WQ6X Wings yet another Weird Winter Field Day

In the overall scheme of things, the Winter Field Day (WFD) is relatively new to me, last year being the 1st time I played around in that GiG.  Similar to ARRL FD, WFD is a 30-hour event beginning at 18:00z (Sat.) and ending 18:00z (Sun.).  However, WFD is different in that it is more of a world-wide affair than the ARRL GiG which focuses mainly on North America, altho DX stations are not excluded.  (Technically, ARRL Field Day is a 21-hour event, IF you don't begin ANY form of equipment/antenna setup before the 19:00z starting time on Saturday.)

Wrapped around WFD is the CQ-160 CW contest which begins at 22:00z on Friday and ends at 22:00z on Sunday.  N5ZO (Marko) ran the CQ-160 Friday afternoon/evening from WA6TQT's Anza location.  Checking it out at 06:00z found STN-2 quiet once again.  Because Marko had been using the N1MM+ software, my choice was to run CQ-160 using DXLOG, dialing the power level down to
5-watts (QRP).   Unfortunately, a failed phasing cable somewhere in the configuration seems to have converted this Tri-Square array into 3 independent dipoles, altho the N-E direction has a FlaT SWR, while the other directions measure at around 1.7:1.

The goal was to put 69 QSOs into thew log and then quit.  Saturday evening, after logging QSO
#69, the K3/0-Mini was switched to Ramona (KN6NBT's QTH) to continue the Winter FD event
begun earlier in the afternoon.

Saturday was also the monthly club meeting for the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA). 
Steve (K6OIK) gave us an informative dissertation on wire antennas for HF.  Afterwards, a handful
of contacts as K6QLF (the ARCA club callsign) was made for the WFD event, demonstrating the recently installed horizontal J-Pole wire antenna atop the roof of the Oakland Yacht Club (OYC) building.

Arriving at my Alameda office, at 21:30z I began remote WFD operations as WQ6X running QRP remote from Ramona.  Out of sheer laziness, the decision was to run a CW-only operation.  After several hours in the chair, I moved on to W7AYT's QTH in Concord to continue the Winter Field Day GiG.  Later that evening, with WFD activity winding down I remembered there was the 24-hour BARTG SPRINT RTTY contest.  

I hastily reconfigured the audio per a recent WQ6X contest Blog entry to that effect ([CLICK HERE]
to read that).  By the time I got to 40-meters, the EU opening had disappeared, and most east coast OPs were [probably] already in bed.  Putting NJ4P into the log turned out to be the only QSO made
in the BARTG contest.  

Shortly after, while desperately tuning the bands for RTTY signals, on of the key USB COM ports stopped working.  After a considerable amount of time troubleshooting the problem, with no easy solution, the decision was made to call it a night (around 08:30z), considering that the event would end at 12:00z (4am).  Nevertheless, I submitted a 1-QSO log and posted the 2-point score on the 3830 Scores website.

After some sleep it was time to rejoin the Winter Field Day at 16:25z for the final 90-minutes of the event.  There was a brief yet noticeable EU opening on 15-meters which disappeared around 17:00z, from which the move was made to 10-meters making a few contacts until the band closed-up around 17:25z.  That left moving down to 20-meters the only viable option left to finish the WFD contest.  When it was all over, 93 QSOs made it into the WQ6X QRP Log.

For some reason I got it into my head that the WFD GiG ended at 18:00z instead of its 22:00z end.
Moving onto other things in the ham shack, I missed out on breaking the 100-QSO goal and beyond. 
Oh well, I can't get EVERYTHING right.

DiD YOU work the CQ-160 or Winter Field Day?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

BLAST from the PAST: 2024 Radiosport in Review

Next to 2O2O, 2024 produced the 2nd highest count (135 entries) of specific, individual, WQ6X radiosport event operations for a single calendar year.  Correlatively, the number of Blog entries somewhat mirror the number of actual events run.  In BoTH cases, the high counts had a LoT
to do with dual-OP'ing, triple-OP'ing and even a Quad-operation of this year's ARRL 10-meter
contest.

Unlike 2020, a major difference is the large number of contest events which were run using QRP power.  During the last two years, I have spent countless hours perusing the all-time high scores for CQ and ARRL contests, as well as other worldwide contests and even the 4 QSO Party weekend in May, the MOQP the end of July and of course, the California QSO Party (CQP) the 1st weekend of every October.

