WQ6X Joins NX6T for NAQP Cw GiG

Depending on your point of view (RTTY or otherwise), the January NAQP Cw contest is the 1st W/VE radiosport GiG of the new year.  This year, a Toastmasters training conference @ Diablo Valley College (near W7AYT's QTH) found me in the area but unavailable for on-the-air action until 00:00z.

My original plan was to run the NAQP GiG as WQ6X for 3 hours and then remote in to NX6T at 03:00z to join the Multi-2 operation already underway.  The day crew did an OUTSTANDING job
on 15 & 20 meters.  By the time WQ6X began at 00:00z 20 meters had already gone "long" (trnsl. DEAD) so I high-tailed it to 40 putting 27 QSOs into the log.  I even heard N6KI running a HUGE pileup on 40.

At 01:00z a message from Dennis reported that operator-wise we were down to just him and myself.  By the time I remoted in, 20 meters had also gone long in San Diego, encouraging me to 80 meters.  Setting up on 3509.09 I began running a frequency.  A text from N6KI informed me that the in-shack 2nd harmonic was CLOBBERING him on 7.023 so a move was made to 3535.75 and I never looked back.

One of the cool things about the NAQP GiGs is that because we send our Name / QTH, some operations get real creative with the Name part of the exchange.  At NX6T, because we sometimes have a multi-gender crew, we use the name PAT (Papa - Alpha - Tango).

As a tribute to the recently-passed Neil Peart (drummer for the band RUSH), several stations used "YYZ" as their Name - you may remember that on one of their albums, they open a track
with "YYZ" in Morse code.
Other interesting names included:
- WA6JRZ - Hamlet in Ca
- WA5POK - Troll in TN
- VE3SST - Neil in ON
- W4SPR - Spray in FL
- N4OGW - Tor in MS
- NN7CW - Wolf in FL
- W1C - CWO in CA
- N1C - NJC in CT

Around the usual dinner hour (7pm) N6KI took off for dinner, relieved remotely by John K6AM, who kept the insanity going on 40-meters while I "pleaded" for QSOs on 80 meters.  At 04:45, I was about to send Dennis a text recommending someone take a listen on 160 when I begin to see 160 meter QSOs in the log.  Before the evening was over 66 160-meter QSOs made it to the log.

As I continued to run 80 meters, I found
an opportunity to listen to my signal on the ICOM 7000 @W7AYT, switching between the WQ6X Lazy 8JK Inverted Vee and a CHA-250 Vertical.

Oddly enough, that Comet vertical was often more low-noise than the inverted Vee.  Being a lower-angle antenna, the CHA-250 vertical often hears signals not discernible on the 8JK-Vee.

Then again the 8JK Inverted Vee is more highly directional to the N/E as well as Hawaii for other kinds of QSOs.

I have often joked that the 3-el Hy-gain
10-meter "Long John" acts a perfect capacity hat for the 8JK on 80 & 160.
A measurement of the 8JK VEE's end-termination resistors determined that the 100-ohm resistor packs (three 2-watt 300-ohm resistors in parallel) had "drifted;

one pack now @155-ohms and another pack @75-ohms - HuH?  For my next trip to W7AYT it's time to make new resistor packs.  It is the termination resistors that lower the 8JK antenna's radiation angle, altho evidently not as low as the CHA-250 vertical.

While I only managed to put 27 QSOs in the WQ6X Log from the SF East Bay section, I was OK with that - the 5 hours I spent on 80 meters for NX6T put 226 QSOs in that Log.  For WQ6X I just wanted 3830 Score credit for the brief operation as a solo-OP.

By the time it was all over, it would seem that NX6T took 5th place overall and 2nd place for California; not bad when you consider that 80/160 were run with a pair of "droopy" inverted Vees.

Did YOU work the North American QSO Party?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X RACs one up w/NX6T and the SP-160 Contest.

