Again, Sometimes just showing up.....

...is what makes the difference.

The 7QP QSO Party was on May 3rd this year.  ([CLICK HERE] to read my write-up about it.)
In the quickiest turn around ever in a state QSO Party, the contest committee awarded WQ6X
yet another 1st-place for the Mixed-mode QRP category.  During that weekend, 7QP was also accompanied by NEWQP, INQP and DEQP, not to mention the Italian ARI contest.

I ran several operating shifts contributing to NX6T's 1st-place Multi-OP win for the New England
QSO Party.  Because 7QP ends at 07:00z, I found every reason to put in hours for WQ6X's QRP
run.  As daytime slid into evening, I was somewhat disappointed by the lack on in-state participation. 
One of my BiG QSO Party complaints is not enough in-state participation.   It sometimes seems as
if there are 2x the number of out-of-state seekers that in-state 7QP'ers.

Nevertheless, having access to a 3-el Stepp-IR, 2-el SHorty-40 and an 80m inverted vee,
(all @ 55') was enough for WQ6X's QRP signal to properly penetrate into Northwest USA. 
To ensure no accidental after-contest "OOPS", the score was immediately posted to 3830Scores.Com and the log submitted to the contest committee.  While preliminary indications were that WQ6X DiD indeed take a 1st-place, many operators don't post contest scores, so in the end, what seems like
a win actually becomes a 2nd-place or 3rd-place after all.

The bottom line, to have any chance at securing a contest win should include:

• Read the contest results from last year (and maybe years before that).
• Read last year's 3830Score submissions.
• Read the rules for this year's contest.
• Check the Space-WX reports before/during/after the contest.
• Ensure your operating setup is contest ready well in advance.
• Double check the macros behind the logging software being used.
• Layout an operating plan (modes, hours, bands, power-level, etc.)
• Start the event PROMPTLY.
• Take advantage of fluke band openings and Space-WX phenomenon.

When it is all over, immediately post your score and submit your log. 
After that, how it turns out, is OUT of your hands.

Have YOU ever made an out-of-state state QSO Party win?

How DID YOU go about it?

WQ6X Wangles another Weird WEIRD Prefix Contest

As a Cw radiosport enthusiast, it doesn't get any more wildly Weird than May's CQ WPX contest.  Amongst other things, what made this particular iteration of the CQ WPX contest stand out is the

fact that SFI-wise, the sun seems to be frozen at around SFI-119, while an inordinate number of
solar storms have ridden along with the ride for the last several weeks.

Business commitments kept me in in Alameda until later Friday evening.  K6PO took over my
8-to-10 pm shift, from which he made nearly 100-QSOs per hour for several hours.  At around 05:00z,
I was ready to run a short 2-hour stint beginning with surprisingly wide-open 20 meters - I've not heard such a high volume of European activity on this middle band in years (and with the SFI stuck
at 119 no less).

Because of recent weird band conditions, I debated about whether or not to run QRP as I might
not be heard.  If WQ6X could be heard running QRP, I would continue with that, otherwise jump
the power level to ~93 watts as a low power (LP) station.

As it turns out, the QRP signal more-or-less made it easily into the Northeast of the USA, so,
I kept the QRP run going.  Eventually, there was no one left who could hear me necessitating
a move down to 40-meters, with a jaunt down to 80 at 06:30z.  Monitoring the operation at NX6T,
the Shift-OPs were piling QSO into the log.  My 1st shift for NX6T began at 08:00z.  20-meters was still wide open, so I went on a search & pounce (S&P) went working dozens of EU stations, while waiting for a 40-meter opening to Asia.

After enough S&P running on 40, it was time to call CQ and create a line of stations looking to add
the NX6 prefix to the log.  By the time I signed off at 11:30z, I had worked enough multipliers to take our score to the 1st-level.

Heading back to Alameda, I gave a presentation to the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA)
on radiosport contesting (in general) and Field Day - FD (in particular).  Afterwards, I tuned the Oakland Yach Club (WA6OYC) ICOM-7300 around the bands demonstrating weird prefix contest pandemonium - to wide/surprised eyes.  Returning back from Concord, the operating goal was to reprise QRP operations from KN6NBT's QTH in Ramona.

