|
Jan 18, 2007 Straight Key/Bug Sprint Final Official Results: SWA Category Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final Awd 80-40-20 Antenna K1EV 33 28 61 16 976 x2 1952 1 40vloop&80dpl@50',10-80 vert W5TVW 25 22 47 19 893 x2 1786 2 135' dpl @50' W2LJ 27 26 53 16 848 x2 1696 G5RV @25' W2SH 27 25 52 15 780 x2 1560 80m horiz bisquare @75' K4BAI 23 20 43 14 602 x2 1204 88'cfzp@40',40dpl@40',80iv K3WWP 24 20 44 13 572 x2 1144 ~110' attic random wire K9EW 19 15 34 14 476 x2 952 # dipole @15' N2UC 18 16 34 13 442 x2 884 ?? @??' K2NPN 24 21 45 13 585 x1.5 878 160M cf zepp @40' KA2KGP 17 16 33 12 396 x2 792 80-10m Vert KI4GLH 24 19 43 18 774 774 G5RV @45' K4CZ 27 19 46 15 690 690 40 dpl @50', 80 doublet @45' KB3LFC 16 15 31 9 277 x2 554 ~50' random wire @20' AD1OS 22 20 42 13 546 546 G5RV @ 20' KA8MPT 15 12 27 10 270 x2 540 ?? @ ??' W9CC 12 11 23 10 230 x2 460 Fan Inv V's 80,40,20M @35' K4ADI 12 11 23 9 207 x2 414 80 dpl @30' W9ILF 10 10 20 9 180 x2 360 G5RV @65' K4NVJ 11 11 22 8 176 x2 352 88' dpl @35' N1LU 10 8 18 9 162 x2 324 Cobra Ultralite @40' WA3FIR 9 9 18 7 126 x2 252 Inv L @25' N8RN 8 7 15 8 120 x2 240 40 inv v@24',80 wire th vert KE3V 14 12 26 9 234 234 Inv L approx 35'H x 90'L VE3HUR 8 7 15 7 105 x2 210 80m 27m ef @3m, 40m vert@3m AA4W 11 9 20 9 180 180 40M inv v @30' K4JPN 8 6 14 5 90 x2 180 125' 80M cf Zepp @32' K3MZ 9 9 18 8 144 144 130' unbal dpl @40' CF3RKM 7 7 14 5 70 x2 140 dipoles @18' @K1Y/3 7 7 14 5 70 x2 140 ab dpl @35' VE3XT 4 4 8 4 32 x2 64 hb 5b vert 27' high N2ZN 4 4 8 4 32 x1.5 48 40m sloper@50' 80m dpl@45' KD2MX 4 4 8 3 24 x2 48 ~600' loop @30' KD1XU 3 3 6 3 18 x2 36 G5RV @15' WA3OFF 3 3 6 3 18 x2 36 260' ef wire @25-40' W1SRB 3 3 6 3 18 x2 36 80/40/20 mbnd dpl @45' AA7DX 2 1 3 2 6 x2 12 40M horiz. Loop @25' @ - OP KC2EGL GAIN ANTENNA Category Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bon Final Awd 80-40-20 Antenna no entrants # - Top score from a previous non-winner * - Special Award (Outside operation top score) entrants: none Special Award (Outside operation top score) winner: none The following appeared 5 or more times in submitted logs, but did not submit a log themselves for whatever reason: VA3NR - 17 N4FI - 11 K4YFR - 10 WA8REI - 8 N5KIP - 8 K7ZYV - 7 W6LFB - 5 K4WY - 5 WD9HBC - 5SOAPBOX: K3WWP - Great conditions, great participation, lots of fun. Lots of work coming up processing a lot of logs, I think. Great start to the new year! (OK, I borrowed that line from Tom - HI) My new high efficiency computer controlled furnace puts out a lot of QRN so I turned it way down during the sprint so it wouldn't kick on. Does that qualify me for the outside operation award? HI. Just reading Tom's comments, and I find that I am getting fewer and fewer folks questioning my NAQCC number. I remember several months ago I had to explain that I was the NAQCC VP and that's why my number was 2. Also Tom makes a great point about taking less time to send 1 than 0001. Contesting is all about brevity and we should try to make our exchanges as quickly as possible. Really you should only send your info once (unless you sense the station you are working is not copying you well - had to ask you to repeat your call, etc.), then it is up to the other station to ask for repeats if needed. See the contesting section of my web site for more good contesting tips. KB3LFC - Well, the January sprint was a great way to kick off the new year. Here on the East Coast conditions on 80-Meters were excellent. I noticed that the NAQCC had several newcomers to the sprints and that is most encouraging. Overall participation was good too, also encouraging. NAQCC membership is nearing the 1,700 mark, another encouraging sign. I didn't see that any members took advantage of getting recognition for working an outdoor portable station. Gee -- the temps tonight were "only" in the low teens on Sprint night -- I wonder why we didn't have any outdoor stations. I thought all QRPers were a bit nuts, but I guess we're not "that" nuts, eh? Anyhow, congratulations and thank you to all who made this sprint one of the best ever. Tom. PS: Several stations