What I discovered was very low score submissions for many of the contest QRP categories. 
Being an opportunist who cannot pass up on an easy accomplishment, since mid-2023,
one-by-one, WQ6X has been replacing those all-time QRP records.  LooK thru some of
the records pages and you will see WQ6X littered throughout.

Most notable for this year have been the ARRL RTTY RU, DX Cw and DX Phone GiGs and
of course the November Sweepstakes (both Cw & Ssb), not mention numerous county records running solo with N6GEO or NX6T.  Unfortunately, some contest events do NoT have a QRP category, requiring a different strategy to make a high score.

Software updates to the WQ6X Beacon Tracker software now make it easier to follow Space-WX
and track beacons.  With its built-in SNaP-SHoT camera, screen shots can be saved for inclusion
into Blogs like this one.

I have learned to leverage the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) to calm my anxiety that builds up when no stations reply to my "CQ TesT" calls.  If RBN receivers can hear my QRP signal, then at least I know the Xmtr and antenna system are reasonably functional and capable of generating RF out into space; finding an actual OP to actually HEAR my signal is of course, another thing altogether.

Using the RBN on multiple bands gives me insight as to which band to operate at any given moment.  It's also useful for antenna rotation tests, checking signal levels in different directions, all in preparation for upcoming radiosport GiGs.

One notable evening I was running a rotation test from the Ramona QTH in preparation for an upcoming QRP event.  I was purposely calling "CQ DX de WQ6X WQ6X" to get RBN stats while turning the  yagi, w/o having to accept calls from statesiders like Billy-Bob and his brother Barney.  After 20+ minutes with the yagi pointing ~350-degrees, a call came in from VY1CO, certainly qualifying a "DX".  His 589 report was the final information needed to confirm the efficacy of
running QRP power into a 3-el. Stepp-IR yagi @ 55'.

First and foremost, before all significant radiosport events, I not only read the rules thoroughly
(being clear on what is allowed and what isn't), I often look at previous years score results and
as mentioned earlier the high-score records (when available).  

[CLICK HERE] for a write-up on that.

It was a year ago that a change had occurred to the JIDX contest, dis-allowing an individual operator from participating in more than 1 operation (I used to put in hours for NX6T and run as WQ6X from some other location).  The days of dual-OP'ing the JIDX contest are now ancient history.  

Fortunately, JIDX Ssb pairs-up w/the48-hour WAE RTTY contest which essentially "wraps around"
the JIDX GiG.  In 2024, that weekend I was either running Ssb to JA for NX6T, or as WQ6X running into EU and all continents beyond, not to mention the Ssb SPRINT contest for 4-hours on Saturday.

December was double and triple busy period thanks to Triple-OP'ing the 10-meter contest,
bracketed by a pair of 160-meter contests and of course the RAC Winter contest, to wrap it all up.

Bottom-line - 2024 was a BUSY radiosport year - expect 2025 to run much the same way.

What radiosport GiG DiD YOU run in 2024?  Would you care to share some tales?

WQ6X Wangles another NAQP-Ssb QRP Dual-OP

NAQP Ssb and Cw GiGs are in worlds that are quite different from each other.
This weekend is a perfect demonstration of that fact.  For NAQP-Cw, NX6T had
a nearly different bunch of operators, whereas for the Ssb GiG, it was a similar
but different, yet just as dedicated team.  The difference is I was assigned to 8-hours
of OP-time with only 4-hours available to run as WQ6X - the exact opposite of the
previous weekend.

I was assigned to run STN-2 at WA6TQT's Anza QTH for the first 6-hours.  I opened on
10-meters and after 140 QSOs in the first hour, I handed it over to N7NR to add a nearly
400 QSOs to that log while I mopped-em-up on 15 meters and eventually 20 when 15-meters
was "worked out"

Because this was an SSB-only contest, I made use of an array of different audio filters to produce more intelligible voice reproductive audio.  As you can see from this earlier picture of the audio filter array at the W7AYT QTH, there were many filter combinations separately available at any given time by way of a classic RockVille 4-device stereo mixing panel.  The array included:

