BLAST from the Past: CQ W.W. RTTY Contest

As I struggled to find a structure for the 2020 CQ W.W. RTTY blog entry, it occurred to me
that the place to start is by looking into the past to see what was done RTTY-wise prior to this
years CQ W.W. RTTY GiG.  This is what I discovered:

• [x] 2013 - WQ6X & N6GEO do CQ W W RTTY as a Multi-Single
• [x] 2014 - N6GEO & WQ6X as W6R WoW the CQ W.W. RTTY
                    contest for 2014
• [x] 2016 - WQ6X Survives the 2016 CQ WW RTTY Contest
• [x] 2017 - WQ6X rallies in RTTY and raises antennas
• [x] 2018 - WQ6X RUNS World Wide RTTY to it's WIDEST
• [x] 2019 - WQ6X Runs CQ W.W. RTTY Remotely and Raucously

 

2013 - Teams Up w/N6GEO

Where RTTY is concerned, 2013 was a learning year for N6GEO & WQ6X.  In preparation for our upcoming WP2/WQ6X + NP2/N6GEO expedition to St. Croix for the 2014 RTTY RU contest, George came up with the idea that we should run the contest by way of a 5-Watt Flex-1500 SDR radio, feeding a Tokyo Hy-Power HL-45b (45 watts) which can then drive yet another amp at the WP2 site giving us 149.49 watts to qualify as a low power operation (from which we took 1st-Place Worldwide).

In September of 2013 we were still debating the details regarding how this combination will actually work.  Because we used our own computers on St. Croix, testing the configuration during the 2013 CQ W.W. RTTY GiG turned out to be an excellent idea.

2014 - Teams Up again w/N6GEO

Coming off our RTTY RU 1st-place win from January we decided to upgrade things a bit to a Flex-1000 SDR and larger screens.  For this occasion I reserved the W6R callsign.  Work commitments kept me in San Jose much of the time, relegating N6GEO to pickup the slack; which he did.

2016 - Single-OP from Concord

Switching my biofeedback work back to private practice in August-September of 2015 made
it impossible to find the time for playing in the CQ W.W. RTTY contest.  By 2016, I had taken possession of a Yaesu FT-1000mp which I had been told was an outstanding RTTY transceiver.
While setting up at W7AYT's QTH in concord did eventually prove the veracity of the Yaesu transceiver, it was ad-Hoc all the way.  Thanks to the 2016 GiG, I learned a LoT about how
NoT to run a RTTY contest w/the FT-1000mp.
The biggest problem of all was Space-WX:  A-Index=22, K-Index=5.

2017 - Single-OP Remotely from Concord

While a completely new antenna system had been installed at W7AYT's QTH, the RTTY cabling problem had not yet been resolved.  This of course opened up the possibility of running CQ W.W. RTTY remotely from NX6T.  The usual appearance of Murphy (by way of the internet) taught me different ways that RTTY contest operations can get around problems.  When it was over, the decision was made to submit a 40-meter log, to have any chance of placing high[er] on the list.

2018 - Single-OP Remotely as NX6T

During 2018 I was experimenting with various custom approaches for producing AFSK RTTY by way
of the FT-1000mp in Concord.  It occurred to me that old phone patch units could be repurposed into a RTTY interface.  The experiment was repurposing a 50+ year old Heathkit HD-15 phone patch unit. 
Unfortunately the WQ6X RTTY Rigger was not ready in time for the RTTY contest, so I took the easy way out and ran remotely from NX6T.  After the contest I found leisure time to confirm the novel idea of Phone-Patch ==> RTTY.

2019 - Single-OP Remotely as WQ6X

For 2019, work commitments kept me in Alameda.  While I had commissioned an improved internet connection from the bay area end of things, internet in Fallbrook was HORRIBLE.  It was during this event that I discovered it is possible to run a RTTY contest without audio on the receiving end. 
"Do whatever it takes" is my operating approach.

While this Blog entry was written AFTER the 2020 contest event, reviewing the above operations helps to put the 2020 CQ W.W. RTTY contest in perspective.

Do YOU work the CQ W.W. RTTY contest events?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

What makes CQP Different? - Part 1

Of all the state QSO parties, the
CQP California QSO Party is by far
the top QSO Party event of the year;
not JUST because I am [born-and-bred] Californian, but because CQP's overall layout, structure and execution are FAR Beyond the other QSO Parties.

(If I were going to design a QSO
Party, CQP would be the overall
"best model" for me to work from.)

CQP is the only QSO Party that replaces the worthless BOR-ing 5-9/5-9-9 JUNK with a Serial #.  This allows us to gauge how far along other stations are, inviting competition amongst friends. 


