WQ6X Works another Weird Split Contest Weekend

As contest weekends go, the last weekend in April is usually rather slow.  Being an Area Director in Toastmasters, I was obligated to sit thru a 4.5 hour business meeting.  Fortunately, because I run split screen @ W7AYT, it was easy to relegate the Zoom window to the laptop screen while running radiosport on the 33" main monitor.

My original goal was to Dual-OP the SPDX RTTY contest and Florida QSO Party testing the audio mixer's blending of audio from the Elecraft K3/0 (for remote access to NX6T in Fallbrook), the ICOM-7000 (used mainly for SWL'ing and remote signal checking) and of course the FT-1000mp, the WQ6X mainstay radio @ W7AYT.

During the weekend, Dennis (W7AYT) and I rerouted the coax cables and ladder line thru the walls using a pair of MFJ-4614 wall plates.  During the week Dennis drilled the required holes and mounted the 4614 wall plates.  EARLY (for me anyway) @ 7:30, all the antenna / rotor cables were completely disconnected and rerun.  Excess cable is coiled up in the closet behind the radio setup.  Later in the week Dennis will apply silicone sealant around the plate edges (outside), to keep out the little critter bugs.

Beginning the SPDX RTTY GiG a few minutes after the 12:00z starting time, things seemed to be flowing effortlessly until Billie-Bob and his friends decided they were bored and needed to find some "pesky-contester" to harass and make him WORK for each QSO made; constant tune-ups and random Cw made repeats necessary for nearly every exchange.

Then, at 13:15z R0CK made his third QSO by working NX6T (on 7046.7) and then IMMEDIATELY moved up 200hz (but STILL in the passband) and began calling CQ.  Not surprising, he didn't work anyone. Unfortunately his signal tore up Cw copy; after 5 unproductive minutes I was forced down

to 7045.5.  Immediately a call came in from NG7M - Wonderful, Right?  NoT!  He works me and IMMEDIATELY moves down 200 hz to call CQ, again inside the passband, and again working nobody.  Moving back UP I took refuge on 7046.2 between NG7M and R0CK.  Eventually they

gave up, however my QSO-rate suffered from 2-3 per minute to barely One during that period.

Other commitments kept me off the air during much of Saturday afternoon.  Coming back at 23:15z,

6 QSOs were made when it was noticed that the shack was heating up.  Because the A/C unit

wasn't helping much I was instructed to QRT until 06:00z; by then the mountain top had cooled down considerably.  During the intervening hours, time was spent putting 16 WQ6X RTTY QSOs in the log from East Bay section.  I missed out on the Florida QSO party for Saturday, making up for it Sunday afternoon.

 

With a brief nap in the middle, NX6T was back on the around 06:00z until the closing QSO at 11:59:45.  Asia was the BiG bonus in this contest, offering 10 points per contact instead of just 2.  Considering the plethora of Asian QSOs made, the "K", "F" & "M" beacons on 7.039 seemed rather weak; the Magadan beacon was weak, but at least functional.

 

After sleeping from 12:00 - 18:00, eventually time was made for the Florida QSO party.  While I was expecting WAY more participants (I always do) my BIGGEST complaint was with stations w/o a 4 in the callsign calling CQ FQP but not making it clear they were actually in Florida.  If I were to operate from Florida, I would sign WQ6X/4 or WQ6X/BRO (indicating the county I am in).

 

Between 20:00z and the 22:00z ending time, I managed QSOs from NX6T interspersed with a brief run from WQ6X in Concord.  FQP conditions in the East Bay were DRAMATICALLY different from those in Fallbrook.  It was nice having 2 shots at working Florida.

 

That's it for this weekend.

 

Did YOU work the SPDX RTTY contest and FQP QSO party?

 

Is NX6T / WQ6X in YOUR Log?