WQ6X Wangles another QRP CQ WW Cw Contest

November months that sport 5 contest weekends bring us the 48-hour CQ W.W. Cw contest during
a weekend set aside exclusively for this event.  Operators who do not work Cw were probably oblivious to the 10,000+ station pandemonium happening at the bottom of every HF radio band.  Behind the scenes was remnants of solar storms happening during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Logistically, this year's contest GiG was a not-insignificant challenge.  Getting permission to run
from Anza STN-1 (@WA6TQT) offered the first opportunity to test a new SD-100 antenna controller box for a 40-meter Stepp-IR yagi.  (While it worked flawlessly during the contest, according to N6KI,
it failed shortly after the contest ended.  DiD I "wear it out"?)  All that aside, the plan was to run the CQ Worldwide Cw contest using QRP power (5-watts), leveraging the wide array of stacked-yagi arrays, available at the Anza QTH.

The first four hours of the contest were run using the K3/0-Mini from my Alameda office. 
An "exploding toilet" in the building (a long story) ruined that last hour, motivating me to pack
up early and move the setup to W7AYT's Concord QTH.  Altho the internet there has been "jittery" lately, at least there were no odiferous smells to contend with.  (As it turns out, the internet held up quite nicely until just after the contest end.)

Starting at 00:00z (4pm), the operating goal was to open on 10-meters, moving down to 15, 20 & 40 as the evening progressed.  While the SFI was only 120 (it jumped to 160-190 immediately after the contest), the upper bands (on the West Coast at any rate) were quite productive.  The variety of stations encountered was truly amazing, putting 78 countries overall in the WQ6X contest log.

Being a 48-hour contest, there were numerous opportunities to leverage each HF band (including 160).  Running QRP power, I often open each band with Search & Pounce (S&P), picking up the
easy "juicy" DX stations before a wide-open run frequency (is there really such a thing?) can be found. 

Unfortunately, QRP signals invite unscrupulous operators to "move-in next door" and fire-up their KW+ CQ calls (HELP!)  Several times I had to shift frequency 200hz and use the F-11 key
("QRL QSY") to wake them up.

After the contest, reading the various SOAPBOX submissions found numerous different
takes on the quality of band conditions and propagation.

When it was all over, preliminary indications are that WQ6X took 5th-place over all
and 2nd-place for USA & North America.

DiD YOU work the CQ WW DX Cw contest?

How many Countries and Zones did you work?

Is WQ6X in YOUR Log?

WQ6X Celebrates a 3x Win in the California QSO Party

Thanks to the use of Cabrillo files, producing CQP contest results happens in 60 days (instead of
3 - 6 months).  For the 2025 CQP GiG I managed to orchestrate being a part of 4 unique radiosport operations, 2 from Alameda County and the "main event" W6R from Ramona (San Diego County),
as well as the NX6T multi-OP from WA6TQT's QTH in Riverside County.

To make it all work required precise timing of each operation in relation to the other events. 
The goal was to be part of 4 1st-place operations.  Due to a multi-OP technicality, NX6T took
2nd-place, while the other GiGs all took a 1st-place in their respective categories.

Because the plan was to run as W6CF from Alameda County in the multi-OP Low Power category, before accomplishing that, I put WQ6X on the air from the W6CF station running QRP to surpass
the record set by WQ6X and WB6RUC in the 2024 CQP GiG.  While I was pleased with the W6CF operation, little did I know the operation would take 1st-place in the multi-Single Low Power category.

Putting in several hours for NX6T, our goal was 1st-place for Muli-single HP.  N5ZO (a single operator) claimed the multi-OP win, relegating NX6T to 2nd-place.  We challenged the single-OP
win in a Multi-OP category to no avail, being told that our challenge would be considered for 2026. 
For 2025, as they say "decisions of the judges is final".

The more important 4th event (running as W6R remote from Ramona) accomplished the goal
of setting another QRP record for San Diego County.  Also surprising was W6R's overall win for
the Single-OP [unassisted] QRP category.

DiD YOU work the 2025 California QSO Party?

