CQMM Confounds and Confirms WQ6X @ NX6T

Here we go again.... another weird contest weekend in April.  While this weekend showcased
a number of different contests, outside commitments kept me in Alameda, away from my portable
setup @W7AYT's QTH in Concord.  Not having a K3/0 setup in Alameda relegated the use of RCForb to run the radio by way of the Log-Me-In Hamachi network.

Perusing the WQ6X Contest BLOG, it would seem that this particular weekend

has been run three times in the past as follows:

• [x] 2019 CQMM Weekend - #25 (U.S.), #30 (NA), #58 (World)
• [x] 2018 CQMM Weekend - #15 (U.S.), #18 (NA), #49 (World)
• [x] 2017 CQMM Weekend -  #9 (U.S.), #11 (NA), #28 (World)

Not having the FT-1000mp available to me, the decision was made to run just the CQ-MM contest,

as I have done in the past.  However this year N6KI proposed we run as a Multi-Single operation
for a change.  We cobbled together N6NC, KI6RRN, N6KI and myself, WQ6X; just enough to make
(if I do say so myself) an unbeatable combination.  Click [HERE] to read the rules for CQMM.

Being one of the night-shift operators, I was elected to start the contest shortly after 09:00z (2am PDT) at STN-1.  Normally at this hour I am used to hearing only Japan (JA) and a plethora of USA stations.  However in the 1st hour of operation a WIDE variety of prefixes made it to the log, including: PY4, ZL3, ZM1, HP1, CO6/CO8, XM3, JH4, PP5, UA0, TI5, JG1, PY3, OA1 & LW2.  When it was all over, 90 prefixes and 59 countries made it to the NX6T LoG.

This weekend brought two frustrations I encounter in nearly every contest.  To begin with, while running a frequency, several times
I would have 4 or more stations call me all at once.  Working one of those stations (taking about 10 seconds of clock time), after sending "TU NX6T" all I heard was SILENCE.  HuH?  Where'd y'all GO?  You can't wait 10 seconds to give me a 2nd call, to score an easy QSO?

The other frustration is when a station works me and then calls in again 10 minutes later
(on the same band).  PR7AB was the biggest violator of all this.  Can we deduce that he called in again because we weren't logged correctly to begin with.  Then later, will he submit a log to the contest committee? 
Will NX6T even BE in that LoG? 
Another mystery of the universe.

One of the reasons we run these multi operator setups is to give newer operators an opportunity to participate in a variety of different contests.  Each weekend focuses on a different geographic-demographic. 

Last weekend was Japan, this weekend was China
and South America.  Other contests focus on Oceania or Indonesia or Spain.  Of course there are also dozens of "domestic" contests, such SS, FD, NAQP and the state QSO parties.  In the middle are the various DX contests, WPX and RTTY GiGs.  Over a year of operating, the novice contest OPs will become seasoned contest OPs, merely by exposure.

Eventually many OPs settle in on a handful of favorite contests, altho we are often able to induce them to 2nd-OP for us in just about any event.


A BiG issue for this weekend were the excessively weak signals, coupled with 3-second fading. 
A station would start out at 5-3-9 and then immediately fade into the noise, obscuring their continent identifier.  Asking for a repeat (SEC?) I would get: "NX6T UR 5NN fade....".  Remember: you only need to send 5NN ONCE.  Using N1MM, the F7 key was programmed to send "NAC - NAC" - quick and to the point.

For this year's CQMM we put in a good effort from the Left coast.  Not surprisingly, we were beat

out by multi-OP efforts on the other side of the continent.  This was NX6T's first foray into multi-OP territory for the CQMM GiG.  Now that we know our way around a little, look for NX6T to become a REAL contender for 2021.

Did YOU work the CQMM Contest?

Is NX6T in YOUR LoG?