RTTY enthusiasts may recognize this EXCHG as the one also used in January's worldwide
RTTY Roundup (RTTY RU) contest.  Requiring a Serial # relieves some of the monotony of
sending 5-9-9 all the time, replacing it with something that requires the operator to "THINGK". 
You may remember my Blog in July asking for the death of 5-9 & 5-9-9.  I gave several things
the 5-9/599 could be replaced with; one of them being a Serial #, similar to the RTTY RU GiGs.

An advantage California has is only 58 counties to work.  A California disadvantage is that the state
is geographically so HUGE that setting up rover stations to visit a LoT of counties is all but impossible; all except K6AQL/M who has mapped out a road trip promising to activate 22 counties, much of it up the middle of the lengthy San Joaquin valley, thru the Southern Sierras and down the central West coast.  wOw!  Is that a Rover Expedition or WHAT?!  I'm going to keep an Eye on K6AQL while running frequencies from Contra Costa (CCOS).

Many of those counties while geographically large are more sparsely populated; fewer hams and even FEWER who take the time to activate their county during CQP, so WE have to Doit for them.

QSO Parties offer the possibility of putting together county expeditions activating "more rare" counties.  I've often thought of operating as W6K from atop Mt. Abel (in Southwest Kern county) where I've run many Field Day (FD) and All Asian (A-A) GiGs.  Maybe next year.

Every year the Central Oregon DX Club (from Bend) organizes a team that go to great lengths
to activate Northeastern MODOC county; if I had access to an abandoned ranger station facility,
I'd make a trip like that for sure.

N6GEO and WQ6X made 3 trips to Southwest MODOC:

1. (2010) - An Experimental Trip
2. (2012) - The Disaster Trip with SO much potential
3. (2013) - The Redemption Trip

While S/W MODOC is literally out in the middle of NOWHERE, the air is so SUPER
CLEAN it makes me cough; at night, Carl Sagan is right: "Billions and Billions of Stars...".

The 2020 CQP event has another special-callsign sub-event happening this year.  While NoT the ONLY special of it's kind (the Sept. KQP had several words to spell out), I believe this is the first event of it's kind that provides a callsign worksheet, making it easy to check off the different 1x1 callsigns on different band-modes as each one is worked.  They should have a Double-Bonus sticker for stations who work ALL of the 21 1x1 callsigns.

What about you?  Do YOU like to run the California QSO Party (in OR out of California)? 
If so, tell us what YOU like about it and what sets it apart from other state QSO parties.

LooK for Part 2 to this Blog topic as we move closer to the October contest.

Have You Read the Rules Lately?

It has been said that "Life is a dress-rehearsal". 

A Dress-Rehearsal?  Rehearsal for WHUT? 

THIS IS IT!

In this 4th installment in the Creative Competition in Radiosport and Toastmasters
series I have ONE Question for you: Have You READ the Rules Lately?

When mentoring those new to radiosport contesting and Toastmasters Speech contests,
I often ask something on the order of: "In order to prepare for an upcoming competition,
what is the 1st thing you should do?"  Invariably I hear all kinds of answers; often all but
the most important one: RTFRM - Read the Rules Thoroughly.

You've heard me declare: "When in Doubt CHEAT (but within the rules).  In order to cheat w/in
the rules you need to know EXACTLY WHAT THE RULES ARE".  Rules let you know specifically What is Allowed, What is Specifically NoT Allowed and in-general what will be expected out of your participation during the event.

For example, in the NAQP radiosport events, transmitter power is limited to 100-watts or less
and using internet spotting assistance is NoT Allowed.  When you submit a Single-OP-Assisted
High Power log, it should come as no surprise that your log submission will end up at the bottom
of the final results listed under the CHECKLOG category.

In Toastmasters, some of the constraints contestants should be aware of are: Speaking Time, Speaking Area and Speaking Title.  I encourage would-be contestants to read over the judge
balloting materials.  Also use the judging form in your club speaker evaluations.  This will give
you practice in looking at what makes a GooD speech and what YOU will be judged on.

Winning speech contests involves being aware of numerous subtleties you will be judged on and
then letting go of all those details.  For radiosport contests we need to be aware of all the subtle things that can impact communication to different areas of the world.  In BOTH of these contests,
the REAL Secret to winning (Being the Best You can Be) can be summed up in ONE Word: PRACTICE!  [Practice! Practice, practice]

In speech contests as well as in radiosport, it's all about Rehearsal and Practice --- Practice and Rehearsal.  In order to rehearse speeches properly, rather than D/L a Toastmaster Timer APP,
I wrote my Own.  Doing this "taught" me a lot about what "time" is really all about. 

For radiosport activities I have also written support APPs, including a Dual Clock utility
and the WQ6X Beacon & Space-WX tracker.  Writing the Dual-clock APP taught me a LoT
about time and time differences during worldwide radiosport events. 