Is W6CF, NX6T, WQ6X or W6R in YOUR Log?

Some ThoTs on CQ W.W. Cw

The CQ W.W. Cw contest has been a mixed-bag over the years.  In 2019, I published the equivalent of a Blast from the Past blog about the CQ W.W. Cw GiG  ([CLICK HERE] to read that.  As the 2025 GiG fast approaches, I found myself in reminisce mode regarding this event.  Here is what I came across:

• [X] - 2020 - WQ6X Dual-OPs the CQ Weird-wide Cw Contest
  
  
     Nothing fancy/eventful.  NX6T took 1st-place for San Diego.
  
  
• [X] - 2021 - WQ6X Wrangles a Wild CQ World-wide Contest
  
  
  With SFI=108, this was another HO-Hummer World Wide Contest.
  
  
• [X] - 2022 - WQ6X works another dual-OP CQ WW Contest
  
  
  Another Dual-OP with both NX6T & WQ6X taking 1st-place for W6.
  
  
• [X] - 2023 - WQ6X: Why I like 48-Hour Contests
  
  
  For some reason, WQ6X & NX6T did not play CQ W.W. Cw this year.
  
  
• [X] - 2024 - WQ6X Creeps thru another QRP CQ W.W. Dx CW ConTesT
  
  
  Running QRP, WQ6X managed a 2nd-place for the W6, even after
  having the score reduced by 18% due to logging errors - OUCH!

While the CQ WW Cw contest is a lot of fun, I will never set any records or post any real high scores. The GiG IS a lot of fun and enables the possibility of accomplishing DXCC (100+ countries) n one weekend.  More than for the ARRL Dx contests, the CQ WW GiG brings us numerous DX-pedition operations that occur JUST for this event.

Do YOU ever work the CQ W.W. DX Cw contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X sprints thru 1st-time QRP SPRINT from Anza

Because this is a 5-weekend month, the 4th weekend is relatively quiet (unless you are playing
in the LZ contest in Europe), there is only the NA SPRINT Ssb (4-hour) contest on Saturday afternoon/evening (depending on timezone).  A meeting of the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) and clients brought me to Alameda on Saturday.  

Rather than pack up all the remote access
equipment to run (an only) 4-hour contest in
Concord, the decision was to run the event from
my office, which sports a better internet connection anyway.  

Discovering the Ramona remote location to be
utilized by someone else, checking Anza STN-1 (@WA6TQT) found nothing happening, giving me access to the stacked yagi's on 20 & 40 meters
as well as an 80-meter 4-square array.

Also available was a 40-meter Stepp-IR which can
be run separately or in phase with the stacked yagi's,
providing simultaneous coverage when unsure which
direction propagation is favoring.
It would seem that the antenna switch software failures from last weekend never materialized during the SPRINT contest - Whew!.

Running ANY domestic contest QRP is a challenge unto itself, however the SPRINT contest makes
it an even more daunting operation.  Having access to stacked yagi's make all the difference (kinda), however with no internet spotting in this event, in the beginning it was not easy for stations for hear WQ6X calling CQ, relegating me to calling other stations at first.

Nearly 2-hours netted only 47 QSOs in the log on 20-meters while waiting for 40-meters to open up well enough for a QRP signal to make a reach eastward.  During the next hour, only 12 QSOs made
it to the log on 40-meters - pretty pathetic.  The next 1/2 hour scouting 75-meters produced only 3 QSOs with CA, AZ and CO - switching the 80-meter 4-square between NE and SE seemed to make little difference.  Reluctantly, I spent 20-minutes on 40, moving back to 75m for the last 10 minutes only to snag one more station in CO.

While my original goal was 100 QSOs, considering the weakness of the band conditions,
I am resigned to the fact running QRP (even with an antenna farm), 76 QSOs is a reasonable accomplishment, considering that I was "winging it" throughout the entire SPRINT contest.