With the transition between the 2019 & 2020 contest seasons being a little complicated, the scribbled notes for this BLOG entry almost ended up in the circular file.  In recent years I have run various single-OP events for the Canadian RAC contest, either from W7AYT's QTH or remotely from
NX6T in Fallbrook.

As I was planning the 2019 final contest weekend operating schedule, a message came in from
N6KI inviting me to join him and KI6RRN for a last-minute rogue NX6T operation of the mixed-mode Canadian RAC contest, followed by the CW-only Stew Perry (SP-160) contest.  Running remotely from Alameda on Friday evening, I could only run CW as the exchange includes a Serial-# which
can't be sent with a Digital Voice Keyer.  On CW, the memory keyer can effortlessly run a frequency, as well as Search & Pounce (S&P). 

The strange thing about this weekend's NX6T operation was a coax switch-failure, relegating STN-1 to using ONLY the 3-el. Stepp-IR and not the C-31 yagi.  Lately I have been purposely running the Stepp-IR in BI-Directional mode allowing simultaneous working of SA & JA / NA when the band condx. warrant it, so for me, being "stuck" with the Steep-IR was hardly a sacrifice.  Fallbrook
being 900' above sea-level gives the Stepp-IR a considerable BI-Directional advantage.

Much of my operating activities @W7AYT is about testing new equipment, new operating concepts and in general new ideas.  Now that the ICOM 7000 has itself a new home, I am able to reintroduce
it into the station setup as a secondary receiver, switchable to any antenna as is the FT-1000mp. 
It quite interesting to run NX6T's STN-1 with the K3/0 while listening to the signal in the SF East
bay area (propagation permitting of course).

The RAC event being a 24 hour contest was over at 4pm (PST), just in time for 160 meters to open in San Diego.  While the Stew Perry Contest began @15:00z we stations on the "Waste Coast", don't get to play until sometime between 22:30z and 01:00z.  While the RAC contest is a Canadian GiG, we are allowed to work anyone (for 1-point); Canadians are worth 10 points and Canadian RAC stations are worth 20 points.

In order add another operating to 109 2019 GiG total, I managed to put 9 QSOs in the 40-meter WQ6X log at W7AYT, giving the 8JK Inverted Vee a GooD test.  As horrible as the Concord QTH seems much of the time, there DOES seem to be a "pipeline" to Colorado, VE6, VE3 and the 9th
call area - GO Figure.

For the Stew Perry 160 contest, KI6RRN joined N6KI and myself to play around and try out new ideas for making 160 meters happen.  It won't be long before the CQ 160 Cw/Ssb contests are upon us.

Did YOU work the Canadian Winter RAC contest or the Stew Perry 160 GiG? 
Is NX6T in YOUR LoG?

Learning to PLAY in 2020

Because of the calendar placement of the Christmas and HNY holly daze, I've spent a considerable amount of contest down-time @W7AYT's QTH - PLAYing; yes, Playing - adults are just overgrown kids with BiGGer and more Expensive ToYs.

A revamped ICOM-7000 and a Classic Moscow Muffler have been recently added to the "portable" equipment lineup @W7AYT.  As wonderful as the Muffler is, I need to remember that because it works BE-4 the RX's front-end, it is absolutely worthless in treating the Woodpecker when it obliterates NX6T's passband; ironically, the 10-hz radar is rarely/weakly heard @W7AYT in
the SF East Bay area.

In preparation for last weekend's RTTY RU GiG, I have been playing around with cable and equipment configurations.  The 8JK Inverted Vee is for-now producing consistent results, so
I am leaving it alone.  (104 QSOs in the Stew Perry 160 GiG is proof this 8JK configuration is producing.  With the 8JK sloper configuration, as I recall only 6 local QSOs were possible in
the July 160 contest).

Thanks to the 500+ memory system in the ICOM 7000, the transceiver is being utilized mainly as
an SWL receiver; with the provision to switch in the Muffler at any time.  Ironically (or should I say thankfully), the 200+ already programmed memories were still intact when the radio made it's first
trial run in Concord (after a trip to the ICOM repair center).