In radiosport, you can record the audio/video of your next contest and review it after the
event is over.  Playing it back, any mistakes you made will often be glaringly obvious. 

If you can copy Cw (Morse Code), there is a set of YouTube videos documenting an experiment where I ran the JAN-2011 NAQP Cw contest while monitoring my E-E-G from location FP-1

(Front-left Forehead).

        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP Cw Aug 2011

                (Search & Pounce) - Video #1

        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP CW Aug-2011

                while running a Frequency - Video #2
        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP CW Aug-2011

                while running a Frequency - Video #3

        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP CW Aug-2011

                while running a Frequency - Video #4

        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP CW Aug-2011

                while running a Frequency - Video #5
Listening to these videos after the fact I can hear the numerous mistakes made throughout
the contest events.  Because I know what to look for, the Brain-Pharts throughout these videos,
are to me, quite evident.

From the 2014 Dx-Expedition to St. Croix (WP2) I made a number of videos while running frequencies after the RTTY context was over.  Overall, these videos document the proper way to run a frequency:

• [x] - WQ6X/WP2 Running Europe on 15-Meter Ssb
• [x] - WQ6X/WP2 Running working stations on 10-Meter Ssb
• [x] - WQ6X/WP2 Working stations on 17-Meter SSB

For Toastmaster's contests video your speech rehearsals and study them. 
Review winning speeches from previous years.  Additionally, live videos (unfortunately after the fact) can teach a LoT.  It's relatively-easy to point out what we "should have done" after the fact.  In my case, having videos from the 2019 Speech/Evaluation contest participation gives me a LoT of "FooD for ThoT" for next year (being an Area Director disallowed me from contest participation in 2020).

• [x] - 2019 Division-A International Speech Contest
• [x] - 2019  Division-A Evaluation Contest

Having reviewed the above videos many times, I have only ONE Question:
CAN I GET A DO-OVER????

What about you?  Do YOU want a DO-Over?

If so then Read the Rules and Practice, Practice, PRACTICE

WQ6X Works the WEIRDEST September Radiosport Weekend EVER!

SO There I WUZ.....

Coming into this last weekend, I was getting a little bored w/the monotony of certain kinds of radiosport activities (namely, poorly represented state QSO parties) and looking for some variety; altho in all honesty, I was rather vague about what that meant.  When your request(s) are [too] vague, don't be surprised by the seeming-chaos that occurs as a result.  This weekend couldn't have been any more weird; or could it.  (As I begin writing this, the weekend is hardly over.)

Unlike major event weekends (like Dx, WPX or Sweepstakes GiGs), September is littered with a dozen more-or-less 12-hour contests (with an occasional 24-hour GiG thrown in).  This weekend began with the Scandinavian CW contest (SAC), altho I didn't know it at the time. 
Ending up on the activation list was:

• [x]All Africa International DX Contest
• [x]Scandinavian Activity Contest, CW
• [x]IOWA QSO Party
• [x]New Jersey QSO Party
• [x]New Hampshire QSO Party
• [x]Washington State Salmon Run (QSO Party)
• [x]NA Sprint RTTY Contest

All Africa is lined out because no African stations were heard.  NJQP is lined out because
hearing only ONE station in my mind hardly qualifies as worthy of my time.  The 11 QSOs
with New Hampshire was way mo'bettah.  Ironically, K2PWS (running Fallbrook's STN-2)
made a reasonable number of NJ QSOS.  I guess you just gotta know when/where to look.

It was late Saturday when I discovered the SAC GiG on the calendar and enjoyed the solace
found by pointing the C-31 and Shorty-40 yagi's to about 18-degrees and being rewarded by
a flock of Scandinavian stations.

Every month, CQ magazine documents operating awards you've prolly never heard of, which you

can qualify for; if only you can find stations w/oddball callsigns in some rather obscure geographical areas.  For this weekend the Scandinavian Cw contest offered that with station calls containing
a single suffix-letter; such as LN8W, SC3A, SE5E, SJ2W, SM6M, SM0T, OG7A, OG6N, OH8L, OH0T, OH7K, OH7R, OH1F & OH8X, (almost as notable as WQ6X).  Outside of this, Saturday manifested discombobulated weirdness from the minute I rolled out of bed into the radio shack.

Throughout the day, N1MM+ was doing weird things.  In the middle of the SAC Cw contest,
the QSO # would somehow get set to 50 (with only 10 QSOs in the log), requiring a rescore of
the log which would set it back to its real number.  N1MM station interaction was a problem adding stations logged from STN-2 into the STN-1 log.  Somehow I resolved that problem but don't know how.

