Note for FT8 Operators

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 11/30/2022

The FT Roundup Operating event will be held starting the afternoon of Saturday December 3rd and running through Sunday the 4th. The club station will not be activated but you may like to participate from home. Full details on the easy setup and operation can be found at the FT Roundup Home:
www.rttycontesting.com/ft-roundup

The exchange will be unusual. RST and State/Province will replace the usual Grid Square and dB report. WSJT-X has an advanced function that automatically translates db reports to an RST and sets up exchanges for you that … Click for more

“Clean Sweep” for the SPARC Club Station

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 11/30/2022

The SPARC club used the ARRL Phone Sweepstakes to train new operators, and those who have not participated in the Sweepstakes before. We also conducted antenna evaluations. We did not expect a “Clean Sweep” which requires contacts with all 84 US and Canadian sections. But we got the sweep through a team effort of nine hams.

The team used only 16 of the 24 hours allowed. Additionally the sweep was accomplished used only one operating position – forfeiting use of a second mult (multiplier) position. Participating were: WQ4DVG, KO4WPO, KB9LXM, … Click for more

SPARC September Operating Event – CQ WW DX RTTY

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 09/07/2022

Operators and Trainees Needed: The CQ Worldwide DX RTTY Contest is a major event. The last time SPARC entered the club finished #9 US, #9 North America and #39 World with 38 hours of operation. Present Club members in that effort were KR4U, N2ESP, WA4EEZ and W4CU. The contest offers the chance to work great HF DX. Details can be found at:
http://www.cqwwrtty.com/
All are invited learn RTTY operation from experienced operators. Stop in any time during the weekend to operate, learn or just to see what’s going on.
The

… Click for more

SPARC August Operating Event – North American QSO Party SSB

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 07/28/2022

SSB Operators needed: The SPARC Club Station at DMI will be fired up for the SSB edition of the North American QSO Party (NAQP) on August 20th. The contest starts at 2PM Eastern Time and runs for 12 hours. The North American QSO Parties are favorites of beginners and seasoned operators alike. Everyone is invited to participate. We would particularly like to see newly licensed hams and new club members get involved or just stop by to see what’s going on.

Details of the event can found at: https://ncjweb.com/NAQP/… Click for more

SPARC July Operating Event – North American QSO Party RTTY

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 06/30/2022

Following up on a successful Field Day, SPARC is planning to participate in the July North American QSO Party (NAQP). The NAQP takes place 6 times a year with 2 RTTY, 2 CW, and 2 SSB. events. The upcoming RTTY event will be held Saturday July 16 starting at 2PM Eastern Time and lasting 12 hours.

Details can be found at: https://ncjweb.com/naqp

Experienced operators and anyone wishing to learn more about RTTY or improve their skills are encouraged to contact either Rich AA2MF at: rcariello49@gmail.com or Tom W4CU at: tom_w4cu@yahoo.com.… Click for more

Field Day 2022 Wrap up

By Pat AAØO on 06/28/2022

SPARC’s 2022 Field Day was a successful one. We had 40 people on the sign-in sheet and 21 operator callsigns made QSOs in the log. After removing duplicates we made 1,455 QSOs (statistics breakdown below). Band conditions made for slow going on Saturday but things really picked up Sunday morning.

Overall the stations worked well, having the same radio at each station made it easy to transition between them. We had some issues with the stats screen not keeping up with the QSOs, FT8 locking up N1MM occasionally, and sorting … Click for more

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