• A classic Radio Shaft 16-channel stereo equalizer (with Low Cut filters).
• A pair of Autek QF-1A analog audio filters for creating the initial Stereo Cw/Ssb audio.
• A pair of previous generation MFJ 752 analog audio "Signal Enhancer II" units.
• An MFJ-784 DSP unit (for Left channel) and a pair of JPS NIR-10 & NIR-12 DSP
  units (Right channel).
• The 4-channel RockVille stereo mixer to blend the above-4 combinations into a mechanical 4-position output switch for sending the audio to a Yaesu SP-6 speaker, Sharper Image video display speakers, a pair of LEKATO dual-stereo speakers, or two pairs of OWNZONE wireless headphones.
• A 4-channel USB mixer is employed to combine audio from an ICOM-7000, a Yaesu
  FT-2000 and the audio line from the K3/0-Mini control head, as well as audio from a
  Windoze computer.

The PEAK filters built into the QF-1A make for superior Stereo-Cw, whereas the wider MFJ-752's seem more suited for the wider Ssb audio, such as that encountered in the weekend's NAQP Ssb GiG.  Being cascaded, the NIR units offer a more tailored shape of the audio passband.  

Because many of my run frequencies were ALSO the National Tune-up Frequency (NTF), the Auto Notch Filter (ANF) built-in to the K3 transceiver does a reasonable carrier reduction, altho leaving
it in causes an artifact disruption to voice signals.  Unfortunately, being an audio-based Dsp, the carrier remains in the IF-passband, causing the AGC to reduce signal levels of already weak signals
(NoT a GooD thing).

Also, on for the weekend was the Hungarian DX contest, a mixed-mode Cw/Ssb affair.
After the 06:00z NAQP contest ending, a log was hastily convened for this GiG, with the
decision to run CW only.  Thanks to weird propagation conditions, 20-meters to Europe was 
not happening on the West coast.  Moving down to 40-meters and pointing the Shorty-40 towards
Europe, only 2 stations were heard, only one of them being an HA8 (Hungarian) station.  After working DL202SS (Germany), it was clear that this GiG was not going to happen any further. 
That did not stop the posting of a single QSO score and submitting a Log file for the contest.

After the contest, reviewing the 3830 contest scores, I came across the QRP submission
submitted by Dave K7SS  ([CLICK HERE] to read it).  His take on what it takes to run QRP
contests near-exactly mirror my own experience.  I sent him an e-mail thanking him for sharing
those comments.

When it was all over, it would seem that both WQ6X and NX6T took 3rd-place in
their respective operating categories, as well as 1st-place for the Southwest area
of the North American continent.

DiD YOU work the NAQP Ssb contest event?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wangles another NAQP-Cw QRP Dual-OP

Unless you are a RTTY operator, the NAQP Cw GiG is the first domestic-related radiosport of
the new year.  Last year was my 1st NAQP-Cw attempt running QRP.  According to the Blog Entry about that GiG, the QRP signal was making the grade, altho the VNC Viewer VPN connection was not.  Last year's QSO total was just over 200.  The goal for this year was to at least DOUBLE that,
which certainly DID happen.

Having a lop-sided Stereo-Cw facility disrupted the 180-degree spatial listening experience I am
used to during Cw contests - the audio seemed to be "slanted" favoring about 42-degrees to the
left of center in the listening experience.  Time for some after-contest audio troubleshooting.

Very prominent in this Cw contest was the large[r] number of stations calling in (often on top
of some other station I called for first) - I send them an exchange only to hear that they have disappeared. As a result, the 1 or 2 more repeats become a waste of EVERYBODY's time
(because the station is already gone).  I've mused over the reasons why they frantically call
in and then disappear.   The answer was more intricate than can be described in a paragraph
or two.  ([CLICK HERE] to read a Blog devoted to that topic).

Being a 12-hour event, there is little opportunity for a "do-over".   When the high bands are done,
they are done - there is no "tomorrow" for a second chance.  Because single-OPs are only allowed
to operate 10 out of the 12 contest hours, when I am running completely solo the crucial decision
is which 2 hours to hours to NoT operate.  A typical compromise is to begin at 19:00 z and end at 05:00z.  If things run "perfectly", that makes for a workable compromise.  Then again, when things unexpectantly go wrong mid-contest taking me off the air, then of course any time sacrificed near
the beginning can turn out to be an unnecessary precaution.