While both the ICOM 7000 & FT-1000mp utilize state-of-the-art receiving circuitry, the MP is more optimized for ham band operation, designed secondarily for the frequencies in between.  Contrast
this with the 7000 which is entirely DSP-based and works reasonably well on virtually any frequency between 50-khz and 30-mhz (plus 2m & 440).  Listen-wise, I find that it is easier to locate and memo frequencies using the IC-7000, then later enjoy each station on the FT-1000mp, with it's far superior audio response. 

Having multiple sources of RX requires an elaborate switching arrangement with judicious use of isolation filters to reduce the AC-hum and mitigate overload effects of stray RF in the stereo audio stream.  An advantage to using UHF-based wireless headphones is their overall immunity from
HF-Rf.  For this year's RTTY RU contest, to integrate the K3/0 (remote) audio with "local" audio
from the FT-1000mp (direct & filtered) as well as the IC-7000, I utilized a 4 device 1/8" mini-switch.

For a more pleasing sounding RTTY experience, Autek QF-1A filters (one for each ear) were peaked for the MARK (Left) and SPACE (Right) frequencies.  When a station calls in EXACTLY on frequency, the audio tones resonate perfectly with each ear; if not, the R-i-T control can easily remedy that situation - when F3 is pressed ("TU QRZ?") the N1MM software resets the RX-offset back to
ZERO, ready for the next caller.

Before each external add-on unit is given a test run @W7AYT in Concord, I work out configurations
at my QTH in Alameda.  As you can see (above) the 1/8" switch is being tested in conjunction with an Autek QF-1A (L. Ear) and an MFJ-751 (R. Ear).  The switch allows sending the stereo audio directly to the headset, or thru the filter-set, as well as the I-Sound speaker-set.

It could be said that a significant amount of circuitry (and knob-twiddling) is being devoted to reducing unwanted interference (be it QRM or QRN based) or otherwise "shaping" the audio to raise the signal-intelligibility.  While cascading audio filters can make a BiG difference, feedback-based units (ex: Autek QF-1A and MFJ 751/752) can create such a high degree of amplification that eventually results in audio-howling.  However just prior to those excessive settings, high-Q selectivity can be attained.

Remember: All these devices are used to recover audio quality AFTER it has been "destroyed" by overloaded RF/IF stages and AGC circuitry.  Front-end devices like the Moscow Muffler as well as
the MFJ-1026 & JPS ANC-4 noise phase inversion units exist to eliminate the problematic noise BE-4 it makes it to the more-easily over-loadable RF front-ends of most receivers.

These are just a few radio things I have been "Playing around With" recently. 
As I continue with "play mode", LooK for random notes to appear throughout this BLOG.

Do YOU Play with YOUR Radio Equipment?

IF NoT - Why KNOT?

WQ6X Dual-OPs ARRL 2020 RTTY RU Contest

LooKing back to 2019, the 109 radiosport events ending the decade are now safely in the LoG BooKs.  If you are a RTTY enthusiast like I am, the contest season for each new year begins with
the ARRL RTTY RU contest.  I recently wrote a "Blast from the Past" BLOG about previous RTTY
RU GiGs I have been a part of ([CLICK HERE] to read that.)

For this year's RTTY RU, I began things @18:00z running NX6T remotely.  Due to heat considerations, until we had actual B-i-C operation, I kept the power dialed back to around 775
watts.  When the B-i-C crew arrived and opened the windows the power was upped to over 1200 watts.

On the intentional QRM front, for this contest there was NO intentional 40 meter QRM - Hurray!  Unfortunately, this years intentional QRM came in the form of a VE6 on 20-meters while I ran a frequency - after a 1/2 hour it became clear that this was not accidental.  I wrote him an e-mail
about it and received an apology as the QRM was evidently inadvertent altho to me it certainly sounded intentional.

