WQ6X rocks another RTTY Contest Weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1st weekend of April is usually a rather quiet time on the WQ6X contest calendar. 
While 5 radiosport events were on the possibility list, only 3 yielded log submissions;
and, of the 3, only the EA-RTTY contest was worthy of my time.

• [X] - Mississippi QSO Party
• [X] - Louisiana QSO Party
• [X] - The SP-Dx Cw Contest
• [X] - EA-RTTY Contest
• [X] - North American Ssb Sprint Contest
  

Similar to the YB Dx contest, the Polish SP-Dx Cw contest is usually an operating promise that rarely (if ever) actually delivers.  Stations on the east coast and in EU have more-or-less easy access to each other.  On the Left coast, all too often, working EU seems like a more-or-less random event, except that mornings on 20-meters and mid-evenings on 40 seem to be more likely times to add EU stations to the log.  

The MS and LA QSO parties were complete DuDs this year; so much so that they are not even worth commenting on.  They hold QSO parties and then don't show up for their own event - HuH?  Am I missing something?  Altho the Ssb Sprint contest caught my interest, unfortunately I was at my office in Alameda with no time for radio action.

Although Space-WX forecasts were reasonable it seemed like the main ("missing") ingredient was B-i-C (Butt-in-Chair) activity; either actually, or remotely.  Fortunately, I use contest weekends as an opportunity to test the efficacy of logging software updates as well as tweaks to the audio cabling system for my portable operation @W7AYT's QTH in Concord.

Because the main operating focus was RTTY , the N1MM+ / MMTTY macros were all inspected and verified to be functional, altho I always miss one or two and find out at the last minute.  With the EA RTTY contest, while the focus (ie. the bonuses) is Spain, we are allowed to work anyone/anywhere once per band; altho DUP callers were annoyingly rampant this weekend.

This RTTY GiG being only 24 hours, we only get one opportunity for each band opening. 
15-meters was barely productive and 10-meters was completely dormant, altho I DiD put
out several lengthy CQ calls.  Not surprising, 20-meters (and then 40) produced most of the
RTTY activity.

Both evenings, looking for Asian propagation assistance I turned to the Russian military beacons
on ~7.039.  On Friday evening, the "F" and "K" beacons were clearly heard.  On Saturday evening, the "F" and "M" beacons were reasonably trackable, while the "K" beacon was once again AWOL.  This was not really an indication of propagation; it was clearly an indication of the usual hardware problems in Kamchatsky, which I have written about in numerous blogs before.

Because this is a RTTY contest, I have a number of thoughts that are worth repeating.

• In order for a proper RTTY QSO to be made, it is imperative that calling stations are on frequency.  While I DO have an R-I-T control, at any given moment, I may be too lazy to use it.  When *I* call a station, I go to great lengths to be EXACTLY on frequency, allowing me to get-in and get-out.
• Calling CQ EXACTLY on my run frequency is NoT OK.  You can say it happened by accident however I PURPOSELY choose oddball operating frequencies such that it won't be picked by accident.  Therefore if you are CQ'ing exactly on my run frequency, you are there ON PURPOSE - it is NO ACCIDENT.
• When I ask "UR NR AGN?" I Do NoT want you to send your entire exchange again.  During the time spent sending information I could now care less about, by the time you FINALLY get around to sending your number, QSB and/or QRM may have set in garbling your NR, requiring me to ask "UR NR AGN?", creating an unnecessary vicious circle.
• When you hear me work a station on my run frequency, do NoT attempt to call him afterwards.  To begin with, most likely that station worked me and already moved on.  Therefore your worthless/unnecessary call simply causes QRM obscuring other callers who have been patiently waiting their turn to work me.
• DUP callers were highly noticeable during the EA-RTTY contest.  It is frustrating to have
  a station repeat their callsign 6-times only to discover they are a DUPE.
  A) If they read the contest rules, they would know they can only work me once per band.
  B) If using contest logging software (such as N1MM, WINTEST, WRITELog, etc.) the dupe checking facility should have notified them of the dupe.  If you're NoT using logging software then it is your responsibility to know (somehow) which stations are dupes
  and which are not.
  C) If you KNOW you have worked WQ6X before, then why are you wasting everyone's
  time by calling-in again (sometimes less than 15 minutes later)?
  Just-in-case, I defined N1MM's F12 key to send "WQ6LID QSO-B4"
• D) FT8 is the newest form of intentional QRM; more heard on 40m, but sometimes encountered on 20.  FT8 stations use pre-defined cluster frequencies, which I purposely avoid.  Therefore if a swarm of FT8 stations conglomerate on my run frequency, I know it is no accident.
  

While my score was hardly award-winning, it was my best EA-RTTY submission thus far. According
to 3830 Scores, WQ6X took 23rd place overall, 17th for NA, 16th for USA and 1st-place for the Left coast - not bad for just playing around.

DiD you work the EA-RTTY Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?