are still questioning my NAQCC number. Yes, it really is "1." (Sorry for the confusion but sending '1' is easier and less time consuming than sending '0001.') Have a good 2007 with lots of great DX. K9EW - Signals weren't very strong here in northern IL, and I had to ask for a lot of repeats. I took a short break about halfway through the sprint because the band was pretty dead, and when I came back there were signals again. It was nice to get back into a sprint again after missing so many. Met some friends (WA8REI, N9NE, K4BAI) from previous sprints and QSO's. Tnx es 72. ed N2ZN - Had a good time, and made me realize my bug skills are not quite up to par yet. The YL returned home earlier than expected and cut into my planned operating time. Did not hear anybody on 80 meters, but the local line noise was very high tonight. Antennas still iced over from ice storm this past weekend.There are some very good SK and bug fists out there! Looking forward to more operating time next month. 73, Ken AA7DX - Ouch !! The band condx. were a bit hard on the eardrums tonite - Nothing heard on 20 or 80 but lots of noise, but Phil N6CMF in CA had a nice signal here into southern Nevada. I also worked Herb AA7XP in OR right near the end of the contest, although he wasn't in the Sprint. I heard a fellow down in Arizona and one in Ohio, but couldn't get thru the noise - Oh well, there's always next month. Great fun, as usual. Dick AA7DX in Nevada. CF3RKM (VA3RKM) - Used the CF-prefix to honour Reginald Fessenden, radio and TV pioneer. WA3OFF - This sprint was an opportunity to try out my new 40M SoftRock v6.0 RXTX software-defined radio used with M0KGK's KGKSDR software, 1 watt with the upgraded PA circuit. Thanks to VA3NR for the first QSO with this rig and to KE3V and K1EV for hearing it as well. Also called KA3MPT, but couldn't make that one work. Conditions were pretty good; some QRM right in the middle of the band disappeared just before beginning. I suspect 80M was the place to be, though. 73, Dave AA4W - This was my first NAQCC Sprint and I had a blast! I'll be back! I realized that I need an 80 meter antenna. I was fighting the QRN on 40 and switched to 80 to see what was going on and the difference was like night and day! VE3XT - Conditions here in Northwest Ontario were terrible. Not only poor condx but if I did hear them it was not uncommon for them to QSB before I could work them. Half way through the test I got into a QSO with a non contestant and was a challenge to do with a straight key. Give me my Begali any day! K4CZ - Kenwood TS-930s running 5w. Conditions were good here in NC. I started S&P on 40m and worked N6CMF in CA at 0140 UTC and then one station on the east coast. However, after tuning the band and copying too many non-NAQCC QSOs, I switched to running and managed to work another 14 stations on 40m. Activity had started slowing around 0230 and I finally switched to 80m at 0250 UTC. Seemed to be lots of activity on 80m but higher noise level and some QRM so I decided not to S&P and began running. I worked 11 stations on 80m. For some reason, on 80m over half the ops I worked were not NAQCC members (vs. 2 out of 16 on 40m). Some of the ops responding wanted to ragchew rather than exchange sprint info, others sent FISTS numbers, one sent an SKCC number, another sent info I'm still trying to decipher! Nevertheless, it was a enjoyable sprint and I look forward to the next one. Thanks for the QSOs. 73, Barry W9CC - The band seemed lively tonight and boy was I glad to be here. Enjoyed it a lot. KE3V - This is my first sprint in over a year. I don't know what I've been waiting for. I didn't hear a thing on 20m; 40m was better, but all the action seemed to be on 80m. I was going to use my straight key, but it was hooked up to the HW9 from SKN and I would've had to change plugs and such, so I used the keyer in the K2. This is also my first go with Genlog. It seems to work pretty well, but I should've practiced with it first. My boys, who are scouts, say. -Be prepared. I should take their advice. Afterwards, when I took the pooches out for their nightly "walk" I looked up and noticed the big clear sky. Heck, it would've been a fine night to have setup outside. Maybe next time. -72, Kevin W2LJ - It was nice to hear so many stations on the air; and the bands in fine condition for a change! By far, K2NPN had the loudest signal I heard all night, with the possible exception of W2SH. John K3WWP had a louder than usual signal to NJ, maybe that had something to do with the cold front moving through. It was fun hearing you all, please come back next month! 