WQ6X FAKES another March multi-Contest Weekend

This last weekend was one of those ad-HOC seat-of-the-pants radiosport weekends, where technically, I had no real CLUE where I was headed throughout the weekend - I was just playing around, trying things out.  I've written ad-nauseum regarding the importance of reading the rules
before EVERY radiosport contest as they are all more-or-less different.  I shoulda re-read my
own Sept. 2020 Blog about reading the rules first.  ([CLICK HERE] to read that piece)

For the BARTG GiG, I failed to note the contest starting time as 02:00z (2 hours past the 00:00z
time applicable to so many radiosport events).  Arriving in Concord at 7:30pm (02:30z), I thought
I had missed the 15m/10m band openings at 00:00z; when in fact, the contest hadn't even started yet.  Conversely, thinking the contest was over at 5pm on Sunday, I turned down the radio and enjoyed a nearly 2-hour nap, awaking just in time to hear the final calling stations @01:55z.

Also this last weekend, the Russian DX contest (Cw & Ssb) began @12:00z; for whatever reason, participation was [not-surprisingly] significantly down from the event held last year (and before) at this time.  The VA QSO party was also happening during the weekend, with only a handful of VA stations hearable from the Concord location; in retrospect, I shoulda remoted in to the Anza station (WA6TQT) for better access to the east coast.  Of course as I always say: "Maybe next Year".

With the rapidly declining Solar Flux Index (SFI) during the weekend (down to 94), 10-meters
was all but a no-show.  Calling CQ while sweeping the Long John yagi produced only 2 calling stations - Bummer Dewd!

Friday and Saturday evenings were amazingly lacking in BARTG activity.  Asian stations on
40-meters were astonishingly absent; strange when you consider that the Russian "K" and "M" beacons could be heard in the SF East Bay by 06:00z.  Seeing how the E-Coasters had all gone
to bed by this time, it made sense for me to sleep as well, returning to 40-meters around 10:00z,
in time to work the rare couple of Asian stations and the E-Coasters just waking up.

While propagation to Europe was generally POOR, noticeably missing were Russian stations,
altho a handful of R0 & UA0 stations made it into the logs.  Because of the war situation in Ukraine, the BARTG rules page sported the following disclaimer:

Amateur radio is, by tradition, non-political.
However, the recent actions of the Russian Federation and
their military have made it impossible to maintain this position.

Hence, in line with the action taken by other amateur
radio organisation, for contests administered by BARTG and
until further notice, all contest logs received from stations in
the Russian Federation or Belarus will be treated as check logs.

Note that ALL stations are allowed to participate, altho their logs will not be considered for operating awards.  The war situation may also explain the lack of European participation in the Russian DX contest.

While it is rare that political situations invade radiosport activities, remember that 2 weekends back the Ukrainian RTTY contest was CANCELLED completely; I guess they had more pressing matters to deal with than looking for multipliers in a radiosport competition.  While we may have issues with our elected officials, at LEAST, we're not being BOMBed everyday; altho some people DO get Bombed on a regular basis.

Overall, while I accomplished significantly little this last radiosport weekend, it was a perfect weekend (overall).  I enjoyed 2 days away from my Alameda office and got to play around with the FT-2000 and the latest incarnation of the WQ6X Stereo Cw filter arrangement.  

My confused operation last weekend reflects the rampant political confusion happening all around the world.  Somehow, radiosport events keep on happening; we dance and twist or operations around all the nonsense.

REMEMBER: Radiosport is Emergency Preparedness.
We will be communication-ready in the event that "they" screw something up.

What about YOU?
Do YOU still engage in radiosport events?

If NoT, WHY KnoT?