I wrote the above back in August with the intention of writing the rest of this Blog (below). Somehow, contest participation itself kept me out of the "Blast from the Past" mode for this contest. So, let's try
it again. As you can see, there is LoTs of material to draw from, beginning way back in the year 2011.
My first exposure to running NAQP Cw was in January at N6GEO's QTH.
More than anything this event taught me ingenuity thanks to N6GEO's idea of rigging two
manual antenna tuners feeding the 6BTV vertical adding 17 160-meter QSOs to the log.
AUG-2011
For the August GiG I took a quite different approach.
Making the drive to NX6T (in Fallbrook), I brought along a Neurosky Mindset to monitor
my Left-Frontal E-E-G while running the contest.
A series of videos were made from this event, now archived on YouTube.
If you copy the Cw and pay attention to the color bars, the Brain-Pharts
(tall RED bar on the left) become quite evident.
You can view the YouTube videos by clicking on the [VIEW] links below:
- [VIEW] - NAQP CW Aug-2011 while running a Frequency - Video #1
- [VIEW] - NAQP CW Aug-2011 while running a Frequency - Video #2
- [VIEW] - NAQP CW Aug-2011 while running a Frequency - Video #3
- [VIEW] - NAQP CW Aug-2011 while running a Frequency - Video #4
- [VIEW] - NAQP CW Aug-2011 while running a Frequency - Video #5
For 2012 I put together a "tent station" in a back yard near crown beach in Alameda. Having first used the tent during the 2011 Sweepstakes Ssb operation on Carpinteria state beach (near Santa Barbara), this operation allowed verifying the tent-contesting concept.
For the August GiG I took a quite different approach operating from the 2nd story
of the Phoenix Lodge using a pair of Hamstick dipoles and an MFJ Apartment antenna.
For 2013 I began NAQP operations again from the Phoenix Lodge, only this time I ran a newly acquired ICOM-7000 into the Hamsticks and Apartment antenna, this time using an MFJ 949-E antenna tuner. Oh, what a difference a properly tuned antenna makes.
In August I ran the NAQP GiG with yet a quite different approach; this time running the dual-Hamstick dipole from W7AYT's QTH in Concord (altho he was not yet W7AYT). Lacking a pair of 20-meter Hamsticks put me at quite a disadvantage over the January 2013 event. If the Hamstick-dipole had been the same height as the 2nd story lodge window, signals would've been considerably louder.
I wrote this event up for the Contest BLOG. [CLICK HERE] to read that.
My next NAQP CW event came via a trip to Fallbrook to join the crew at NX6T for a Multi-2 event.
As you can see, I was quite jazzed by working NP2M (considering that w/N6GEO we won the 2014 RTTY-RU contest from that location).
A YouTube video was made about this event. [CLICK HERE] to see it.
I wrote a Contest BLOG about this event as well. [[CLICK HERE] to read that.
In August we now had a Comet CH-250 antenna, the 1st of several antennas to make the scene
at [the future] W7AYT QTH. This was my 1st attempt at SO2-V with the recently acquired Yaesu
FT-1000mp. This even was written up in the Contest BLOG. [CLICK HERE] to read that.
WQ6X opened the new year with another semi-portable operation from W7AYT's QTH in Concord.
When it was over, 258 QSOs made it to the log. An unfortunate aftermath to this operation was
my Honda Accord being STOLEN. [CLICK HERE] to read all about that.
For this August GiG I decided to join up with NX6T remotely from Alameda.
This was an early implementation of using an Autek QF-1A filter to process RCForb's
remote audio. [CLICK HERE] to read all about that.
For 2018 I joined NX6T, again remotely.
For this event, I played around with a pair of MFJ-752 Signal Enhancers for the laptop
receive audio. [CLICK HERE] to read that write up.
For August, as you can see, I chose to run barefoot in the already barefoot contest.
While I joined up with the NX6T Multi-2 crew, I also found time to run as WQ6X from the
W7AYT QTH. [CLICK HERE] to read the barefoot write up about this barefoot event.
2019 is the year for Dual-OP operations of NX6T (remotely using an Elecraft K3/0) and
WQ6X from W7AYT's QTH in Concord. [CLICK HERE] to read about this "not normal"
NAQP Cw event.
This brings us to the August NAQP GiG. Because the K3/0 had connection problems, I ran the remote aspect of this Dual-OP GiG using RCForb to run the radio. WQ6X & NX6T operations were interspersed throughout the day. I wasn't so much interested in a high score as I was in making the Dual-OP operation work. [CLICK HERE] to read all about that.
Well folks, that's all we got. ALL? wOw!
I guess I have been busy during NAQP Cw weekends over the last 9 years.
What about YOU? Have YOU run the NAQP Cw during these last 9 years?
Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?
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