WQ6X Negotiates Walls of Noise and Radio Blackout during a Minor Contest Weekend.

While this weekend was not one destined for the radiosport record books, I was hoping to at least get a dozen+ hours of REAL OPerating time - something that for all the variety of efforts extended, simply didn't happen.  Thanks to our Sun going thru another round of "PuBerTy" all over again, Earth's atmosphere received Bash after Bash of solar-induced atmospheric-disruptive energy.

The weekend radiosport menu found only 3 GiGs on the list:

1. [X] - The mixed-Mode Russian CQ-M International DX Contest
2. [X] - The Italian VoLTa RTTY Contest
3. [X] - The Canadian Central Provinces QSO Party

Working backward, we have the CPQP; a certainly needed (yet poorly attended) QSO Party event. 
While we can blame the Space-Wx for the blackout and signal levels, if VE stations are calling CQ, they should appear in the bandmap, even if we can't hear them at our operating QTH.

During this time period, signals on 15 & 10 meters were non-existent, leaving only 20-meters
and its whopping 4 Canadian stations on the bandmap.  The pre-decision to run all QSO parties
this year @ the QRP power level, certainly didn't make things easy.  With an 03:00z QSO Party
ending, there was no opportunity to work Canada on 40-meters; just as the band is opening to Canada amidst all the solar noise, the QSO Party was OVER.

Thanks to walls of atmospheric-noise, and radio dropouts, CPQP didn't stand a chance. 
It didn't help that the event itself was not listed in the WA7BNM Contest Calendar.  Ironically,
40-meters came alive around 02:30z, as it usually does - unfortunately, too late for communications
to Canada - no Canadian stations were heard during that last half-hour.

For the VoLTa RTTY contest, investigating the rules discovered this GiG has no QRP category. 
As a compromise, the power was dialed-back to 55-watts when running RTTY (which is largely a
full-duty mode).  The VoLTa GiG is unique in that the sent exchange is a Serial-# AND the CQ Zone#.  I typically send something like: (123  03) (123  03); the Serial# is sometimes difficult to copy, requiring repeats - whereas the CQ-zone is largely deducible from the callsign. 
(In most RTTY contests, if our callsign does not match the actual call area of operation, a portable designator must also be sent (K6AR/4 from Florida or WQ6X/7 if I am operating portable from Nevada.)

Again, thanks to horrible solar conditions, contacts were only possible on 20 & 40 meters most of the time.  NoT hearing many stations calling CQ during the VoLTa and CQ-M contests, I jumped in and called CQ ad-nauseum, making note of the run SPoTS for WQ6X coming in over the RBN (Reverse Beacon) network.  Remember: if everybody is listening and no one is calling CQ, the band will SEEM to be DEAD, when in fact brief pockets of band openings are there to be had - with the proper timing.

Typical of extreme solar conditions, certain signal paths often have a hollow sound. sometimes sounding like buckshot has poked holes in the signal as it travels over the polar regions.  Listening
to the Russian Military "K" beacon (E. Russia) on ~7.039, that shotgun effect was clearly in evidence.

Thanks to the HORRIBLE Space-WX this was one of the WORST radiosport weekends on record
for some time.  Luckily, it was not the weekend of the upcoming WPX (Weird Prefix) CW Contest.

What about You?  DiD YOU attempt radiosport activities during the 2nd weekend?

HoW DiD it turn out for YOU?

What I like about the Yaesu FT-2000 (in contrast w/the FT-1000mp)

Having upgraded the WQ6X station from a Yaesu FT-1000mp to the newer [sic] (2009-model)
FT-2000, I can tell you that while both radios are state-of-the-art, contest quality and WaY beyond
the competition, aesthetically the color screen FT-2000 is clearly a step up over the amber Monochrome screen predecessor.

Many features built-in to the FT-2000 were more-or-less optional add-ons with the 1000mp predecessor, such as 6-meters, CW and DVK playback memories, a more robust DNR, DNF
and Contour facilities.  The 2000's VRF (essentially a front-end preselector), far exceeding the capabilities of most external preselector units I have tried.  In addition, the noise blanker (NB)
facility actually noise-blanks.  The NB1/NB2 circuits easily subject to (what is known as) "AGC pumping".   Similar to ICOM's dual IF notch, the dual-knob notch filter in the 2000 makes it
easier to eliminate electronic device/RFI "squiggles".

