QRP BARBERSHOP CONTEST SOAPBOX (20080301)

QRP BARBERSHOP CONTEST

SOAPBOX

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 30 January 2008 contest participants) Friday, February 1, 2008 at 07:57:05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec Omni vi @ 1 watt300' Horizontal Loop Conditions seemed relatively poor; I didn't hear any activity on 20 meters, and the noise level was high on 40. 80 was the "money band" this month. Conditions on 80 seemed to improve alot about 20 minutes before the end of the contest (based on the signal strengths of the stations I heard), but alot of folks appeared to have left by then. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 21:40:18 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 & G5RV, HF9V - Bands were quiet and QRN free. It was nice to work a nice bunch of guys. Thanks to the organizers for a fun time, even if my results weren't all that great! 73 de Larry ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 21:49:59 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 40M Inv V dipole, 80M zeppWorked one ESE on both 80 and 40, the same one. Heard no others. Participation seemed low but enough for fun. Thanks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mert, W0UFO Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 22:11:13 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 and 250 ft horizontal loop up about 25 feet. My first Barber Shop contest and 'twas great fun! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Gary, KJ5VW Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 22:12:34 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Was only able to peek in at the end for 3 Q's on 80m for my very first BS 'test. Bands seemed awfully quiet. Wind may have knocked ant down but won't know 'til tomorrow. Happy to work K5ESE -Joe actually had a STRONG 5/7/9 but I let the keyer do the walking :) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Seab, AA1MY Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 22:17:12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Only heard one barber working, K1ESE. Worked several stations in TX but never heard Monty, N5ESE. I worked 40m for 30 minutes, then 80m for 90 minutes. Condx were pretty good, not too much noise in South Carolina. Thanks to all for the Qs, de Joe, aka K5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, K5ESE Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 22:28:31 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Good fun tonight. Rig was K2 at 5w to either a 40m Inv L or a 80m Inv L (no tuner needed ;-)). Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Most were fairly weak and appreciate those who resent until we got it done. The Crewcut barber was really ESP. Just barely copyable. The bands seemed to cooperate. 40 was open early and the noise on 80 was not great. Made for a fun evening. Thanks to all!! 73 de dave ab9ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dave, AB9CA Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 22:44:02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TexTec Orion at 5W output to two 40m phased verticals, and dipole on 80m. Got late start due to evening class. Bands seemed reasonably quiet. 40m long from the start. Some signals quite strong, but we need more activity. Fun little contest. Very 72 and see y'all next time. Dick W5TA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, W5TA Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 23:20:27 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to a mag-mounted hamstick - That's right, QRP CW MOBILE! Got stuck in a meeting (work, yechh) until after the contest started, so jumped in as soon as I could - /M. Man! Something was not right... Several strong signals up and down the band, but next to nada around 7040. Called CQ ESE for 1-1/2 hours, with 3 calls. Guess long hair is in style again. 72, Monty N5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 06:35:27 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Only a short stint for this barbershop clip, had to QRT early. Didn't hear any barbers this time, worked only 1 other. See ya'll in the spring shearing! 73 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, KA2KGP Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 13:22:41 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Just did some casual operating with the FT-817 while cleaning up the shop. Good to work Doc after several years and K4BAI in there as always. New country qrn-less location very nice. Used 80 meter dipole. Maybe some different antennas some day.John, K4AVX. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K4AVX Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 13:47:45 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig:K2 Ant: EDZ dipole @ 50' Got home late and only heard one person...A5TA on 80 M calling CQ in the Barbaershop Contest... Still one of my favaorite events..just need to get home sooner and have better conditions. Thanks for the trim. Joe KK5NA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, KK5NA Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 15:31:51 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT1000MP, 5 watts out as measured by WM-2 QRP wattmeter, 40M ants: 88' CF zepp at 40'; 1/2 wave dipole at 40'; 80M: inverted vee, apex at 35'. Band conditions seemed very good. Skip zone on 40 permitted QSOs as close as TX, WI, and NJ. On 80, stations from ME to MN to IA to CO to NM to CA were worked. There just weren't enough of them! I heard only three stations that I didn't work: KD2MX who couldn't hear me on 40 and K5BOT and W8NI (in TX) on 80, who were heard working other stations, but didn't CQ much and didn't answer my CQs. Biggest thrill was a QSO with K6MDJ on 80M toward the end of the contest. Thanks, Fred! Thanks to all for the QSOs. Let's get the word out and have more activity next fifth Wednesday! 73/72, John, K4BAI. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. "john", K4BAI Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 16:50:27 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 and vertical on 40 meters. Small Wonder DSW-II and dipole on 80. No activity was heard on 20 meters. Great fun, as always. 73, Dick N5KIP ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 19:57:13 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Argonaut 509 @ 2 watts, on 40 meters an inverted vee, 80 meters end fed random wire. Was great to tag W5ESE on 80 meters. Could only operate between burst of local noise. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ed, K5BOT Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 16:23:54 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Conditions on 80m were absolutely phenomenal in NJ! Doc, K0EVZ, was a solid 579, All of my other six QSOs on that band were in different SPCs and all those RSTs were between 589 and 599+. At 0334Z, F6PW was 589 here. He was in QSO with an EA whom I could not hear. Where were the barbers? Guess I'll have to wait until April to be shorn, and that cut's going to cost me a generous tip. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Charles, W2SH Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 11:54:35 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- k-1. 80 meter dipole--cushcraft r-7 for 40 meters ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jerry, W5AJD

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 31 Oct 2007 contest participants) Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:08:42 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom 756 Pro3, Cushcraft 2 el 40M yagi, 80M slopers.Wow, 40M was hoppin' with lots of good signals. The rate-o-meter was at 66 for a few minutes. Had to QRT for a while so missed a lot of time. Got back on 80M and worked Dale WC7S and Randy K7TQ and barely heard Dick W5TA. Gave him a couple of shouts but no luck. Thanks for the contacts and see ya'll next time. 73 Paul NG7Z ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, NG7Z Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:09:52 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2. Force 12 C4SXL and 1/2 sloper for 80m. Scary night! Lots of waiting for QSOs. Best signals were NG7Z in nearby WA on 80 m, WC7S in WY also on 80 m, and NK6A in CA on 40 m. Most of the rest were ghostly whispers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, K7TQ Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:10:10 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom 706MKIIG @ 5w to a G5RV. Seemed like a tough night! 40m would come and go...and 80m wasn't much. I didn't get to my one and only barber until 2 minutes before the shop closed. Tnx Monty! Great job on the contest! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Keith, K5WX Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:12:43 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 & 350 ft Doublet @ 40 ftHad a QSO on 20M (my QRP /M)with a left-coast station just minutes before the contest - but come game time, 20M was dead,dead,dead - sigh... Heard about half the goblins, and worked most. Heard two barbers, and worked one - Trevor at QRPp (yeah, baby!). Total QSOs down, in spite of the Holloween feature stations. Maybe time for this contest to RIP... ;-( Fun to work you all! 72, Monty N5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:13:07 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OHR 400 TranscieverHI Mound HK-707 Straight Key Diamond CP6 Verical up 30 foot on roof Diawa CN-720B SWR/Wattmeter I enjoyed listening to the ESE calls amongst all the noise here at my QTH in Mo. Thanks to Rick, W5TA for pulling out my 1 watt signal and making my day. Rich-- NŘEAX-- Jefferson City, Mo. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Rich, N0EAX Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:16:20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Was pretty lonely out there tonight! I stayed on for the entire 2 hours. Was running the K1 at .5 Watts to my Condo Vertical. Worked Paul NG7Z (nice signal!), Monty N5ESE, and Dick W5TA. Do I get points for working myself??? ;-) K7TQ was loud but my piss-weak signal wasn't makin' it. Also heard Don NK6A, but he also didn't hear the .5 watts. I started out for 15 minutes on 20 then went to 40 and at 03:00 went back to 20 for 10 minutes then back to 40 for the rest of the crew cutting. Condition were poor at best here, but I have noticed that 20 has been getting a bit better during the day. Hopefully we're finally on the up-swing of the next cycle! 73 Trev K6ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Trevor, K6ESE Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:24:22 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom 703 @ 5 Watts 80 Meter horizontal loop Had a real good time, in spite of the bands not being too great. Steve K9IS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Steve, K9IS Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:27:46 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 Gap Voyager The noise was pretty bad here in OH but I did work a few barbers, ghosts and goblins though. neat way to spend "Howl"oween ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K8WDN Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:32:03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 5w to 80m inv vee dipole peak at 36' A lot fun, but condx seemed poor. Either that or my hearing is getting a lot worse! There seemed to be a lot of signals at or below the noise. Know I missed some and regret that. Just could not pull you out. Would have liked to have gotten everyone. Only managed two other Goblins. Thought I'd hear several. Started on 20 but did not hear a thing. Most of the activity seemed to be on 40. Enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. Thanks to Lloyd, Monty and the others for doing all the work to make it possible. See ya' next time! Dave ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dave, AB9CA Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:33:26 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TS-930 running 5w to rotatable dipole @ 50'. Haven't participated in the QRP Barbershop for a while...nice to be back. Sorry if I seemed deaf at times but I'm still recovering from a weekend of QRO SSB ;-) Thanks for the Qs. 73, Barry K4CZ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Barry, K4CZ Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 22:34:44 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to inverted "V" 40M dipole, coax fed, "ufo"balun at peak up 35 ft. I had hoped that 20M would be useable for a few early contacts but nil. 40M was QSB and sometimes QRM causing need for repeats. Heard acouple of Goblins that I didn't work. Timing was important making it an interesting evening. Thanks to all that participated. 72 Mert ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mert, W0UFO Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 02:25:22 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KX1/25' vertical wire + 16' counterpoise My first barbershop contest, and it was a lot of fun. I operated outside at a park on the San Francisco Bay, watching the sun set. WX was cool and windy. The KX1 worked flawlessly - I powered it with a battery pack for 3W out. I really liked the spirit of this contest and look forward to the next. -73 Mike N9OHW ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mike, N9OHW Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 05:06:48 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IC-703 5 watts Windom OCF dipole. 40 meters was a little "hollow." Didn't hear anyone on 80. 20 "dead." 73 Jim W1PID ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, W1PID Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 05:59:43 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Great contest again despite not the very best band conditions. Used K1 with vertical for 40 meters and DSW-II with temporary short "Squirt" dipole over the driveway on 80 meters. 73, Dick ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 07:11:35 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Running K2 at 5w to 40m dipole es 5BTV vertical. Really enjoyed the haircuts tonite. Condx were vy noisy hr in Mich. but lots of stns on the bands. Caught only a glimse of some west coast calls, but couldn,t work em. VA3SIE was doing great fer being Portable wid only 1 watt.W0UFO es K4CZ had real nice signals into Mich. Didn't get to work the "crew cut" Barber, but got my ears lowered by some fast sissers work from Joe es LLoyd. See u all net ime fer a trim !73 Gregg ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Gregg, WB8LZG Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 07:55:48 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally had good conditions on 40m. but poor on 80m. Nice to hear the barbers clipping on the bands. See ya'll next haircut! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, KA2KGP Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 08:01:58 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2, 80M LW, 40M Dipole. Props were better on 80M than 40M all night. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Wayne, W5KDJ Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 09:38:57 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten Tec Omni 6 @5 watts300' Horizontal Loop I think the spookiest thing about last night's Barbershop contest was the propagation! Lots of signals emerged from the ooze like ghosts, then sank back into the murky depths! Truly frightening! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 09:56:45 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, inverted vee. Activity much better than July. Conditions generally terrible. 20M was open for short skip, but could work only K3ESE there. 40M was generally long, but signals were generally poor. Could not get answers after multiple calls to NK6A, KB5JO, and others. 80M seemed quiet with little activity. Called and could not raise K1ESE who had a good signal on 80 from ME. CU all next time. 73/72, John, K4BAI. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K4BAI Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 10:47:48 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Scary fun! K2/88' EDZ... Thanks to all the ghosts and goblins who participated; the level of activity, and fun, was way up this time! Special mention goes to Martin, VA3SIE/PM, who worked me with one watt from ON...great job, eh? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ll, K3ESE Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 11:31:14 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HW-8 & inverted vee. Stumbled onto contest while building a Pixie-2 for 40m. Will be ready for QRPp next time. WB4YZA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, WB4YZA Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 12:13:20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K180m vee-beam Conditions went way south after 45 mins into the contest. Worked/heard a large number of pesky Texans. Heard mostly same stations during the early part and a couple that couldn't hear me. K7QO Ooops. Forgot K7TQ at 0106UTC ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Chuck, K7QO Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 12:39:40 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TenTec Orion at 5 watts; two phased verticals on 40m; dipole at 35 feet on 80m. Fun little contest. 20m dead (no Halloween ghosts); 40m strange; 80m noisy as usual. 40 was relatively quiet, lot of short skip to nearby states, few northeast and northwest. Midwest not as strong as usual. Capricious propagation brought in some 2W and 3W stations S9+. Was tempted to quit early when things got slow, but glad I didn’t. Worked two barbers in the last 5 minutes. Very 72 y’all, CU in the next one. Dick W5TA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, W5TA Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 13:47:07 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Tx/Rx: Elecraft KX1 900mWAntenna: Helically loaded 20ft vert in backpack, 30ft drag wire. Well that was a challenge! It's been a while since I tried milliwatt pedestrian mobile on 40m. I did a lot better than I expected though! The weather was nice, 54F in a slight breeze. Wind increased and my log book was fairly fluttering by 11pm. I could hear many stations at 9pm but most were just above the noise floor and the combination of my QRPp and inefficient antenna couldn't make the cut. I called CQ an awful lot that first hour with no takers. Signals slowly got stronger throughout the first hour and I made my first contact at 2150. During the second hour, the 1F2 propagation continued to slowly go longer, so that I was able to hear stations better further and further out but there seemed to be less folks calling CQ as the night went on too. Propagation never got as long as favoring TX, NM, etc. though :( I ended up working 7 stations in 7 states, all within 800 miles. I met my personal goal of a QRPp certificate while /PM ... 3 of the stations were barbers! Thanks for the haircut, fellas! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Martin, VA3SIE/PM Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 15:35:00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten Tec Omni 6 all but last QSO which was a K2. Antenna is 130' doublet at 80 feet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K1ESE Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 16:39:13 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a short stint after handing out trick of treat candy!IC756pro2 at 5 watts to HF6V. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, WA9PWP Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 19:34:50 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2@5 with over 820 feet of wire at 50 foot and the best antenna was a 30 foot vertical. Fun is spelled cw. Toss in QSB and ESE and it is multiplied.W5TA was loud, K7TQ must have ears of gold, and I couldn't figure out why a CA station was so weak, until he said 1W from N5KID... that was fun too. C U next time for more fun! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dale, WC7S Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 22:09:54 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec Argo V and 130 ft. dipole. First time in this contest and it was great fun. Conditions not too great, with some noise on 40, but things worked out pretty well, even thought I couldn't find my earphone adapter, and had to run the speaker kinda loud. Old ears finally got tuned in! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K4AVX Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 23:02:56 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT2000 at 5 WForce 12C4 at 40 ft High noise level here on all bands. Tried three different antenna's which didn't help for 40. I actually went outside to make sure that the antenna was still up in the air and not hit by a flying broom. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Don, NK6A Friday, November 2, 2007 at 08:29:46 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K-1/88' doublet - Very bad QRN here, requiring ATTN on whole time. Didn't hear very many stations working the 'test. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Curt, KB5JO Friday, November 2, 2007 at 09:10:15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2@5W, 20m yagi, 40m yagi, 80 dipole. I like to spend time on all three bands, so allowed 30 minutes for 20m and worked only one station...I don't think I will do that anymore, maybe an hour on 40m and an hour on 80m will be good enough. Otherwise, had fun and enjoyed the extra excitement of working phantom ghosts and goblins. 73, de Joe, K5ESE (aka aa4nn) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, K5ESE Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 16:08:07 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft k-1, cushcraft R-7 vertical ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jerry, W5AJD Friday, November 9, 2007 at 09:38:10 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K3 (you read that right, K3!!!)/dipole/5W Mid-Mo Amateur Radio Club MMARC special event station WŘO from Frankenstein Missouri! Our club sponsers this special event every Halloween, so look for us again next year! Operators were Bryan, WŘESE for the first hour of the contest and Tom, NŘSS for the last hour. We experienced deep and slow QSB, but that is what of QRP BS night is all about! Thank you to all the customers, Goblins and Ghosts! You will all be receiving a special QSL card (in the mail now). Please, no need to send us a QSL. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mid-mo, WŘO