In addition to the 1 - 4 am shifts both mornings, I was also assigned the 1 - 3 pm shifts - essentially
a shift from 40/80 - to 15/20 (10m. was largely a DuD when I was on shift.  What is most FUN at WA6TQT's Radio Ranch are the stacked Yagi's (this weekend pointing to EU) and a Stepp-IR pointing to Asia - either can be selected or phased.  If you look at the RBN map, our 1.375 Kw signal certainly was heard.

While I would have rather NoT missed a NooN WPX shift for QRP, Sunday on 15-meters helped to make up for what I might have missed on Saturday.  Many of the best stations were Multi-multi (such as KC1XX and K3LR) ensuring that we could work then on any band, at the right time.

While conditions were markedly improved over previous weekends, my frustration is seeing dozens
of LOUD spots for WQ6X on the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) network and yet very few stations from those areas actually called in.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X took 5th-place for USA despite the online scoreboard.

DiD YOU work the CQ World Wide (WEIRD) Prefix Contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wangles another WONKY King-of-Spain Cw Contest Weekend

This year's King-of-Spain Cw contest weekend was in many ways identical to the same weekend last year (as far as horrible Space-WX goes) except that the SFI then (207) was nearly twice what it is this year (117) - for that reason, the choice was made to run Low Power (LP) instead of running QRP as
I did during last year's futile QRP attempt.

In recent weeks, the Space-WX has been so horrible it was considered that there were antenna
problems at the KN6NBT hilltop Ramona QTH.  To verify the antenna system versus propagation reports, the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) was utilized throughout the weekend.  While reciprocal conditions were indeed splotchy, it was clear that the WQ6X 90-watt signal was being heard all over
the USA, parts of South America, England/Spain and even Australia (VK2) and New Zealand (ZL3), exonerating the So. California antenna configuration.

For the ARQP QSO Party, while I was disappointed with the AR station turnout, there were
some beautiful 3-county and 4-county stations operating.  Without them, the WQ6X score would
be a fraction of what little it finally ended up.  For the K-o-S contest, while I woulda preferred more action, WQ6X DiD manage a 4th place for USA and 1st-place west of the Mississippi.

DiD YOU work the King of Spain Cw or ARQP contests?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

NeuroLogiK Solutions releases the WQ6X Beacon Tracking Software

 

The WQ6X Beacon Tracker software has evolved through numerous evolutions since I first
conceived the Beacon Tracker idea back in 2011.  Over the years, a number of interesting
screens have been added to the software.  For 2025, the decision was made to offer the
software APP in many different versions to address the different needs of individual users.

The basic feature of the WQ6X Beacon Tracker, is track when the individual NCDXF beacons are transmitting.  By bringing up a beacon frequency on a receiver, when you hear a station making its
ID, you can look at the Beacon Tracker screen to discover which station it is, at that given moment.

From time to time, a beacon is discovered to be off the air.  The Custom (and higher) Editions
of the software enable you to mark a beacon as offline (producing a (X) on the beacon screen.

It is useful to document the Beacon / Space-WX data as it changes throughout the day. 
Toward that end, the Advanced & Contest Editions of the software allow turning on the
SNAP-Shot Camera.  Clicking on the camera icon will take a picture of the screen that
camera is on.   The individual pictures can be saved for documentation purposes.

To learn more about the WQ6X Beacon Tracker Editions,
navigate your browser to:
WQ6X Beacon Tracker - SOFTWARE EDITIONS

If you would like to know more about the what the different screens look like,
navigate your browser to:

WQ6X Software: Beacon Tracker - Software Manual

WQ6X Wings a nearly non-Existent VOLTA RTTY Weekend

 This Blog post opens on a sad note.

Accumulating Space-WX readings over the last several weeks, it would seem that the high-SFI party is now more-or-less over.  Not only have the SFI numbers seemed frozen at ~156, after a week of On/Off geomagnetic storms, the SFI has taken a dive down ~126.  If that all sounds like a carefully created excuse for what turned out to be a horrible radiosport weekend - IT IS!!

