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?

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.

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.

Have you ever encountered some of the 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?

WQ6X Wangles yet another Weird RAC Winter Contest Weekend

The last weekend in December is always a sleepy, mixed-mode mixed-up affair. 
The goal for this weekend was two-fold:

1. Run the Canadian RAC Winter Contest ([CLICK HERE]) mixed-mode QRP
   from Ramona to accomplish an overall high score running QRP power.
2. Run the Stew Perry (SP-160) contest ([CLICK HERE]) QRP from WA6TQT's
   QTH in Anza, coaxing the crippled 160-meter tri-Square to the best "direction"
   for each station worked.

Thanks to a 00:00z starting time, the RAC winter contest was begun using the K3/0-mini from the desk at my office, until 04:35z.   Later, the set up was moved to Concord to finish the contest (dealing with the usual Concord internet pulse-hiccupping.  By midnight, most of North America was sleeping so I joined them, starting back up on 40-Cw around 14:45z to work Japan.  When no more JAs were heard, the move was made to 20-meters as the sun came up, enabling communication with stations eastward from Anza.

Amazingly, 15 & 10 meters didn't open up in Ramona until after 17:00z.  Resuming at 18:45z, throughout the morning and early afternoon CQ calls were made on each of the high bands giving
me RBN (Reverse Beacon Network) stats on my QRP signal.  The 3-el Stepp-IR was rotated and switched from the NORM state to 180-DEGREES and Bi-Directional.  When it was all over, I quickly made screen captures of all the relevant stats and produced a Cabrillo file - all for submission later.

With the screen now cleared, attempts to connect to STN-1 and STN-2 at the Anza QTH failed - it would seem the internet in Anza suffered a power failure with no one onsite to restart it.  With the internet confirmed down, the backup plan was to run WQ6X as a Low Power (LP) station using the 8JK mish-mash Cobra sloper array setup @W7AYT's QTH. The MFJ 993b Intellituner managed to bring the SWR down to 1.4:1, enabling 6-QSOs (14-points) made it to the log. 
Calling "CQ SP TesT" produced one RBN SPoT from K2PO/7 in Oregon.

By midnight, no QSOs outside of CA were happening (e.g. hearable), so I shut things down,
eventually submitting a 14-point LoG to say "I WuZ THERE!"

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X DiD indeed take a 1st-place outside of Canada.

DiD YOU work the RAC Winter or Stew Perry SP-160 contests?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wrangles another Weird EU Contest Weekend

After the CQ and ARRL bruhaha weekends, the 3rd contest weekend in December brings us the
OK-DX RTTY Contest from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening and the 9A (Croatian) Mixed-mode DX Contest, during which WQ6X ran CW-only (85-watts), while the RTTY GiG ran a cooler 69-Watts.
Bonus points accrued for OK and 9A stations in their corresponding contest events.

Unable to acquire local COM-port control of the RRC-1258 (internet interface box) to run RTTY,
the backup plan (using swapped soundcard patch cables, while keying the radio using VOX) accomplished the RTTY intent.

Starting late, after a few QSOs, the internet latency became a horribly notable problem. 
Internet jitteriness got so bad that contest operations were suspended until after 1am (when
everyone has gone to bed).   At 11:00z (3am) operations resumed with the Shorty-40 turned
to ~300-degres (relative to Ramona), enabling me to work the same bevy of JA RTY callsigns;
with everyone around me sleeping, internet bandwidth improved considerably.

After another sleep break, the 9A (Croatian) GiG was in full swing (at least it was on Cw, at any rate).  It would seem that with an SFI of "only" 175 - 184, 15-meters was largely THE band to focus on.
10-meters was barely happening, while on 20, everyone seemed to be skipping over everyone
else, resulting in a seemingly dead band - at least in Ramona.  Space-WX is always a factor. 
Of coarse, the SFI skyrockets to 238 on Monday (doing us No GooD).

Joining up with the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) for our annual Christmas brunch
kept me out of the operator chair for several hours.  Back in the chair at 21:20z took advantage
of upper band openings for a 1/2 hour, thanks to an improved internet.  When the switch was made
to RTTY at 22:47, data-garble had been all but eliminated.  

At 00:00z, with the RTTY contest over, it was off to W7AYT's Concord QTH to finish the remaining half of the (A Cw GiG - with hopefully a more productive internet connection.  The Concord internet connection was pretty much business as usual: reasonably OK latency w/pulsing-cutouts every 90-seconds or so.

While most of my radiosport runs this year have been run with QRP power, signal levels this weekend were poor enough that it was clear running QRP in the (A contest would not have been productive. 
It seems that many RTTY contests (such as the OK RTTY GiG) do NoT offer a QRP category. 
As a compromise, the remote K3 was dialed down to 69 watts as an LP (Low Power) Entry,
while the 9A GiG ran 85-watts to be classified as Low Power.

Once 40-meters to EU faded into the noise, it was time for another sleep session. 
Resuming at 11:00z, turning the Shorty-40 to 300-degrees encountered to increasingly
frequent contest weekend RaDaR intrusion in the Cw segment of 7-Mhz (40-meters) - this
time it was parked on 7.041, with 25khz of SPLATTER on either side, all but obliterating Cw communication.