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 29 August 2007 contest participants) Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 22:00:41 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom 706 at 5 watts with G5RV inverted vee at 35 feet. Late start + thunderstorms + poor conditions = fun! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Keith, K5WX Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 22:05:21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ARGONAUT 509/88'CF ZEPP. NOT SURE WHERE 3 BARBERS FOUND ANY HAIR TO CUT ON THIS BALD HEAD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Russell, KB5JO Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 22:05:25 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 40m only. Lots of QSB on most signals.Ran K2 at 5w and attic dipole. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dan, N0TK Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 22:18:29 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom 756 Force 12 C3 OCF dipole 20M closed 20 minutes into the event here on the Left coast and 40M wasn't really ready for "QRP" until nearly 0200Z. Really appreciate LL picking me out of the muck at 0155Z. Joe had a really good signal on 40M for just 2 watts. That antenna is a killer. Think I'll get one. Worked John K4BAI on both bands. Andrew NV1B was a real treat to work all the way across the county in Maine on 40M. 80M isn't useful here until much later. All in all, a fun time and my hair is still intact!!73 Paul NG7Z ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, NG7Z Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 22:20:56 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 on 40 meters and DSW-II on 80. Vertical on 40 and NVIS antenna on 80. Conditions were not very good but I did manage to work 3 barbers with 1 watt and had a ball. Thanks to the barbers! Dick, N5KIP ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 22:37:59 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Heathkit HW-8 2w, Inverted V @ 35', Just happened onto (Monty) N5ESE and the contest. Will give it a better try next time. Bob ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bob, K1UTI Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 22:44:24 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IC-706M2G @ 4W, aluminum foil attic dipole. Thanks for a close shave. Ed AI9J ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ed, AI9J Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 22:47:27 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bands were disapointing ...bad shape here in Houston, TX....lots of noise and QSB.......maaybe better next time ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bill, K5JHP Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 23:04:52 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 mobile with mag-mounted hamstick... so sorry to those who called but who I couldn't hear. I drove around Houston for 30 minutes before I found a parking lot where the hash noise was *only* S5 with the 400 Hz filter. Tough duty. Still, at times the band was really good. But halfway through, the bottom dropped out, and the QSO rate fell to about one every ten min. Sheesh. Sooo0... do we do this again? 72, monty ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 06:07:58 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Who pulled the plug? Band conditions were the nastiest in a long time, all I heard was the buzzing of the haircutter! Worked a few, but bands were lousy, signals in the mud.I hope my hair grows back before the next contest! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, KA2KGP Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 06:26:15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2/EDZ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ll, K3ESE Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 06:58:21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 5W Inv "L" 30 ft.All the power went out just as the contest was starting es the only thing running was my K2 es the ham gear all battey es charged by solar. Only managed 3 QSOs, but all barbers es all good signals into Michigan. This was my first "haircut" tonite es have to say it was fun. May have to stop in fer a trim agn ! 73 Gregg WB8LZG ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Gregg, WB8LZG Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 07:21:32 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT1000MP, WM-2 QRP wattmeter, 5W output, TH6DXX, 40M dipole, 80M inverted vee. 20 was long, but only heard NG7Z well enough to copy on 20. Tried to move N0TK to 20, but couldn't make it there. 40M was OK as close in as VA, but no other fourth district stations heard. Toward the end, the west (NG7Z, NU7T) came up nicely. 40 was noisy and 80 was worse, but did get the designated QRPP Barber there along with K5JHP in TX. This event suffered from lack of activity this time. I think it is easy to forget that it is a fourth Wednesday. It would help to get these contests listed on the WA7BNM Contest Calendar. It lists all the other QRP sprints, so I don't see why Bruce wouldn't list this one too. At least, maybe there could be an e-mail list to send reminders to former participants and holders of ESE calls. Look forward to more activity in October. 73/72, John, K4BAI. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K4BAI Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 07:58:34 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec Omni 6 at 5w, 300 foot horizontal loop. Had thunderstorms for the first hour so couldn't give haircuts for half the event. QRN was pretty bad on 80m and 40m. Sorry if I missed anyone, but the noise level was pretty high here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 10:17:04 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The noise level from electrical storms was very high, and there was fairly rapid QSB that made it very difficult to catch the calls, much less attempt a QSO. I did hear a number of stations trying on 40, but nothing at all on 20 or 80. Better times are coming! Thanks Monty and John for my two contacts! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ken, NU4I Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 11:09:51 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K-1, Vertical Great fun! I just happened to hear K4BAI calling CQ QRP Contnest and worked him. Then found N5ESE. Never heard K5ESE. I'll give it a try next time. TNX for sponsoring this fun event. 73, BILL, W4RK ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bill, W4RK Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 11:24:19 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1, QRP Tuner and G5RV. My first Barber Shop contest. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dave, W0PQ Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 18:31:56 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 running 1 watt into a 60m dipole fed with homemade ladder line. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Anthony, K3NG

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 30 May 2007 contest participants) Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 21:21:26 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Fun night. Had to quit a bit early, but good conditions on 20, 40, and 80.73 de K1ESE John ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K1ESE Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 22:16:28 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 5w, Force 12 C4SXL @ 60 feet.Slow start on 20, but then conditions improved. Worked the crew cut barber on 20 and 40. Moved W0UFO from 40 to 20 late in the contest. Tried with K0FRP but no luck. 20 was open longer than folks stayed around on it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, K7TQ Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 22:16:43 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 at 500 mW/loop/88' EDZ I'm not certain, but I think the EDZ outperformed the newly-fixed loop. I managed 19 QSOs with my half-watt: 20M - N5EBD K5GQ K4BAI N5ESE KB0PCI N5KIP NK6A K7TQ N8HOQ 40m - K4BAI K1ESE N9NE K1NR K7TQ 80M - K1ESE W2SH K5ESE N5ESE K0FRP I heard John, K4BAI, on 80M and tried to be heard, but I'd switched on the split, inadvertently, and missed the opportunity. I worked four ops on two bands each, but nobody on all three. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ll, K3ESE Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 22:17:47 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks organizers for another great event. I used my K1 and vertical antenna on 20 and 40 and my DSW-II and "Squirt" NVIS antenna on 80 meters, running one watt on all bands. Conditions seemed better than expected and I had a great time. 72, Dick ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 22:27:48 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT1000MP, 5 watts output, TH6DXX, 40M dipole, 88' CF zepp at 40' also used on 40M, 80M inverted vee. My highest BS score ever. 20 was good to north and west at the beginning and was still open at the end, but most stations had moved to lower bands. 40 was OK with some QRN. Sorry I was unable to pull K4A??/QRP through the QRN. QRN was higher on 80 and only stations worked were in 4th and 5th call areas. 40 was relatively short, but NK6A had a good signal from CA. Thanks for all the QSOs, especially the barbers. 73/72, John, K4BAI. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K4BAI Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 22:33:38 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Decided to use my new Yaesu FT2000 radio cranked all the way down to 5 W. My usual rig is the K2.Antenna is a Force 12C4 and EZ88. Nice to hear activity on 20M until 7 PM my time. I didn't copy that many stations on 20 or 40. If K3ESE was running 1W or less , LL, you did real good into So.CA. Always a fun little contest. .. Don NK6A ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Don, NK6A Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 22:46:13 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SWL DSW40 to 40m dipole up 20ft.Unfortunately I only realized the event was going on with 30 mins left to go. K5ESE couldn't pull me out. W0ESE worked me easily once he got my call. Heard N5ESE in the last 2 mins as he worked K7TQ. With the full 2 hrs, the special QRPp certificate should be attainable. 72, Ron W6AZ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ron, W6AZ Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 22:55:29 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig K2 3W, band seemed quiet tonight, not the usual QRN.72, Steve K4JPN ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Steve, K4JPN Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 23:13:15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- AA7DX-NVWow, one Barber heard, one Barber worked. Yikes, for a while there I thought I was back in one of the Second Class Operator's contests 'cause this sure looks like a second class effort ;-) Icom 746 Pro @ 5w, 40 mtr horiz. loop @ 25 ft. - I think I heard one Barber in 5 Land, but he was at esp level, & heard W6AZ work W0ESE right after I did, but had several interruptions too. Still good fun !! Dick aa7dx-nv ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, AA7DX Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 23:43:32 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 and hamstick atop the rental car. On a business trip - had to wander outside of Houston QRN, all the way to Friendswood before I found a reasonably quiet spot on the side of the road. Was kind of surprised the Sheriff didn't stop and check during the 2 hour contest HI HI. Our Barbershop karma has changed! Propagation, GOOD propagation... it's been a long time comin', eh? 72, monty N5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 04:31:06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT-900 5W Windom OCF dipole ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, W1PID Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 06:38:00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 & TH7 up 24' ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mark, K5GQ Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 07:33:11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec TKIT 1320 (4W), Small Wonder Labs SW+ (40m; 2W), Ten-Tec TKIT 1380 (5W). 300' HOHPL. Good fun; lots of QRN on 80 and 40, though. Thanks everyone for the contacts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 09:20:45 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 and a 40m dipole at 25 ft. only worked an hour. worked what I I could hear. W0ESE Bryan was very loud on 40m. Got LL late in that hour and did not hear much after that. Was Fun Thanks ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Al, K0FRP Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 09:25:53 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This was my first CW contest, my first QRP contest, actually, it was my first contest other than feild day from several years ago where I opperated only SSB on 40m! I had a great time! I was only able to get ESE's as all three (K1ESE,K5ESE,and W0ESE) were very patient with my slower sending/copying speeds. Thanks John, Joe, and Bryan for being so patient. Initially I was concerned that I might not be able to snag any QSO's but since ESE is easy to hear, and since all ESE CQers have ESE as thier last 3 of thier call sign, I only had to pay attention to the first few letters and numbers to be confident to call and ask for QRS. I heard a few CQ BS, but couldn't get thier callsigns as most were sending well above 15 wpm. Rig : FT817ND using a J28 straight key Antenna : 40m resonant inverted V up 18 feet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, AE5BH Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 09:39:33 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I got "shaved" on 80m. with QRN & nets cramming the band. 40m. wasn't bad. 20 was pretty quiet with only 2 QSO's there. Rig: TenTec Argosy at 5w. into 5 band ground mtd. vertical, straight key used. See you all next haircut! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, KA2KGP Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 15:44:08 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow! 20 Meters started out hot...people on top of people...looking for a haircut! I heard Lloyd...but got pushed out of line...then...the phone rang..then someone camre to the door...finally got back to the rig...and Lloyd had disappeared! But got some nice work done by Monty, Joe, and Scott...with a touch-up by Monty again on 40M. Great fun and much better bands than last time here in Tx. Thanks for a great event and such good service! Joe KK5NA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, KK5NA Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 16:09:30 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- de K5ESE with a K2 at 5W. SteppIR(20M), Force12(40M), Two sloping dipoles(80M). Worked UR3QX off the side of 40M yagi with 5 watts. Worked G3ZWH with 5 watts off 80M EU dipole. Lots of signals all 3 bands, just not enough people looking for haircuts. 72 to all, de Joe, aa4nn AKA K5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Oe, K5ESE Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 21:35:32 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Oak Hills Classic45 ft random wire up 35ft Number of stations seemed to pick up later, but had to QRT....zzzzzzz.. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bob, WB0POQ Friday, June 1, 2007 at 09:26:51 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K120M dipole 40M 180ft zepp From cabin near Finlayson, MN Started 1/2 Hr late but found condx quite good. 20M held up longer than it was used. My last contact was on 20M with K7TQ. K3ESE was weak but readable. It was a fun run. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mert, W0UFO Friday, June 1, 2007 at 17:27:18 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Casual S/P'ing here, looking for barbers and working a few customers in between. Caught 2 barbers on 20m and 2 on 40m. Ran a NC40A and a DSW-II-20, both at 3 watts. A fun event and I hope to make the next one. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mike, AF4LQ Friday, June 1, 2007 at 20:12:57 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Had fun going to my first Barbershop. Gary KM5IT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Gary, KM5IT Friday, June 1, 2007 at 21:12:23 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 5W to a G5RV - A good time! Thanks to the "barbers" for putting on a fun event. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Friday, June 1, 2007 at 22:14:31 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 20m was open but I didn't hear the sound of any clippers around 14.060 mHz. 40m was OK, but 80m was even better, albeit with reduced activity.I worked K5ESE on 80m at 0252Z and then listened to him called by and then in QSO with a G3, Doug in Kent, who was 569 in NJ. Not bad for 80m in early June. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Charles, W2SH