73 de W2LJ K1EV - Finally, a sprint with reasonable conditions - let's hope the rest of the year is the same. Noise and QRM a bit worse on 40m here in northeast; 80m seemed the band to be on. Missed the first half hour due to a late arriving plane flight, but had a lot of fun for the rest. Nice to hear some new calls in there and always good to run across the familiar ones. Ran my K2 at 5 watts into an 80m dipole and a vertical loop on 40m. Temp was 12F here so stayed inside. Happy New Year to everyone; don't forget the Bear Hunt and hope to hear everyone in next month's sprint. Thanks to Tom and John for another great sprint. 73 de Bill KA2KGP - Another good Sprint. Conditions were good on 40 & 80, but poor on 20. Lots of participants and some nice contacts. Rig: TenTec Argosy II at 5 w. into all band vertical. It should be a good 160m. sprint next Wed. nite, but I still didn't throw up a longwire for it. N8RN - RIG: ELECRAFT K1 AND WILDNERNESS RADIO SIERRA BOTH AT 5W OUTPUT. ANT: 40M...INV VEE IN TREES UP 24 FT AT APEX. 80M...END FED COAX AS TOP HAT WIRE VERTICAL. USING A STRAIGHT KEY FELT FAIRLY CLUMSY AND VERY SLOW COMPARED TO MY NORMAL 25+ WPM KEYER SPEED, BUT IT WAS GOOD PRACTICE. QSB WAS SEVERE AT TIMES, AND THERE WAS MUCH MORE QRM ON THE QRP FREQS. FROM QRO OPS THAN IN MOST QRP CONTESTS THAT I PARTICIPATE IN. TNX TO ALL...72S ES CUL...ROY. KD2MX - Once again I only made the last minutes to give out some points. W2SH - Conditions were rather strange. At the starting gun on 40m AA1MY, who at my suggestion recently became a member, was calling CQ at 599 into NJ. I called him unsuccessfully for five minutes. In the next five minutes I worked four of the five Gulf Coast states. Skip seemed long and pointing south. Switched to 80m and couldn't work further west beyond PA. Even there, Tom, KB3LFC, was very weak, and John, K3WWP inaudible. QSOs to the north and northeast were weak and very few. However, I managed K5TVW in LA. With the onset of colder weather, my 5 Watts only wanted to migrate south! W9ILF - It was great hearing some calls I knew and had a good time. I'm looking forward to a good year of NAQCC sprints/challenges. K3MZ - This was my first NAQCC sprint and it was fun. I even "ran" a frequency for the first time on CW. Rig is a K2 #3135 dialed down to 5 watts. K2NPN - I Had fun with my old Heathkit HW-8. The 80 meter band seemed to be in nice shape during the sprint. I had some problems with QRO ops tuning up and calling "CQ" without asking "QRL?". AD1OS - Best two hours of the day. W5TVW - There was a little QRN here, but managed to make out for the bulk of the stations on. A few were under the level of the crud. I wonder if it will ever stop raining here? Enjoyed the Sprint and looking forward to the 160 meter one soon. K1Y/3 (KC2EGL) - Just started operating CW on the 4th of Jan. This was my first attempt at QRP. What a blast. I will definatley do this again. Thanks to those who sat through my shakey fist. 73 Michael See General Sprint Rules for rules common to every NAQCC sprint. RULES specific to this month's sprint: Date and time: Thursday, Jan 18, 0130-0330 UTC (Remember that's Wednesday evening here in the USA) Special Award: For the one making the highest score while being brave enough to operate outside. OK, you southern folks don't have to be that brave. HI As long as you are sitting outside your residence, that counts. You can use your regular antennas or a makeshift one. Entry Deadline: All entries must be RECEIVED before 2400Z on Jan 24, 2007. So submit as soon as possible, especially regular mail entries. |