Somehow, while K2PWS was looking around on 40 meters, by accident, instead of switching to 20 meters, I made a switch to 40 and instantly STOLE AWAY the antenna (STN-2 immediately went dead).  We used to have a 1st-come-1st served lockout mechanism.  That was when I discovered
that a new lockout box had been installed on STN-1, giving it lockout priority - WRONG.  We had
to use cellphone communication to coordinate band changes until STN-2 went QRT in time for
the RTTY Sprint contest.

The RTTY Sprint contest was a lot of fun altho the participation level seemed much less than
what I am used to and what I was expecting.  Because the CW Sprint (last weekend) was a 4-hour pandemonium, I expected much the same with RTTY - Nope.   The decision was made to dial the Expert 2-K amp down to about 585 watts, keeping the shack temperature at a reasonably cool level.

An attempt to put together a Team for SCCC ended up with only N6ZFO and WQ6X in competition with some serious contenders.  When it was all over, WQ6X took a 4th-place for CA and 14th-place across the USA.

After the RTTY Sprint GiG was over I took a short break and then divided the remaining 3 hours between looking for SAC stations and putting S-R (Salmon Run) stations into the log until the S-R ending time of 07:00z.  Luckily we got a 2nd-shot at the NHQP and the Salmon Run on Sunday.

While I normally do not call CQ for other-state QSO parties, after running out of stations to
work Sunday afternoon, the decision was made to give CQ a call on 40/20 Cw and even 40 Ssb,
which is how I ended the Salmon Run.  As a result, 31 QSOs and 5 new counties made it to the log. 
WQ6X worked 37 of the 39 Washington counties; not bad for inventing things as I go.


You know the old saying, "It ain't over until the paper work is filed".  In addition to running 6 contest events this weekend, afterwards 6 posts to the 3830 Scores website were required as well as the submission of 6 logs.  Some were submitted via e-mail, while other logs were allowed to be uploaded online. 

Yes, I even submitted the 1-QSO NJQP Log. 
I learned a long time ago to submit EVERY log. 
The contest hosts really appreciate it and sometimes
(if no one else submits a log in my category), WQ6X wins a 1st-place certificate for California, or more.

For the 2016 7QP QSO party I received the coveted 1st-Place (outside of 7th call area) plaque.  Evidently when others saw how I quietly walked away with the 7QP plaque, since then competition has been fierce.


While this weekend was full of difficulties and unfortunate surprises, making it all work is
what radiosport is all about.  Somehow we always rise to the occasion.  After I shut it all down,
N6KI drove up the Fallbrook hill to NX6T and made a number of quick hardware configuration adjustments (including reinstating the old lockout box) and then put things nicely to bed.

DiD YOU work any of the radiosport GiGs this weekend?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

Why State & Area QSO Parties Work for Me

Last year I wrote a September Blog entry detailing why I spend operating time in state/area QSO parties.  With this weekend bringing us 4 state QSO parties (IA, NH, NJ & WA) amongst other GiGs, this blog topic is worth revisiting.

For all operators, QSO Parties have many benefits:

• Add counties to their county-worked list.
• Test-run equipment/antenna configurations
• Study domestic propagation paths
• Learn new contest software techniques
• Often overlooked are the benefits accrued to the in-state participants who go
  to considerable effort to put their state counties on the air.  By working them,
  we acknowledge that effort.

The last point has 2-sides to it.  Frequently when I document participation in various QSO parties,
my biggest complaint is that not enough in-state operators participate in their own events.  Like other contests, I seek to earn certificates that reflect my operating skill; even in state QSO parties.  Last year I was surprised to earn for QSO party winner certificates.

Nothing is more frustrating than to spend 6 hours in your QSO party only to hear less than a dozen CQ QSO party calls.  Even MORE frustrating is to hear dozens of out-of-state stations calling CQ for your QSO party because you in-state operators aren't giving us CQ action; unfortunately, I can't work the out-of-state stations.

In states like California, not only do we sport an abundance of in-state operators, having only 58 counties makes it relatively easy to activate ALL counties during the CQP weekend., offering up the opportunity to earn the coveted Worked All California Counties Award; in a single weekend no less.

If you visit the WQ6X CQP Page (WQ6X.Info/CQP), you will notice I have been a part of many county expedition operations, activating Mono, Ventura, Modoc, Sacramento, Tuolumne and Contra Costa counties.  Ironically, I've never run a CQP event from my home county - Alameda.

Now of course lest I forget. with people being encouraged to largely remain indoors (and/or away from people), radiosport GiGs like QSO parties offer us productive things to do, helping to relieve our frustration and boredom (Bore-Dumb?).

What about You?
Do YOU engage in state/area QSO Parties?

If so, tell me about it.

If NoT, WHY Knot?