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 31 January 2007 contest participants) Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 21:47:39 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to 88' inverted vee at 45'. Worked everybody I could hear on 40. Heard a couple of very weak signals on 80, but couldn't work 'em. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, KS4L Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 21:48:40 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 5W to a Gap Voyager Conditions were not the best but 80m seemed better than 40m. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K8WDN Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 22:30:01 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-840 and Dipole.Only heard 1 station on 40M, nothing on 20M or 80M. Looking forward to next time. Maybe I'll have better luck. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mark, KF4IBU Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 23:03:19 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TenTec Orion at 5 Watts output, two quarter wave verticals on 40m, dipole center fed with ladder line at 30' on 80m. Bands were noisey; some signals well above the noise, and conversely. My appologies to those I could tell were "in there" but I couldn't copy. I called CQ BS. I got several Q's from guys who just wanted to know what BS stood for. Should I change to CQ ESE....??? Hummmmmm. Very 72 y'all, Dick W5TA. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, W5TA Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 23:38:00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hmmm, not much activity... 40 Meters was particularly obtuse tonight - 3 QSOs in the first hour. Dick, N5KIP, provided me with two 2-way QRPp QSOs (40 and 80M) - the guy is amazing with a milliwatt! 80M sounded pretty good, althou quite a challenge at 1 watt for the Crewcut Barber. Still, we definitely had fun. Thanks to all who dug into the dirt to find me. 72, Monty N5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 00:55:03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig was my trusty Steve Weber ATS-II running flat out at mighty 2.5 watts. Antenna was a homebrew wire vertical with 4 above ground radials supported with a 10-Metre collapsible fibreglass German mast. The feedline was 450-ohm parallel window line. While the setup worked very well, propagation was sporadic and lasted less than an hour. Thanks to all who stopped by, and to the organisers. This is a well conceived QRP event. 72, --Doc ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Doc, K Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 06:12:43 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 and Hygain vertical on 40 meters. DSW-II and "Squirt" NVIS antenna on 80. Ran one watt on both bands. Very pleased to work Monty, N5ESE, two-way QPRp on both bands. Never heard any activity on 20 meters. Thanks for a very enjoyable event. 73, Dick ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 06:26:21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 into a Dipole at 40 ft.I always look forward to the Barbarshop Contest. Conditions here were not very good. Searched for someone to give me a trim...no luck on 40M so I went to 80 and found Scott...he had to work hard to get me in but finally did...thanks Scott and thanks for the fun contest. Joe KK5NA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, KK5NA Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 06:26:41 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2/loop. oof. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ll, K3ESE Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 07:45:32 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- We had company; so i was only able to get away for a few minutes to get on the air. I turned on the radio and immediately thought, "Wrong night!" - alas, there were NO signals! 40 Meters was dead and 80 Meters was not much better. Finally heard John K1ESE calling CQ and worked him. Called CQ for a few minutes myself and worked K8WDN. Then I started hearing net traffic, let out a sigh, pulled the plug and got back to my guest. Here's to better conditions for the next round! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 07:48:57 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow! 40 meters was dead and the nets on 80 were annoying, but still had fun with my first haircut. K2 #5757 is working just great! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, WD9HBC Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 08:21:12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I was using my old TenTec Argosy, running 5w to an inverted vee on 40m, and a low dipole for 80m. I had the evening free for a change, so I was anxious to work the sprint. Condx were strange here in northern IL. Lots of good signals on 80 and 40, but I really had to work to dig out the QRP ones. I thought my antennas were frozen. Looking forward to the next sprint and better conditions. 72/73, and thanks for the sprint. -ed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ed, K9EW Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 09:10:24 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec Omni 6300' Horizontal Loop Tough conditions here with lots of QRN. Probably owing to an approaching rain. Thanks to everyone for the repeats. 73 Scott ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 09:40:29 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 and 80 meter Zepp at 90 feet. Not a lot of activity. Worked almost all I could hear, but heard few.72 de K1ESE, John ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K1ESE Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 09:44:25 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Got a nice "trim" with only 8 QSO's here in WNY. Rig: TenTec Argosy at 5w. into all-band vert. w/ straight key. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, KA2KGP Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 18:31:17 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 watts from Icom 706MKIIG to a G5RV at 35 feet fed with homebrew open-wire line. Seems like conditions can't get any worse...then the 5th Wednesday comes around! This is the best contest around...and the toughest! Keith ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Keith, K5WX Friday, February 2, 2007 at 09:04:41 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 & 40m EDZGot stung on the thumb by a wasp and started late. Condx on 20m made me and the dog go outside to see if the Zepp had fallen out of the tree. Resorted to "CQ BS" on 40m but no takers. Perhaps "CQ ESE" for all? Had fun anyway. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Cranz, WB5BKL Friday, February 2, 2007 at 10:00:11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT1000MP, 5 watts output, zepp, dipole. Only worked the last 38 minutes because I had forgotten about it. Can we get this contest on the WA7BNM Weekly Contest Calendar? All the other QRP sprints are included, including the Spartan Sprint, the FP RFB, the CQC, the NJ QRP, NAQCC, the QRPARCI, etc. No reason this one couldn't be included too. It would help a lot since the scheduling on the fifth Wednesday is easy to overlook. I heard K9EW working someone in the contest and Ed was kind enough to remind me what contest it was. By that time, there seemed to be no activity on 40. 80 was quite good and I worked every QRP station I heard. Thanks for the QSOs. I did hear one 100 w station in TX work two of the TX contesters, but he didn't call me. See you next time for the whole contest, I hope. Please look for me from Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, Feb 13-20 as PJ4/K4BAI and in the ARRL DX CW Contest as PJ4A single op all bands. 73/72, John, K4BAI. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K4BAI Friday, February 2, 2007 at 14:37:26 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Only got 3 Q's on 40. Couldn't hear anybody on 80. Used my K1 and an 88' inverted vee @ 45'. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, KS4L Tuesday, February 6, 2007 at 17:57:55 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- k2 @ 5w to Inv-L's on 40 and 80 A relaxed fun evening. Thanks to everyone for doing the work to make it possible. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dave, AB9CA

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 29 Nov 2006 contest participants) Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 21:47:24 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 4 Watts to G5RV. Surprised and disappointed by the lack of activity and/or propagation. Hopefully the next event will coincide with better conditions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 21:54:52 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom 756 and 80M delta loop. Worked everyone I could hear. Not much activity heard otherwise. Thanks to Monty for pulling me out. He was really weak here.73 Paul NG7Z in WA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, NG7Z Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 22:03:58 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom 706MKIIG @ 4 watts to a G5RV inverted Vee at 40 feet and a K5JHF Morse keyboard! Seemed like a tough night with heavy QRN and QRM....but fun! 72, Keith, K5WX ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Keith, K5WX Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 22:31:30 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Small Wonder DSW II on 80 and K1 on 40 & 20 both running one watt. Used "Squirt" NVIS antenna on 80 and vertical on 20 and 40. Conditions in Baton Rouge were poor. Heard nothing on 20 at all. Worked Monty on both 80 and 40 and heard Tony on 40 but could not work him with one watt. Had fun despite the conditions. 73, Dick ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 23:15:41 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Eureka! I believe I've stumbled upon a heretofore UNKNOWN PROPAGATION MODE, which from this point forward should be known as the "Barbershop Absorption Phenomenon" - on every fifth Wednesday, the D-Layer turns to utter crapola. Sheesh! My apologies to several of you who I just could not pull out of the soup. Then there was Dick, N5KIP at 1 watt - how doooo he do it??? Really, I enjoy a challenge as much as the next QRP'er, but is this fun anymore? (big sigh) 72, monty N5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 00:43:58 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig was K2 to Inv L on 40m and Inv V on 80. Ruff condx. Lots of qrn with deep and quick qsb on 40. Did not spend a lot of time on 80 but did do a little there. Thanks to the 'crew' for all the work in putting these on. Lots of fun despite the condx!! 73 de dave ab9ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dave, AB9CA Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 04:04:45 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TS-430S, 1 watt, 12.5 foot tall bugcatcher @ 20 feet, with sixteen 13 foot radials. Band was ok at first, then went down hill fast here in WTX. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Sam, KA5OAI Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 06:02:20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2, 80 meter Zepp.Conditions were rotten. Could only operate first hour. Heard nothing on 20 or 40. But, 80 had lots of QRN to listen to. Through it all did manage to make a few contacts with lots and lots of fills. Still, it was fun. 73 de K1ESE John ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K1ESE Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 08:04:35 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 5 w to Force 12 C4SXL at 60 feet.Mighty tough going this time around. Maybe the 15 degree outside temps froze out everyone's signals. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, K7TQ Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 09:02:41 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2/loop and 88'EDZ. Whoa. Five QSOs, 120 minutes...I was in constant motion! Took me a while to catch my breath when it was finally all over. Dave, AB9CA, was loud throughout the entire contest, on 40M. 20M was away on business, won't be back until sometime next Spring. Kudos to Monty, N5ESE, John, K1ESE and Larry, W2LJ, who somehow pulled my whispy sigs out of the ether. Then there was Jack, KK0I, in Appleton, WI, running 75W and not contesting, who gave me a 589 on 80M. I had my K2 set on 0.4W, and it showed 0.5 to 0.7 out on its little display. I used the loop except for Larry, who seemed to hear me better on the EDZ, not unusual for closer-in stations to the NW of me. Thanks to all nine people that came to play tonight! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ll, K3ESE Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 17:24:43 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Not too many customers at the barbershop here in WNY this month. Band condition have been better, with lots-o-QRN. I had fun anyway but missed the "Big One", K3ESE for the big prize. Rig: TenTec Argosy II at 5 w. into all-band vert. w/ straight key. See ya'll next time for a trim! 73 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, KA2KGP Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 17:40:55 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Storms here in Texas made the bands even worse than normal...but somehow I heard CA...but no others. Thanks for the Trim!...Joe KK5NA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, KK5NA

