TAC 2001 Soap Box

I had fun operating the TAC Contest with my K2 this year. It was nice hearing so many stations working the contest. Bands were better than the previous two years. There were a few stations that I just could not pull out of the QRN that I had in the area. I used my K2 @ 5 watts into a Butternut HF9V on the roof with elevated radials. The battery was solar charged. 72 Ron de N3EPA (WB3AAL)

Ron - Fantastic contest! Thanks. Scoring requires more skill than the contest! You'll have to do some adjustments I suspect. I ran an FT-817 with the ZM-2 tuner into a long wire tactical and a dipole at home. 72 Jim de W1PID

Good activity. The bands only being in fair condition. I operated between my usual evening chores. Used my K2 and my new KnightLites "Keylite Keyer." I used a dipole on 40 meters and a KT34A on 20 & 15 meters. John de W2AGN

40 Meters conditions were not bad and improved later in the afternoon. Signals up to S9 at times. Activity was spotty. Long lulls and then a flurry of 4 to 5 contacts. Had to QRT at 5:45 PM so I missed evening conditions which were probably better. Did not check other bands other than trying to work Ron on 10 meters (nothing heard.) The K1 selectivity is really good. No QRM from signals as close as 500 Hz on the highest selectivity position. Good date selection as there was no QRM from RTTY, ARTS, QCWA or other groups that sometimes pop up at the same time and date causing hopeless interference. Even the QRO ops seemed to stay out of the QRP frequencies for this event. Good event. 72 Dick de W3DP

Thanks for another fine year in the TAC Sprint. I used the Elecraft K1 (20/40) and the SWL GM-15 for 15 meters. Ken de N2CQ

Rig - K2 at 5 watts Ant. - TH7-DXX @ 65' and a 402BA @ 50 ' Program - NA v10.51 Bob de N4BP

Hey Ron, great contest, first time I got involved with your TAC. Good day here for operating in the contest as I had 44 deg. F., with a cold, wet and blowing rain. Looked somewhat like a monsoon outside. Had a few honey-do's to take care of throughout the contest period but non-the-less I enjoyed myself. I was running the K1 @ 4 watts into a ZM-2 ATU with a Zepp antenna on the end. I was using the Te Ne Ke paddles. 72 Greg de KI8AF

Great contest! The exchange was especially good, I thought. It contained all the elements found in a normal QSO exchange plus more. The bands were nice and quiet, and so was my surrounding, from a tent at Mahlon Dickerson Reservation in northern New Jersey. The rig was a Sierra, powered by a lawn tractor battery, feeding a 40m dipole. The rig, antenna tuner, keyer and balun were all homebrew. 72 Mike de KF2EW

Thanks for the fun contest. The WX here in Central IL was very poor, cold / wind / rain on and off all day. Could only get a fiberglass mast up 15 feet due to the wind! Thanks to all for your patience with my weak signals. 72 Woody de WD9F

I found it to be very enjoyable, thanks for sponsoring it. I look forward to next year's contest, and spending more then the 2 hours I had this year. 72 Jim de KG2H

I worked the contest off and on for a couple of hours. Activity seemed to be pretty good. Hated to go QRT, but I had to go out that evening. 72 Jim de NA3V

I did not have much time to operate in the TAC event but did enjoy what time I had. I was using my K2 at 950 mW level. Thanks for a very enjoyable event Ron. I am already looking forward to the next one. Hopefully I will have more time. 72/73 Dan de N4ROA

I was running in the house a Wilderness Sierra on battery power at 5 watts into a 100 foot doublet with a open wire feed. Thanks for the fun. 72 Fran de KM1Z

Enjoyed working the TAC 2001 event QRP portable again this year from Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah, elevation 9,300 ft. 73 Jack de WA7LNW