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November 17, 2005 80M Straight Key/Bug Sprint Final Official Results: Call QSOs Mbrs Pts Mul Sco Bonus Final Awd Antenna *N2WN 43 39 82 23 1886 x2 3772 1 1/4 wave vertical K4BAI 33 29 62 20 1240 x2 2480 2 cf zepp, inv vee @ ?' K3WWP 27 25 52 18 936 x2 1872 110' attic random wire *W2LJ 26 23 49 17 833 x2 1666 G5RV @ 30' W2SH 23 22 45 18 810 x2 1620 80m bisquare @ 65' *K4UK 39 35 74 19 1406 1406 160inv v, ab dipole @ ?' WA8REI 21 17 38 10 380 x2 760 80M sloping dpl @35-22' K9JWI 20 18 38 15 570 570 110' inv vee @ 35' *K4NVJ 13 13 26 10 260 x2 520 # dipole @ ?' K8KFJ 13 13 26 10 260 x2 520 shortened dipole @ 30' VA3RKM 11 11 22 9 198 x2 396 dipole @ 17' AG8A 11 10 21 10 210 x2 420 windom @ ?' *NU4B 16 16 32 11 352 352 carolina windom @ ?' *K4JPN 12 11 23 7 161 x2 322 80m cf zepp @ 28' KA2KGP 9 9 18 8 144 x2 288 80 m. dipole @ ?' K4CZ 14 14 28 9 252 252 130' dblt @ 35' *W2JEK 9 9 18 7 126 x2 252 ef Hertz @ 25' *W5ESE 6 6 12 6 72 x2 144 300' horiz loop @ ?' W9CC 7 7 14 5 70 x2 140 40m sect of 3b inv vee NU7T 8 3 11 6 66 x2 132 150' inverted L KA8MPT 6 5 11 6 66 x2 132 G5RV @ 30' KR0U 5 4 9 5 45 x2 90 HF-6V at 15' *KB3MQT 4 4 8 4 32 x2 64 250' rndm wire @ 20' *K2EKM 4 4 8 4 32 x2 64 88' dblt @ 20' K9EW 4 4 8 4 32 x2 64 80M dipole @ 15' WA1GCT 4 3 7 2 14 x2 28 gnd mtd vertical W1OH 4 4 8 3 24 24 40m attic dipole W1TF 0 0 0 0 0 0 25' wire arnd window frame # - Top score from a previous non-winner * - Special Award (Kit rig built yourself) entrants: W2LJ NU4B W5ESE N2WN K4JPN K4UK K2EKM KB3MQT K4NVJ W2JEK Special Award (Kit rig built yourself) winner - N2WNSOAPBOX: K3WWP - There seemed to be more activity tonight than in several months now. I just wish I could have worked more of the stations I know were active. I bet the top scores this time will show near if not over 50 QSO's. I apologize to those I just couldn't pull through the noise, especially the station ending in 'H' - was that you, Geoff (W1OH)? All I got each time was the 'H' and was racking my brain trying to figure out who it might have been. It was a short call. I mostly just sat around 3563.2 and called CQ at varying speeds. At the beginning and end I wandered around and worked a few others who were CQing, including our club call KB3MQT operated this month by Tom. I was disappointed for Tom as only 3 others besides me worked the club call. Boy it sure would have been nice to operate this sprint from a better location with some bigger antennas. Those in that situation were really racking up the QSO's, working stations I couldn't even hear through my 10 over S9 noise. Still this was my best score since December, 2004. Nice to work KS and OK. Glad we're getting some activity from west of the Mississippi River. W2LJ - Conditions were very good on 80 Meters here in NJ. Loud signals and not much noise. It was good to hear all the stations - my best DX was Todd N9NE, who had his usual good signal into NJ. It was good to hear Roger WA1GCT from Rhode Island in there, too! I look forward to seeing you all next month and Happy Thanksgiving to all! K9EW - Running 3w from an Argonaut 515 to an 80m dipole 15 feet above the ground. QTH is about 35 miles west of Chicago. Got home in time for the last 30 minutes of the Sprint, so not many QSO's tonight. Always fun, though, and it was nice to be on 80m. 73 es cu next month. WA8REI - Great to work a lot of familiar call signs and dudes from FDIM/Dayton such as Charles, W2SH and Lloyd, W3ESE. John, K4BAI, is always in the mix! Special treat to work Paul, W0RW Pedestrian Mobile in the mountains of CO. Great to work founding member K3WWP, also. Band was very quiet (no QRN), but also very quiet on signals heard. It was a real challenge pulling signals out of the QSB, QRM and mud! Still more fun than a bunch of Flyin' Pigs belly