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 30 August 2006 contest participants) Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 21:40:39 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K2 Gap Voyager Noise was bearable on 40m here but 80m was beyond hope, I heard a Barber on 80m but could not complete the exchange due to horrendous QRN here ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K8WDN Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 21:49:55 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Quit at 0230 after RTTY stations came on 40m. Ran my K2 and attic dipoles. Worked Monty N5ESE who I believe was the crew cut barber tonight (not W5ESE). Nice to work N5IB and N5KIP both in LA and both running 1w. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dan, N0TK Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 22:03:03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-840 with dipole.Could hear stations calling "CQ ESE" on 80M es 40M but couldn't pull the calls out of the noise. First time doing this. Had a good time. Tnx ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mark, KF4IBU Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 22:04:40 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Had to stand in line as my barbers were pretty busy. Met up with a couple of other customers while waiting. The shop was a bit quiet and some of the barbers couldn't be found. Probably hiding in the QRN. The 20M shop wasn't open for business tonight. KX1 @4W w/ATU to 300' longwire ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, KD2MX Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 22:15:24 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Why a Kilowatt station in W2 land could call CQ DX on 7.040 is beyond me. Altogether very noisy bands. Lots of fun, tho. de Joe, K5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, K5ESE Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 22:17:14 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 & 40M Inv Vee fed with ladder line... Can you say S-L-O-W? The QRN seemed extra low tonight, so I had high hopes of a big night. Signals seemed OK, except to the west coast. Wonder if you guys are getting bored? Are we losing our customers? Is somebody else trimming your hedges? Still had fun - only failed qso was with one guy in VE land - so sorry - band just wouldn't hold up. Thanks to everyone who participated. 73, monty N5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 22:18:14 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 at one watt on 20 and 40 meters and a recently built small wonder DSW-II at one watt on 80 meters. Used a vertical antenna on 20 and 40 and a "Squirt" NVIS on 80. Had great fun trying to find and work barbers with one watt. 73, Dick, N5KIP ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 22:38:56 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IC-756p2, longwire@40', 4-sq on 80m Enjoyed my first contest - bunch of good ops and a bunch of static(1st time I've been on with less than 1500w since I sold my Argonaut 20 yrs ago) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Neill, K4ESE Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 22:51:36 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to G5RV at 25 feet. I worked only one station on 20 Meters and that was Steve NŘTU who blew my cans off with his 900 mW! Great job, Steve! I heard Monty N5ESE on 20; but he was at ESP levels. 40 Meters was its usual workhorse self. QSB and QRN were bad. 80 Meters was a pleasant surprise - good and stable signals despite the QRN. Once again, thanks to the organizers for putting together another fun event. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 22:59:29 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 was not good here in Houston, TX 40 was not much better . Quite a bit of rtty QRM........ Next time...... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bill, K5JHP Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 05:46:40 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT-900 Windom OCF dipole. Only operated for 15 minutes. 40 meters was very long and very strange. Heavy QSB on 40 and 20. Thanks to all. Jim W1PID ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, W1PID Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 06:23:03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Always a fun event. Lots of QRN here last night but managed a couple. Thanks for the trim(s).Joe KK5NA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, KK5NA Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 06:23:33 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2, 80 meter center fed Zepp up 85 feet. Had fun for my first Barbershop outing. Started on 40 with some QRN and few strong signals. Worked there steadily for about an hour. Went to 20 and called for a while with no results. Shifted to 80 and picked up 4 quickly, but nothing after that. No contacts the last half hour. Participation seemed good even if the bands weren't great. 72 de K1ESE John ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K1ESE Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 06:26:27 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- My First Barbershop event. Lots of QRN here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Gary, KM5IT Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 07:24:28 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ICOM base @ 5W with wire half square ANT.Here in CA worked N6OO. I heard Joe K5ESE in SC for about 30 min but no luck. TNX 72, Charlie W4NJK CA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Charlie, W4NJK Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 08:07:16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec Omni VI and 300' HOHPL.20m faded out after the first hour, and 40m and 80m seemed long. Was able to reach some areas on those bands that I seldom do. 80m was as productive for me as 40m. Heard several new participants this time; welcome! 73 Scott W5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 11:00:00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 #1233 at 1 W to 40 meter full wave horizontal loop at 15 foot elevation ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, N5IB Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 11:35:14 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NC2030 set to 2 W. Thanks K5ESE-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Glenn, AC7ZN Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 21:27:52 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig: FT897D @ 5 watts. Antenna: end feed 80ft long wire. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Juan, KG4FSN Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 22:05:12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TenTec Scout @ 5W. 80m horizontal bisquare @ 75'. 20m was closed at my NJ QTH. 40m was OK despite QRM from the raised-ear crowd. 80m was in pretty decent shape and really merited more activity. Chas. W2SH ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Charles, W2SH Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 22:20:09 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mk-V Field, HF6V vertical, 40m dipole at 30', 135' wire at 30' for 80rx. Tnx QSOs. 73, Chris. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Chris, VA3NR Friday, September 1, 2006 at 12:15:38 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 dipole/delta loop I missed out on the first 45 min. due to a commitment to call a local 2M net. Nothing on 20M. 40M was most productive until the data stations moved in. 80M very noisy worked only one station on 80, va3nr but heard others including K1ESE (super solid signal, but you must not of heard me calling). I was fighting a nasty cold so my ears were blocked up and concentration was low so my op skill pretty dull this go around. Fun like always! WŘESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bryan, W0ESE

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 31 May 2006 contest participants) Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 20:38:58 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Situation normal. I could only hear K7TQ. Thank you, Randy. You saved my bacon. Wait, that's the other contest. ;-) 73, Jim ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, AL7FS Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 20:49:20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- First time to work a barber other thqn K3ESE. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. P., WB8ABE Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 21:14:37 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K2, Attic off center fed dipole. Loads of fun. Just could not pull K2ESE out of noise here on 40m. I thought I had the "crew cut barber" when I heard N5ESE, but oh well. See everyone next time and maybe condx will be better. 72 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, W4ATK Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 21:55:53 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 with 260 ft open feeder. Only had about 10 minutes. But it was fun... if only for a few minutes. Wait 'til next time. C U then. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dale, WC7S Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 22:02:58 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to the organizers for another great event. I again ran 1 watt from my K1 to a Hygain vertical and concentrated on trying to work "ESE" suffix stations. Lots of fun. 72, Dick ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 22:05:20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom 706MKIIG at 4 watts. Antenna is a G5RV fed with homemade open-wire line. 40m was fairly noisy due to thunderstorms in the state. Fun contest! 72, Keith ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Keith, K5WX Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 22:05:46 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainy WX in Houston, TX. QRN typically +20 all evening. Bad condx for using a vertical. K2 with Hy-Gain AV-640. Hope it's better next time. K5ESE. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, K5ESE Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 22:15:01 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Got a late start. Found the bands to be pretty dead...then got involved in a regular qso for the last 20 minutes. At least I did get a haircut...will see if my barber notices tomorrow morning when I stop at his shop. 72 till next time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, KD2MX Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 22:19:16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to FW Horiz Delta Loop (20M) or 40M Inv Vee (40/80M) Once, just ONCE, I'd like to have good conditions for the Barbershop Contest... thought that would be tonight but noooOOOOOooooo... My apologies to those 3 ops I just could not dig out of the QRN - I really tried! And thanks to all those who patiently dug out my sigs. Seems like activity is dropping off gradually - not sure if the contest has run its course, or the conditions are just too harsh right now. Anyway, I enjoy the challenge, and I thank all who gave me a chance to play. Even worked 2 milliwatters, N5KIP and WA5HDL - you guys are GOOD! 72, monty N5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 22:23:26 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to Inv-Vee w/peak at 32', 300 ohm feeder, MFJ 904H tuner. Great fun! 40 was tough. Heard very little there. Lots of QRN. GL to everyone and thanks to those doing the work! 73 de dave ab9ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dave, AB9CA Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 22:28:31 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT-817/40m Dipole @ 35'Fun contest. Lots of local static crashes. Thanks to all. Dick, N4UN ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N4UN Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 22:49:37 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 5 W, Force 12 C4SXL @ 60' A bit of a slow night. Worked Jim, AL7FS, in AK. Thanks to all who stopped by. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, K7TQ Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 23:17:30 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I worked the only station I heard loud enough to try calling. W1ESE was in and out. I had to wait until he'd come up out of the noise. Heard him on 40M too but just too much noise. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, NG7Z Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 23:36:21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- GREAT fun! Thanks Gang! Here in Arizona ran 5 Watts output to either a 120 foot long double zepp antenna up 57 feet high or to an inverted "L" which from the tuner on the ground first goes up 57 feet and then 93 feet horizontally for a total length of 150 feet. Also have 3 radials at the tuner, each one is a quarter wavelength for 160 meters. Propagation was good here and worked guys from coast to coast. QRN on 40m was loud and clear here. Tnx again and 72/73 de Scotty W7SW, op at W1ESE. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scotty, W1ESE Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 04:34:51 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT-900 5 watts with Windom OCF dipole. Operated about 5 minutes. Not very good condx. But always fun! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, W1PID Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 06:47:24 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TenTec Argonaut 580M dipole @ 50' ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Chuck, AF4PP Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 07:43:29 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 40m Rockmite, 20m Rockmite300' Horizontal Loop Conditions were okay on 20m, but the atmospheric noise was very high on 40m, from an approaching storm. Thanks all for the contacts, and hope to hear you again next time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 08:13:08 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Very tough night. Had to work very hard with many repeats to get three. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mike, W1MT Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 09:34:16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mike, W9UQB Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 09:59:03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Fun contest...Almost makes me want to change my call to a dit-dididit-dit. Next time, shave the QRN if you expect two-bits, and a tip ! Jim - W1FMR ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, W1FMR Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 11:37:43 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten Tec Argo 5 @ 5 watts to a 40 meter loop ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Steve, K9IS Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 18:51:05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Lots of lightning QRN here in WNY. Thanks to K2ESE for the only contact.Better luck next month! 73 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, KA2KGP Saturday, June 3, 2006 at 09:12:18 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a great idea for a contest. My first time looking for haircuts! 40M was very noisy and signals were in-and-out...but still fun!Thanks for the nice trim...Joe KK5NA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, KK5NA Sunday, June 4, 2006 at 10:46:28 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 80 was dead here.40 meter Band was noisy but busy. 20 showed some life and had low noise. I was running 5 Watts into a multi band Dipole at 50 ft. 73, Tom ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, K2ESE Tuesday, June 6, 2006 at 20:01:54 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenwood TS-930s running 5w to 130' doublet up 45' fed with open wire line. Not much activity on 20m. Propagation was good on 40m but QRN made for tough copy. I missed the March contest...glad to be back. Thanks for the QSOs. 73, Barry ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Barry, K4CZ