DiD YOU work the Ssb NA SPRINT?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Negotiates a Weird, Tricky Quad November Sweepstakes

wOw!  It doesn't get any more difficult than this!  This last weekend's Sweepstakes phone
contest provided the opportunity to operate four different style Sweepstakes operations:

1. Run QRP as W6R from Ramona (SDG Section)
   
2. Run LP as WQ6X from the SF Bay area (EB Section)
3. Run LP as K6QLF briefly from EB section.
4. Put hours in for NX6T's Multi-OP operation from Anza (ORG Section).

Starting @21:00z (1pm), the decision was made to begin by running WQ6X from the East Bay (EB) section.  10-meters was open domestically encouraging swinging the yagi to different directions and calling CQ.  

The usual $13 eBay purchased
hi-fidelity mic developed a cable problem.  The question was how to replace it with the Heil-Pro headset without having to wear it as a headset considering that I prefer wearing classic OWNZONE wireless headsets.

This being an Ssb contest, I mounted
a classic Heil-Pro headset on a classic Electro Voice 664 turned into a cute microphone stand.  Because N1MM plays .WAV files, most of the contest was run by function keys.  Eventually,
54 QSOs made it to the log.

About the time 10-meters was fading, the Ramona station became available for operating as W6R
to fire-up on 15-meters running QRP.  The goal was to S&P and then run frequencies when it was clear that W6R was being heard.  A recent addition to Sweepstakes allows us to self-spot our callsign in order to be seen on the bandmaps.

Starting @01:00z (5pm) I took over the operator spot for NX6T, running remote from the WA6TQT
site in Anza.  Everything ran fine until I attempted to rotate the KT-36 yagi to work KP2M at Radio Reef (where we won the ARRL RTTY-RU contest in 2014).  The antenna switch software dropped
out, requiring a complex restart.  It turns out a recent software update was poorly tested.  The switch server (on STN-1) would randomly terminate itself - first the RX would go silent, then the SWR would skyrocket.  Time lost troubleshooting this problem made for a barely productive operating session.

At 03:00z (7pm), it was back to W6R from Ramona on 40-meters - a huge relief from the
previous 2-hours.  The evening was spent bouncing between 40-meters (2-el. Shorty-40)
and 80-meters (Inverted Vee) - both @55' atop the hill in Ramona.

By 07:45z, most of USA was sound asleep so I also caught some sleep to be ready for a 1-hour operation @11:00z (3am), ideally looking for mults.  Just like the CW Sweepstakes 2 weekends ago, my operating stint was a complete HO-Hummer except for VE9KK calling in on my CQ, giving us the NB (New Brunswick) multiplier.

After another sleep break, because the Ramona station was committed to a new operator, I found time to put a few QSOs in the log for WQ6X before taking the 18:00z (10am) to 22:00z (2pm) shift for NX6T.  

The goal during running NX6T was to run frequencies and then S&P when no one was calling in.  10-Meters was quite open as was 15-meters when 10 was worked out.  A few S&P QSOs on 20-meters made the quiet periods at least a bit productive.  Unlike the early morning, 120 QSOs made it into the NX6T log during my 4-hour shift.  

About every 25 minutes, the antenna software server would stop working requiring going through the restart procedure which we had down to approximately 2-minutes, altho occasionally a couple of stations were stranded in the process.

Afterwards I made a brief Sweepstakes entry as K6QLF putting 4 QSOs into its log before discovering that the Ramona site was again available to wrap the contest as W6R.  

Starting at 00:34z (5:30pm) W6R finally made an appearance on 20-meters. 
Within an hour, after 20 QSOs the band "went long" encouraging the exodus down
to 40-meters, where after an hour only 7 new callsigns made it to the log.  At 02:38z there
was just enough time to call CQ on 3779.79 for 8 west coast QSOs in the log and snag SB section (Santa Barbara) as a final multiplier (#45).

The amazing thing is how many stations told me that W6R was their 1st (and maybe only) contact from San Diego (SDG) section.  Likewise, when running as NX6T, I was also amazed at how many times we were the 1st-station for the Orange (ORG) section.  Other "rare" sections in California were LAX and SF - HuH?  wOw!