WQ6X Wanders & Wangles another Sept. Contest Weekend

The second contest weekend in September is always a weird mish-mosh bag; especially when you consider the external circumstances surrounding it.

The weekend opened with the Worked All Europe (WAE) Ssb contest and the FOC Cw QSO party.
The FOC QP is a 24-hour GiG, while the WAE is a Full-48 hour extravaganza; which ironically I DiD NoT participate in as full-Ssb contests are not effectively doable from the Alameda location, unless completely function key driven (as in the state QSO Parties).

The overall  weekend goal was to play around in
the FOC GiG and two QSO parties on Friday evening
and Saturday in between other activities in Alameda and then the 4-hour NA SPRINT.  With individual logs in N1MM+ for each contest, I had to remember which callsigns went with which contest.


At 00:00z the FOC is over, while at the same time the 4 hour NA SPRINT contest on Cw takes over.  However for me, the 2 QSO parties were still in full swing; the TXQP ended for the day @02:00z and the ALQP contest was completely over at 03:00z (an only 12 hour affair).  Eventually, I ran out of new TX/AL stations to work, giving the go-ahead to create a set of NA SPRINT macros for N1MM+ and dive in.  My SPRINT participation was simply to declare "let the record state that WQ6X has NoT abandoned the NA SPRINT contests [necessarily]".

If you've never run a SPRINT contest, your 1st time will be a JOLT-Awakening.  Altho, I never used the bandmap (i.e. unassisted) I was too lazy to shut it down.  Telling N1MM to remove the band spots, works for about 2 minutes.  The Cw skimmer software (behind the spotting system) goes into hyper-report mode during a Cw-SPRINT or Rtty-SPRINT contest.  It not only can look intimidating, it can become even a bit scary.  For Ssb Sprints, very little is reported to the spotting system, relatively freeing us from this insanity.

Because the Stepp-IR antenna recently received a logic-board over-haul, this weekend offered
up the opportunity to switch bands and watch the Swr as the elements are tuned for each setting. 
LooKs like the upgrade was successful.

The Texas QSO Party (TQP)

The Texas QSO Party is how Saturday morning started up.  While TQP began at 14:00z I never made it to the operating position until a little after 16:00z.  Throughout the weekend 15-meters was checked for the hoped-for openings that never seemed to materialize.  (The E. Coast had a S. American opening and a shot at Europe.  The Left Coast was in complete silence.) 

One of the WEIRDEST events this weekend was hearing KT5J on 20-Cw calling CQ TQP over and over and over... coming back to NOBODY.  When I looked up KT5J on QRZ.Com the station is listed as Contest Wireless Group in Georgetown, TX, which would explain the CQ TQP.  However it does not explain why they didn't answer any CQ's for over 2+ hours. 

The only guess I have is that this was a remotely run station that started an auto-CQ and then lost
the IP-connection making it unable to press [ESC] and stop it.  As I tuned the band looking for QP
stations, this CQ call and unknowingly-futile pileup would go on and on.  It is for this reason I NEVER
use auto-CQ's when running the NX6T facility remotely - internet outages can occur at any moment.

Unlike the AQP contest the Texas QSO Party gives an extra 6-hours on Sunday to make up for
the OP-time we could not find time for on Saturday; in particular for WQ6X, making Ssb contacts.  Additionally, the extra 6 hours gave extra time to put an extra 25 counties in the log for extra points
in the ending score; an extra if I ever saw one.

On Sunday there were another bunch of non-Texas stations looking to play, resulting in dozens of frustrated non-Texans calling CQ TQP adding to the confusion.  New TX stations calling CQ TQP were FLOODED with frenzied callers who would ID, regardless of the TX station sending "WQ6?"
or "Q6?" or "6X?".  I had to repeat my call AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN to make it thru the walls
of W8 & K7 stations; not to mention Billy Bob (KK4xxx) and his brother (KB4xxx) who really didn't know WHO they were calling or why, but felt they needed to throw their callsign in for good measure. 

Back in 2014 when running as WP2/WQ6X I was on the other end of this mess. 
To explain the DX station's frustration, I wrote a couple of Blog entries about this, namely:

• [x] - WQ6X's Tips on how to work DX Stations
• [x] - Some additional Tips on working DX stations

In State/Area QSO parties working an in-state station is often JUST LIKE working a rare Dx station.  There is a correct way to make it work and there is the IDIOT's way.  Which method do you use?

If it wasn't for running 585 watts with a 3-el Stepp-IR pointing right at Texas, I probably would never have gotten thru these idiots most of the time.  Otherwise, WQ6X was consistently breaking pileups on the first call (especially when there were no IDIOTs transmitting out of turn).