The dual-RX facility is more refined in the FT-2000, altho like the 1000mp, there is no DSP-facility
or shift/notch features in the Sub-RX - those are implemented properly in the FTDX-5000 - another reason having a pair of Autek QF-1A filters (one for each RX) is so useful.  The aux. notch filter in the QF-1A - on par with the Yaesu notch circuits - produces audio improvement that even the FT-2000 itself cannot.

The roofing-filter for VFO-A is incredibly effect, selectable down to 3-khz, is incredibly effective.  Putting the Sub-RX (VFO-B) on the same frequency, the contrasting interference levels between
the two receivers is quite dramatic.

The screen icons atop the color VFD display make it easy to determine which front-end
and I-F options are selected and in which order.

The meter knob, IPO button and QMB (Quick Memory Bank) facility are a step above the
FT-1000mp, while the many additional functions built around the VFO-B knob truly take things
to the next level, altho require some practice to get an intuitive feel for making things work - this
is where reading the comprehensive manual (for BOTH the FT-1000mp and FT-2000) comes in.

When it comes to RTTY, both Yaesu transceivers can run full-duty 100-watts, altho the FT-2000
built-in heatsink system allows the electronics to run even cooler.

With the exception of the Digital Notch Filter (DNF) which is audio-based, the remaining DSP features all operate at the I-F level.  While both the FT-1000mp and FT-2000 sport dual-RX capabilities in the same band, the FT-2000 seems to operate more robustly when using CW from one VFO and Ssb from the other VFO.  This makes running multi-mode contests (like FD, the IARU GiG, CQP and
the ARRL 10-meter contest run more smoothly.

The subtle but REAL ergonomic difference between the FT-1000mp and the FT-2000 comes from
the FT-2000's VFO knob, essentially stolen (at least in concept) from the FTDX-9000 Series of transceivers.   One thing I really like that was not continued onto the FT-2000 was the Shuttle-Jog mechanism found in both the FT-920 and FT-1000mp series transceivers.  With that exception,
the FT-2000 knob-central is far-superior, especially in the heat of radiosport operations.

While I still love the FT-1000mp, the FT-2000 has truly won over my aesthetic sense and become
truly a joy to operate.  The features that are still left lacking in the FT-2000 are of course implemented in the FTDX-5000 (originally ~$4800).  Ironically, I paid $1200 (2016) for the fully-loaded FT-1000mp picked up in So. California, while the FT-2000 purchase in 2021 was only $1025 shipped direct.

What about you?  Are You or have you been a fan of the Yaesu FT-1000mp and/or FT-2000 series?

WQ6X Works Another WEIRD Cinco-de-Contest

While the actual WPX Weird Prefix Contest is 3-weeks away, the "Weird Factor" has been building
up for weeks, partially influenced by some of the most pleasantly tumultuous Space-WX encountered
in this here 21st Century.  A recent Blast-from-the-Past retrospective blog entry regarding Cinco-de-Contest reinforced my amazement over successfully orchestrating a 5-contest weekend - year over year.  Chronologically, each of the 5-events flow perfectly in/out of one another.

• [X] - 1200z - The Italian ARI DX Contest
• [X] - 1300z - The 7th Area QSO Party
• [X] - 1500z - INQP - Indiana QSO Party
• [X] - 1700z - DEQP - Delaware QSO Party
• [X] - 2000z - NEQP - New England QSO Party

With the exception of the ARI contest (which has no QRP category),
all other events during the weekend were run at the 5-watt power level.
When there is no QRP category, I am going to run the allotted 100-wats in the LP category.

For NX6T's multi-Single operation, a surplus of operators offered me the opportunity to focus
on the 7QP and NEQP QSO parties, while looking for European openings during the ARI DX contest running "behind" all of this.  I even got to run the NEQP final hour on Sunday for NX6T, after finding
no more "new" stations/counties that could hear my QRP signal over the elevated solar-induced, medium-level noise-wall.  I felt kinda-like a cleanup pitcher, bouncing 20 & 40 meters, looking
for 20-meter stragglers and a hoped-for 40-meter opening (which occurred in the last 15-minutes).