Shortly after 00:00z Rick (N6CY) achieved B-i-C, followed later by N6ERD.  I'm used to running the evening "dinner shift".  Thanks to B-I-C operators I was freed up to run WQ6X on 80 & 40 meters. 
I guess different operators have a different experience of Fallbrook WX conditions - N6CY was all bundled up while N6ERD was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

The evening crew put in an outstanding run session for over 6 hours before shutting it down for the obligatory 6 hour off period after 1am.  By 7am NX6T was back to B-IC action until around 10:30 when I put a couple of hours in the remote chair before turning it over for daytime R-i-C (Remote
in Chair) operations allowing me to get back to running WQ6X from EB section.

The Saturday night shift crew became the Sunday shift crew with me filling in remotely after N6ERD left at 10:30am and N6CY took over remotely, allowing me to run the final 2 hours of RTTY RU as WQ6X, surpassing my goal of 100+ QSOs.

After the contest I filed the required 3830 Score reports for WQ6X & NX6T and submitted the logs.  It's a relief to get
the after-contest admin out of the way as soon as possible.

Rick (N6CY) and Dan (N6ERD) are outstanding operators.  When running as WQ6X, seeing spots for NX6T, listening
to them run a frequency brought me a smile, so I gave them plenty of room to continue their RU contest barrage.

As you can see, while we worked all 48 states somehow we missed North Dakota (for RTTY RU, AK & HI are considered DX countries not states).

The BiG disappointment was the lack of Canadian stations; especially the more arcane Canadian provinces.  I guess it was too cold for the Canadians.  One of the reasons to run
a large tube amplifier for high power operations is the HEAT produced, which can somewhat warm the shack.


With the Solar Flux "struggling" to remain above 70 throughout the weekend, we were fortunate to have virtually no atmospheric noise, in Fallbrook as well as the East Bay.  If we could've scored a
10 meter opening or encountered better 15 meter conditions breaking the 1,000 QSO mark could've been a real possibility; maybe 2021 will allow us to make that happen.

In retrospect, it would seem that WQ6X took a 1st place for EB section (SOULP) and NX6T took a

1st for SDG section.  While I didn't stand a chance to win for PAC, NX6T was trounced by the Arizona Outlaws for Southwest Division honors.  Nevertheless, both stations made an incredible showing to start off the new year.

Did YOU work the 2020 RTTY RU Contest?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

Blog #300: WQ6X Blast from the Past: ARRL RTTY RU



In the overall scheme of things I am a relative newbie to RTTY contest involvement; only 9 years
of actually doing it.  In preparation for this weekend's upcoming RTTY Roundup (RU), I took a look
down the memory track, revisiting the many RTTY RU events that have happened to include me.
Here is what I discovered:

My initial RTTY exposure happened thanks to N6GEO involving me in various RTTY
events during the 2011, 2012 & 2013 contest season.

• [x] - 2014 Our EPIC 1st-place worldwide win as WP2/WQ6X (see above OP pic)
• [x] - 2015 - N6GEO & WQ6X dual-OP another RTTY RU operation
• [x] - 2016 - WQ6X Ron runs RTTY RU Remotely and Robustly
• [x] - 2017 - WQ6X runs RTTY RU Remotely to open 2017 contest season
• [x] - 2018 - WQ6X runs RTTY RU Routinely but Remotely
• [x] - 2019 - WQ6X Rips another Remote RTTY RU 1st place from San Diego

As you can see - I have participated in a wide variety of RTTY RU activities over 9 years.  RTTY GiGs are a favorite with me because there is no wear/tear on my voice and I don't have to copy code in my head.  When running remotely, even if there is an internet "hiccup", the data is still on the computer screen in Fallbrook waiting for a reconnect to pick up where we left off.

For the 2020 contest year, I will be working with a handful of operators (some remote, some B-i-C)
to put NX6T on as a Multi-Single operation from Fallbrook (SDG Section); in between, I will be running WQ6X from East Bay (EB) Section, testing the recently updated WQ6X Lazy 8JK
Inverted Vee.