The Alabama QSO Party (AQP)

The Alabama QSO Party was the alternative to working Texas stations and cavorting with FOC Cw stations.  AQP is typical of so many state QSO parties in that there is hardly enough in-State stations to make this worth putting in a lot of time with.
I have TWO recommendations for this QSO party:

1. Expand this event from 12 hours to 18 (or more) by adding some operating time on Sunday,
   or start earlier and/or end later on Saturday.
   By the time 03:00z rolls around, the Left coast is just getting an opening on 80/160 meters and your contest is already over.  Adding Sunday to the schedule gives us Left-coasters a 2nd shot at Alabama on 15 meters should no opening occur on Saturday.
2. Recruit more Alabama stations to play in your own contest; and/or convince OPs in nearby states to jump in their vehicles and drive through parts of Alabama.  Reserving a 1x1 callsign (Ex: K4M, W4W, N4A, etc.) especially for this event will reduce confusion from a W5 station working a W4 (Alabama) contest,  A 100:1 (Us to You) ratio does NoT win converts to your QSO Party.

The NA SPRINT Cw Contest
The NA SPRINT Cw Contest, while only 4 hours, is the most insanely-frenzied radiosport contest you will ever encounter.  The intensity-level of this event is so intense that it out-intensifies most other contest intensities, except maybe the intense WAE Cw contest with its intense QTC message format.

In this contest, the average code speed jumps from 24-25 up to 35+ wpm.  While I CAN copy at those speeds, too many copy-errors can occur, requiring even-more-time-wasted repeats.  For the 2.5 hours WQ6X ran the Saturday SPRINT contest, N1MM's code sending speed NEVER exceeded
23-wpm.  Amazingly, when I would call CQ-NA, well known high-speed stations would actually
slow-down to my speed-level, and, NoT surprisingly, no repeats were ever needed.

Even worse than sending 35+ wpm are the IDIOTS who call CQ NA and then wait a mere 0.85 seconds before pressing the F1 CQ key again.  By the time I could reach over and press F4 to send

my callsign they are halfway thru another CQ.  You should realize, that once somebody hears your call and realizes it is NoT a DUP, it takes AT LEAST 1.5 seconds to press the callsign key. 

It should come as no surprise that 10 CQ calls were often needed for these stations to get one reply; not that we couldn't hear the station, or even that they were sending too fast; the problem was that we "couldn't get a word in edgewise".  SLOW DOWN Operators - you are WASTING MORE TIME THAN YOU ARE SAVING by running at lightning speed.

I wrote up variations of this problem as BEEF #17 in Part-4 of the multi-part Blog series entitled
The Role of Respect in Radiosport.  Next weekend will bring us the frenzied 4-hour NA SPRINT RTTY contest with the same problems transposed into RTTY operations - WILD!

Now, it is because of the above intensity-mess that many people HATE radiosport contests and the NA SPRINT in particular.  However, the time you waste BITCHING about these 4-hour contests often far exceeds the contest duration itself. 

One of the reasons to check into the WA7BNM contest calendar on a weekly basis is not necessarily to find events to join in, but to have an understanding of what to expect on a given weekend, allowing you to plan your operating activities AROUND contest periods.  Then again, there is an old saying
"if you can't AVOID'em, then JOIN'em - something to THINGK about.

What about You?
Did YOU play in any radiosport events this weekend?

If Not, WHY Knot?

If SO, is WQ6X in YOUR Log?

WQ6X is ALMOST All-IN for All Asian SSB

The SSB version of the All Asian Contest is ALWAYS loaded w/mixed-feelings. 

Just like the YO DX contest (the weekend before), the All Asian GiG ALWAYS begins with
high hopes, and yet, always seems to end with a fizzle.  In preparation for the 2019 event,
I wrote a Blast-from-the-Past WQ6X contest blog entry about my attempts to turn several
All Asian contests in September into something with at least a bit of pizzazz.  In that spirit,
for the 2020 event, I made a special trip to W7AYT's QTH to reprise some sort of All Asian
activity.  With the COQP and TNQP QSO Parties as a backdrop, I figured it would be a
no-brainer; or is that just a no-QSOs weekend no-brainer?

W  Q  6  X  -  A L L  A S I A N  S S B -  2 0 1 5

Being a 48-hour contest, it would seem that making LoTsa Asian QSOs would be a no-Brainer.  Unfortunately, the truth is, at NX6T we had PLENTY of available OPs, frantically LooKing for too-few participating Asian Stations for our log.  Out of their own frustration numerous Asian stations called in more than once (a DUPE) on 40 & 20 meters.

The TRUTH is, not enough Asian stations call CQ in their own contest, relegating us statesiders to Doit for them; when in fact, we should NoT "have to" - they should be taking the initiative in their own contest.  You may remember in June 2019 I wrote a Blog on Why YOU should call CQ. 
([CLICK HERE] to read that.)