There were 3 events on last weekend's agenda

1. [X] - The Russian CQ-M DX Contest
2. [X] - The Italian VOLTA RTTY Contest
3. [X] - The Canadian Prairies QSO Party (CPQP)

For CPQP, the handful of callsigns barely hearable in Ramona, and virtually no band spots for
Canadian station, that GiG was a DuD!  Stations in the Midwest and East coast had a much better time of, whereas the horrible storms conditions made that all but impossible on the West coast.

The CQ-M certainly offered possibilities, except that 10 & 15 meters never happened to the
USA, much less to EU.  The hoped-for 40-meter opening to EU was another listen-only one-way propagation event at the Ramona location.

Last (and most important) was the VOLTA RTTY contest. The same dismal upper band
conditions existed, altho the 20-meter RTTY "corridor" produced a handful of QSOs.  Moving
down to 40-meters @01:35z, WQ6X kept a run frequency active for over 90-minutes, interspersed
with a brief appearance on 80-meters.  

Eventually, when there were no new stations on 40-meters (and 20 was too "long"), it was time
for a break to come back at 09:30z to hopefully a band full of Asian stations.  In fact, only 7N2UQC made it into the 40-meter log, with an S-9 signal no less.  What happened to other Asian stations - there were none to be heard.

Thanks to the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN), it was clear that the WQ6X signal WAS making
a presence.  The fact there were so few replies says more about poor participation from operators
in the areas that could hear my signal.

One of the drawbacks of a 24-hour contest ending at 12:00z is that there are no next-day "DO overs".  Considering that 80+% of the QSOs were made on 40-meters, the contest became an SOSB-40 log submission.  According to 3830 Scores, WQ6X was the only entry in the SOSB-40 category.

With "plenty of time on my hands" on Sunday, it was time to create an internet-based software
manual for the upcoming-release of the WQ6X DX Beacon Tracker Windoze software APP. 
([CLICK HERE] to find out more).

DiD YOU work the 2025 VOLTA RTTY Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

Stereo-SDR: IT's Easier than You Think - Part 2

Stereo-SDR: IT's Easier than You Think is something I'd been musing over for a long time, which
was the motivation to "stream of thought" the ideas which became that Blog entry.  Since then, an
e-mail from K3MAH gave me clarification on the fact that his method involves only one computer,
not two.  ZOOM-in to read John's amazing description.

The above description describes the method so succinctly.  Because the above description is so pertinent, I decided to Publish this Blog Part 2 as currently unfinished.  Stay tuned while I fashion
the rest of Part 2, to clarify Part 1.

WQ6X Wangles Another WEIRD Cinco-de-Contest Weekend.

 Last year, I wrote a BLAST from the PAST on what I call the "Cinco de Contest" ([CLICK HERE]
to read that).  After the contest weekend was over, I proceeded to write up the contest weekend
itself ([CLICK HERE] to read that).  This year's Cinco-de-Contest week was similar yet different.

The Weird Prefix Cw contest is 3 weeks away, and yet, a whole buncha WEIRDNESS
managed to invade the traditional radiosport contest weekend.  From the beginning, this
was a weekend of ironies.  Originally, I was going to modify this to a Quatro-de-Contest,
until circumstances derailed WQ6X submitting a log to the Delaware (DEQP) QSO Party.

Originally scheduled for the weekend were the following events:

1. [X] - The Italian ARI DX contest.
2. [X] - The 7QP 7th area QSO Party.
3. [X] - The INQP Indianna QSO Party.
4. [X] - The DEQP Delaware QSO Party.
5. [X] - The NEQP New England QSO Party.

Prior to the contest weekend, IP address problems with the RRC-1258 internet interface box
were finally resolved.  At the Concord location, using the STN-2 laptop computer, internet access
was once again resolved, with fewer internet dropout problems than previous runs from the QTH.
My goal was to run the QSO parties using QRP power and put in a couple of operating shifts
for NX6T in the NEQP QSO party.