Do you play around in the ARRL's RTTY RU Contest?
Is WQ6X, N6GEO or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

C U in RTTY RU for 2020.

    de WQ6X

WQ6X Contest BLOG #299: Writing a BLOG Entry is Like.....

.....making a radiosport QSO.

When I work a station during a radiosport contest,
with each individual QSO I do not QUIT until the information is properly exchanged; both ways.

Then, when it is done, we move ON,
almost as if it never happened.

Later if we are allowed.; we can repeat
the above procedure, on a different band.

Similarly,
When I compose/publish a [new] BLOG Entry, depending upon the BLOG Topic, I may be researching new ideas to write about; or,
I may be cut/pasting stats and/or the .JPG
files you see in each published entry.

I often write out of an intense flurry of ideas and activity; then when the BLOG is finally published,
it is again, all but forgotten.

This is the 299th Contest BLoG Entry;
I've pretty much forgotten about the other 298.

73, Everybody - C U in 2020.

WQ6X OK w/OK Dx RTTY & Croatian Cw Contests

When I arrived @W7AYT's QTH in Concord on Friday afternoon, I had no expectations as to what this weekend would be about.  My original plan was to test-install my recently-repaired ICOM 7000 and play around with a recently-acquired Classic 1983 "Moscow Muffler" Blanker device'; with the
OK Dx RTTY contest barely in the back of mind, I had completely forgotten about the Croatian Cw contest.  When the weekend was over, the OK RTTY was run as both NX6T (remotely) and as
WQ6X (@W7AYT); just to show that it can be done.

As the weekend progressed, I realized that no attention had been given to the 9A Croatian DX Cw Contest.  The 9A GiG started @ 14:00z, altho at that time I was catching up on Sleep, after running the OK-RTTY contest all night.  The plan became to run the OK GiG until its official end @ 00:00z, followed by a mode switch to Cw.

While the 2 contests could not have been more different in their exchange, both were world-wide GiGs offering more QSO points for contacts with stations in other continents and countries.

On 20 meters, I purposely ran the Expert 2-K amp into a 3-element Stepp-IR allowing the use of BI-Directional mode, in order to work Asia (mostly JA) and SA (mostly PY & LU).  I was amazed by the number of recognizable stations worked from the previous 3 contest weekends.

The QF1-A and NIR-12 external filters @W7AYT shaped the [after-the-fact] RTTY audio, directing the 915-Hz MARK signal to the left ear and the SPACE signal to the right.  Adjusting the balance between the two ears can make for a more relaxing contest experience.

For Cw, the QF1-A PEAK mode complements the K3/0's R-i-T control, "popping" stations above the audio noise-level.  From the Space-WX perspective the bands were QUITE QUIET in Concord and considerably more noisy atop the hill in Fallbrook.

During any given contest weekend, I scribble notes detailing significant

events that occur during each operating period.  It is from such scribbles

like this one that WQ6X Contest Blog entries are derived.  Using my SNAP-Shot

screen capture software, it is a SNAP to document contest activities as they occur.

 

While none of the submitted contest scores were anywhere near spectacular, it would seem that the weekend operation may well have resulted in a couple of single-band 1st-place entries; 1st for NA in the 9A contest and 1st for W6 in the OK RTTY GiG.  This is why I ALWAYS submit a log - you never know when it might "accidently" win an award.  Remember: I run radiosport events for the emergency preparedness training, as well as JUST for fun; collecting plaques and "pieces of paper" is just the bonus on top of it all.

 

Did YOU work the 9A Cw contest or OK DX RTTY?

