WQ6X Runs a near-Negligible NAQP RTTY Contest

Over the years, I have grown increasingly fond of RTTY radiosport contests. 

 
While I thoroughly adore 30 and 48-hour RTTY GiGs, the NAQP RTTY
is the perfect 10-hour exercise (only multi-OP stations run 12-hours).  

This mid-July event seemed destined for a late start right from the beginning.  S&P'ing and calling
CQ during the first hour yielded nothing.  Assuming poor band condx, the decision was to open the contest with the mandatory 2-hour off-time, leaving the remaining 10-hours to do with as I please.

While the SFI + A/K-indexes seemed radio-favorable, 10-meters was a virtual no-show and

80-meters, while open, found almost no one playing in the low-band playpen (no RTTY on 160). 
As you can see, the SFI PLUMMETED - altho quietly so - during the contest period.  After the contest weekend, the storms rolled in.  In many cases, RTTY copy can occur during Space-WX storms thanks to the specific decode algorithms in use - some can translate thru noise better than others.

 

The preferred RTTY setup for WQ6X utilizes a RigExpert PLUS to interface the Yaesu FT-2000
to an archaic Windoze-7 computer running a REV-locked version of N1MM+ along with the latest update of the MMTTY decoding software.

When it was all over, WQ6X managed a 2nd place to KX3H - I thot KX3 was a QRP transceiver.

DiD YOU work the July-2023 NAQP RTTY Contest?

Is WQ6X/QRP in YOUR LoG?

NEWSFLASH !!

According to the National Contest Journal (NCJ), WQ6X too a 2nd-place
in the QRP Assisted category.

WQ6X Works the World Championship - from the Sidelines

Every July of year in radiosport, the mixed-mode worldwide HF Championship GiG runs for 24-hours beginning at 12:00z.  Every 4th year the WRTC Championship occurs at a pre-chosen operating QTH.  Last year's 2022 GiG (from Italy) was postponed to July 2023 and is now behind us. 
59 two person teams competed from identical tents and antenna systems using their own
favorite radios, using the IARU HF Championship as it backdrop and playing field.

While the world watched (and joined in the radio signal pool), we looked for unique Italian
callsigns, such as I49K or I44D, while the world worked the world in/around them. 
The team of N5ZO/KI6RRN represented the San Diego area.

Dennis (N6KI) organized
a 6-person Multi-single team for this 24-hour event - all running remotely.

I ran two diametrically opposed operator shifts:

• 2pm to 5pm Saturday afternoon running the HIGH bands (10, 15 & 20).
• 2am to 5am Sunday morning - running 20,40 & 80 - to the end of contest.
• 
  

The Elecraft K3/0 unit in Concord is switchable between ANZA Stations 1 & 2 as well as a station
in Ramona.  Both stations are located on in-the-clear hilltops in the San Bernardino mountains of Southern California.  With excellent locations (and even more excellent antenna arrays), running
QRP operations from these locations is actually a JoY.

During "in-between" hours, WQ6X ran QRP from KN6NBT's medium-gun station atop
the mountain-top in Ramona (San Bernardino area of So. California).  The original idea
was to run mixed mode until I quickly realized QRP Cw alone is all I could manage for
that given weekend.

While Space-WX numbers were theoretically quite good, the reality is that
DX propagation left a lot to be desired.

DiD YOU work the IARU HF Championship?

What Bands/Modes DiD you work?

How many of the 59 competition stations did You work?

Is NX6T or WQ6X/QRP in YOUR LoG?

Even Further Implications from Listening to the DR.

I've written 2 Blogs around a response the QST DR. Joel Hallas W1ZR (now SK) wrote in
2014 in response to my question regarding the cascading of units that process received audio.  

• [X] - The DR Validates Cascading Filters
• [X] - More Lessons Learned from Listening to the Dr.
• [X] - Radiosport: Learning - It's ALL about Learning - Part 2

Rather than out right answer my question, he gave us information allowing evaluation
of the cascade situation for ourselves.  For cascading to actually match the theoretical,
we assume there is no D.C. interaction between the devices being cascaded.

The equipment setup I use with the portable setup @W7AYT's QTH brings together a morass
of disparate Analog and DSP equipment; each with its own power requirements, as well as its
own approach to signal ground paths.  This can lead to what are known as "Ground Loops", essentially D.C. interaction between devices.  Ground Loops can introduce hum, signal 
attenuation and occasionally "PoPs" and "crackling" noises.

Because most analog audio filters utilize OP-amp IC's, they can be prone to overloading, resulting
in distortion and unintended feedback.  A major downside of cascading different style devices is that
[so-called] "ground loops" can be introduced unexpectedly, exacerbating this problem considerably.  While attempting to resolve a time-delay artifact problem between analog and DSP devices, it occurred to me that the device order might be contributing to the ground-loop problem.