When it was all over, it would seem that W6R took 1st-place for San Diego (SDG)
section, while NX6T took an overall 1st-place for Multi-OP running low power.

DiD YOU work the 2025 November Sweepstakes phone contest?

Is NX6T, W6R, K6QLF or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

BLAST's from the PAST: November Sweepstakes Ssb (Part 2)

The days preceding the 2025 ARRL November Sweepstakes ssb contest, I got to looking back in the Ssb Sweepstakes past, since I wrote Part 1 of this Blog.  ([CLICK HERE] to reread that Blog entry.)
Since then, I have written numerous Blogs about Ssb Sweepstakes.  Here is what I found looking back in the archive:

• [X] 2018 - WQ6X Signs up for another SSB Sweepstakes
• [X] 2019 - SS-Ssb 2019: The Radiosport GiG that Faded into Obscurity
• [X] 2020 - WQ6X Survives another Frazzled Dual-OP Sweepstakes
• [X] 2021 - WQ6X Wanders thru a Weirdly Wonderful Ssb Sweepstakes
• [X] 2022 - WQ6X dual-OP's another ad-HOC Ssb Sweepstakes
• [X] 2023 - For WQ6X SS-Ssb is FULL of Surprises
• [X] 2024 - What Do We SaY about Ssb November Sweepstakes?
  
  

1. 2018 - WQ6X Signs up for another SSB Sweepstakes
   
   It is amazing to look at the Solar Flux Index (SFI) in 2018 which was coming up to 75.
   The antenna system @W7AYT's QTH underwent a complete overhaul enabling WQ6X
   to operate from EB section when not putting hours for NX6T.  While the 3000-point score
   won no awards, at least the new antenna configuration got a thorough workout.
   
   
2. 2019 - SS-Ssb 2019: The Radiosport GiG that Faded into Obscurity
   
   
   This Blog post accomplish a pre-blog look back at Sweepstakes events I have run in the distant past.  Overall, the operation that weekend was a tough run, with bands fading out prematurely.   I bitched about the time wasted by saying "PLEASE COPY", made it necessary for repeats of Check and Section.  The final result was a 1st-place for EB section and a 2nd for PAC Division.
   
   
3. 2020 - WQ6X Survives another Frazzled Dual-OP Sweepstakes
   
   
   The 2020 Sweepstakes was not much to get excited about other than taking another
   1st-place for EB section and a 2nd-place for PAC division.  I would've expected more competition, but evidently not.  On the NX6T end of the contest, it would seem that we
   took a VERY CLOSE 2nd-place behind WW4LL with a possible S-West Division win if
   the Arizona Outlaws (AOC) were "asleep at the wheel".
   
   
4. 2021 - WQ6X Wanders thru a Weirdly Wonderful Ssb Sweepstakes
   
   
   This Sweepstakes was not super exciting, however NX6T and WQ6X both turned in super adequate results.  NX6T claimed 3rd-place overall and took a 1st-place for the Southwest Division and San Diego section, while WQ6X earned 2nd-place for PAC Division and another 1st-place for East Bay (EB) section.  Almost more important was enhancing the use of stereo Ssb audio to make frequency running more effective.
   
   
   
5. 2022 - WQ6X dual-OP's another ad-HOC Ssb Sweepstakes
   
   
   While this was truly an ad-HOC Sweepstakes operation, there is nothing ad-HOC about the results: NX6T took another 1st place for ORG section and Southwest division.  Not only did WQ6X take 1st-place for East Bay (EB) section, but surprisingly received a PAC Division
   winner plaque in the mail nearly a year later.  Another ad-HOC aspect of this operation
   was turning an Electro Voice 664 into a mic stand for the Heil headset microphone.
   
   
   
6. 2023 - For WQ6X SS-Ssb is FULL of Surprises
   
   
   For this event the goal was to run QRP remote from Ramona and set a Southwest Division section record, while assisting NX6T to a similar division win.  When it was all over NX6T DiD take the division and a strong 2nd-place to WX4W.  WQ6X of course won the division but set
   a division record.  The BiG surprise was finding out that the measly 46k point score was #1 Overall in the SOU (Single Op Unlimited) QRP category.  wOw!  How cool is THAT?
   