For this contest weekend, 90-minutes of my off time was spent putting in a shift for the NX6T multi-2 event being run from the remote Anza station.  That, coupled with some Stereo-Cw receive audio problems immediately after the contest started, left me with an operating period of exactly 9-hours and 59 minutes (according to the N1MM+ Off-times screen).

Reading some of the after-contest soapbox comments from the SCCC contest reflector, putting
time in on 10-meters early in the contest was a smart accomplishment.  When I returned to the band around 13:13 (LocaL), the band was dead, altho amazingly, one lone JA6 station made it into the log.  Thanks to the 3-el Stepp-IR yagi configuration, it can be pointed to South America (SA) and then opened up Bi-Directional to work Asia when both are open on 15-meters.

The 2:30pm to 4pm afternoon operating period found me OP'ing STN-2 for NX6T on 10m and mostly 15-meters, while Marko N5ZO mopped-em-u on 20-meters for nearly 10-hours.  Resuming WQ6X operations at 00:00z, other than a few gratuitous JA QSOs, 15-meters was all but over, at least
where NAQP was concerned.

The next band pair was 20-40-20-40 and then an "early" LooK at 80-metersa.  The goal was to open each band with an S&P run while scouting for a relatively quiet run frequency.  Invariably, a non-QRP station will move in barely 100hz away from my run frequency w/o "QRL?" first.  When I call them, they come right back to me 1st-time, proving that they COULD hear me all along - they were just
too careless to listen before transmitting - not a good way to "Win Friends and Influence People".

After 04:00z (8pm) 80/40 got very quiet as many single-OPs finished their 10 hours max and shut everything down; either that, or "everybody" left moved down to 160-meters, the only band not yet available at the KN6NBT Ramona QTH.

By the time it was all over it would seem that NX6T took 7th-place overall for Multi-2 while WQ6X
took 3rd-place for Single-OP Assisted QRP.  Both stations took a resounding FIRST place West
of the Mississippi.

DiD YOU work the NAQP Cw Contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

Making the absolute transition from Reality to SO2-V: Some Operational ThoTs

Over the years I have learned the art of SO2-V (Single-OP 2-VFO's), altho I would hardly say that
I have perfected it.  Altho I've owned the Yaesu FT-1000mp for nearly 6 years, secretly I've yearned
for the next level transceiver: the FT-2000; and one day an FTDX-5000mp.

18 months ago, Santa delivered a belated FT-2000 to the operating setup in Concord. 
While awaiting delivery, I spent a not-insignificant amount of time studying pictures and reading
the instruction manual cover-to-cover.  Time spent on the FT-2000 e-Ham discussion forum and AC0C's FT-2000 Mods/Info web section served to orient me to the similar but different world from
the FT-1000mp.

While the 2000 is an upgraded version of the 1000mp, they largely share the same operating philosophy; the front panel layouts are strikingly similar; overall, the FT-2000 "corrects" certain obvious ergonomic oversights in the original FT-1000xx series.  Amongst the operational enhancements, the FT-2000 makes a judicious use of color, on the LCD screen, as well
as the Sub-RX section of the transceiver.  

The front-end path icons cleverly placed across the top of the unit's LCD visually simplify understanding of the current signal path, from the antenna to the end of the AGC chain. 
For the 1000mp I considered adding and old MFJ-XXX pre-selector to the RX-ant path. 
As it turns out, the FT-2000 did just that with the VRF (Variable Roofing Filter) before
the front-end pre-amplifiers.  While this approach may seem confusing for some,
for me, it offers more knobs to twiddle; and you know how I like to twiddle knobs.

For me 6-meters is something new.  While my ICOM-7000 can run 6, 2 & 440, in my opinion
those bands are more-or-less an after-thought.  With Yaesu's FT-2000 & FTDX-5000 transceivers,
the 6-meter band is specifically accommodated.

Because this is a Blog about the concept of SO2-V techniques, I went to the WQ6X Blog homepage
and ran a Search on   SO2-V   discovering a number of references to the method in other Blog posts.  Searching for   SO2V   produced a different set of results.

Something not always understood regarding transceivers capable of dual-Receive (such as the
FT-1000mp and FT-2000) is that VFO-B usually sports less-effective (or no) selectivity offerings. 
It is for this reason I have configured a cascaded pair of JPS Dsp units (an NIR-10 and NIR-12)
inline to the VFO-B receive audio.

