 minutes 72. Will K1IEE - Had a great time with the HW-8 at 800mW. Tried 40m for a short period but found 80M much better and stayed there. Lots of strong signals and at times hard to separate with the -8 RX. Thanks to all. 73 Dick VE3FUJ - It was slugging this time, noise level high again. Nevertheless an enjoyable sprint, trying out my new antenna at a new height too 50ft instead of the 35ft before. It sounds as if it made a difference. A happy New Year to all and see you next year. 72 Brion K4JPN - Tried 40M several times during the contest, but nothing heard and could not raise anyone. 80M was hopping good here in GA. 72, Steve W5IQS - My first Mw Sprint. I was amazed at the number of 579 or better reports that I received and sent. 20 was no go from the start here in Texas. 40 worked well until about 0230 then went dead. 80 was poor after 0230 only one contact on 80 - Thanks N3LL. Happy New Year and see you all in the January 2012 Sprint. KD2MX - At the rate of 2 an hour, I'm not going to win any certificates but I heard a lot more than I worked. I had suffered with a terrible head cold since Christmas Eve so I knew I didn't have much energy for digging out signals from the QRM and QRN. But I got off to a quick start on 40M by working (I think) W4JVY. I copied him fine but he was having some trouble. I sent my exchange and think I got an acknowledgement but he was covered in sudden QRM and then, poof, disappeared and I didn't hear him again. I then went on to copy some 4s and 5s but nobody heard my K1 turned down to 600mw. I got busy for awhile trying to catch up on some year-end paperwork that I had neglected the past few days but needed to get done but before calling it quits decided to give WB4MNK another try. He had a good signal here all evening but it was markedly stronger by 0230. Worked him easily (not counting the times I had called him earlier) so I guess the path had improved. Sounded like stations to the southeast had a grand time. I should've tried 80M but didn't have the energy to change out the K1 band filter. I started and ended big and was fast asleep before the sprint was over. Best wishes for a healthy and happy new year to all. W2JEK - Rig was OHR-500 at 900 mw. to 110 ft. end fed wire at 20 ft. and Bunnell key. After trying 20 and 40 with no luck found the action on 80. My best dx was N3LL in FL and amazed me what 900 mw. can do. Also worked Steve KC2VBU who is 3 blocks away and using a Rock-mite. This evening was the 60th anniversary of my first cw qso which was also on 80 m when I was a novice- was running 6w input then to a 6ag7. Was a lot of fun. 72 and 73 and Happy New Year Don Younger W2JEK #1135 WB1HGA - unusual experience working other mw stations; QSB did not help, lost few QSO's during the exchange; I'd do it again! N2ESE - My first mW sprint, never thought I could make 14 qso's with the FT-817 set at 500 mW.The noise was very high,but copy was easy for most contacts.Glad to see we have two Sprint's next month can't wait to try the top band! 73- Gary # 5555 AA7EE - I started out on 20M - figured I'd see what I could work there before it closed down. First QSO was with VE5BCS - as it was for the last sprint. I wonder if this will become a pattern - my first QSO of every sprint on 14060 with VE5BCS? Also QSO'ed with K6JSS/KH6 in Hawaii on 20 (not bad for 750mW). Didn't hear anyone else on 20, so moved down to 40, and that was it for the rest of the sprint - no more QSO's! I packed it in after the first hour, and around 50 minutes of no QSO's. I wonder if it was lack of propagation or lack of participation from other 6 area stations? I'm certainly envious of the greater number of contacts made by stations back east in these sprints. Come on California ops - the participation from you guys is such that anyone with a decent wire antenna up high should be able to put in a really good showing and give the rest of us a run for our money! W4JVY - Only had 39 minutes to work the contest Had fun. Don KC2VBU - WOW,what fun, fired up my 40M Rockmite and after swapping in about 6 different crystals to no avail I got the 80M Rockmite going AND there everybody was!! As much as I poked at that 3.560 crystal I just could not get you to hear me John, but I heard you :)) (Sorry, I was on 3559.5 and the K2 RIT only goes +/- 500 Hz or so (at least in the setting I use.) You were just outside the RIT range, I guess. - K3WWP) Tnks to K4ORD and W2JEK for getting me in the log..HNY everybody! NQ2W - I can't get under 1 watt with my Jupiter but find it very difficult to miss a sprint. They are a great way to spend a couple of hours. Started out on 20 and heard nothing. Moved to 40 and made 8 Q's. Moved to 80 and made 12 more. 40 was long - had 2 Q's in a row from NM...80 got longer later into the sprint allowing me to work a few New Englanders early on and KI0I in MO at 0329. Almost worked WD4E in time to add to the sprint log but I stuttered on his call...maybe next time. Working the QRPper's is a really effective way of sharpening your listening abilities. I've started to build a K1 and look forward to giving the QRPp a try. Thanks to everyone that put me in their log and thanks to K3WWP for all he does for these sprints. Happy New Year to everyone! 72/73 Will WG8Y - Hi all,Now that was fun.My first MW Sprint.Really suprised at all the good signals and those that heard me on 80.Started out slow as I had S8-9 noise.Didn't expect much from half a watt.Wrong! I was set up at my Daughters kitchen table with RG58 running out to my home brew 85 ft endfed.It worked great. A big 72 to all from WG8Y near Charlotte,N.C. CO8CML - It was my first time in a mW Sprint.Nice to work WB4MNK,reporting me 559...I never thought any one would listen to me with only 900 mW!!!So I'm very happy and would thank Arthur for so nice QSO.Happy new Year for all the NAQCC members and hope see all next sprint!! K2JT - Used an HW-9 at 900 mw. K7HB - Just a note to let you know that KJ4KEY, K4APJ, and I tried to participate from my station, K7HB. From here in NC, we heard no one calling CQ NA on 40 M and no one answered that call either. The band conditions were poor and that undoubtedly contributed to the lack of contacts. Since this was a milliwatt Sprint and I was using a 500 mW mono-band 40 M homebrew transceiver and homebrew Carolina Windom, that was not entirely surprising. We made 0 contacts but felt that we earned an "E" for effort. We enjoyed the evening by sharing camaraderie and talking about local Isothermal Amateur Radio Club events and projects. Thank NAQCC for hosting the event. -73- John See General Sprint Rules for rules common to every NAQCC sprint. RULES specific to this month's sprint: Date and time: Thursday, December 29, 0130-0330Z Power: 999 mW or less to be eligible for any awards or prizes. Others welcome to participate and submit check logs. Note: We do not cross-check logs for our special milliwatt sprints. What you submit stands as your final score, so please check yourself for accuracy before submitting. Entry Deadline: All entries must be RECEIVED before 2400Z on the Sunday following the sprint. So submit as soon as possible, especially regular mail entries. Preferred method of submitting your log and report is our on-line autologger. |