NX6T Nixes ARRL Dx Left Coast competition

W Q 6 X  @ W 7 A Y T

I more-or-less fell into the Cw ARRL Dx Contest operation @ NX6T in Fallbrook (SDG Section).  Dennis (N6KI) was at the Yuma Hamfest relegating me to cobble together inspiration from a handful of operators from around the Fallbrook/Oceanside area.  Seemingly out of nowhere a Multi-2 (M/2) operating schedule came together.

This year's NX6T Cw entry was a nice mixture of remote and B-I-C operators. 
My goal was for the group to find an operating "groove" Friday evening, Saturday morning
and early-afternoon, allowing me to make another trip to W7AYT's QTH and put WQ6X on the air.
All of this more-or-less happened.

A n t e n n a s  @  W 7 A Y T

Being a 48-hour radiosport event, the ARRL
Dx contest is loaded with operating opportunities, allowing each of the 6 operators (K4RB, N6CY, N6KI, N6NC, WM6Y & WQ6X) to operate during their peak periods.

As in recent Fallbrook events, I am no longer the lone operator during the after-midnight operating periods.  That allows me to slip an extra 90-minute sleep into my schedule, making it easier to get up
at 8am for the morning shift (and then go back to
bed for 2 hours).

Actual OP time began for WQ6X @ 05:50z, spending a couple of hours running frequencies on 160 & 80 meters.  Later an S&P journey picked up the stations who were themselves running a frequency.  Eventually it was time to migrate to 40-meters and point the 2-el shorty-40 to Asia putting 180+ QSOs into the log.

Around 08:30z while running Asia (antenna pointed to 315-degrees), a number of European calls came in from QTH's like DL3, PA5, RA1, OH1 & SM3.  HuH?  At 12:30z my DNS internet connection to Fallbrook stopped working.  Because the remote K3/0 radio is IP-based, the radio itself continued working flawlessly;  however w/o the ability to log, it does no good.  Fortunately, N6CY took over on STN-1 and I came back later.



W Q 6 X  (Remote) & W M 6 Y (B-I-C)

After a couple of more hours sleep, I awoke to a 15 meter opening, putting 38 QSOs into the log.  Unfortunately for me, 10 did not deliver.  However on Sunday the crew managed to put 11 QSOs
in the 10-meter log; all with SA.

Running Multi-2 allowed a mixture of remote and B-I-C (Butt-in-Chair) operations.  I was too lazy to drag the Elecraft K3/0 to W7AYT so from there I took a chance and ran STN-1 remotely using the antiquated (but marginally workable) RCForb software.  N6KI, back from Yuma ran STN-2 remotely while I ran STN-1.

K 4 R B  &  W M 6 Y

Sunday morning K4RB (Bob) and WM6Y (Phil) accomplished B-I-C taking the NX6T log to exciting new heights.  Due to a weird cabling glitch with the 8JK Sloper, WQ6X managed only
4 QSOs on 40 meters Saturday nite.  Sunday @ noon, switching to the CHA-250 vertical allowed 4
15-meter QSOs and 9 QSOs on 20 into the log before it was time to make the drive back to Alameda to work with clients.

N X 6 T  &  W Q 6 X  S t a t s

N6KI joined the day shift to wrap the 48 hour contest.   The day crew not only put NX6T ON 10 meters, they managed to amass nearly 100 more 15 meter QSOs in the log; not to mention taking
the 20-meter QSO total to over 600.

After it was all over, N6KI provided us with comparison stats to our most immediate rivals - the Arizona Outlaws.  Assuming we survive the Log Checking Robot (LCR), NX6T will not only submit
a high score for San Diego section, but for the entire Southwest Division.

Did YOU play in the ARRL DX Cw contest?
Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR Log?