 

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

 

 

ARRL 10-Meter Contest: It Don't Get any Weirder

The ARRL 10-Meter contest is an interesting paradox.  It feels like we have been languishing in the trough of the solar cycle for the last 7 years; whereas in fact it has been about 4.  Because this year's 10-meter GiG seemed so weird, a trip down memory lane helped put it all in perspective.
I began documenting my 10-meter operations in this contest Blog beginning in 2013:

• [x] - 2013: WQ6X & N6GEO join up for 2013 ARRL 10-Meter contest
• [x] - 2014: N6GEO & WQ6X Score another 1st place in the ARRL 10-Meter contest
• [x] - 2015: WQ6X test drives the 1000MP for 2015 10-meter contest
• [x] - 2016: WQ6X joins NX6T remotely for ARRL 10-meter contest
• [x] - 2017: WQ6X Survives 2017 ARRL 10-Meter Contest
• [x] - 2018: ARRL 10-Meter GiG Fascinates & Frustrates

At the last minute (what else is new) N6KI put together a multi-OP operation from NX6T. 

With no actual B-i-C action, N6KI fired things up at 01:10z remotely.  While we are used to

having 10-meters "fold up" by 01:00.  Amazingly, NX6T kept Ten Meters alive until 04:25z. 

Reading 3830 comments from a dozen W6 stations, they all experienced a strong opening

on Friday evening.  Most of those stations reported extremely POOR conditions on Saturday afternoon/evening, which is surprising as my experience was quite the reverse.

Client commitments kept me off the air until late Saturday afternoon.  At 02:30 I fired up RCForb and VNC Viewer to remotely run NX6T from Alameda.  I opened by putting a couple of QSOs in the log .  Then calling CQ on 28029.29 I was jammed by a Cw "heckler' sending errant Cw tones after my CQ calls, often obliterating weaker stations underneath his obviously local signal. 

While I'm used to this behavior on 40 meters after midnight, encountering this kind of IDIOT on 10-meters is a new experience.  Altho the local QF-1A filter helped notch the intentional-QRM, being audio-based it could not overcome the AGC-induced signal reduction.  N6KI informed me that the QRM-Idiot plagued his operations on Friday evening. 

My solution to this Idiot was to play frequency "Leap-Frog", jumping from the low end of the Cw band, up to the middle and then back again.  Luckily, with 20 minutes the station got bored and gave it up.  Running frequencies on 28016.16 and 28028.28 put 17 QSOs in the log. Like the previous evening,
I gave it up at 04:30z.  By that time, the only spots for NX6T came from N2IC (in NM) and N0OI (Perris Valley, Ca).  I got the message and shut things down, hoping for one more run on Sunday morning.

On Sunday, I was back in the remote chair @18:00z, calling CQ again on 28028.28.  Sensing a

South American opening, point the Stepp-IR to 120-degrees put CX2, LU2, LU7 & XE2 in the log.  Not having a microphone, i could not call CQ on Ssb altho thanks to the K3's Voice Keyer a number of S&P QSOs made it to the log.

While most W6 stations reported a dead 10-meters on Sunday, over the course of 5 hours I managed to add 48 QSOs to the log, 34 from South America - so much for a dead band.  The last QSO made it to the log at 23:22z; the remaining 38 minutes yielded no one new.

At contest end, it would seem that NX6T took 7th place worldwide, 5th place for USA & North America and 1st place for W6 and the Southwest Division; not too bad considering the overall marginal band conditions and only 3 operators.

 

DiD YOU work the ARRL 10-meter contest?

 

Is NX6T in YOUR LoG?

 

WQ6X teams up w/NX6T for Wonderfully Quiet 160 GiG

D F 8 D X  &  N 6 K I

While I long for the days of an SFI = 185 solar flux, being at the other end of solar cycle we can hopefully console ourselves that 160-meter condx. are all that they can be; the "truth" is somewhere in the middle. 

Considering that the last 1/2-dozen contest weekends have been loaded with crappy Space-WX, this weekend was AMAZINGLY Quiet.

This year's ARRL-160 contest began at 23:00z on Friday; 3pm California time.  Being a typical 30-hour ARRL contest,
it ended at 16:00z (9am California time)
on Sunday.  Initially, Dennis (N6KI) could find no other available operators for a Multi-Single setup except WQ6X and
Axel KI6RRN.