On a similar-but-different note, judicious use of switch boxes (for input AND output) along with
a USB mixer box (for signal input) and a Rockville mixer box to combine the audio from all the
filters into a destination audio stream is what makes the WQ6X operations work as well as they
do (when they do).

For 2025, close attention has been given to exactly which filter combination is best for which operating mode.  Overall, it would seem that the QF-1A's Stereo-Cw is best for GiGs like the
NAQP Cw contest.  The following weekend, during the NAQP Ssb contest, the MFJ 784 Dsp
(for the left ear) and the MFJ-752B (for the right ear) provided the "correct" audio balance to
improve voice inflection intelligibility.

Utilizing all the above filter combinations requires PRACTICE - LoTsa Practice.  During off-contest periods, I scan the bands and modes combining different filter settings to discover the most effective signal recovery during periods of Heavy QRM.  

The "secret" is in utilizing the filter combinations bulti-in to the transceiver to their fullest, while augmenting signal shaping with the external filters.  It may seem like a LoT of work, when in fact,
it gives me more knobs to twiddle - alleviating boredom and reinforcing the illusion that I can actually have an influence over the outcome.

With the hardware/software functional, the question becomes which VFO to use for what. 
The two main options are:

• Run a Frequency with VFO A while Searching and Pouncing (S&P) with VFO-B
• Search and Pounce with VFO-A, while running a Frequency with VFO B.

It could be argued that the overriding factor is the filtering system in-line with each VFO. 
Do I want more interference-free listening during S&P, or when actually running a frequency?

The only REAL way to determine that is to try both methods.  Working state QSO parties makes
for an excellent time to rehearse different operating method combinations.

Because state QSO parties and GiGs like the 10-meter contest are multi-mode weekends, another use for SO2-V is to run each mode on a separate VFO.  Because the 2ndary RX in most dual-receive transceivers has less filtering, I tend to run SSB on VFO-B while making Cw contacts using VFO-A.

Some operators feel that SO2-V (and even more so SO2-R) over complicates operating and makes
it LESS fun.  Years of experience has for proven for me otherwise.   Nothing worse than the inability
to copy incomprehensible signals due to acute Space-WX or other anomalies.  With SO2-V difficult, non-enjoyable operating periods can be transformed in a matter of minutes to fully productive run periods.

Most likely the transceiver you use has TWO VFOs.  Read the operators manual for that unit
and piece together your OWN approach to Single-OP Two-VFOs.  You'll be glad you DiD.

Where'd-ja GO? (Why do You Disappear?)

If you could be a "fly on the wall" and watch me run a frequency for an hour, you would hear me
say "Where'd-ja GO?!" a dozen times in that hour.  Sometimes I over emphasize that phrase to get people's attention.  This Blog entry is about the various flavors of disappearance I encounter on a regular basis during radiosport contests and some thoughts on what (if anything) to do about them.  Here are some typical scenarios - has this happened to you?

1. You hear a rare mult-station calling CQ.  You and a dozen other stations from all over call in.  After a pause the station calls CQ again as if none of the calling stations can be heard.  This goes on for awhile and then the station disappears, only to come back back 5 minutes later
2. You call CQ contest and 5 stations call in at once.  You pick out one of the stations and spend 10-seconds exchanging information.  Afterwards, calling "QRZ?" the other 4 stations have disappeared - where'd they go?
3. You call CQ contest and a LOUD station (often calling out of turn) obliterates the other
   callers so you send him an exchange first.  After the exchange the station has disappeared. 
   Just in case, I repeat the exchange a 2nd and 3rd time - NOTHING.  HuH?  Where'd they go?  If I don't repeat the exchange and go to the next station, then he comes back (LOUD again) obliterating the 2nd station.

As a side note, when a run station calls CQ and comes back to no one 3x in a row, I then call him using his callsign followed by mine (twice).  If no reply, I send "QRL?".  If still no reply, I immediately take the frequency and call CQ.  If he starts blindly calling CQ, then it is clear he is not listening before transmitting.

I have written about this scenario before nearly 3 years ago.  ([CLICK HERE] to read this).

Nevertheless, I am still left curious as to what is happening in his/her radiosport whirrrl'd.

When a station disappears into the background noise, we can assume one of the following
things happened.   All of these are potentially plausible.