For this year's All Asian event, riding a NEAR-Empty BART train to Concord gave me JUST enough time to slide into NX6T's STN-2 operator seat @W7AYT's QTH in Concord.  Beginning at 02:00z, a quick tune around 20-meters informed me that this was gonna be a Slow-SLOG event; and of course it was - but because I said so?

At 02:00z, not hearing much happening on 20-meters, I put out a "CQ All Asian" call.  I received
an immediate reply from an N7 station in So. California.  I explained that I was working Asia only.  Nevertheless he went into a diatribe on how people don't listen.  He of course failed to acknowledge the fact that HE was the one not listening.  Later, as I tuned the band I heard him repeating his diatribe to yet ANOTHER stateside station calling "CQ All Asian".  HuH?

At 05:00z I was relieved by N6ERD allowing me to get some sleep until my next operating shift
at 08:00z.  Within minutes, the run frequency was FLOODED with bursts of data signals.  I had to move frequency several times as it was clear this jammer was following me around.  Throughout the next hour I dealt with a tuner-upper who would tune up and then send "V-V-V" intermittently and then resume tuning.  HuH?

Next thing I know I am informed that my 7171.41 run is interfering with some sort of NET on 7.170.  Really?  I was on the run frequency for a half-hour and they are NOW just telling me they have a NET going on?  Just because you always start a NET at 10:30z doesn't men that *I* have to move. 
How am I supposed to know (in ADVANCE) that you meet on 7.170 ever Saturday morning?

Onto 7172.22.  However now, Billy Bob and his friends are waking up in the South East and decide they want to answer my "All Asia" calls.  HuH?  Do you know what "All Asia" means?  If not, then
You should NoT call me.  If you DO, then you KNOW you should NoT call me. 
Am I missing something?

At 11:20z tuning in on the 7.039 beacon frequency, I hear spritzing noises moving around
~7.039, effectively jamming those signals.  I'm used to hearing Ssb stations on this frequency
but NoT spritzy-sounding junk.

On Saturday, the daytime conditions. were very poor.  10/15 meters never materialized and 20-meters was not much better.  The COQP QSO party turned out to be a complete BUST - I submitted a 1-QSO log.

Sunday morning at 08:30z when I started up on 7162.62, I was IMMEDIATELY met with RTTY QRM.  Really?  By 09:00z the RTTY QRM was even LOUDER so I moved to 7161.61.  At 09:28 I am again told that I am on a NET frequency.  Really?  What Net is it THIS time?  Taking refuse on 7169.69 worked well until running out of stations to work, I went to S&P mode.

Another difficulty came from Asian stations who could BARELY speak enough English to
get the message through.  Sometimes I had to ask for a callsign repeat nearly a dozen times. 
I addressed this in BEEF #13 in my write up on Respect in Radiosport. 
([CLICK HERE] to read this, if you missed it.

In listening for beacons, the "F" and "M" beacons were loud and clear altho the "K" beacon was nowhere to be found.  The "K" beacons seems to exhibit fickle behavior..  I have written about this phenomenon a couple months back.  ([CLICK HERE] to read this, if you missed it.

When it was all over, it would seem that NX6T took 1st-place outside of Asia for the Multi-single category.  It would seem that the K3EST team (@N6RO) took 1st-place but for the Multi-multi category.

On Sunday the Tennessee QSO Party (TNQP) made the scene.  Luckily there were far more Tennessee stations participating in their own QSO party, unlike Colorado the day before. 
Running as WQ6X I was at least able to make an appearance in that GiG.

Did YOU participate in the All Asian & TNQP events?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR Log?

The World of Brain-Body - Body-Brain in Radiosport

Unbeknownst to most people, for the last 22+ years I've been a part of ongoing research into
the use of Neurofeedback as a significant part of the 1st 21st century exercise program which ACTUALLY Revolutionizes the idea of a full-body workout; it's actually a full Neuro-body workout. 
As it turns out, the principles behind this evolutionary field of research are amazingly applicable
to the world of Amateur Radio (in general) and Radiosport contesting in particular.

Even though radio operators often come together as a team, each team is comprised of individual operators.  To excel in radiosport (whether single-OP or part of a team) each individual must continually upgrade their operating performance/acumen to remain at the top of the operator heap.  For example in preparation for upcoming contests we have pileup training software and even the Contest University (CTU).   As wonderful as these items are, none of them address the Brain-Body relationship in any easily-replicable manner.

During the last 20 years I have been looking at brain performance and ways to improve it.  Back in 2011 during an NAQP Cw contest I monitored left-frontal E-E-G (at location FP-1) as I ran frequencies and spent time searching and pouncing (S&P).  A series of YouTube videos were made capturing that experience.  If you can copy Cw (Morse code) while watching the Attention/Meditation meters in the video, you will hear the debilitating effects caused by mere 1.5 second brain-pharts which required upwards of 45 seconds to get an understandable repeat on the sent information.