   
   
7. 2024 - What Do We SaY about Ssb November Sweepstakes?
   
   
   This year's November Sweepstakes event was a hopeful reprise of last year's division
   wins and maybe more.  It was also another opportunity to perfect the art of Stereo Ssb,
   a hardware technique I have written about several times ([CLICK HERE]).  When it was all
   over, NX6T took 4th-place as a multi-OP while WQ6X took 3rd in the SOU QRP category.  However, BOTH operations scored wins for the Southwest Division - how COOL is THAT?

With all of this behind me, there are now plans to run yet another triple-OP operation for this year's November Sweepstakes phone contest.

Have YOU run the November Sweepstakes phone contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Weaves a Weird WAE + JIDX Contest Weekend

Between the two Sweepstakes weekends, is a tri-cluster of disparate radiosport events that
are [theoretically at least] worth spending OP-time engaging with.  The classic trio of GiGs is:

• [X] - WAE RTTY Contest
• [X] - Japanese JIDX Ssb Contest
• [X] - OK/OM Cw Contest

An unfortunate under-pinning to the weekend were numerous Space-WX storms, that altho short
in duration, left geomagnetic artifacts (short-fading in particular), creating an extra challenge for readable copy.

Because the decision was to run remote from the Anza (WA6TQT) QTH, I had to provide radio
control and RTTY decoding on the client side of the connection.  This was tricky as the MSI gaming laptop used for the weekend has only a single combined mic/headphone socket.  To enable split audio for running RTTY, I moved an old Toshiba Dynadok  port replicator from its home computer
(an ancient Windoze-7 Toshiba laptop) to the USB line on the MSI laptop.  At the Concord location, using swapped audio requires the use of audio isolation blocks to prevent ground loops. Using the Dynadok provides the necessary isolation w/o signal degradation.

Plugging a classic RigExpert PLUS unit into the MSI USB line provided computer control but no PTT (I was too lazy to patch the RigExpert ACC PTT-line connection to the footswitch jack on the control head - VOX to the rescue, altho getting the mic/vox settings adjusted properly required delicate menu settings.

A significant advantage of running radiosport from the Anza location is having access to stacked Yagi's on 40 thru 10-meters and a 4-Square vertical array for 80-meters.  All these antennas resulted in 31 countries being worked in only 17 CQ Zones.  Other than Brazil, most of South America was poorly represented in the WAE contest (they were prolly futilely looking for non-existent JA stations
in the JIDX contest).

While STN-1 is generally more complex to navigate, because most of the time was spent running RTTY, most of the complexity was on the local end.  Another advantage to controlling the radio locally is being able to put N1MM in auto-CQ mode.  We have a policy of NoT running auto-CQ when we run N1MM from the remote end - if the internet connection were to disappear, the radio would be calling CQ on its own, theoretically forever.

During the WAE contest operating period, until the 07:00z JIDX start, solar storms obliterated band conditions, even on 40-meters and delayed an opening to Japan, prompting me to seek some sleep.  Somewhere around 10:00z, I heard many JA stations conversing amongst themselves, with very few actually calling CQ JIDX.  In the last year, this has become a noticeably increasing phenomenon.

To the JIDX contest committee's credit, they FINALLY have introduced a web log-submission page, eliminating the need to attach our log files to e-mails.  Unfortunately, clicking on all the other links (allegedly to view results of past contests and print certificates), took us to a BLANK page - evidently the rest of this website upgrade need LoTs of WORK.

The OK/OM contest was even worse, altho this was largely a function of poor propagation conditions leftover from the solar storms.  Because only 40-meter contacts were made, it made sense to submit a SOSB/40 LP log.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X took 23rd place overall, 10th for NA, 9th for
USA and 1st for W6 - not bad for cobbling together a workable RTTY equipment conglomeration.