For NX6T operations, 15 & 20 meters (respectively) were the HoT bands to run.  For WQ6X, the HoT bands were 20 and 40 meters (respectively).  Overall, in So. California, 10-meters "kinda" opened on Saturday and was a complete DuD on Sunday.  While 10-meter condx. were marginal for QSO Party activity, the benefitted from the usual afternoon opening to South America.

This year, the NEQP GiG surprised us with a new change.  Connecticut, instead of counties,

"Note that in CT, stations will use Regional Councils of Government (2024)" for 'County' entry".

New England was a REAL PAIN.  After the contest, I manually edited the log correcting the county/council spelling.  7QP ended at 07:00z (midnight PDT) found me boosting the power
level back to 95-watts, working the 20-meter opening to Europe during their late morning. 
Missing the 40-meter shot to Europe, the ARI log was submitted as single-band, even tho
they no longer have a single-band category.  

Sunday was the typical desperate "looking for multipliers" day. I called CQ a LoT signing /QRP to get people's attention.  Unfortunately, Billy-Bob, his brother Barney and their cousin Bubba called in from the Southeast - NoT from New England.  Do you know what "CQ NEQP" means?  If NoT, then you should not call me.  If you DO know what it means and you are NoT in New England, then you
should NoT call me.  I have written about this ad-nauseum.  ([CLICK HERE] to read about it.)

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X and NX6T made a number of 1st-place wins.

BLASTs From the Past: Cinco de Contest

The first radiosport contest weekend in May brings us the CINCO de Contest: The ARI DX

Contest + USA State QSO Parties.  I have worked a variety of different approaches to running
this weekend, many of which resulted in 1st-place plaques.  This is what has been done so far.

• [X] - 2023 - WQ6X Reminisces about Cinco-de-Contest
• [X] - 2022 - WQ6X Wangles a Weird Cinco-de-Contest
• [X] - 2021 - WQ6X Works another CINCO-de-Contest WeeKend
• [X] - 2020 - WQ6X Wanders Weirdly thru another Cinco-de-Contest
• [X] - 2019 - WQ6X prepares for another Cinco-de-Contest Weekend
• [X] - 2019 - WQ6X prepares for Cinco-de-Contest Weekend - Pt. 2
• [X] - 2018 - WQ6X runs another Cinco DE Contest as WQ6X & NX6T
• [X] - 2017 - WQ6X Survives another 5-contest Weekend
• [X] - 2016 - WQ6X runs 5 contests simultaneously
• [X] - 2014 - WQ6X joins Team NX6T for a 4-Contest Weekend

wOw!  That is a LoT of randomly run GiGs.

Many of the successes in the above events can be summed up simply as:

WHEN in DOUBT: CHEAT!  (But w/in the Rules....)

What about YOU?

Have you ever run the Cinco-de-Contest weekend?

What have YOU Learned?

WQ6X Works a Wacky end-of-April Contest Weekend

The last weekend of April brings us a minimal radiosport contest weekend opening with the
classic SP-DX RTTY contest, the FQP (Florida QSO Party) on Saturday and Sunday and the
BARTG-75 4-hour RTTY Sprint, also on Sunday.

The 4th weekend is also the ARCA (Amateur Radio Club of Alameda) monthly membership meeting. 
After a brief presentation on putting up and end-fed wire attached to the 2nd story balcony of the 
Oakland Yacht Club, we did a Field Day practice exercise using an ICOM-7300 and Kenwood
TS-590S, comparing signal levels between the two radios while changing the antenna from a
Sloper (favoring N-E) to a more-or-less flattop layout broadside due-East (favoring Florida and
their QSO Party).

The on-air activity put 3 Florida stations in the K6QLF LoG, followed by a signal report from AO75DN in Spain; not bad considering the HF bands were littered w/atmospheric noise created by the latest round of solar storms happening during the previous 36 hours.

After the ARCA presentation I initiated a remote operation running WQ6X QRP from KN6NBT's Ramona QTH (north San Diego County).  Being 400 miles south of SF bay area and up on a hilltop, Ramona location was largely immune from the noise experienced in the East Bay (EB) section. 
The REAL test came when the K3/0 Mini and RigExpert PLUS (for RTTY decoding) was set up
at W7AYT's Concord QTH.  