1. THEY DieD
2. They are CONFUSED.
3. They are PASSED OUT Drunk.
4. They fell asleep at the key - I've done that during a 4:30am shift.
5. Their Amplifier BLEW UP - that happened to me once at 3am on 160-meters.
6. Their antenna mast blew down. 
   (This one actually happened to me - [CLICK HERE] to see that.)
7. Their signal path encountered some sort of geomagnetic disturbance along the way.
8. The operator left the logging software in Repeat-CQ mode while he is upstairs having
   dinner with his family.  I know this because he sent me an e-mail apologizing for his
   carelessness in response to my "WTF?" e-mail query.  This station seemed to be the
   ONLY WV section station in the entire contest, so of course there were 100's calling
   him, after the RBN receivers kept reposting his CQ call.

Have you ever encountered some of these above Turkies?

What is YOUR Take on all this?

WQ6X & W6R Routinely regulate the RTTY RU Radiosport Experience

In a previous Blog entry ([CLICK HERE]) I described using the SARTG-NY 3-hour
RTTY contest as a proving ground for ways to run RTTY remotely, from multiple locations. 
That event was conducted using the Yaesu FT-2000 radio as a glorified PTT relay.  For the
RTTY RU GiG, the goal was to run the event as WQ6X (Anza) and W6R (Ramona), both from
my office in Alameda using the resident Yaesu FT-1000mp, eager to once again have a purpose.

Aside from that, the operating goals included setting all-time high QRP records for San Diego
(SDG) section, Orange (ORG) section and the Southwest Division, all of which were accomplished (assuming no last-minute surprise LoG entries).

This was a weekend of being surrounded by WEIRD signals, having NoThing to do with RTTY.

• A SWARM of R2-D2 sound-alikes suddenly appeared on my 7106.69
• At 13:40z dome digitally generated Cw suddenly appeared just above my 3588.88 run frequency, repeatedly sending strings like:  o --  o  o   o - - o o o.  The Cw sounded very RASPY - either power supply filter deficiencies or generated that way purposely from a digital source.
• ~7.039 of course is the home of the East Asia Russian Beacons ("F", "M" & "K")
  The "K" beacon had been awol for nearly a year and then came back, seemingly
  in conjunction with certain war escalations between Russia and Ukraine. 
  Then again, they may be completely separate, unrelated events.

The goal for W6R was to set a 1st-time all-time high score for San Diego (SDG section). 
Once that was clearly established, then the remaining operating time could be spent on WQ6X
setting records for Orange (ORG) section and the Southwest Division, both seemingly accomplished.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X DiD indeed take a 1st-place for ORG & Southwest Division and 5th-place overall.  W6R took 1st-place for SDG section and 9th-place overall.

DiD YOU work the RTTY RU contest?

Is WQ6X or W6R in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Uses SARTG-NY as a RTTY RU Training Ground

From all the radiosport events I participate in, for some reason, somehow, the SARTG NY
(New Years) RTTY contest has always been overlooked - which is unfortunate because
I LOVE RTTY Contests.  Back in October I Blogged ([CLICK HERE]) about my elation 

from discovering a workable remote solution via the USB port on the K3/0-Mini.

Since then, I've not been able to replicate that method on the same computer (or others).
The backup solution has been cross-switching the laptop sound cables between the K3/0-Mini
and RRC-1258 interface box.

In the past, not being able to PTT the remote radio, the reliance has been on using VOX to key

the PTT.  Something about the current audio configuration put the system in an infinite Vox loop.  Somehow there needs to be a way to key the PTT locally w/o direct USB access.  Scribbling a
couple of block diagrams illustrated how PTT can be properly keyed.

Because the Windoze 7 has no trouble keying the FT-2000 radio, it occurred to me that the radio
itself could become a PTT relay for the K3/0-Mini; albeit a 45-pound relay at that.  The only drawback to this method is the requirement to type the run frequency into the log manually; one of the main reasons to run frequencies as frequently as possible.

The biggest caveat from running a configuration like the above is the potential for ground loops.
These can be reduced/prevented by use of isolation blocks (essentially a 1:1 transformer) as well
as relying on the device channel isolation provided by the usb-based 4-channel mixer.

In addition to HORRIBLE Space-WX, being a 3-hour 80-40-meter (only) contest added to the overall operating challenge.  In a way, that any contacts were made at all, was in itself a miracle.

DiD YOU work the SARTG-NY RTTY contest?

What method(s) do YOU use to transmit RTTY?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?