As usually happens, I overslept the 15:00z opening of the ARI DX contest.  Had I at least started there, it is possible that there would be a Log file to submit.  Unfortunately, the ARI GiG once again didn't happen this year.

The 13:00z opening of the 7QP QSO Party found 40-meters open - somewhat.  After 90 minutes,
with only 21 QSOs in the log, it was time for 20-meters and scouting 15/10 for openings - 10-meters never materialized and 15-meters was barely a "Blip" on the radar.

As you can see, this weekend was LITTERED with Space-WX storms, allegedly caused
by a solar PROTON event.

K6RC (Dave) and I split the duties of looking for a DEQP Ssb station for WA6TQT to work for
his 5BWAS award.  Unfortunately, after 3 hours of searching before the NEQP event start, no
DE stations were found - top that off with dismal propagation on 15 meters and 20-meters
actually became the band of choice for BOTH NX6T and WQ6X.

Throughout the day, WQ6X (running QRP) encountering considerable difficulty being heard
on the east coast, with only a handful of INQP contacts along the way.  Quite the contrary, NX6T's 1.3kw signal was being heard in New England, way better than we were hearing them in return.    

At 00:45z, the move was made down to 40-meters, with perfect propagation to the 7th-call area. 
The 2-el Shorty-40 yagi beamed the signal nicely as a sweep was made from N to NE to E and back again.  Only a few contacts made it into the 80-meter section of the log.  The last 2-hours were frantic, calling "CQ 7QP WQ6X /6  WQ6X /CA".  Now it was time for some sleep to be ready for any 
weirdness on Sunday.

Sunday morning, with INQP & 7QP GiGs "one for the logbook", the focus shifted to NEQP Part 2
and finding a Delaware station (turned out to be AA1K) on 15-meter Ssb, so that station owner John (WA6TQT) could put a 15-meter finish on his 5BWAS award search.  

The irony of this exercise is that when I sent "SSB?" to AA1K (on 14.047), he replied "QSX 21.340" and QSY'd..  It turns out he ended up on 21.360 and John got his QSO.  It never occurred to me to put a QSO in my DEQP log first.  This year there was no (typically) 3-QSO log submitted. 
I guess that means I really only worked a Tres-de-Contest.  From 11am to 2pm, I OP'd NX6T leapfrogging bands (15 & 20) and modes, while looking for that illusive band opening on 10-meters.  (10-meters DiD offer a brief opening on Sunday around 22:00z).

With all my perfunctory duties complete, it was time to put some NEQP QSOs into the WQ6X log.  Unfortunately, similar to Saturday, it was mostly "one-way skip" from New England - I could hear

their Kilowatts and the could not hear my QRP pip squeak, despite a 3-el Stepp-IR yagi @55'.

Bottom-line, no NEQP QSOs made it to the WQ6X log.  

After the 00:00z NEQP ending, a call came in from team leader Dennis (N6KI) confirming the discovery that the DXLOG software was scoring the multipliers incorrectly.  Later, running the
log thru the IN7QPNE log parser reduced the alleged 104 multipliers down to 59 - almost half.

In the end, it would seem that NX6T took 1st-place for the NEQP GiG, while WQ6X took
2nd-place for mixed mode QRP mode in the 7QP contest.

DiD YOU work any of the state QSO parties?
How many counties did you work?
Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wriggles thru a Reversed Dual Stereo-RTTY WeeKenD

An unusual set of occurrences induced me to run the weekend's RTTY contest pair (SPDX RTTY
& BARTG-75) using the Yaesu FT-2000 locally dialed down to a modest 69-watts (on certain bands
100-w RF bombards the Toshiba Satellite docking port, disrupting CAT control w/the XCVR.
The original idea was to run QRP remote from Ramona until it was discovered that 3 computers
could not "talk to" the RRC-1258 internet interface unit.

Always ready in the WQ6X remote operations carry-in bag is a classic RigExpert PLUS interface unit.  For now, it has been returned to the portable setup I maintain @W7AYT's QTH in Concord (East Bay EB Section).