deep in slop [pardon the use of another QRP Club in the analogy]. Oink-oink. 73, 72 to all. No homebrew rig, but still a ton of fun. NU4B - HARD HUGE NOISE AND STATIC. WISH I COULD HAVE WORKED SOME OF THE STATIONS UNDER THE NOISE. SEEMED LIKE ALOT OF ACTIVITY. THANKS TO ALL FOR THE QSO'S. RIG: HW-9 W5ESE - Nice to be back after a few month hiatus. Heard a good level of activity this month, though the signals were mostly very weak. Expect that will improve in the coming months. Used my WW2 surplus J-38 straight key. Thanks for sponsoring the Sprint. WA1GCT - Band noisy, abt S-7 all night, but still had a good time. KR0U - Opened up the email with my new member number after dinner (around 0200Z). I figured I could at least work the last half hour. So off to the shack, where I found the straight key had a broken cable. Scrounged around for another one: wrong plug! Now, where ARE those clip leads? I finally got it working, after a fashion, for the very tail end of the sprint. At that point, the only problem was being seriously rusty with the straight key. My, how dependent I've become on that electronic keyer! NU7T - I made more contacts than anticipated, considering I had QRN of S8 to 10 over. Thanks to everyone. AG8A - Great contest. First time in years that I have used a straight key and first time ever that I have submited my score to a contest. VA3RKM - Better condx on 80m than in the past, even stronger sigs at 0300Z. No luck on 40m. I enjoy these sprints and get a little better each time. K8KFJ - Signals sounded down here at my QTH but I had fun nevertheless as I always do in the NAQCC Sprints. I'm excited and very much looking forward to working the 80m Sprints this Winter. I've always enjoyed working QRP on this band and thanks very much for the sponsorship. W1OH - Tough night here. Worked W2LJ almost as soon as I got on the air, but then I could hear many more than I could work. Kept getting a pause and "AGN" or "?" back. Yes, John, that was me! And you were almost covered up by a persistent bit of noise I had at about 3562 khz (ah, condo living!). I guess attic to attic just wasn't quite meant to be last night. But I stuck with it, toughest being N9NE - he was barely audible on my end, and I bet I was the same for him. It sure would be nice to work these sprints from my NH rental house - real outdoor antenna and radio quiet location! Total of 4 contacts may be slim, but, keep these sprints coming! Always great fun! K9JWI - Good activity. Enjoyable contest. N2WN - 80 was hopping, wish I had been, but was bone tired and it showed. Sorry about the sloppy fist towards the end. KB3MQT vaporized on me and I wasn't sure that the QSO was solid, so didn't count it. My apologies to W2JEK, he thought we duped, but had I been a bit more on the ball (and not logging on paper?) we would have made it a good Q. Some very solid signals overall, it was really nice to listen to everyone. I was tickled to be called by N7GS in Montana and our latest member KR0U, both nice hauls. I know I missed a couple folks, maybe next time. Happy Thanksgiving to all the stateside folks and best wishes to our Canadian Members! K4JPN - Forgot all about the Sprint till I got down on 80 Mtrs and heard the CQ NA. Did not hear any stations from the West. QRN was rough at the end and just could not get W9CC info. Straight key used was my old Lafayette Radio straight key I learned the code on and an old Navy key, both over 40 years old. Lots of fun. K4UK - Conditions on 80 Meters were quite good here in Virginia. Decided to call CQ this time. Surprised to work KS and OK. Wasn't sure I'd get PA, but finally did late in the Sprint. Sorry I couldn't read KA3MQT - weak signal. K4CZ - Conditions were good here in NC. I could hear many more stations than normal and worked most of them. The NAQCC sprints have