In addition to faster internet, the radio setup in Concord has the advantage of the full-blown,
multi-faceted, continuously evolving Stereo Audio facility.  ([CLICK HERE] to read about it.) 
While my Alameda office sports a Radio Shaft 16-channel stereo equalizer, a 2nd pair of Autek
QF-1A filters have yet to be configured for the Alameda location.  (The original pair of QF-1A
units were moved to the Concord QTH once the Stereo Audio approach was confirmed to be
effective for radiosport running.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X, scored near the middle of the submissions
and managed to take 1st-place for California (CA) and the W6 call area - NoT bad for just
screwing around.

DiD YOU work the 9A or OK DX contests?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Conducts a QuainT QRP 10-MeTeR ConTesT

Similar to speech contests in Toastmasters, before major radiosport competition events, I look
at previous years score results, study the all-time high score records and even consult previous
WQ6X Contest Blog posts about the upcoming events (and sometimes related contest topics and weekends).

For this year's 10-meter contest, there were 5 specific goals:

1. Run as WQ6X QRP from Ramona, using CW-only, setting a Southwest Division Record.
2. Run as W6R (Whiskey SiX Radio), setting yet another Southwest Division record.
3. Put Cw hours in the OP chair for NX6T as a part of the team, winning Southwest
   Division for the Multi-OP Single-Xmtr category.
4. Put contacts in the log as W7AYT to win SOU QRP (Phone-only) for East Bay
   (EB) while chasing the illusive PAC Division record for QRP-Ssb.
5. Thoroughly leverage the Stereo-Cw and Stereo-Ssb modalities using the recently
   revamped audio configuration(s) for WQ6X's portable setup at W7AYT's Concord QTH.

The 10-meter contest begins at 00:00z (UTC) which is 4pm on the Left Coast (Pacific Time). 
After a few "false start" hiccups, WQ6X ran the Ramona radio remotely from my office in Alameda.  By 03:30z there was nothing left to hear (in Ramona), altho spying on N6CY at the helm of NX6T,
it was clear that their superb antenna farm enabled them to hear stations we can only dream of
in Ramona - amazing when you consider the two locations are only 66 miles apart; altho Anza's elevation (3,921') is nearly 3x that of Ramona (1,427'), not to mention stacked arrays for 40m thru
10m (versus a 2-el Shorty-40 and 3-el Steep-IR @55').

Saturday morning EU, the Caribbean and SA were wide open.  After putting 171 QSOs in the Cw log,
it was time to switch logs to run as W6R on Ssb.  Not surprisingly, the 1x1 callsign confused many stations, altho the JA OPs are used to me using 1x1 callsigns and overall, they loved W6R.

Here are some of the Spaobox comments posted about the remote operation from Ramona.

Being a mixed-mode contest, running Stereo-Cw was somewhat different from running Stereo-Ssb.
Either way, audio from the K3/0 Mini, is sent to an audio mixer, which redirects to an audio splitter, which splits the audio into 3 different filtered audio lines, which run to a Rockville 4-channel mixer, emptying into a 15-watt stereo amplifier.  Output from the amp can be sent to either OwnZone wireless headphones or a pair of LEKATO speaker boxes, specially wired for Stereo radio audio. 
The vintage Autek QF1-A filters is the secret behind the esoteric stereo mechanism.

[CLICK HERE] to read the various BLOG Entries on the Stereo Audio concept.

When it was all over it would seem that WQ6X took 3rd-place overall and set a Southwest Division division record.  W6R took 2nd-place overall and also set a Southwest Division record.  W7AYT took
a 3rd-place and set a record for East Bay (EB) section.  Unfortunately, the PAC Division SOU QRP record is still out of reach - as they say, wait til next year.

From Orange (ORG) section, NX6T took 23rd place overall for the crowded Multi-Single HP category.
For USA and Canada, NX6T took 7th-place, while enjoying 1st-place wins for ORG section and Southwest Division.  While no multi-op records were set, it was nevertheless an impressive operation.

DiD YOU work the ARRL 10-Meter Contest?

IS WQ6X, W6R, W7AYT or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wings yet another WEIRD ARRL-160 Contest

In contrast w/2023 (and even years before) when I ran as WQ6X from W7AYT's Concord QTH
while putting in hours for NX6T's HP run, this was WQ6X's 1st ARRL 160-meter contest run using QRP power.

The ARRL 160-meter contest begins @22:00z on Friday (favoring Midwest and East coast OPs). 
On the Left Coast, the band is only beginning to open @00:00z.  Client commitments kept me out
of the OP chair until 03:00z, altho K2NV (NNJ) was hearable as early as 23:30z.

Running remote from Anza (STN-2) offers the advantage of opening a radiosport contest from
my office in Alameda, then continuing the Anza operations later from W7AYT's QTH in Concord
(with its periodic, pulsing internet dropouts).  Either way, the same K3/0-Mini (w/RRC-1258 Box). 
The N1MM+ software is run through a VPN known as VNC viewer.