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 29 March 2006 contest participants) Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 21:31:49 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- GREAT FUN!!! Mni tnx fer all the FB QSOs.Take real good care es 72 de Scotty W7SW, Op at W1ESE. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scotty, W1ESE Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 21:38:40 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I was stuck on 40m with my NC40A at 900 mW tonight...thanks to LL I got a hairdo. Didn't hear any others. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Brian, KB9BVN Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 21:50:18 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K2 and drooping dipole in the attic. Great contest! 72, Randy, KS4L ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, KS4L Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 22:02:16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 & G5RV Heard Monty N5ESE on 20 Meters; but was not able to raise him there. 40 Metrs was nice but a ton of digital QRM for about the first hour. Slim pickin's on 80 Meters, although the QRN is still not too bad. 73 de Larry W2LJ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 22:02:46 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 at one watt to HyGain vertical.Tried to work as many barbers as possible for the QRPp certificate. Not a great score but fun and that multiplier should help. Thanks to those who were patient and copied me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 22:05:42 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT-857 powered down to 5watts. 20m inverted V 18' up. Real hard time copying due to my code speed... But had fun trying. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, AB9LM Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 22:05:52 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom 756 Traffie Hexbeam and 80M delta loop. That was fun! Haven't had a haircut this short in years. I'm ready for summer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, NG7Z Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 22:06:32 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Started half an hour late on 40m. 1st QSO was with K7TQ. Last QSO on 80m was with K7TQ. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dan, N0TK Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 22:17:06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IC756 Pro III with Gap Voyager Only operated about an hour on 40m and 80m During the contest I QSO'd with F3NB (Andy) so conditions were pretty good on 40m Didn't count that one since he wasn't playing barbershop. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K8WDN Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 23:15:09 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 + 40M Inv Vee;Well, so much for the idea of centering on 7030 - that went over like a lead balloon! Signals were stronger than the past two contests, but seemed like there was not as much activity. Wonder if y'all are getting tired of getting your hair cut? QRN was murder on 80, but it always is here. Thanks to all who participated! 72, monty ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 23:23:59 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K1, 135' dipole aT 50'fed with 450 ohm line. Rather slim pickings on 40 meters. Did better on 80 but it was very noisy. 20 seemed basically dead here. Hope to do better next time around! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Sandy, W5TVW Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 23:57:17 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TS690 & a G5RV in the backyard 10 feet up, hi. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, K7RAN Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 06:34:59 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- My first visit to the "barbershop" and it was FUN ! Conditions were good on 40 meters, but QRN got tome on 80. Rig: TenTec Argosy II, all-band vert. 5 watts. Can't wait until my next trim is due in May! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, KA2KGP Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 07:03:10 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 and loop...fun, but sparsely attended. Conditions were so-so. Perhaps we should offer cash prizes...? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ll, K3ESE Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 07:22:09 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT897@5W, ~300' Longwire My first trip to the Barbershop...only made it for part of the second hour but managed to run into two barbers and a few other customers. Thanks for some QRP fun. 72 to all. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, KD2MX Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 07:47:08 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ic-703+ @ 5w with dx-cc multi-band dipole antenna. I was very rusty using a brand new rig and I had a ball! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Terry, VE3KNI Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 08:11:03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT-817 AND DELTA LOOP + 5BTV VERTICAL This was my fox fix for this week. ;-)72/73 Bill N8WS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bill, N8WS Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 08:53:36 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TenTec Argonaut 5 at 5 watts, cf zepp 25' agl. Qth Houston area. Poor signals, everything seemed ESP ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Hank, KD5MJJ Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 09:58:53 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Used my trusty Argonaut 509 running 3w into a dipole at 15 ft (80m), half-size inverted vee (40m), and dipole at 40 ft (20m). Just added a 500Hz IF filter to the Argonaut, and it sure did help. Didn't hear a lot of 'BS's or 'ESE's, but still had fun. 72 es bcnu - ed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ed, K9EW Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 12:10:26 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec Argonaut V (516). Ant: 80M dipole fed w/ ladder line & tuner @ 20 feet.20 meters was virtually dead while I was on, while 40 meters was cookin'. Even heard an F3NB calling CQ around 7.033. Tried to log him but nothing doing. Thought 80 M would also be good, but too much QRN here in Parker, Co. Pete, NO2D ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Peter, NO2D Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 20:23:52 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig K2 Ant 80 M cf Zepp at 28 feet QRN and RTTY stations made 40M rough, nothing heard on 20M. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Steve, K4JPN Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 23:22:53 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- First time haircut for me and my ATS-3 to a G5RV up about 40 feet. Didn't need a booster chair, and no tears. In fact it was a lot of fun. I'll be back for another low cost haircut and shave next 5th Wednesday. I like the idea of the Crew Cut barber running QRPp. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Rob, N9MVO Friday, March 31, 2006 at 13:14:30 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Only one barber on 20M, W6ESE all alone.The 40M shop was the best. Even had BS. Thanks for the trims. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mert, W0UFO Friday, March 31, 2006 at 16:12:10 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig is Kenwood TS-870 xcvr @5w to a pair of Alpha-Delta DX-A dipoles[e/w-n/s] with counterpoise to a grd system of 5-8'ft grd rods and 36 radials- plus beam at top of tower as a cap hat effect.. 40m was good for 45 min's then went quite. Switched to 80m and first 20 min's slow[3 qso's] then it picked up fair to good but signals were weak and missed 6-8 calls and last 10 min's only 1 qso. Had a good time and thank all for the first time try of this contest. Look forward to the next one. Best 72's--Jim Akre/WA9TZE........... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, WA9TZE Sunday, April 2, 2006 at 13:34:13 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 20m Ten-Tec TKIT 1320 (3W)40m Small Wonder Labs SW+ (2W) 80m Ten-Tec TKIT 1380 (4W) 300' HOHPL Noisy band conditions here on, but good propagation on 40m. Thanks to all for the QSO's! 73 Scott ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Sunday, April 2, 2006 at 18:16:02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec ORION II / 2,000 foot rhombic elevation 2,600 feet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tony, W6ESE

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 30 Nov 2005 contest participants) Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 21:41:30 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT-817 - Gnd mted Vert (14 radials)- 5w Typical 40m it seemed like. Activity came in bursts. Most signals for me weak, had S8 noise level due to snow. Recovering from hospital (near kidney failure) still get tired real easy but hey I was able to work the contest for 1 1/2 hours till I gave out! Had a blast, great to be back on the air. Jerry ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jerry, NR5A Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 21:46:50 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K-2 to a yagi 40 feet up. Only able to work one hour with bands not cooperating in Montana. But I will be back and try to do better next time...thanks, Ci ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ci, WU7R Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 21:57:02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 at 1 watt to HyGain vertical. Just got the K1 this week from the estate of a good friend. It works great and I know he would be pleased to have it on the air. I was able to work each barbershop station I heard (except one) at 1 watt. 72, Dick ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, N5KIP Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:00:39 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I was the QRPp barber. RIg here is an Elecraft K-2 running 500 mW into a 100 foot long inverted L with a 70 foot vertical section and 16 radials. Conditions were not the best. All contacts except for one was from Texas. All contacts were just above the noise. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jeff, K9ESE Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:01:54 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- YAESU FT-817130 Dipole fed with 450 ohm ladderline to balanced line tuner. This was my first QRP contest and I had a lot of fun. At first, I was discouraged as I thought I wasn't going to work anyone!!! Then I got called by K6ESE and I knew I wasn't going to be skunked!!! 20 mteres was dead and 80 was nothing but static. 40 took a dive about 9:30 pm. All in all, I had a very good time. 72/73 John NS5Z ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, NS5Z Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:09:41 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig K2 running 3W Ant 80 mtr cf Zepp at 28 feet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Steve, K4JPN Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:10:02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IC756 Pro II, 3W PEP, 40M dipole at 45', 80M dbl bazooka at 67'. I love this event, but was disappointed in band conditions. I worked everybody I heard and still had only 10 Qs. Still had fun and look forward to the next gathering. As always, thanks to Lloyd and Monty for doing all the work. 72 Greg ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Greg, K4KO Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:11:03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 5W, Force 12 C4SXL @ 60 feet A good 1st hour, fair next 1/2 hour, then very slow last 1/2 hour. Thanks to all. 73. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, K7TQ Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:12:45 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Tnx gang fer the GRT FUN! Enjoyed all the FB QSOs! Hpi Holdz es CU Agn sn I hpe. Rig is the Yaesu Mark-V at 5 watts out es ant is a dipole up 50 feet fed with 450 ohm ladder line. 72/73 de Scotty W7SW op at W1ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scotty, W1ESE Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:16:54 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K2 & 40M Inv Vee fed with 300 ohm ladder line at 35 ft...Man, that was TERRIBLE - not the contest itself, mind you, but the S5 noise level and the instant QSB made 75% of contacts purely effortful. I thought winter was supposed to bring better condx on 40M? I don't think so... 20M was absolutely dead, and 80M hash noise was s9, so those weren't even options. Sigh. Thanks to all who stuck with it, and apologies to those who I just couldn't dig out. Now, off to sweep up the barbershop ;-) 73, monty N5ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:20:00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom-706MKIIG at 5 watts to G5RV at 38 feet fed with homebrew open-wire line. Nothing heard on 20 meters. And 40m and 80m seemed especially noisy tonight. Thanks to all the sharp barbers for cutting right through the noise! 72, Keith, K5WX, Austin, TX ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Keith, K5WX Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:34:12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- San Diego CA - Ten Tec Argosy II Model 525D, PAR EF-20/40. I liked hearing the QRP stations out there. Didn't get to work as many as I would've liked to. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Kip, W6KIP Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 22:45:15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to G5RV at 30 feet. Difficult local QRN on 40 Meters left me to spend the bulk of my time on 80 Meters. Thanks to LL and the boys in the Barbershop for putting on another fun event. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Monday, December 12, 2005 at 21:12:39 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FT840INVERTED V Dipole with coax feed and UFO balun at the feedpoint. My first haircut! Been needing one. Texas was the prominent SPC(5 out of 15) Likewise, three out of 4 ESE were texans. Thanks and BCNU .. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mert, W0UFO Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 08:04:38 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec Omni VI @ 3W, 300' HOHPL The QRN level was high here, and 40m was long. Under the circumstances, I was pleasantly surprised to find K9ESE. It was great to hear alot of new participants this month. Welcome, and come back often for a trim. 73 Scott W5ESE Dripping Springs, TX ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 08:25:15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-817 Delta loop bothe bands I was surprised by how loud Lloyd and Larry were on 8om. Looking forward to you being the FOX on 80m. Was fun and if I can I be there next time. Bill N8WS Northern, Ohio. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bill, N8WS Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 08:49:12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenwood TS-830s to 130' doublet up 35'. Conditions in NC were mixed. On 20, could not hear any stations. On 40, the band was long so couldn't hear many stations but was able to work CA, ID and AZ (and TX as usual). W6ESE's signal was very strong. On 80, worked the usual NJ, TN and MD. Thanks for the QSOs.73, Barry K4CZ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Barry, K4CZ Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 09:55:12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2/loop. Moderate to poor condx, fun, nonetheless. oo ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ll, K3ESE Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 10:28:40 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- N7PWO's brand new FT897, 40M end fed half wave 17 ft at high point. I needed all the DSP this nifty rig had to cut thru the QRN. Thanks for the good ears on the other end. This is a FUN event! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Phil, WB7AEI Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 10:49:31 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Tx/Rx was TenTec Orion transciever at 5W 40m antenna is 1/4 wave vertical (HF-2V) 80m antenna is dipole at ~30feet fed with ladder line. W5TA Soapbox: I heard about this contest from the Austin QRP group reflector. It's the first time I've entered it, and really enjoyed it! 20m is dead by 02:00Z since we are near the bottom of the solar cycle, so I did most of my operating on 40m. 40 was pretty noisey and had rapid, deep QSB. The band got a little quieter during the second hour so I could hear some of the QRPp stations including K9ESE. The QSB was frustrating; sometimes a station would come back with an S8 signal, I'd give his report, and by then he'd be at noise level when I was trying to copy his report. Thanks for all the fills guys. I should have spent more time on 80m. But, overall, I had a great time. This one definitely goes on the W5TA contest calendar for 2006! Very 72 y'all, Dick W5TA. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, W5TA Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 13:36:31 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KX1 at three watts and an attic dipole. Worked 40M only. Lots of signals but hard to dig out most of them. Had a good time and look forward to the next one. Tx signals were especially good tonight. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Lee, KD5JAM Friday, December 2, 2005 at 08:53:21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 80m Two phased vertical dipoles 40m 2-Element Yagi EF240/23020m 4-Element SteppIR K2/100 but running 5W. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, K5ESE Friday, December 2, 2005 at 16:03:42 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 & 88' inverted vee. I worked everyone (almost) that I heard--didn't hear many. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bob, AA7EQ Friday, December 2, 2005 at 16:08:00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Argo 509 @ 2 watts using a 40 meter inverteed vee. Tagging N5ESE was easy. W1ESE took a little work. W6ESE was difficult. I had to chase K5ESE all over the 40 meter band to tag him. Heard nothing on 80 meters. Just looking for those barbers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ed, K5BOT Saturday, December 3, 2005 at 10:09:31 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Band was really noisey here. Hopefully band conditions will be better next time. Had a real fun time! 72 to all! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Chris, W0ANM Saturday, December 3, 2005 at 16:29:54 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-1000, 40 rotateable dipole @ 50', R7 Vertical elevated to 12'.SINGLE BAND OPERATION Was fun but light turnout. I was confined to 40 because I dont have a 80 up right now... but it's coming. Condx were so so but worked WA6KGI who was running 400mw. Not To Shabby! See for for a buzzzz cut next time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Rick, NK9G Saturday, December 3, 2005 at 18:21:56 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SW-40 and wire vertical I missed supper switching out the tuning pot in the SW-40 for a 10-turn one. wow! What a big improvement, one turn now covers about 5 kHz. The band was in good shape and I made 6 Q's and got a couple of nice signal reports for the 2 watts before I had to shut down and get something to eat. I'll try to be better prepared next time! Great QRP fun! Thanks to all....Ted..AA5CK ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ted, AA5CK Saturday, December 3, 2005 at 21:03:45 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec ORION XCVR to a 2,000' rhombic radiating N/E. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tony, W6ESE Wednesday, December 7, 2005 at 06:36:11 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Used a Wilderness Radio SST-40 with a 80 m Extended Double Zepp at 70' Was my first try in this event, but won't be my last. Had fun. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, N4QY