Unfortunately, by then, the FQP was about to end for the day (02:00z), meaning I missed out on
a 40-meter opening to Florida.  That simply meant that focus could be given to the SP-DX RTTY contest GiG.  While there seemed to be plenty of RTTY activity heard overall, the high solar induced noise levels tended to obscure my QRP signal in Europe.

On Saturday morning, while looking for last minute RTTY action, most of the 40-meter Cw segment (~7.020 - 7.050) was littered with Japanese stations engaging in their own domestic competition. 
The way they sent their prefecture and a designation code-letter, it seemed like a Japanese-style November Sweepstakes GiG.  

The SP-DX GiG ended at 12:00z while I slept, in preparation for FQP (Part 2) and my first exposure
to running the higher speed BARTG-75 4-hour sprint.  In this unique GiG, running in Search & Pounce (S&P) mode, none of the called stations came back to me.  Based on that, the decision was made to spend the rest of the BARTG-75 Sprint time running frequencies, encouraging stations to tune me in properly.  For some reason the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) was not spotting WQ6X running the higher baud rate.

When BARTG-75 was over, the rest of Sunday afternoon was spent (albeit futilely) looking for any
new FQP activity.

DiD YOU work the RTTY contests or the Florida QSO Party?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wades thru WALLs of Space-WX NoiSe to work the World

Due to Saturday participation in the Alameda Shindig representing Toastmasters clubs in Alameda,

a BiG part of the radiosport time was already over by the time of my 02L00z starting time in Concord. 
A number of intertwining events were on the air including:

• The MIQP, NEQP and ONQP QSO Parties.
• WAPC (Worked All Provinces in China) - which always offers high hopes
  and ends up being a DuD, virtually every year.
• The CQMM Cw Contest (with this year's longer operating period) which rewards
  stations who work my QRP signal with a 10-X point bonus.

This contest weekend was littered w/solar storms, creating HUGE walls of noise. 
You've heard me about weird - well on Sunday, the propagation was so WEIRD
(How Weird was it? - Ed.) that stations w/the best signals seemed to come from 90-degrees
eastward of whatever direction the Stepp-IR yagi was pointing.  (Ex: I2FT calling in on 14.030
from AZ:351 - now THAT's Weird).

Right after the ONQP ended (18:00z on Sunday) the 3rd wall of noise made its way to Ramona.  Fortunately, the CQMM's 23:59:59z ending time offered to frog-hop between 19, 15 & 20 meters,
with no band-change penalties.  

Then again, running QRP made it a challenge to get the message thru, which is when the array
of F-KEY messages are handy for sending "repeats" in many different ways.  Another "weird"
 one was a PY1 station asking for my "NR?" (number); there are no numbers, only "SEC?"
(which is close enough to continent).  Nevertheless, my response was to send "NAQ"
(North America running QRP).

While propagation paths seemed unpredictable, 10-meters eventually rewarded us with
an opening to South America (SA), with a pair of JA6 stations calling in when the Stepp-IR
was switched 180-degrees (from South America).  40-meters was LOADED with JA stations
who were unfortunately running Ssb, not the CQMM contest.

While the weekend left LoTs to be desired, it was a useful QRP exercise Experience.

DiD YOU work the state QSO Parties or the CQMM contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Turns JIDX CW into a Calamatous 5-Contest Weekend

Calling the 2nd radiosport weekend of April a "Calamatous 5-Contest Weekend"
is a perfect summary of the weird combination of events and stations w/in those
events - WEIRD, but Workable.

In retrospect, from reading a slew of 3830 soapbox entries, we could say that this contest
weekend was (as they say) a mixed-bag.  During the weekend I spent time ad-libbing
2 QSO parties (NDQP wasn't listed on the Contest Calendar), the IG-RTTY contest,
the Yuri Gagarin Russian GiG, and of course, the showcase event - the JIDX Cw contest.

In addition to running the 2am to 6am shifts both mornings, I took over the 8pm to 10pm
(the "Dinner Shift") using 20-meters to more-or-less keep things alive, hoping for the Mult-OP
(on STN-1) to find any straggler mults on 15 & 10.  Overall, it seems as if overall JA-activity was
WaY down this year; we will know for sure when the log submission deadline has been reached.