Late Saturday afternoon a visit from DF8DX brought B-I-C (Butt-in-Chair) action to the NX6T shack.  Bodo ran STN-2 during the 7:00 to 10:30 "dinner hour"; I usually run STN-1 remotely during that time-period.  Thanks to DF8DX, I was confident that NX6T was in capable hands, giving me the freedom to put 22 QSOs in the WQ6X ARRL-160 Log.

N6KI and WQ6X ran NX6T remotely Friday evening; Ron running STN-1 via RCForb and Dennis running STN-2 via an Elecraft K3/0.  KI6RRN also put some QSOs in the log, but we never crossed paths so I dunno when he was actually on the air.  Space WX-wise, 160-meters was incredibly quiet; both in Fallbrook (SDG section) and Concord (EB section).  Unfortunately signal levels were often weaker than usual.  Then again, one of the weak-signal surprises was from IK0XBX; not bad from San Diego using only an Inverted Vee.

While we got a late start (03:45z), N6KI quickly made over 160 QSOs in just under 2 hours.  It's a nice feeling to start an operating session knowing that team members have been keeping the NX6T call in bandmaps all over North America, as well as around the world.  Continuing to run on 1805.71 found me keeping alive a busy frequency, interspersed with "popping" multipliers from the bandmap.
Amazingly, by contest-end we managed to work all sections except NT.

At 07:25z a W4 in TN out of nowhere began calling CQ on my run frequency.  Ignoring him (NX6T was louder) I continued making QSOs and calling CQ.  After one of my CQ's the W4 station moved right ON TOP of me and sent "L-i-D" several times and moved down frequency just enough that the stereo Cw put his high-pitched signal in my right ear while I worked stations heard in the left ear.
A move to 1806.06 put his puny (but annoying) signal out of the passband; not working anybody
he eventually disappeared.

For this weekend I accomplished what I set out to do; run NX6T remotely from Concord via my Elecraft K3/0 and test-run the recently devised WQ6X Lazy 8JK Inverted Vee (converted from the original Lazy 8JK Sloper).  As a Lazy 8JK Sloper, on 160-meters the antenna could barely work N6RO (5-mi away); as a Lazy 8JK Inverted Vee, the WQ6X signal was able to work nearly
all of the Northwest states and as far as Colorado.  As a sloper, the 8JK was a noisier antenna
than the CH-250 Vertical next to it; as an Inverted Vee it is now much quieter than the vertical.



Around 03:00z on Saturday, I noticed on the webcam that N6KI and DF8DX had arrived @NX6T putting B-i-C for 3 hours.  It was during this time that WQ6X managed to make 22 QSOS; one of which was a reply to my CQ call from NX6T (manned by DF8DX).  Around 06:30z NX6T was again dark; the only "light on" being from Station #1 being run by me remotely until N6KI returned to San Diego (07:30z) to run Station #2 until I took over at 10:30z to wrap things up.

WQ6x scribbled contest projections .VS. 3830Scores.Com

You have heard me say ALWAYS submit a log because no matter how small your score is.  If no one else in your section/division/power-class submits a valid logfile then you win by default.  For this year, listening to the other W6 stations during the ARRL 160 contest, it would seem that NX6T may well be the front runner; not only for San Diego Section, W6  & IARU Zone 6, but for Southwestern Division as well - Just barely slipping by the Arizona Outlaws (AOCC).

Based on scores reported (or should we say, scores NoT reported) to the 3830Scores website, it would seem that WQ6X took 2nd place for W6 and IARU Zone 6, 1st place for East Bay section
and surprisingly, 1st place for Pacific Division.

While the solar flux for this year's ARRL 160 contest was depressingly low, I need to remember that low-SFI's make for GREAT 160 contests; we'll know more after the upcoming Stew Perry 160 contest.

DiD You work the ARRL 160 Meter contest?
What band condx. did you encounter?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?