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 31 Aug 2005 contest participants) Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 21:31:02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KX1 with 42 feet wire at 15 feet with much of it below 10 feet. Kind of aninverted L fed at the top from a window supported in nearby trees. 18ft radials vertical counterpoise hanging out of window. S7 noise across the band from neighbours TV cut off at 10pm EST leaving only the S5 noise from the solar storm :) Heard only one caller on 20m (K5RPC) and none on 40m although I could tell there were stations below the noise. Better condx next time and I hope to get out to a park! 72/73 Martin, VA3SIE. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Martin, VA3SIE Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 21:56:00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark-V, HF6V vertical. Good sigs out of TX and AZ. Couldn't get many answers to my CQs w/3W. Still fun. 73, Chris VA3NR. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Chris, VA3NR Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 22:04:08 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ken, N5EBD Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 22:08:17 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 at 5w and attic dipoleGood signal from Todd N9NE who was running 100mw. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dan, N0TK Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 22:10:15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 and Force 12 C4SXL at 60 ft Good time up to the last 1/2 hour when things died out. 80 m capability next time! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, K7TQ Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 22:11:04 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2/Loop. Bands folded early, fun though. Now for some z's. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Lloyd, K3ESE Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 22:21:13 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 & G5RV/Butternut HF9V 40 Meters was not good ol' reliable for me tonight! 20 and 80 Meters were much better, which was strange. Strange band conditions with stations I usually hear booming in were but a whisper. A fun evening, anyway! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 22:41:06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 and 40M Inverted Vee fed with ladder line (even on 80 Mtrs HI HI). 20 Meters started out great, and just about the time the west coast stations started pumping in POOF! Sorry to several stations trying to snag me amongst the QRN of 40 Meters, who I just couldn't quite make out the calls. All the DSP in the world wouldn't help. Worked one QRPp station... where were the rest? well, gotta sweep up the shop. 72, monty ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 22:43:37 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-1000MP 20 & 80 meters Vertical 40 meter rotateable dipole, QSB was an issue, It seemed like lots were using QRPp based on signal levels but my hearing is not to hot 40 seemed to just die out at 02:45Z with only a few signals Had fun and we'll c u all agn 72 Rick NK 9G SE Wisconsin QRP Cheeseheads ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Rick, NK9G Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 22:46:05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IC-756ProII Tribander and dipoles ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Marc, K3NCO Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 22:47:49 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 100mW to 176' doublet and C-4SXL beam. Tough night for QRPp, and I thank each op who had to endure the pain of pulling my weak signal out of the aether to get my exchange. Worked Scotty, W1ESE, in AZ on 20 and 40 but couldn't get past the QRN on 80 to do the hat trick. Amazed that I was able to get shaves from four different barbers! Thanks for the fun. "DEMAND QRPp CERT" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Todd, N9NE Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 23:16:37 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- On 20m and 80m used a Yaesu FT-1000 Mark-V at 5 watts out into a double zepp up 50 feet. On 40m used a Icom 706 at 5 watts out to a Cushcraft R-7000 4 feet off the ground in the back yard. Thanks gang for all the great CW fun. Congrats to Todd N9NE for Qs on both 20 and 40 with his 100 mW. CU all agn sn! 72 de Scotty W7SW es op at W1ESE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scotty, W1ESE Thursday, September 1, 2005 at 08:20:35 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- AT Sprint 3, Ten-Tec TKIT 1320 (3 watts) 300' Horizontal Loop Conditions were better this time (at least it seemed so here). Happy to make some QSOs on all three bands. Hope to hear some more activity on 80m in the next Barbershop event. 72 Scott W5ESE Dripping Springs, Texas ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Thursday, September 1, 2005 at 09:02:59 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Turned the K2 on in the computer room connected to the attic 44' doublet and played about 20 minutes. Kudos to LL and Larry for digging me out on 80M did not have a good match for the ant and erp must'va been very low. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mike, W1MT Thursday, September 1, 2005 at 09:14:18 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K-2 at 5 watts to a yagi at 25 feet. My first "contest" and I appreciate the patience of all who responded to me. I had a lot of fun, and I will do it again...thanks and 72, Ci ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ci, WU7R Thursday, September 1, 2005 at 09:56:58 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 xciever, 20MTR EDZ, Prop. not favoring south TX that early. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bill, K5JHP Thursday, September 1, 2005 at 13:37:12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IC756pro2, Carolina Windom Jumped in for a short time on 20 to get my ears lowered. Forty was very noisy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Paul, WA9PWP Thursday, September 1, 2005 at 18:07:37 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Icom IC703 / 80 meter loop ant REQUEST QRPp CERT Very nice contest, thanks go out to patient barbers with good ears... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Wayne, AG4ZZ Friday, September 2, 2005 at 21:06:10 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenwood TS-830s to 130' doublet up 30'. This is my third QRP sprint. My first two were NAQCC sprints under my previous callsign, KI4GUP. I'm still amazed what can be achieved when you combine 5 watts and careful listening with patience (and a little luck)! Have really enjoyed working QRP and am now thinking about building a portable transceiver kit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Barry, K4CZ Saturday, September 3, 2005 at 22:29:01 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten Tec Jupiter....Vert. GP ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Mike, W9UQB Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 20:46:15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-890 @ 5 wattsFan dipole @ 50 ft ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, K2ESE

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 29 Jun 2005 contest participants) Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 20:57:01 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- YAESU FT102/SAME/DIPOLEWORKED W2LJ HE HAD 3 WATTS OUT. SOLID SIG. NJ TO FLORIDA. FIRST TRY AT THIS. I JUST GOT STARTED AND HAD TO QRT. HOPE TO DO THIS NEXT TIME WITH MY ROCKMITE. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Richard, KA8KCR Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 21:10:32 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TT Argosy 525 at 5W & attic CF Zepp. Could only play an hour but great fun. 20 was dead here except for John / K4BAI. Nice to hear a lot of familiar calls. Thanks to all! / Woody / WD9F --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Woody, WD9F Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 21:14:46 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- USED MY Yeasu FT 897D to 3 ele beam on 20 meters and 40 meters Bazooka ant at 56 ft 5 watts used worked N5ESE Monty at 0140z on 20meters Fun contest did anyone hear aa8sn Hope ? Perry --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Perry, WA8THK Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 21:31:33 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPPS SENT TOO SOON JUST WORKED W5ESE ON 40 SO FAR JUST WORKED N5ESE ON 20 METERS PERRY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Perry, WA8THK Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 21:38:37 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-817 AND TRI BANDER @ 50FT.COULD NOT FIND ANYONE ON 40 AND 80 METERS AND NOT THAT MUCH GOING ON ON 20 METERS. HEARD W1ESE BUT BY THE TIME I TUNRED THE BEAM HE WAS GONE. HAD A GOOD TIME AND WILL TRY IT AGAIN NEXT TIME. Bill N8WS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bill, N8WS Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:01:06 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig K2 running 4W, Ant 80M Zepp at 30 feet. QRN was very ruff the 2nd hour of the fun. I listened several times on 80 and 20, but did not hear any signals, so stuck with 40M. 72, Steve K4JPN --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Steve, K4JPN Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:03:40 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- OO FOUND LL ON 80 VERY WEAK 449 FOUND N5ESE ON 20 METERS FUN CONTEST GUYS THANKS Perry --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Perry, WA8THK Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:09:07 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- That was sure fun. Thanks to all, especially you barbers. And thank you Lloyd for your work putting this together. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Greg, K4KO Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:09:29 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 at 500 mw2 el yagi on 20m, dipole on 40m Worked N5ESE on 40. Thanks for the good ears everyone! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Sam, KL7V/5 Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:11:31 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 / 40m Inverted Vee and 20m Dipole. Gosh, the bands were sure noisy tonight here in the Midwest. I was taking my "new" K2 for a spin, and it performed like a champ. Nice to hear so many familiar calls. bcnu - ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ed, K9EW Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:12:56 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KX1 #948 2w on 20m and 4w on 40m/Attic Dipoles Lots of Barbers on both bands. Nice to work Monty N5ESE on 40m. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dan, N0TK Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:15:26 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig: Mark-V Field 4 watts, Ant: HF6V Vertical, 40m Inverted-L, 80m EFHW. Worked N5ESE who had a very good QRPp signal on 20m into Ontario. Lots of good sigs. Some low band QRN/QSB to be expected for time of year. Thanks fun test. 73, Chris VA3NR. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Chris, VA3NR Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:18:01 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TS2000 / R8 vertical; My QTH has a horrendous RFI source in the neighborhood which obliterates weak signals. I managed to get N5ESE on both 20m early and 40m at the very end of the contest. Monty was 599 (legit) on 20m here. I'll eventually get my new Gap Voyager up so I can get back on 80m and 160m. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K8WDN Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:32:41 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TenTec Omni 6+ to 40m dipole up 20 feet. Power measured on the WM-2 wattmeter. Started out with a CQ at 200 mw yielding a QSO with NB7F in Oregon. Then answered W6ESE's CQ using 200 mw. But then no one else could hear me, especially K7TQ who I called many times. No luck on 20m. No antenna for 80m. I finally raised the power to 300 mw and worked W1ESE right away, after he couldn't hear me at 200 mw. In the last 5 mins I could just barely hear N5ESE. I called him, but didn't complete a QSO for the QRPp certificate. I thought only 3 Q's were needed, but now see it requires 3 barbers. It was fun to work three states with low power! 72, W6AZ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ron, W6AZ Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:46:54 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bad band condx in north Texas...... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bill, K5JHP Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 22:50:13 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to G5RV at 30 feet I worked N5ESE !!! It was a fun night; but a tough go. I had to QRT twice during the Sprint because of T-storms; so I lost about 30 minutes worth of operating time. And when I was on the air; the QRN was atrocious! But sincere thanks to LL and all the ESE's for a really fun event - despite the elements. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 03:24:51 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FT-900 at 5W with Windom OCF dipole. I operated the first hour. 20 meters was long and nearly dead at first. This is always a fun sprint. Thanks all. Jim W1PID --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, W1PID Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 05:53:12 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transceiver = FT-847 @ 5W to a Butternut HF9V QRN was intense here with peaks to S9. Even so, managed to work Lloyd, K3ESE, on 20 and 40 and worked Monty, N5ESE, on 40. Also on 40, W0ESE and W1ESE. Listened and tuned for others but NADA. The noise hurt the old ears but had fun anyway...[g] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Chuck, W5USJ Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 08:38:10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20M was long at the start, but shortened up later. I was SO2R, so I heard the short skip W1 and W9 stations late in the contest, but few others noticed it and the chance to make more 20M QSOs was lost. I heard two signals on 80, but was unable to identify either due to QRN. Didn't call CQ on 80 at all due to the QRN. 40 was a pretty good band and I was able to work from Maine to Arizona and Idaho on that band. Two FT1000MP SO2R with a DX doubler. Ant: TH6DXX on 20. center fed zepp at 40 feet and 40 meter dipole at 40 feet on 40M. Thanks for all the QSOs and CU next time. 73, John, K4BAI. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K4BAI Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 08:47:32 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATS-3/Endfed 86.5 foot wire w/17 foot counterpoise Tough hearing anyone other than Lloyd and Chris .. heard Woody but never could work him :( --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, W1RT Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 09:06:04 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- QRP-Plus at 900mW to a Center-fed Zepp at about 60 feet. Tried 20m, but very poor signals and QSB so went to 40m where there was lots of QRN, but I could hear more Barbers. QRPp is tough in the summer. At least I got a few Barbers at QRPp levels and qualified for the new certificate. Jim KC1FB in CT --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, KC1FB Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 10:15:23 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2/loop. Noisy, but MUCH, MUCH better than last time! Thanks to all who came to play/get haircuts. I appreciate the number of ops who ran QRPp, or less than 5W. And...I, too, worked the crewcut Barber, N5ESE, on 40! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Lloyd, K3ESE Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 11:09:54 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transceiver was an OHR-100A and the antenna an inverted-V cut for 7040 kHz, the apex approximately 20' above ground. The QRP Barbershop is great fun. Sorry I missed it in April ... I was getting woolly. Thanks to the barbers and especially Lloyd and Monty. 72 Greg K4KO --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Greg, K4KO Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 17:55:48 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Storms in the area so I loaded up a string of Xmas lights. Didn't expect to make any contacts, but called W2LJ just for fun. He returned my call to my surprise and I messed up sending the RST a few times. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ron, WA1VGB Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 18:00:52 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FT-897D with Dipole I reached N5ESE on 20 meters - first contact! Wasn't sure he would could hear me at first but Monty had a lot of patience. A blast as usual. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Kevin, KJ4QF Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 20:00:51 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K2 5W, folded dipole at 25ft. I was late entering the fray due to something or other when there was just 25 minutes left in the contest. Nevertheless I gave out 14 hair cuts, including 1 for Lloyd. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, K5ESE Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 21:31:05 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- My score as I piggered it:19x16x11.67+7000+2500 = 13,047.68 pts. Oink-oink!...or if you prefer, Hells- Bells! That's almost 11,000 more points than all of Field Day weekend! A pignacious good score, I dare say! Worked "Crew Cut Barber" N5ESE on 20m. at 0229Z. Also W1ESE, W5ESE, K3ESE[2], K9ESE & W0ESE!! Last Q was with KL7V/5 who was running a pignacious 500 milliwatts [piggiwatts]. Worked LL, K3ESE on 40 and 80. Great ittybittypiggysiggy, LL!! More fun than eating ice cold watermelon rinds at the slop trough on this beastly hot/humid day! Op'd from my front porch. Swatted skeeters with L.H., worked the Bencher with the R.H. Temp. 80 F and 90% humidity at end of contest...my Bic Classic pen almost wouldn't write because the paper was so damp! Tnx for a VY FUN contest. My bald head only needs a SHAVE, no HAIRCUT....so is the price ONE BIT? dit-di-di-dit dit [dit dit] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Ken, WA8REI Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 21:31:21 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K2 - 5watts - gnd mted vert Didn't know what was going on because I failed to read the email about it. I was on 40m getting ready to work a cw-was net and listened around 7040. All of a sudden there were ESE's all over the place. Did work Tony W6ESE and didn't realize he was 1 watt? Thunderstorms were making lots of static crashes here. I will pay more attention next time, it was fun. Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jerry, NR5A Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 21:46:10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 @ 5 W, Force 12 C4S @ 50 ft --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Randy, K7TQ Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 22:34:21 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KX1 / 26 Ft End Fed WireI had a good time while sitting in my car watching my wife ride one of the horses. I had a 26 foot wire strung into a nearby tree, a counterpoise laid out on the ground, and the KX1 sitting in the open window of the car. A Palm Paddle held in my hand completed the setup. Some of the other horse owners thought that I was missing some of my marbles. I guess that sitting in a car at 96 degrees with a bunch of wires coming out of the window does seem a bit strange. The amazing thing was that I didn't realize that the little Gel Cell that I use to power the KX1 had died. Any load, even a small analog meter, would drag the battery down to 10 Volts. (A good 10 M Ohm DVM showed 12.3 volts from the battery but any higher load and the voltage plummets.) The good thing is that the KX1 will operate at 9+ volts so I didn't realize I had a problem until after I finished for the evening. 73 de KA0IQT --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Jim, KA0IQT
SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 30 Mar 2005 contest participants) Wednesday, March 30, 2005 at 21:30:32 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 #3900 to Force 12 Sigma 40XKR vertical dipole antenna. Conditions very poor here in Colorado. Going to bed early. 72, Dick --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Dick, W0NTA Wednesday, March 30, 2005 at 21:35:44 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to Dublet at 35'. Band very QRN. Heard K5ESE, K6ESE, K3ESE, worked N9NE. No one could hear me but that was expected with the bad band. Maybe next will be better. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Wayne, W5KDJ Wednesday, March 30, 2005 at 21:54:03 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 & G5RV I was disappointed with band conditions to say the least! You get a hankerin' for a good time with a QRP Sprint and you get blechhhhh, instead. If I want to get that frustrated, next time I'll stay late at work! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Larry, W2LJ Wednesday, March 30, 2005 at 22:06:57 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K1 at 5 watts o low dipole. Only 6 QSO's, but had fun anyhow, noise level here was very bad tonight. Tried 80 meters on the DSW II, but nothing heard. Todd - N9NE was loudest station heard. - 72 - Chris - KD5UDB --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Chris, KD5UDB Wednesday, March 30, 2005 at 22:20:17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 and folded dipole at 25ft. Worked full 2 hours. Tried 20m early, nothing doing. Did 40m an hour then listened to 80m which was worse than 40m. Lots of QRN on east coast. All signals were way down. Sorry if I missed you. On occasion I heard some whispers in there but no copy. 72 de Joe K5ESE aka AA4NN --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Joe, K5ESE Wednesday, March 30, 2005 at 22:23:07 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TS2000 to HF2V vertical. The noise was horrendous but I managed to work 5 barbers. Didn't hear any until about 30 minutes into the contest but then managed to work a few. I worked all the barbers that I heard. Five haircuts for 10 bits. Thanks for the fun. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. John, K8WDN Wednesday, March 30, 2005 at 22:38:57 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 #1429. Force 12 C-X4SL beam and 176' doublet. A rough session: it was a dark and stormy night (really!), and a line of T-storms had just passed, producing horrid static crashes which made 80M almost unusable here. Kudos to W5KDJ in TX who was stronger with his 50mW than KT4PD in FL with his 100W!! Thanks to all, and apologies to anyone whom I could not copy. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Todd, N9NE Wednesday, March 30, 2005 at 23:18:30 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 and 40M Inv Vee fed with 300-ohm ladder line... Yikes! The light suddenly went off 1/2 hour before contest close: this was the night! Were conditions that bad all night? Or is my antenna laying on the ground? Managed 3 difficult QSO's and lost a 4th before the pumpkin hour arrived. Fear the tips are gonna be low tonight ;-) 72 and CU next time... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Monty, N5ESE Thursday, March 31, 2005 at 07:54:01 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2/loop/EDZ whoa. started on 20...zilch. 40 was better, some activity, but poor. 80 worked, but awfully noisy, got worse over time. Thanks to all who came to get shorn; we hope to have this problem fixed in time for the next QRP BS!!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Lloyd, K3ESE Thursday, March 31, 2005 at 09:01:09 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not much activity due to poor propogation and high noise but had fun. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Leland, KD5JAM Thursday, March 31, 2005 at 09:04:18 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten-Tec TKIT 1320 (20m, 3W)Small Wonder Labs SW+ (40m, 2W) Ten-Tec TKIT 1380 (80m, 4W) 80m Horizontal Loop Band conditions seemed poor; very few signals on 20m and heavy QRN on 80m. 40m was the workhorse. I was just glad to finally get to participate after missing the event in December. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scott, W5ESE Thursday, March 31, 2005 at 12:51:06 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ft-100 to vertical loop ~180' square NE/SW fed with open wire hrd only one stn on 20m at beginning of test, tho cudnt wrk. qrn vy bad on 80m and wrkd only n9ne nr vy end of test. 40m was the BIG band :) hrd w6ese and n5ese but i cudnt push thru to wrk'm --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Andy, K1RA Friday, April 1, 2005 at 16:25:45 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Band condx were terrible here! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tom, K2ESE Friday, April 1, 2005 at 16:52:26 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 watts output here to a fan dipole up 50 feet. Thanks gang for all thegreat CW fun! Scotty W7SW op at W1ESE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Scotty, W1ESE Friday, April 1, 2005 at 17:46:05 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2/Vertical Loop (20M full-wave), dipole Perhaps not the best night for conditions, but fun as always. Can not wait untill next time, perhaps the conditions will be better! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Bryan, WŘESE Friday, April 1, 2005 at 17:57:41 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KX1 and HyGain vertical --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Richard, N5KIP Saturday, April 2, 2005 at 16:40:35 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K2/40M Dipole...First time and it was fun, but was hampered with the QRM from the south :) 72 - N8XI --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Rick, N8XI Saturday, April 2, 2005 at 21:51:15 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ATS-3 at 4 watts to an International Radio Antenna Corporation Double Bazooka inverted vee up 30' at apex. Signals heard were quite readable. Just seemed there were very few signals heard all evening. Thanks one and all, Doc/K0EVZ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Doc, K0EVZ Monday, April 4, 2005 at 11:10:42 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transmitter: Drake T-4XBReceiver: Drake R-4B Antenna: 2,000' Rhombia Radiating N/E Keyer: Eico 717 Paddle: Brown Bros. Iambic --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Tony, W6ESE