become one of my favorite contest activities...the monthly time slot is usually a convenient (and welcome) midweek break, you don't need a beam and an amp to be reasonably competitive, and the ops are friendly to and patient with newcomers to CW, QRP or contesting (or to all three, like me). So far, all of my sprint QSOs have been S&P. My next challenge is to get some experience "running" so hope to get up the nerve in the next couple of sprints! K2EKM - Tried out my newly-built SW80+, running at about 2.5w. Signals seemed generally very weak, although I sensed that there was a lot of activity, as the few stations I could hear seemed to be working quite a few. Most stations couldn't hear my signal... was greatful to those who did! At the end of the contest, fired up my 80m RockMite (VXO controlled - about a 3.4 KHz spread) and was surprised to hear some pretty strong stations around 3.560. Sounded MUCH better than the SW80+.... The next day, turned the SW80+ and again heard few signals. Tried the volume control - no increase in volume, so took off the cover and found that one of the leads to the gain pot had come off! so it wasn't my hearing :>) May try the SW80+ a bit next sprint, but will keep my TenTec Argo V in reserve just in case! W1TF - Disapointed that 40M was not in the contest, I do not have any 80M equipment. W2SH - Antenna was an 80m bisquare mounted horizontally at 65 feet, still not working properly because the feedpoint needs to be disentangled from tree branches. TenTec Scout @ 5W. Junker straight key. A cold front moved into northern New Jersey three hours before the sprint started bringing increased atmospheric noise. QRPers can't complain about their power level so QRN becomes a logical gripe. Nevertheless, 80 meters was really cooking with lots of contest activity, and, as had become obvious to all in the October sprint, "we don't need no stinkin' 40 meters!" With some QRN here, I quickly discovered that sending "CQ NA" usually brought replies that couldn't make it into the log. Therefore, search and pounce became my only viable technique. I'm now contemplating building a compact receiving antenna to reduce the external noise. My last QSO was laborious, but in the end KR0U in Colorado was successfully snagged for my best DX of the evening. Thanks, Tim, for your patient effort! W9CC - I sure called a lot of guys with no results. I started measuring with my new BIRD 43 and now I have to start pruning. I'll see next month if it makes any difference. I will always enjoy working CW as that is why I got into ham radio in the first place! KA2KGP - Too bad 40m. was excluded, maybe next time I can enter my homebrew 40m. peanut whistle for an award. 80m. was in good shape and conditions were good in WNY. Happy Thanksgiving to all - 73. KA8MPT - HAD A GREAT TIME? BAND NOT TO GOOD IN OHIO. NOISE ABOUT S-6. TIRED TWO ANTENNA'S MY G5RV UP ABT FT 30 AND MY HV-6 ALL BAND VERTICAL NO HELP THERE. THANKS TO JOHN K3WWP AND SEEING WHAT HE DOES WITH AN ATTIC ANTENNA AND A FEW WATTS GOT ME HOOKED ON QRP. THANKS TO ALL. WISH I COULD HAVE WORKED ALL THE STATIONS DOWN IN THE NOISE, SORRY TO ALL THAT TRIED AND THANKS. W2JEK - This is my first time in the N.A. Sprint. The band was busy but propagation not too good. RULES: Date and time: Thursday, November 17, 0130-0330 UTC (Newcomers - remember that's Wednesday evening here in the USA) Bands Used This Month: 80 meters only Special Award: The Special Award this month goes to the top score turned in by someone using a rig that you built yourself from a kit. If you bought a kit already built or had someone help you build it, that doesn't count. Entry Deadline: All entries must be postmarked or email dated before 2400Z on Nov 23, 2005. Other Rules: For rules that are common to all of our sprints, check General Sprint Rules |