Earlier this month, I put the Radio Shaft 32-2059 15-levels/ch equalizer back into the FT-2000
audio line.  Of course, I am again confronted with a similar sort of inquiry regarding the proper equipment cascading.  Which is the "correct" order?:

• FT-2000 ===> Stereo Equalizer ===> External Audio Filters.
  - OR -
• FT-2000 ===> External Audio Filters ===> Stereo Equalizer.

Eliminating "ground loop" hum is a major goal.  While we can set the audio cutoff in each channel to <200 Hz to 0 (ZERO) just prior to the output mixer, the REAL question is whether it would be more advantageous (effective) to EQ-out the ground loops BE-4 the external filter audio chain or AFTER. 
I guess it all depends on "where" in the audio line the ground loops are being introduced.

When I tested the filter configuration at my Alameda office, (this Blog's opening picture), there were NO ground loops.  The Equalizer comes with Low-CUT buttons for Left and Right stereo channel, which theoretically, is all we should need.  

Altho I originally purchased the Radio Shaft equalizer for $49 a dozen years ago, they can still be found for sale around $100 and are WELL worth the investment.  The company produced over a dozen different equalizer models, often twice or more as expensive as the 32-2059, however the others are all too KLUNKY and frankly not as aesthetically pleasing as this unit.

In the Blog entries on Stereo CW, I could have just as easily used a stereo equalizer instead of the Autek QF-1A filter pair that I currently prefer.  Those filters take the concept to the next level thanks
to their overall PEAK/Notch capabilities.

Have you ever played around with external Stereo Equalizers with receive and/or transmit audio?

What Discoveries DiD YOU Discover?

WQ6X Racks one up for RAC Running QRP (no less)

For 24-hour radiosport contests, after All Asian and Field Day is a relaxing favorite approach
to officially kicking off the Summer Radiosport Contest Season.  What made THIS RAC GiG so unique was WQ6X's decision to run this iteration at the QRP power level.  I have run nearly a dozen radiosport events @QRP power-levels this year, most recently being the CQ Weird Prefix (WPX) contest in May and the All Asian Cw GiG during the weekend before Field Day.

For WQ6X, the Canadian RAC GiG qualifies as a domestic contest, making a QRP-run more
effective overall.  During last year's RAC GiG, not enough attention was made to calling "CQ RAC".  This year, not only was it a good idea, calling CQ allowed advertising the QRP state by sending:
"CQ RAC  WQ6X  WQ6X/QRP.  On Ssb, I verbalized the QRP in the F1-Key CQ message. 
This approach worked in other contests and worked equally well in this more-or-less domestic Canadian GiG (altho we can work anyone anywhere).

Thanks to the 3-element Stepp-IR and 2-element Shorty-40 Yagi's (@ 55'), dozens of callers
had a hard time believing I really was QRP, until they looked of my posted score on the
3830 Scores website.

This year, the multi-OP Operation for the San Diego Contest Club happened by running our usual
multi-Single Operation from WA6TQT's Anza location however we used the N7NR callsign for a different kind of change.

While Canada is the main focus in the RAC Contest (10-points per contact w/Canadian stations),
non-Canadians are worth 2-points each.  That means we can actually get QSO-credit when Billy-Bob (and his brother Barney) call-in out of their usual boredom (Bore-dumb?).  Additionally, we score
20-points for every Canadian RAC station in the log.  Being a mixed-mode contest, we can receive double QSO-credit for contacts made on BOTH Cw and Ssb.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X took a 2nd-place in the QRP category while N7NR took 1st-place for the non-Canadian Multi-Single category.

Running QRP was difficult enough to accomplish on Cw, running Ssb as well seemed to be more difficult than I would
have liked for this GiG, relegating this RAC entry to a Cw-mode only.

Running as N7NR, we took advantage of the opportunity to run Ssb as well as Cw, although with the periodic pulsing internet dropouts, slipping a voice exchange in between those dropouts was sometimes a tricky timing event.

Nevertheless, the RAC Canada Day GiG certainly brought us a lot of next door neighbor radio activity.

The play around in our CQP and we play around in their RAC GiGs (Summar and Winter).

DiD YOU work the Canadian RAC contest?

How many VE and VE-RAC stations are in YOUR Log?

WQ6X SURPASSES 600 Blog Posts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While wandering thru over 10 years of Blog posts, it was noticed that we JUST surpassed the 600th WQ6X Blog Post.  I was so busy writing material that I paid no attention to the statistics "behind" the posted material itself.