Saturday morning (the 4th Saturday of the month) the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) hosts another interesting speaker, this month being a talk (w/Show-n-Tell) by Mark Sommers (KN6YWK)
on building a Mag Loop antenna.  This will be an interesting antenna to test run during K6QLF's multi-station Field Day setup at the Oakland Yacht Harbor (in Alameda).

Coming back to my Alameda Office at 1pm, more fiddling w/the RRC box failed to provide an internet connection costing WQ6X optime in the SPDX RTTY contest, as well as the 1st day of the Florida Qso Party (FQP).

As you can see, the SPDX RTTY contest all but didn't happen.

On Sunday, setting things up for the BARTG-75 RTTY contest turned out for naught.

There really is nothing more to add about the RTTY weekend.

Maybe next year things will be better.

Stereo-SDR: IT's Easier than You Think

I've written ad-nauseum about Stereo-CW and its many variants, which now include Stereo-SSB,
as well as Stereo-RTTY.  Spending what seems like HOURS knob-twiddling the filters behind the "Stereo" concept has led me to discover numerous nuances about maximizing our aural-capabilities.

In a recent on-air chat w/John (K3MAH), he mentioned that he has been experimenting w/what
I will call "Stereo-SDR".  As I understand it, running 2-computers, each CPU is web-navigated to
a specific pair of WEB SDR's, sending the audio from "Computer #1" to the Left Ear, while the audio from Computer #2 to the right ear.  As Thursday net control for the 11am PARS Net (7.245) he has found SDR-supplementation to be more efficacious in making marginal signals overall become briefly intelligible.  Of course, RELAY operators are a form of "SDR" as well.

Replicate the above concept on your end and then "play around" with the interplay between the
two SDR's.  Because most SDR's also sport a "waterfall"-style of display, you experience the added benefit of visual representation, not only of the signal itself, but of the frequency space right around it.

I thought of replicating the above idea using a specially devised audio cable,
as I have done to run a pair of LEKATO JA-02II mini guitar amp speakers.

Turns out, a bringing two ideas together approach is to spend "$19.95" and pick up a USB-powered 4-channel stereo mixing unit (dozens are available on eBay), offering full control over the audio arrangement. The best arrangement for the 4-channels seems to be:

1. a 2nd RX (RX-A) - or VFO-B for Dual-RX transceivers
2. LEFT SDR #1 Audio
3. Main Transceiver [stereo] audio (VFO-A)
4. RIGHT SDR #2 Audio

Channels 1 & 3 (across the top) enable mixing receive audio from the transceiver's VFO-B or a 2nd (separate) receiver and the transceiver's VFO-A.  Channels 2 & 4 (across the bottom) enable mixing from the SDR audio.  Technically, this is NoT truly Stereo-SDR, it is simply a glorified arrangement
for mixing radio and SDR audio.

The TRUE Stereo approach requires creating a special cable for each SDR, feeding SDR#1 ONLY
to the Left Channel and feeding SDR#2 ONLY to the Right Channel.  This can be relatively easily accomplished by "doctoring" a pair of patch cables to separate stereo audio to/from each side.

1. For SDR #1 (Left-side) clip the red wire (right channel) from the destination plug
   and short it to the white wire.
2. For SDR #2 (Right-side) clip the white wire (left channel) from the destination plug
   and short it to the red wire.

Now, when you adjust the SDR mixing level (Channel-2 or Channel-4) you are increasing the SDR signal mixing for JUST the left or right ear.  You could even go so far as to run the cables through
a pair of SPDT switches (one for each SDR cable) to keep it all stereo or to create the above scenario.

You'll notice that in the header photo I also show a Rockville mixer.  In my arrangement, the output
of the USB mixer routes to a splitter box, allowing the ability to run the resulting audio to one or more external filter (combinations) individually.  The output of those filters can then be recombined and
sent to speakers and or stereo headphones.  Remember: for WQ6X, the Stereo Audio concept
began with a PAIR of Autek QF-1A op-amp based analog audio filters.

Basically, what I have described above is really all we need to include the miraculous Stereo-SDR
method as a part of the WQ6X Stereo Audio family.

What about YOU?

Do you make use of internet SDR receive facilities?
Have you ever played with stereo audio?

What about the Two TOGETHER?