SPARC Breaks Own Record in CQ WPX RTTY Contest

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 02/15/2018

This past weekend (February 10th – 11th, 2018), the SPARC Contesters activated the SPARC club station again to participate in the CQ WPX RTTY Contest. You may recall that in last year’s effort, SPARC achieved the highest score in our history and had the top score in the 4th call area. We also had the 7th highest score in the US in the Multi-operator, Single transmitter category.

2017 Certificate (Note the score is the final score versus the 3.1 million we submitted) — 2017 Certificate (Note the score is the final score versus the 3.1 million points we submitted)

The WPX RTTY contest, sponsored … Click for more

Winter Field Day 2018 Report – Field Day Fun at 70 Degrees instead of 93.

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 02/01/2018

One of the first Field Days I ever attended (back in 1982) was at the Fairgrounds in Largo (home of the Renaissance festivals). At that event, the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society (CARS), the Metro Repeater Association (Metro) and the St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club (SPARC) came together in the spirit of inter-club cooperation to put on a huge ARRL Field Day effort. This was complete with a great location, good equipment, operators to man the stations, great food and loads of fun.

View of site from fire tower (dipole support)

… Click for more

A Tale of Two Roundups

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 01/08/2018

SPARC received word that we did well in last year’s RTTY Roundup, Multioperator Low Power category.

First in the West Central Florida Section
Second in the US & Canada
Winning the Southeast Division

Operators enjoying this victory are: KA4IOX, KB8ESY, KP2N, KR4U, N2ESP, N4GD, N4KPJ, N4RI, NY4I, VE3XD, W4CU and W4TSP.

Not to be out done, the 2018 Roundup just ended. Some new antennas and software enabled the W4TA team to beat … Click for more

You’re invited to an Antenna Party Saturday

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 12/11/2017

SPARC members are all welcome and encouraged to assist at the assembly, repair and erection of antennas at W4GAC. Starting at 9:00AM on Saturday 12/16, the tower will be lowered to replace the rotator. At the same time, adjustments will be made to accommodate the center support for the new 80/160 dipole. The south end of the dipole will be attached to a tree near 90^th Avenue. The north end will terminate at a new “tower” to be installed at the north end of the property. Finally, a new … Click for more

The MAK is Back

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 10/16/2017

SPARC contesters enjoyed entering W4TA in the newly reestablished Makrothen RTTY contest. Makrothen is a Greek word meaning distance. In spite of poor propagation, the SPARC team made 541 QSOs with a claimed score of 2,203,706 points.

Tom W4CU running while Ron KP2N watches [N2ESPhoto]

What makes the Makrothen different from the other contests we compete in is the method of scoring. Most contests are scored based on the number of QSOs times the number of “multipliers” worked in the contest. The points value awarded for each QSO varies with … Click for more

Upcoming Activities

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 09/23/2017

Besides this being the start of contest season, we also have some other events that you might want to check out.

On October 13 through October 15, there is the Makrothen RTTY contest at the club station. See here for more info….

On October 21, it’s the St. Petersburg Science Festival. Look for more info here and at the club meeting but this is a chance to spend a great day on the waterfront in St. Pete showing amateur radio to kids of all ages.

On October 28 in … Click for more

Posts published in “Contesting”