DiD YOU work the WAE-RTTY, JIDX-Ssb or OK/OM-Cw contests?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wings yet another Triple-OP CW Sweepstakes

Typically, before a major radiosport contest, I visit the hosting website for the upcoming
event, reviewing scores from recent years and investigating the possibility of setting a
new score record - which becomes more difficult each year.

For Cw Sweepstakes 2025, I created 3 operating goals:

1. Reprise WQ6X's Southwest Division win, while taking a shot at besting the all-time
   high score for the Southwest Division set by WQ6X in the 2024 Sweepstakes event.
2. Operate the FT-2000 from W7AYT's QTH, taking 1st-place for the East Bay (EB) ARRL section.
3. Put in some op-time with team-NX6T, securing a repeat of last year's surprising overall
   Multi-Single LP win.

Leading (leaning?) into the contest weekend was a series of geomagnetic storms contributing
to higher noise levels, as well as some devastatingly slow-fading; add to that randomly increasing internet dropouts, made Sunday a long, overall frustrating operating period on Sunday.

If I suddenly disappeared on you, only to come back a minute later, that was due

to randomly repeating internet drop-outs at the Concord location I was running from.  

During several pileups the station would come back to me only to have my internet drop 

at that very moment and I would miss the QSO - Bummer Dewd.

As a warmup exercise, K6QLF was activated mainly on 10-meters, sweeping the 3-el. 10-meter Long John yagi while calling CQ.  To best last year's SOULP score for East Bay required making 50+ QSOs in 33+ ARRL sections, which was accomplished later in the day on Saturday.

After a short break, it was time to dial the radio in Ramona down to 5-watts for an SOUQRP run, putting WQ6X on the air once again from San Diego (SDG) section.  By the time I got started, 10-meters was largely over for the day.  15 and then 20-meters became the afternoon sanctuary looking for an early solid opening on 40-meters - which occurred from 02:00z to 04:00z. 

 
For the rest of the evening, it was a switch off between 40 and 80-meters.

My biggest beef was stations who moved in on my QRP signal 100-Hz away and called CQ. 
Just because I sport a weaker signal does not mean the frequency is open. If they had sent "QRL?" FIRST, they woulda hear me instantly reply "QRL QSY", but that rarely happened.

team-NX6T had enough capable operators that WQ6X wasn't needed until my usual 3am
(11:00z) shift (6am on the East coast) for 2-hours.  While my QSO count was hardly impressive,
a call from VE9KK (NB section) on 7031.69 @12:42z made my shift worth the early morning operation.  Looking at the after contest submitted scores, it would seem that for now, NX6T
squeaked out a 1st-place.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X managed another 1st-place for SDG & S-West Division and a 4th-place overall - NoT BaD for dividing my time between three different operations.

DiD YOU work the CW November Sweepstakes?

Is WQ6X, K6QLF or NX6T in YOUR Log?

BLAST's from the PAST: November Sweepstakes Cw (Part 2)

Why November Sweepstakes is [still] my FAVorite Radiosport Contest

On the eve of the 2025 ARRL November Sweepstakes contest, I got to looking back in the Cw Sweepstakes past, since I wrote Part 1 of this Blog.  ([CLICK HERE] to reread that Blog entry.)
Since then, I have written numerous Blogs about Sweepstakes Cw, altho amazingly a couple of
those years are unaccounted for Blog-wise.
Nevertheless, here is what we DO have:

• [X] 2017 - WQ6X wings and wins another Sweepstakes Contest
• [X] 2019 - For CW Sweepstakes WQ6X LooKs back to Move Forward
• [X] 2019 - WQ6X Wings another Cw Sweepstakes GiG
• [X] 2020 - WQ6X sets the stage to sweep another Sweepstakes
• [X] 2021 - WQ6X Sweeps up another November Sweepstakes
• [X] 2022 - Some Sweeping Thoughts about sweeping-up in Sweepstakes
• [X] 2022 - WQ6X Successfully Operates a 1st-time triple-OP Sweepstakes
• [X] 2023 - What Do We SaY about Cw Sweepstakes?
• [X] 2024 - WQ6X Successfully Navigates another NEAT QRP November Sweepstakes

The November Sweepstakes Phone (Ssb) contest comes in 10 days. 
LooK for another Blast from the Past Blog documenting that variation.