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 29 Dec 2004 contest participants) Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 20:56:05 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IC-735 @ 5w 80m ladderline-fed doublet / Z-11 autotuner my first ESE event; didn't hear many other participants .. William, WD8RIF --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 21:07:39 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-7 and a loop hung this afternnon in the rain (non-resonant, up 10 feet... it may or may not be working HI) Nothing on 20 or 80 for me - not much more than that on 40. Thanks for working so hard to get me, Scotty W7SW. See you all in March!! .. Kip, N6NVP --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 21:56:55 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SW40 at almost 2 watts into attic dipole. Very noisy tonight. Only one contact and he was also in TX. Thanks. Was fun.Lee KD5JAM .. Leland, KD5JAM --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:07:09 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- First trip to the Barber Shop and I think I got scalped. Not a peep on 20 or 80 here in Texas. Big signals here were N0TK and NK9G tonite.Rig K-1, GR5V-20ft. .. Ken, N5EBD --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:07:57 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- .. Greg, K4KO --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:08:15 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 88 ft doublet fed w/450 window to MFJ-941C to K2 #3906 20 was silent, got called away for a while, came back to 40 which was also pretty quiet. Made it to 80 and not bad at all. .. John, W1RT --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:10:00 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ants are full size 40m and 80m dipoles up 50 feet. Rig is Yaesu Mark-V at 5 W out.Great fun - Thanks for the Qs es CUL gang! Hpi nw yr de W7SW Scotty in AZ. .. Scotty, W7SW --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:10:14 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-817 Approx. 200-250mw into a Cobra Ultralite Junior at 40ft. Bencher BY-2 paddle. Soapbox: 80 was the best band here in NYC. Only worked K2ESE on 20 and very few QSO's on 40m. This was my first barbershop contest and hope to participate in the next one. 73 from Staten Island,NY Andy KC2GOW .. Andrew, KC2GOW --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:19:25 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A rough start on 20 Meters where I had one QSO! Tnx Tom, NŘSS ! 40 Meters and 80 Meters were much better! Had a great time and it was fun hearing all the familiar ops out there, especially the brave few who were milliwatting! Conditions were definitely tougher than last September - QSB on 40 was fierce and signals normally loud to me were but a whisper this time. Can't wait for those sunspots to come back! .. Larry, W2LJ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:21:01 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yaesu FT-817ND & Buddipole I had a blast! I enjoy these short contests. Too bad the band was so noisy. .. Kevin, KJ4QF --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:23:23 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TenTec Argo V, G5RV The noise was high and contact count low. I could hear K5ESE on 40 all night but no QSO. I had fun and Happy New Year to all 72 Bob KB2FEL dit dit .. Bob, KB2FEL --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:24:07 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big time noise on all bands in NE Ohio. N9NT, Todd, had a greatsignal on 40 and 80. Worked the only 2 barbers I heard. Next time... 73, dennis .. Dennis, WB8WTU --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:25:16 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- multiPIG+, horizontal full-wave loop... Skip not so great, but we've seen worse, eh? Nice to meet a bunch of friends on the air on a Winter's weeknight. Biggest sig of the evening goes to Andy, KC2GOW, whose 250mW from "Static Island" was 20 over S9 in MD. Thanks to all who came to play! .. Lloyd, K3ESE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:26:51 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TS2000 5w/HF2V vertical & R8 vertical I worked the Barbers I heard during the contest. Kept bumping into Todd N9NE on each band. I heard K5ESE on 20m prior to contest but not during the contest. .. John, K8WDN --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:29:28 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exhaler: 6A6 Breadboard PushPull Exciter from 1936 Jones Handbook. Set to 5watts output. Inhaler: TenTec OMNI6 Ant. 40m Inv Vee Worked Scotty in AZ and realized the contest was under way. Had a good time, set on 7.0437 Xtal control calling CQ the rest on the evening. WIll for sure do it agn, 72/OO Tom AC5JH .. Tom, AC5JH --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:41:34 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K2 / 40M Inverted Vee fed with 300 ohm ladder line I didn't think condx could possibly be worst than last barbershop, but they were, at least on 40M. Between the weak sigs and the local hash noise at S3-5, I was struggling to copy most stations. My apologies to those who called but whom I just couldn't copy. 72, monty N5ESE .. Monty, N5ESE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, December 29, 2004 at 22:58:15 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Both bands worked were LOUZY....very little propagation and heavy QSB.But had a good time trying to sort it all out. Was disapointed not being able to work more "barbers".... Next time.... .. Bill, K5JHP --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, December 30, 2004 at 05:31:21 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elecraft K2 (s/n 00008)20M - Tribander @ 73' 40/80 - Inv Vee w/apex @ 70' and ends @ 20' SOAPBOX Great time, even though condx. on 20M left a bit to be desired. I missed a number of barbers on 20M (obviously), but managed to find (at least most) of them on 40M. My only '3-bander' was an (a;most) local, Bryan, W0ESE, who was having a bit of a rig (alignment) problem with not receiving on his TX freq much of the time. My apologies to several folks who called me on 20M early on in the event. Since tihs was my first participation in this event, I forgot that I could work other stations, not only barbers, and as a result, I failed to acknowledge several callers who didn't hold 'ESE' calls. Rest assured that I WON'T allow that to happen NEXT TIME. I WILL be back. Happy New Year 73, Tom N0SS .. Tom, N0SS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, December 30, 2004 at 08:58:21 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rig: K1 at 5W w/ Schurr ProfiAnt: 80m loop and 40m dipole Had a great time, but band was in bad shape here with lots of QRN es QSB. Never heard LLoyd (ESE) or Scott (ESE) at all and they are usually quite copyable. Strongest station worked was Monty - N5ESE Have a great 2005 New Year. Chris - KD5UDB .. Chris, KD5UDB --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, December 30, 2004 at 11:21:07 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 with CF Zepp at 17ft. Strategy to start on 20m for 30 minutes didn't work well. AFter 15 minutes and 1 QSO I QSY 40m. Last 30 minutes on 80m worked just 4 states. Altogether a good time although weak signals amongst the noise. 73 to all, de Joe (aa4nn) AKA K5ESE .. Joe, K5ESE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, December 30, 2004 at 19:07:40 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another fun night. Perhaps next time I will have some better contesting skills. Elecraft K2 (4523) 20M full wave loop (Vert. Copper water pipe) Dipole Inverted "L" .. Bryan, W0ESE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, December 30, 2004 at 20:40:51 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- YAESU 817/LONG WIRE- My first attempt. Learned I need a better antenna. .. T., W5FIO --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, December 31, 2004 at 13:36:45 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K2 to 176' doublet and Force 12 C-4SXL beam. Worked K8WDN in OH on all 3 bands. Heard N5ESE and K9ESE giving each other haircuts on 40M. I was seated along the wall reading Sports Illustrated, ready to be called to the chair, but they left for lunch and left me in the lurch! LOL! Thanks for the phun everyone! .. Todd, N9NE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, December 31, 2004 at 19:15:26 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FT1000MP, 5 watts ouput, zepp, 40 meter dipole, 80 meter inverted vee dipole. Only 1.2 hours of operation since I didn't know about the contest prior to 0247 UTC when I heard the first callers on 40 M. Will try to keep up with the dates and be on time for the next one in April. .. John, K4BAI --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, January 10, 2005 at 10:59:58 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- yaesu mk5 (5 watts) Dipole Bands were very noisey .. Tom, K2ESE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 29 Sep 2004 contest participants) In order received:

Elecraft K2 to inverted vee. Bands very noisy, heard no one on 80 or 20. .. Jim W4ATK used a norcal 20 with a palm keyer feeding a vertical with lots of radials via a z11 autotuner. Sri to station with call wd9 something, ur sig was just @ noise level. I had to quit earlier otherwise wud have "bagged" the NJ ese barber too. had so much fun looking for qso's I'm ready for the next one. Least I got a clean shave and a decent cut from this one. (heh heh) .. Ron WB1HGA From a hospital bed, I used an Elecraft K1 running 1 watt to a dipole at 68 ft. I love hearing you ESEs on CW and this Barber Shop stuff is great fun and a great idea. Thanks Monty, Lloyd and Jeff. .. Greg K4KO TS2000/R8 vertical Fun contest but wish 20m conditions were better. .. John K8WDN ft-897 @ 5watts into trap dipole. Heard a few weak stations but could only work K6ESE. CQ's got me nothing. First time on CW in decades and it showed. .. Joe W7ESE multiPIG+, EDZ, Loop. That was fun! I worked or heard all the other Barbers...heard Trev and 7-Land Joe having at it, but they didn't hear me. Many stations were booming in here tonight...amazing short skip on 20...I worked NY, NJ, MA, as well as CA, NM, AZ, etc. .. Lloyd K3ESE K2/Full Wave Loop I had a lot of fun. I would have to say about the most fun in my limited ham career (1 year). Heck, I only worked QRP for the first time 2 weeks ago. I can not wait until next time. I must have been the most elusive barber, with only 9 Q's. Thanks to all who worked me! Bryan, WŘESE 5 watts into attic G5RV. Thanks for the enjoyable evening. Lots of great signals. Could have done better if I would have "trimmed" my antenna. Next time..... dd .. Dennis WB8WTU Had about a half hour to play this evening, so used my QRP+ at 5 Watts to my 90' center fed Zepp up about 65' to hunt for the Quartet plus One I could hear from CT. Pretty good conditions with just a bit of QRN. .. Jim KC1FB K2 at 5W to 40M Inv Vee w/ 300-ohm ladderline Man! 20 was useless; 40M QRN was ruff in central TX! Had to fight to dig out 80% of QSOs. Hard work! Sorry to say there were quite a few I just could not copy. Hope our new barbers didn't get discouraged by condx. The gods will HAVE to smile on us Dec 29, yes? 72, ..Monty N5ESE Equipment used was a K2 @ 5 Watts and mostly my G5RV (I did use my Butternut HF9V for a few QSOs). This was my first time visiting this barbershop - and I had a blast. Plenty of barbers to be had - definitely no waiting for a chair! But semi-seriously; once again, 40 meters was the place to be. 20 meters was very weak (only two Qs) and 80 Meters had a tiny bit more activity (four Qs) but not much more - which was a disappointment. I thought 80 would be better; and the stations I did work there were very loud. The best part, though, was hooking up with a couple of stations who were not part of the contest, explaining it to them; and then hearing them later calling "CQ BS"! Neat! Here in Central NJ K3ESE, N2CQ, K2ESE, KA3WMJ, W2QF and K7PE/2 were all so loud they almost knocked the cans off my ears! Definitely sounded like they had afterburners cookin'! .. Larry W2LJ Lots of fun in 30 minutes! Worked K6ESE, W6ESE, N0TK, NK9G. Also heard N5ESE on 40M but not worked. Heard 3 non-ESE's on 14.061 but worked nobody on 20M. FT-817 to G5RV from California. .. Leigh WA5ZNU I was using my Argonaut 509, 4w, 20m dipole, and 40m inv vee. 20m was pretty much shut down by the time I got started, but I did work Lloyd, K3ESE there. Thanks for hanging around, Lloyd. 40m was better, but I was fighting QRM from the XYL's sewing machine (gotta get that fixed). I tried to work Monty, N5ESE, but he kept losing me so I had to let that Barber get away. Had to QRT early, but still had a lot of fun. It was great to have so many ESE's to work this time. 72/73, ed - k9ew. .. Ed K9EW FT-900 5W Windom OCF Dipole. Operated 20 minutes. Worked 4 barbers. Good fun. .. Jim W1PID Ten Tec Argo 509 to a 51ft G5RV sloper up 40 ft. Had fun with lots of QRN at my QTH , 40 was ok but 20 was TERRIBLE !!! .. George N2JNZ ATS-2 w/indoor 44' doublet. Nothing heard on 20 and pretty noisy on 40. Had fun. .. Mike W1MT Center fed Zepp at 17 feet. QTH LA. 20m dead, 80m noisy, stayed on 40m for full two hours. Activity seemed to dwindle the last hour of the contest. Looking forward to December 29th where QTH will be Houston, Texas. 73, Joe, aa4nn aka K5ESE .. Joe K5ESE I gave Trev a canned 559 but he actually was 59+20 for a short period on 40Meters. 20 never was good and folded up early; should be better next time. .. Mike W9UBQ Rig: Elecraft KX-1 #790, Ant: G5RV Jr. I wasn't on long, but I had fun. I wish I was a Barber ;-) .. Steve NI8W Index Labs QRP++ Butternut HF6V Just lookin' for a haircut, worked all the barbers I heard except Trev K6ESE! .. Paul WA9PWP K2 #3652/ Attic Dipoles Only station heard on 20m was WŘESE. Little success with CQs on 20m or 40m. Thanks to the Barbers who performed well under poor band conditions. .. Dan NŘTK Transceiver Yaesu FT-897 Ant 20mtrs. Mosley Pro-57 40mtrs. 24' rotateable dipole @ 50' Soapbox: Band conditions stunk, only worked & heard W0ESE on 20. 40 was noisey here in SE WI with lots of atmospheric noise and QRN. Worked CU2JT in Portugal on 40. We'll see you all for the next "CLIP" Rick NK9G QRP Cheese Head ARC ..Rick NK9G

SOAPBOX COMMENTS (submitted by 15 July 2004 contest participants)

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 21:26:15
on 20m...Lloyd was strongest, true S9
N9NE/M K3ESE N4BP N5ESE W4QO AD5JZ
on 40m...Lloyd was strongest again
N8XMS K3ESE N4BP N9NE/M
on 80m...only Lloyd this time HAHA
K3ESE
not bad for a callsign EGO contest :)
.. Diz, W8DIZ


Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 21:37:32
K2
20m: 2el quad @ 65'
40m: 2el wire yagi @ 70'
.. Steve, N4SL


Wednesday,  July 14, 2004 at 22:05:04
TenTec Omni VI+ and KLM KT-34A at 40 feet.
Only worked NK9G and N9NE in WI.  I could not hear
any others although one WA station was loud but went
away. I was only on for a short time.  Total points
14
73, Jim
.. Jim, AL7FS


Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 22:19:13:
Rig: K1 at 5 watts
Antenna: Rigid Fishing pole Dipole on 20
         Wire Dipole on 40
Had a great time guys, thanks for all the fun. As
usual Bob - N4BP was knocking my socks off here in
Louisiana, while LLoyd - K3ESE was also loud and
clear on 20 and 40!
.. Chris, KD5UDB


Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 22:19:22:
K2 xciever, 20Mtr-mosley ta33jr, 40Mtr
20mtr EDZ.
Bands in bad shape here, S9 noise on 80 meters so
didn't ever try that band.
Lets do it again.... ..
.. Bill, K5JHP


Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 22:22:54
Emtech NW20 
SW40+
Ant. EF44ft wire
I only had the chance to work the last 45 minutes
but it was FUN.
Congrat to the "Barbers" for the idea and hope to
see this repeated.
72
.. Juan, KG4FSN


Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 22:25:05
K2 @ 5W to 40M INV VEE
Having a 5 call does not make you sought after in
most contests, so being a barber in this one was a
treat for me.  Condx were lousy, except directly
north and directly east, with the QRN worse on 20
than on 40, which is kinda strange.
Thanks to all who made this such a relaxed contest. 
Man!  I heard a lot of folks out there singin'
"shave-and-a-haircut"
72 and dit-dit,
.. Monty, N5ESE


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 03:58:38
ATS 2 Windom OCF Dipole - Nice activity for the
Barbarshop. Great idea. 72 Jim W1PID
.. Jim, W1PID


Thursday, July 15,  2004 at 10:04:19
Setup = K1 to either an IAC DoubleBazooka
at 28' or a Fritzel inverted vee at 30'.  Really
enjoyable contest, and I hope it will continue. 
I was only able to compete for 60 minutes, but had
a blast.
73,
.. Doc, K0EVZ


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 10:19:31
MP+ .  160 mtr.@ 65 ft.  Storm Cndx.
.. Walt, W7ILW


Thursday, July 15, 2004  at 10:41:16
TenTec Triton IV Transceiver.  Inverted Vee
at 35 feet.
.. Joe, K5ESE


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 11:04:08
SELF-AWARDED BONUS FOR SWEEPING THE FLOOR
(ALL 5 BARBERS) 5000 [G] 
Would have awarded self 10K
for a single band WAB, or
25K for multi-band WAB [G].
RIG OHR500 5W to Force-12 C4 antenna.
Soapbox comments:
Great fun, despite terrible condx, esp on 40/80
(nothing at all heard on 80, but admit I didn't
spend much time listening there).  Pleasant surprise
to hear I2RTF in there. Hope this becomes a
semi-annual or annual event. Good job!
73 DE ET
.. ET, N1FN


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 11:39:4
Icom IC-756Pro2 at 5 watts
20 meter EDZ's at right angles
80 meter full-wave horizontal low loop
Butternut HF-9V vertical
Lots of fun and a real challenge digging those
barbers out of the mud after the storm hit.
Sure, let's do it every month . . .  YR
.. George, W5YR


Thursday July 15, 2004 at 10:50:33
Great fun!  I think you should do this
contest again.
73's
.. Steve, AD5JZ


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 12:29:20
K2 at 5 watts to three-resonator Hustler
atop van. Operated from county park. High points:
working K3ESE on all three bands (good ears, LL!),
and snagging Jim, AL7FS on 20 meters. Missed only
K5ESE of the barbers. Loved calling "CQ BS"!! Hold
yer own contest, and they will come :)
.. Todd, N9NE/M


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 12:34:37
Sigs at ESP most of the time, but sure was
fun handing out haircuts! Rig here was the K2 at 5
Watts. Antenna was my 88' EDZ hung as an inverted
vee up about 40' at the apex. Sure hope we do this
again!
.. Trevor, K6ESE


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 12:41:18
WAAH!  I was overrun with pig-weed and
dandelions and couldn't get to my rig in time. 
Again next month?  {chanting} "Next month, next
month, next month, ..."
.. Trent, N7GMT


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 17:51:21
Argonaut V
80 Meter dipole fed with 450 ladder line
Very noisy.  But really enjoyed the contest a lot.  
Friendly greetins being passed etc.
Tuned up on 80---wow! Noise!!! 
Need a haircut here once a month!!!!
.. Bart, W0IIT


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 18:10:35
Elecraft K2
TH7, 40M Dipole
.. Bob, N4BP


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 20:22:11
K-1, 44 ft doublet
.. Tom, K4THL


Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 23:40:09
RIG: K2 at 5 W to a Force 12 C4 at 40 ft.
Paddle: Schurr Profi II
K6ESE was too close to my QTH.  I had to 
keep changing freq to get away. HI
.. Don, NK6A


Friday, July 16, 2004 at 11:05:44
K-1 to dipole
Sorry, I was at my cabin and not reading e-mail so 
kinda missed the real program and only accidentally 
worked two barbers. Hope all went well.
.. Mert, W0UFO


Friday, July 16, 2004 at 12:59:21
k2 feeding 90 foot half sloper.  Had company 
come over about 45 mins into the contest, so cut short.  
Let's do it again some time.
.. Gary, KB9ZUV


Saturday, July 17, 2004 at 22:09:41
K2/Attic Dipoles
Nice to work Dan N7VE,inventor of the Tayloe mixer. 
Also nice to get WŘIIT in KS on 20m for QRP W.A.S. 
.. Dan, NŘTK


Monday, July 19, 2004 at 08:44:10
What fun! I used the multiPIG+ at 5W into the EDZ 
for 20M and thehawgwahr loop for 40 and 80M. 
I'd like to see this event keep going, and the
participation increase - when the conditions are 
good, it promises to be a very active two hours 
for everyone!  Thanks to all who came to shear or 
be shorn...look for announcements of the next
time the Barbershop will be open - no appointments 
will be necessary.
.. Lloyd, K3ESE

These entries were cut-and-pasted from soapbox submittals via the contest autolog. If you would like your entry removed or revised, please contact Monty, n5ese@arrl.net