Both mornings on 40-meters it seemed that the JA-participation was down while the QRM-level
was significantly UP.  Propagation to Asia was quite good, in-so-far as the "K" & "M" Russian
military beacon loud signals indicated.  

Sunday morning, the 40-meter band was plagued by a SUPER-WIDE (S-9+) Woodpecker. 
I was so desperate to avoid it, I engaged in a game of "Leap Frog" between 80 and 20 meters,
cognizant of the 10-min band change rule in JIDX.  Only as a last resort was 40-meters considered.  Base on antenna pointing and reports from other operators, the Woodpecker SEEMED to originate
from inland Asia (Vladivostok?) beamed at the USA.  Is there any correlation to the Russian military "F" beacon off the air during the same periods?

The NM & GA QSO parties were ho-hum affairs; altho the 2nd-run of GAQP on Sunday kinda made up for the dearth of stations on Saturday.  Altho NoT listed on the contest calendar, one station was heard on 20-meters calling "CQ NDQP...", so I assume North Dakota had their own GiG happening. 
A note to QSO Party sponsors: if y'all want us to play in your QSO party, ya' gotta advertise it and send e-mail to previous participants (like me).

The IG-RTTY contest is a unique event in that the exchange consists of sending the FOUR digits
of the year you were 1st-licensed (Ex: 1969)

Sunday gave us another opportunity to work GAQP stations, altho there were NoT many new stations to work.  At 23:30z it occurred to me that most of the GAQP action had moved down to 40-meters.  While 15:30 (local time) is usually quite early for working GAQP stations (especially running QRP), there was NoThing to lose by giving it a go.  Eventually, 2-QSOs DiD frantically make it into the log, just in time for the 23:59:59z contest end.

To end Sunday afternoon, a not-inconsiderable amount of time was spent capturing ending screens, posting 3830 stats and submitting log files.  It ALMOST seemed as if more time was spent doing "admin" work than running the non-JIDX events combined.

A self-induced side-benefit of operations during the weekend was a thorough shake-down of the morrasively complex audio cable configuration used in the W7AYT portable setup.  To combat poor signal comprehension, the complete array of DSP units (JPS NIR-10 & NIR-12 & MFJ-984) as well
as the classic pair of MFJ-752 audio enhancement filters made it all possible.

DiD YOU run any of the 5 radiosport GiGs during the 2nd April contest weekend?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wanders thru a Very Wonky, Weird & Very MESSY 5-contest Collage

This was another of those radiosport weekend collages that promised MUCHO and delivered POCO.
Accompanied by a flurry of Space-WX storms, other than the RTTY contest, not a lot of success was made.  Everything about April's first radiosport weekend was just a bit weird, yet again validating the utilization of the recently implemented F-12 [WEIRD] key.

For openers, all the events commenced @12:00z or later - for WQ6X still the "middle of the night".  Beginning 5am, opening the EA-RTTY contest on 40-meters, hoping for an Asian opening turned
out to be a waste of time. Moving to 20-meters found an opening via N-E.

For the 3 QSO Parties (LA, MS & MO) the hope was for some activation of their rare counties.  Space-WX induced poor propagation all-but negated any real success in the LA & MS GiGs.  Missouri, being geographically closer and along the N-E propagation curve, as well as a 2nd-run
on Sunday, made MOQP the premiere QSO party for the weekend.  What made this weekend different over previous operations was the decision to run every contest GiG QRP whenever
available in the contest rules.

Pulsing internet dropouts at the Concord QTH necessitated recording the F1-CQ, F3-TU and
F4-WQ6X tones in the corresponding K3 digital voice keyer (DVK) memory.  Then, even if the
internet drops during transmission, the radio (on the other end) actually doing the transmission
is not affected.  The downside of this method is the [ESC] key does not interrupt the xmission;
it takes the stop button on the K3 to accomplish that.

Unfortunately, the time wasted looking for LA and MS stations detracted significantly from the
already meager EA-RTTY score.  Of course, behind it all was the annoying intermittent appearance
of geomagnetic storms, often contributing to radio dropouts on 20, 15 and even 40-meters. 
The hoped-for 40-meter opening DiD occur on Sunday morning; however, the Cw/Digital
portion of the band was LITTERED w/Ssb signals, NoT RTTY.