Do YOU work the November Sweepstakes contests?
Is WQ6X (or one of my 1x1 callsigns) in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Works a WEIRD 2-Band CQ WW Ssb Contest Weekend

Prior to configuring things for the weekend's 48-hour CQ WW Ssb contest, I was motivated to
look at the records page for the 6th call area on the CQ contest page.  For running Low Power,
the 20-meter and 40-meter records were just "begging to be broken".  The plan was to run ONLY
on 20 & 40-meters and then submit a log for the highest score, which of course was for 20-meters.
This ties in beautifully with the new SO2B (Single OP 2-Band) award being setup outside of the
regular CQ WW contest scoring.

It has been years since team-NX6T has participated in a CQ WW Dx contest - be it CW or Ssb. 
This fact made WA6TQT's ANZA Stn-1 available for the weekend.  The original goal was to run a record-setting QRP operation.  Setting up the K3/0-Mini remote access and the N1MM+ software
an hour before the 00:00z start, tuning around the bands, dozens of DX stations were noted calling
CQ to "stake out" their run frequency.

When the contest began at 00:00z, the bands erupted with such a frantic/seemingly chaotic frenzy,
I knew right then my idea of surviving 48-hours running QRP was going to be largely futile.  Plans were quickly regrouped with a new goal to set a 20-meter and/or 40-meter LP (Low Power) record
for the W6 call area.  While a new 20-meter record was indeed accomplished, it took precedence
over the 40-meter (which would have indeed set a record had I submitted it that way).

From the contest beginning, 40-meters was surprisingly open to Western EU and NW Africa,
as well as the Caribbean.  I've rarely encountered this phenomenon so early on the West coast
so early in a contest event, then again, I don't usually have access to stacked Yagi's.

Running Ssb contests on 40-meters seems to encounter all manner of RTTY-style stations around 7.135 which are rarely heard midweek or during non-contest weekends, which leads me to believe that their presence is certainly not a random occurrence.  

At 11:09z I heard what sounded like a "data percolator" on 7.137 followed by high-speed RTTY on 7.135 10-minutes later.  Earlier, on 7.220.72 Cw code groups were heard @07:06, with a warbling carrier all coming from the NW.  Later (09:00z) the Voice of Korea appeared on 7.220 - any correlation?

I chose to run the entire contest period using the 4 voice keyer memories in the Elecraft K3 radio.  While it saved my voice, it unfortunately caused a LoT of confusion when foreign stations heard my "Whiskey Queen Six X-Ray" as "3 Fox Quebec" or "W3 Quebec".  To make things a little easier, when they got it right, I would press Function Key #1 (F-Key 1) to play out "ROGER, ROGER, ROGER!"

While I enjoyed the event immensely, I was totally relieved when 00:00z came Sunday
afternoon putting an end to the CQ WW Ssb contest.  Amazingly, for 2+ minutes
after the end, many stations were still making QSOs.  HuH?

DiD YOU work the CQ WW Ssb contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wanders through another 5-contest radiosport weekend

It would seem that RTTY contests often occur in clusters, in early spring and then again in Autumn. 
This year, the 3rd weekend in October brought us the Japanese-based JARTS RTTY contest as a
48-hour backdrop and playing field for 2 state QSO parties, the Stew Perry SP-160 contest and the Worked All Germany (WAG) GoG, which as it turns out, I had little time for.  The decision was made
to run all the events using STN-1 at the WA6TQT superstation in Anza California.  

Because Anza is technically not RTTY-equipped, to make it all work, the RRC-1258 box (which controls the K3 radio on the other end) is itself com-port controlled by a RIG Expert PLUS rig
control unit.  It's all accomplished by way of a morass of cables hidden in a cubby hole on the operating desk.  Because the RX audio wanders its way through a Radio Shaft 16-channel
equalizer into a pair of Autek QF-1A analog audio filters, what I call "STEREO RTTY" comes
into play to enhance the character decoding process.