Space-WX, (while the SFI was not super high) was very cooperative overall.  Then again,
even with some of the nastiest solar storms, 160-meter operations often manage to "fly under
the radar"(so-to-speak).  Space-WX conditions seemed to get noisier as the weekend progressed. 
This month, it would seem that the new SFI-Low was down around 172.  (Wasn't that the final PEAK of solar cycle 24?)

The game for the 160 weekend was to run QRP (5w) into a horizontal Tri-Square, suffering from
an open phasing cable.  Altho nearly 100-feet above ground, my guess is that the antenna switch
was simply bringing in 1 of 3 bi-directional dipoles but not operating as a directional array.

As I recall, I put ZS5CW in the log using the N-E dipole, and worked Arizona & TX using the WEST dipole.  Bottom line, the signal reach using this crippled configuration was only good for 2/3's of the USA, KH6 and some VE's (and of course the ZS5).  None of the Northeast states were workable,
even tho I could often hear them.

Because it would be useful to know which direction(s) the RF was radiating towards, signal
levels were checked using several web SDR receivers around the Southwest (and Northeast),
while consulting the RBN (Reverse Beacon Network) stats.  

Propagation-wise, Friday evening was incredibly HoT.  Unfortunately, Saturday evening was
quite a disappointment.  On BOTH Sat/Sun mornings, JA stations were heard (MoRe and LouD
on Saturday), altho none of them could hear WQ6X.

One of contest BEEFs (complained as a QRP-Operator) is that run stations GIVE-UP on me too quickly.  If you ever listen in on a run frequency I am calling, you will not only hear me call again
(AND AGAIN), I will also be shifting my xmit frequency slight up and down, in case he has a TighT CW filter with some WEIRD audio offset - the goal is to slip in between the "ears" of his narrow passband.  For the most part, I DON'T Give Up - You Do.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X's 11.9k-point score took 6th place overall,
while securing a 1st-place for Orange Section (ORG), as well as the Southwest Division.

I operate such a wide array of radiosport contests, I am often looking for "callsign recognition"
to make the difference. Unfortunately, callsign databases are often grossly out-of-date; WQ6X is
often listed as being in: EB, SB, ORG and/or SDG.  For that reason, I usually have a function key defined to send "SDG" (for example).  Fortunately, in the 160 & 10 meter contests, the exchange is always the same: "5NN CA".

DiD YOU work the ARRL 160-Meter Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wangles a 5.5-Hour 40-Meter HaM SPIRIT Contest

The year 2024 brought us a number of 5-weekend months, altho not all
5th-weekends sported any radiosport activity.  Turns out, the 5th weekend in
November brought a radiosport event I've never seen before: The HaM SPIRIT Contest.

Stumbling onto a lone entry in WA7BNM contest calendar, following the link to the contest
website found it to be a Russian organized/run event.  By the time a log setup for the N1MM
software was created, there were only 7 OP hours left in the event.  Altho it was a multi-band
multi-mode event, the decision was made to run as a LP (Low Power) 40-Meter only Cw station.
This coincided with the morning Greyline period in Russia and EU - which was AMAZING!

Much of the 7 hours was spent calling CQ, encouraging all of the rare Russian
and deep Eastern European stations to call ME for a change, they being rewarded
with the rare "WQ6" prefix - kinda like in the WPX Cw contest.  Skimming thru the log file
after the contest, I am amazed at the different prefixes that responded to my CQ's, including:
RG9, RW9, R8, R2, RL4, RW0, RN3, RM4, HA9, ON6, YP8, Z32, F5, G4, OM5, LB2, DF1,
SP3, & IK0.  The BiG surprise was RD1A/MM operating from ITU Zone 75 and the QR Grid square.  While all those prefixes may not seem a big deal for OPs in the Midwest and the East coast, from Ramona, on 40 meters, those were amazing QSOs.

My BiGGeST beef were the LOUD USA stations who obviously could hear me yet would move 1/2 Kc away and start calling CQ.  I purposely choose oddball run frequencies (7003.69, 7006.69, 7007.77, 7008.88, 7009.69, 7014.14 & 7016.16), so when a station moves in on me, I know it's no accident.

Using Function Key F-11 ("QRL QSY!") a half dozen times usually does the trick. 
With one station station I moved down the 1/2 Kc, called him and made the QSO - he
OBVIOUSLY could hear me.  Notice that NONE of those offenders ever sent "QRL?"
before calling CQ.  Whatever happened to "QRL?" courtesy?

During the last couple of hours, to alleviate bore-dumb, while calling CQ, I began listening
to my calls on various SDR receivers to get a sense for where I was being heard.  Doing this
set the stage for an SDR research project Sunday morning.

The real disappointment in this contest was the final hour as EU and Russia came into daylight,
severing the pipeline with the west coast, just moments before.  The last QSO in the WQ6X
Log came at 06:59, with that remaining hour yawning while desperately calling CQ. 
ToTaL OP time ended up as 5.5 hours, thanks to that inert final hour.

All disappointments aside however, it would seem that deciding to run Single-band
40-Meters Cw found WQ6X in 1st place for that category.  Amazing!
Like has been oft said, "...sometimes just showing up is the major accomplishment".

DiD YOU work the HaM Spirit Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?