The backdrop for the weekend was the HORRENDOUS solar storms littered throughout the weekend; some so severe the SFI number registered as ZERO.

When it was ALL over, they only thing I can really be certain of is that I switched different modes
a dozen different times and eventually submitted a bunch of LoG files, confirming the fact that
was indeed in action throughout this WEIRD radiosport weekend.

DiD YOU participate in this 1st weekend's radiosport GiGs?

Is WQ6X /QRP in YOUR LoGs?

WQ6X Wrangles another WPX (Weird Prefix) Ssb Contest

[The month of] March is often a 5-weekend month.  Either way, CQ's WPX (Weird Prefix)
contest wraps things up (radiosport-wise) for the month; just in time for April FooL's Day. 
In the BloG Entry PREVIOUS to this one, some of the benefits of WPX operation were detailed.
Being a worldwide contest, the BiG challenge was understanding each other's unique "English" dialects.  When running to South America (SA), I frequently resorted to repeating the serial number exchange numbers en Espanol.  

The backdrop to the weekend's 48-hour extravaganza was divergent Space-Wx activity. 
Condx.-wise, the contest opening was utterly AMA-Zing, slowly deteriorating into Sunday
afternoon's MASSIVE Geo-Magnetic storm.  (For awhile on Sunday, things got so chaotic
that the SFI (Solar Flux Index) was reporting in as "0" - HuH?

As in previous recent contests, 20-meters was a HO-Hummer - a DuD!  Then again, that is
just my perspective from Ramona.  Soapbox comments I read from stations across the USA
(and beyond) claimed 20-meters to be their "MoNeY$" band.

Sunday afternoon a well-known (to be unnamed - YOU Know who YOU are) TRASHED the idea
of my running QRP - calling it "STUPID!".  The CQ messages for WQ6X QRP-run events include
/QRP at to let EVERYBODY know that fact, hoping they will offer up some "Breathing Room"
when WQ6X is running a frequency to give operators a BADLY-needed multiplier, such as WQ6
or NX6.  NoW in all fairness to my critics, because the 5-watts is coupled into 3-el Stepp-IR and 
Shorty-40 Yagi's (@ 55' no less), the LOUDNESS of WQ6X's signals seem to betray the FACT
of QRP operation.

The online Contest Scoreboard was running on a 2nd monitor to keep me focused and energized during those moments when fatigue set in and it was desirous to retreat under the covers for
"Just 10-Minutes".

At 00:00z (5pm PDT) Sunday, it was "another one for the "LoG BooKs". 
However, as the old saying goes, "it ain't over until the paperwork (admin) is filed. 
For WQ6X operations this includes:

• Making various screenshots of the logging software ending screens,
  along with the contest STAT screens.
• Creating and filing a CABRILLO LoG file 
• Submitting the LoG to the contest sponsor.
• Posting a contest entry write-up on the 3830 Scores Website for WQ6X.

After the contest, I peruse the scribble-notes scribbled throughout the contest weekend. 
Some of the most unique Blog-segments originate from barely-readable scribbles made
during the chaos of  radiosport operations.  In this Blog entry, what stood out from my scribbles
was the numerous INVASIONS of our amateur frequencies by non -amateur operations. 
For years, I have Noted that this invasion USUALLY happen during specific contest weekends. 
On "minor" contest weekends, they are never heard.  Some notable WPX GiG intruders include:

• A Data "SCREECHER - 7.155.36 @ 12:30Z
• High Speed RTTY - 7144.62 @12:45z,
  Shifting to 7.141.67 @12:48z,
  Then to 7132.67 @12:53z
• Russian Military beacons - ~7.039 - altho they are useful for Asian propagation prediction.
• Cw "CODE GROUPS" - 14.179.25 - 16:00z - the same series of alphanumeric character strings for a little over 5 minutes and then GONE.  RoTaTinG the Stepp-IR yagi found
  the signal strength peak at around 300-degrees azimuth - essentially Eastern Russia (Kamchatsky, Magadan or Vladivostok) - GO Figure.
  WHY Do non-Amateur Russians use our amateur frequencies?

DiD YOU work the CQ WPX (Weird Prefix) Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?