The original plan was to run the JARTS GiG @55-watts and rest at the QRP-level, until I noticed the Space-WX storms crawling all over the weekend.  Because the GiGs were all intertwined, it suddenly seemed way too complicated, leaving the decision to run everything @90-watts, returning the JARTS GiG to the 55-watt level.

Despite the Space-WX storms, the band condx. were most exceptional into Europe and W. Africa
on10 & 15 meters.  It may be signals between NY and the left coast may have been skipping over their intended locations.  Around 02:00z, it was finally time to give 160-meters a look.  Thanks to a pair of solar storms, the high noise-level on 160 was no surprise.  The decision to NoT run QRP
was certainly vindicated.  Calling CQ, only RBN receivers as far as Kansas could hear WQ6X
on 160-meters, and then not very loud. 

An hour into the SP-160 GiG, after doing a RTTY signal check on 40-meters, suddenly the switching network on the 160-meter Tri-Square failed to activate, creating a near-infinite SWR condition on that band, effectively ending WQ6X's Stew Perry contest run - time to finish the evening running RTTY.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the NYQP and ILQP GiGs, my only real beef is that both
events provided us with limited OP-time.  Ironically, while NYQP ran until 02:00z (7pm),
an opening to NY could not be expected by then, even using an 80-meter 4-Square array,
whereas on Sunday, despite an earlier QSO party ending, it was possible to put 5 80-meter
ILQP contacts into the log before it was over - GO Figure.

The JARTS RTTY contest ended @00:00z with 523 QSOs in 39 countries making it
to the WQ6X log kept locally at the run site in Concord (EB section).  While not a super
score by any means, it certainly surpasses anything I've ever done in this 48-hour RTTY
contest event.  ToTaL OP time for this event was close to 22-hours over the weekend.

DiD YOU work any of the above 5 radiosport events?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Navigates another 6-Contest Weekend

The 2nd radiosport of October bring us 4 state QSO Parties, the OCDX Cw contest and my
RTTY favorite - the MAKROTHEN unique 40-hour On-Off-On-Off-On contest.  To make it all
work required a significant amount of time juggling, fitting QSO party activity into the MAKROTHEN off periods.

The 4 state QSO parties were a mixed bag; PA and AZ came thru as they always do.  NV and SD gave us another poor turnout as they have the last two years.  What good is it to hold a QSO party when your own in-state operators don't participate?  I don't recall receiving an email announcing either NV or SD QSO party - Bummer Dewd.

With many QSO parties, "rover" stations bring us additional county action.  As I recall, only one mobile station was heard for both AZ/PA  GiGs.  On the other hand, both events gave us additional action on Sunday, offering another high band (20, 15 & 10) opportunity.

Due to poor propagation, the OC DX Cw contest was a quiet affair, even with the Stepp-IR running
Bi-directional or pointed right at the Southwest.   Friday evening found one KH7, with nothing else heard.  To some degree, the poor propagation was due to the increasing Space-WX anomalies.

Of course, the funnest part of the weekend was the Greek MAKROTHEN RTTY contest.  Always arriving later on Friday evening, only 3.5 hours of op-time made it into the log during the first 8-hour operating period.  Starting up Saturday morning, I dialed the power down to 5-watts to run the state QSO parties.  When switching back to RTTY, I had to remember to up the power to 69-watts for running the RTTY as an LP entry.

For the most part, every station heard made it to the RTTY log.  At 00:00z the MAKROTHEN GiG took on another 8-hour break, and the focus was switched back to the QSO parties.  Unfortunately, while PA and AZ more-or-less barreled on, only one SD station was heard/worked before the event ended @05:00z.  While technically NVQP continued through Sunday, not a single W7 (outside of AZ) was heard - Bummer Dewd.

When it was all over, only 3 out of the 6 radiosport contests were actually worth reporting on. 
The others gave me an activation point on 3830scores.com but were otherwise "ho hummers".

DiD YOU participate in any of the above contest events?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?