WQ6X Runs another DL-Dx RTTY & Marconi Memorial Contest Weekend

With the exception of a few well-defined, well-laid out contests, most of my operations from NX6T in Fallbrook are last minute, ad-HOC affairs.  From an emergency preparedness standpoint, so-called "emergencies" happen at the-last-minute, out of the blue.  We could say that last-minute radiosport operations are therefore in the spirit of "emergency preparedness".

As both contest events are of European origin, that means for us Left Coasters, we have to get up before sunrise to begin these events from the beginning; DL-Dx RTTY @ 11:00z (4am Pdt) and the Marconi MMC GiG @ 12:00z (5am Pdt).  Because they are both 24 hour events, they end at the same time they started, except tomorrow.

I woke up a 1/2 hour late Saturday morning, putting the first DL-DX RTTY QSO in the log @ 14:47z, running 20-meters until 20:30z.  Then client commitments kept me off the air until 01:30z when I fired-up on 40 meter RTTY for 2 hours until the "maintenance crew" (N6KI & K6AM) preempted my STN-#1 use allowing them to configure a new installation of DX-Log (replacing
the antiquated WINTEST previously running major DX contests, like the upcoming IARU HF GiG).

Stereo CW - (with speakers no less)

While stereo Cw doesn't make much of a difference to remote running RTTY, for the last hour of
the Marconi MMC contest it made a big difference as I chose to run frequencies rather than S & P. 
A CooL thing was when CT1ELZ called in for my 1st-QSO (#001) in the log while running 7014.14.  During the last hour of the MMC GiG peaking weak Cw signals in my left ear (while deemphasizing unwanted signals in the right ear) made all the difference. 

Because of heat considerations and RTTY being a full-duty mode, I kept the power levels down to around ~800 watts.  N6KI turned on the A/C when he left the NX6T site after midnight allowing running the last couple operation hours with the power at nearly 1300 watts.  The "3 db difference"
was probably hardly noticeable.

While poor Space-WX was not a problem,
in general signals were weak and needed
all the Stereo Cw  boosting they could get.

While only 18 QSOs made it to the MMC
log, it seems that for all my effort a 1st-place 40-meter finish for USA was accomplished. 
This is proof once again that even a log
with < 20 QSOs should be submitted - ya' never know how things will turn out.

The DL-Dx RTTY contest (like most RTTY contest GiGs) brought me a lot of frustration from violations of my Top 5 "Rules of Respect in Radiosport.  ([CLICK HERE] to read that 5-part series).  XE1MAL violated Beef #4 when he called me, I gave him my exchange, he ignored my exchange
and began calling other callers on my run frequency (14086.86).  He was so pernicious that I shifted frequency to 14087.87, leaving him behind, being rewarded with an immediate call from XE1SPM
and a host of others who figured it out and called me up 1kc where I enjoyed a relatively quiet run frequency for a couple of hours.

DL - Dx  RTTY  &  Marconi MMC  Stats

 While neither score (above) is all that great, according to the 3830 Stats, it would seem that both took some sort of a 1st place; for W6 in the RTTY GiG and SOSB-40 for the Marconi event.  Time will tell if reality matches up with the 3830 site.

 

Did YOU work the DL-Dx RTTY or Marconi Memorial Contest GiGs?

 

Is NX6T in YOUR LoG?