 

As you can see, in the 11 years submitting contest Blog entries, during the 1st four years
I was discovering the various skills need to bullshit Blog effectively.

From participating in Toastmasters Table Topics exercises, I learned the Art (if you can call it that) of "hip-pocketed" expression.  I recently gave three 1+ minute speech evaluations for
a 1/2-hour Toastmaster speaker bureau presentation.

Having access to the NeuroLogiK Solutions SNAP-Shot software (I am the designer), virtually any screen being viewed can in some way be captured and converted into some sort
of PIC file for future use.

It is NoT uncommon to seemingly randomly capture a screen picture with the idea that "MaYbe" I can utilize it in a Blog post at
some later date.

 

Essentially, the WQ6X Contest Blog is my personal diary describing radiosport operations, as well as write-UPs on some of the technical aspects of what goes on behind the scenes to make it all happen.

Further behind the scenes, there are over a DOZEN Blog entries in various stages of completion.  Sometimes, I will get what seems to be a BRIGHT Blog Idea, only to discover there are actually only more-or-less 4 paragraphs of actual material.  Languishing in the unpublished archive, eventually supporting material is discovered and another Blog entry finally gets posted.
Today we also passed the 81,000 posts read statistics.

What about YOU?

Have YOU ever written up your radiosport contest exploits?

If NoT - Why Knot?

WQ6X Stumbles-around a Weirdly Experimental WeeKend

Similar to the previous weekend, the 2nd weekend in June is more-or-less another more-or-less minor contest weekend; altho if I was a Portuguese radio amateur, I might think otherwise.  The original idea was to run another remote QRP weekend, until 3 0-point QSOs (in a row) convinced me to run this weekend's events as an LP (Low Power) station, guaranteeing at LEAST a handful of QSOs make
it to the WQ6X LoGs.

This weekend was ALSO the weekend I discovered that the Ramona station seems to sometimes
drop 1/2 of the 1st-character sent by the N1MM keyboard macros.  The solution SEEMS to be putting a SPACE character at the beginning of each macro line - so far, so GooD.

When it was all over, even tho my scores were miniscule, I submitted LoG files anyway.
That let's the contest committees that we did INDEED make an attempt in their event.

DiD YOU participate in the GACW contest or Portugal Day?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Stumbles-around a Weirdly-Weird Weird Prefix WeeKend

This was WQ6X's first QRP WPX contest GiG - EVER - not to mention remote-QRP.
In between sleeping and OP-shifts with NX6T, as WQ6X I found 18 hours to run remotely from KN6NBT's QTH in Ramona California. This QTH is where the exiled tower trailer from NX6T in Fallbrook is now living happily. The same 3-el Stepp-IR and Mosley Shorty-40 was reprised at
55' atop the motor-crank tower.  For 80, a double-bazooka at least got us on the band - barely. 

80 & 10 meters were BiG disappointments for this GiG. On the PLUS side, having 15-meters
open until well after 05:00z and 20-meters open to somewhere all night, were SO AWEsome! 
40-meters provided reasonable propagation all around except that it was riddled with a low-level
(yet noticeably annoying) atmospheric noise-cascade.

A K3/0 mini in my Alameda office allowed me to get started shortly after the contest started.
Then, for the rest of the weekend, I ran both the NX6T and WQ6X remote operations using
a standard K3/0 box at W7AYT's QTH in Concord (CM78xx). 

If my signal seemed a bit uncharacteristically choppy, we can blame the random bursts of internet-pulsing on the Concord end; a problem that doesn't usually exist with the K3/0-Mini in Alameda. 
It turns out the dropping 1st-character situation was caused by settings to the RRC-1225 internet box.  The problem was easily resolved by putting a space character before each sent-exchange; would that other problems be so easy - then again, that's what the EASY button is for.

While running QRP was indeed a challenge, I am indebted to those kilowatt stations who sometimes stood by and gave me a momentarily QUIET frequency to slip my QRP-signal into.

Thanks to the Contest Online Scoreboard, another look at the hourly stats is made available to scrutinize.

Tracking scoreboard progress makes things more enjoyable as the contest event moves through its 48 hours. 

 

Some hours were WAY more productive than others.  Fortunately, the Space-WX was more-or-less favorable for the entire 48-hours. 
Lately, there have been
a number of short (but intense) solar happenings during contest periods.

When it was all over, the raw score submissions seem to indicate:

• NX6T as a Multi-2 placed: 12th W.W., 6th for USA/NA,
  1st for SW Division and 1st for W6/CA.
• WQ6X as SOA-QRP placed: 12th W.W., 9th for USA/NA, 2nd for SW Division and 1st for W6/CA.

  

DiD YOU work the CQ 2023 Weird Prefix (WPX) contest?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?