The SPARC Contester–under the callsign W4TA–ran the North American QSO Party Summer RTTY contest this past week. This is a short contest starting at 2:00 PM on Saturday and going only 12 hours until 2:00 AM on Sunday. We ran two stations full-time even with being short-staffed. One of our regular RTTY contesters, Scotty N4RI, sadly passed away this month. Since the exchange for this contest is Name and State, in Scotty’s honor, we sent Scott and FL as the exchange. We were also missing a few others due to vacations and the like so the operators for this contest were: Ron KP2N, Rex KB8ESY, Dee N4GD, Tom NY4I, Paul KA4IOX, Leslie WA4EEZ and Bob N2ESP.
(l to r) Tom NY4I, a guest, Leslie WA4EEZ, Dee N4GD operating[Photo by George W1AAG]We made a total of 728 contacts with Ron leading the pack with 225 QSOs, followed by Rex with 122 and Dee with 101 QSOs. The equipment worked great as usual. Running two stations is always challenging as we have to rewire the antennas to put the Triplexer in line to allow both stations to use the log periodic antenna on the tower. Thanks to Ron KP2N for setting this up and putting it back.
Ron KP2N at the Yaesu station. Antennas switching panel in rear. [Photo by George W1AAG]Ron KP2N working 15 meters. [Photo by George W1AAG]Dee working 20 meters [Photo by George W1AAG]K3 Station [Photo by George W1AAG]
Hello. I have been a member of SPARC on and off since 1992. I am the current president of the club. Formerly I was the Vice President under Ron KP2N and a board member for several years. I was heavily involved in the club station working with Ron KP2N, Dave KR4U and John KI4UIP. I was also a contributor to the SPARC Remote station which was used by several SPARC members to either augment their own stations or provide a station to use for those in HOAs or other living arrangements that kept them off of HF. We had quite a few users of the remote utilizing the RemoteHams software. I hope to strike a balance in SPARC between fostering operating skills, teaching new people about ham radio and also offer a great social experience to members that may just come to the meetings for camaraderie. As a general-purpose club, I believe SPARC can cater to all those aspects of our wonderful hobby. I hope you join me along the way...
