WQ6X Wrangles a Weird WAE RTTY Contest

As I sit here pondering the log, 3830 Scores entry and dozen screenshots taken during the 2019 WAE RTTY contest, I discovered I was [initially] at a loss for words.  It's rare that I am at a loss for words.  When that happens, the only thing to do is scribble bullet-items down on blank paper and shuffle them together, making something comprehensible out of the myriad of disconnected items.  While this is a challenging event, reading the contest rules, demystifies virtually everything.

For starters, last week I wrote up a sort-of "Blast from the Past" BLOG entry regarding my participation in past WAE GiGs.  Rereading this reminded me of the challenges that running
WAE - Worked All Europe - contests (RTTY in particular) present.

Unlike the CW/Ssb WAE contests where non-EU stations make contact ONLY with European stations, in the WAE RTTY GiG, like most RTTY GiGs, everyone can work everyone.  Sending
QTC messages is not limited to JUST EU stations (in THIS event) but can occur with ANY station capable of receiving such messages, as long as they are located on a DIFFERENT continent than
our own.

For the WQ6X RTTY operation, I didn't have remote contest access to NX6T's Stn-1 until 04:30z when preparations were completed for the JIDX Ssb contest which began @07:00z
(11pm PST).  My goal was to work the WAE GiG, turning the station over to N6KI at ~06:30z
to get some sleep while he runs JA's on 40-meters.  In reviewing the WAE LoG, I divided the
operating periods in to 5 groups: A ==> E, with JIDX in between.

(A)
After a solid report from CM8NMN, I decided to be lazy and run frequencies, with stations call me.  Occasionally, I would pick up
a couple of S&P QSOs in between lull-points.  You may have worked me on: 7052.52, 7056.56, 3585.85 or 7058.58 before
my official QRT @06:35z.


(JIDX)
Around 10:00z I took over station #1 to S&P the CQ'ing JA stations that could not be worked earlier by running a static frequency. 
The SHOCKER is that VERY FEW Japanese stations call CQ in their own JIDX contest - HuH?  We W6 stations should not be calling CQ JA, we should be lining up to work the 50+ JA stations calling CQ JIDX.  After 3 hours of operation, only ONE S&P JA QSO made it to the NX6T LoG, so I went back into sleep mode
until 17:00 when it was time to return to WAE on 20 meters.


(B)
Around 17:30z 20-meters was found to be quite BUSY - YaaY!
After 15 minutes of S&P WQ6X settled in on 14097.47 @ 17:37z, shifting to 14094.94 @18:09z
and then to 14085.85 @18:29z.  Eventually there were no more stations lined-up to work WQ6X, necessitating a 19:10z move to 15 meters (21093.93) after an unsuccessful CQ call on 10-meters (28088.88).  At 19:59 the QRM levels "encouraged" a switch to 21089.89.  After draining 15 meters
of all hearable QSOs it was time (20:39z) to make one last run on 14097.97 after another fruitless CQ call on 28088.88.  Client commitments necessitated I QRT for the afternoon at 21:00z, making way for K6JO to get set up for a B-I-C (Butt-in-Chair) SO2R run of the NA Sprint Ssb contest @00:00z.

(C)
By 05:00z WQ6X was back at it running frequencies (with an occasional S&P in between):
7067.67, 3583.83, 7067.67, 7068.68, 7065.65 & 7063.63 before shutting things down at 09:35z.  Russian beacon-wise, only the "M" beacon (Magadan - north of JA) could be heard; which might
explain the dearth of JA stations in the JIDX GiG.

(D)
By 17:00z, WQ6X was B-I-R-C (back in the remote chair) S&P'ing until running 14104.04 @ 17:28z and 14105.05 @ 17:46.  At 18:45z running out of stations to work, it was S&P time for any 20-meter "leftovers", followed by another fruitless call on 28088.88.

At 19:20z realizing that I had made ~300 QSOs but sent no QTC messages yet I began looking for non-NA stations to receive my traffic; this came in the form of KH6ZM (in Oceania).  After thorough S&P on 15 meters, ZX2V (in SA) was the next QTC recipient.

(E)
With a brief lunch break behind me it was back to 14114.14, all but begging stations to take my
QTC traffic; YV5AX and PY2NY to the rescue.  Then it occurred to me, that switching antennas to
the Stepp-IR in Bidirectional mode, I can work JA & SA simultaneously offering more opportunities
for QTC traffic passing.  The next QTC opportunities came from LU1KCQ & PY4XX in between working JA stations.

At 22:37z a move was made to 14116.16 and finally to 14095.95 @23:15z.  While running JA,
S-E USA and SA, JH4UYB & CE7VPQ relieved WQ6X of more QTC traffic, leaving over 300+
QTC messages unsent - Bummer Dewd.  At 23:47, QRM forced a frequency change to 14093.93,
using the last 13 minutes to make QSOs while pleading (with no response) to send more QTC traffic.

In hindsight, it is clear that QTC message passing should have been solicited as early as Friday evening.  The further along the contest gets, fewer QTC opportunities are available, putting stations into what I call "frantic mode".  Oh well, as I always say "maybe next year". 

Nevertheless the 2019 135k score is the largest WAE RTTY accomplishment ever for WQ6X. 
Based on scores reported to the 3830 Scores website, it would seem that WQ6X took an HP
1st-place for W6, Southwestern ARRL Division and Zone 3 overall - GO Figure.

SO, while this weekend's weird WAE RTTY contest wandered all over the place, a lot was learned about how to maximize a set of resources, in the most effective way possible, at any given moment.

Did YOU play in the 2019 WAE RTTY contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

P.S.  BTW, for you N1MM+ users in confusion on how to make QTC messages work in
         the WAE RTTY contest, [CLICK Here] to read an excellent write up on the subject.