        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP Cw Aug 2011

                (Search & Pounce) - Video #1

        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP CW Aug-2011

                while running a Frequency - Video #2

        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP CW Aug-2011

                while running a Frequency - Video #3

        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP CW Aug-2011

                while running a Frequency - Video #4

        [x] - WQ6X monitoring EEG during NAQP CW Aug-2011

                while running a Frequency - Video #5
For those who are not Cw-savvy, there are plans afoot to replicate this experiment before the
year is over during a voice contest.  Stay tuned to this contest Blog for more information on that.

From a Neuro-body perspective, increasing bloodflow is a crucial component in improving athletic
and radiosport performance.  Other than the use of performance enhancing stimulants, just about
any method for improving bloodflow is encouraged.  For radiosport, a number of activities to improve bloodflow come to mind:

• Neurofeedback protocols designed to improve bloodflow (of course).
• Light/Sound stimulus using such units as those made by Kasina and PhotoSonix.
• Running and/or Tai-Chi and/or martial arts workouts.
  Also, rocking and bouncing (trampolines) can quickly improve bloodflow.
• Certain forms of meditation.
• For those who are by necessity sedentary, upper-body workouts can easily
  improve bloodflow.
• Getting proper sleep before/during/after a radiosport event can gradually yet
  incrementally improve bloodflow.

What skills we are attempting to maximize depends largely on the operating mode being used

(Cw / Ssb / RTTY-Data).  Then again, some skills such as Focus improvement and anxiety-reduction apply to all modes.  Properly devised E-E-G training and Light/Sound programs can easily increase pre-frontal bloodflow for more sustained focus (FP1, AF3 & FPZ), while at the same time balancing areas that are linked to anxiety and anxiety-control (FP2 & AF-4).  It has been found that training locations F3 & F4 can help to improve ones ethical-sense; very important in the conductance of operations per the rules of engagement.

To maximize Cw copy-performance and Ssb speech-recognition improvement, properly working

the Central/Parietal areas (C3/P3/T3 & C4/P4/T4) can increase intelligibility by reducing errors in decoding information.  With Light/Sound therapy we can improve integration between C3 <==> C4 

as well as P3 <==> P4 in particular.

For Cw contests, as a function of training P3 - P4 I discovered an innate ability to replay code
just heard.  Instead of trying to "figure out" what was just sent (with diminishing success), I simply "replay" that segment via the parietal areas, giving me another shot at it - immediately.   Working Central areas (FC3/C3/C5/T3 & FC4/C4/C6/T4) help to improve the motor skills needed for sending fast[er] error-free code using a key paddle.

For RTTY contests when I Search & Pounce (S&P), as I tune through the band I am listening for tones to be of the "correct pitch" for proper software decoding.  Often times I don't even have to
LooK at the tuning indicator(s) on the screen - I KNOW (by sound) whether or not the signal is properly tuned-in.  Training P3 - P4 improves this ability over time.

Thus far, I've only discussed the Brain aspect of the Brain-Body picture.
I'm going to leave that discussion for the next installment in this new series.

Bottom-line, performance improvement doesn't apply just to outdoor sports; indoor sports
(such as radiosport contests) can benefit tremendously by tending to overall brain improvement. 
Then, add in exercise protocols along with the brain work and you have an unbeatable combination.

You've heard me say "When in Doubt CHEAT (but w/in the Rules)".  In radiosport, it is COMPLETELY within the rules to include Brain/Body performance improvement as part of your event preparation.

What do YOU do to prepare for each radiosport event.

Do You include Brain & Body in that preparation?

Tell me about it.

WQ6X Wanders Woefully thru another WEIRD August Weekend

Virtually everyone I talked with acknowledged this last August weekend to be about as WEIRD
as they get.  Everything seemed to be just a bit out of synch with the MEST universe and yet, somehow, when it was all over, everything more-or-less came together.

On the WA7BNM Contest Calendar it was noticed that there was no entry for the SCC RTTY
contest (to begin at 12:00z), however there was a NEW entry in the calendar for an event known
as RTTY-Ops beginning at 18:00z on FRIDAY.  Clicking on this event took me to the website for the SCC RTTY contest GiG.  Not realizing this was a leftover link in the internet cache, I setup N1MM+
to be ready for the SCCC event @12:00z.

Noticing that both events use the same exchange (5NN + Year-first-licensed), I did not realize that RTTY-Ops was a replacement for the SCC event until I fired up NX6T's STN-1 and only heard CQ calls for RTTY-Ops.  A series of e-mail exchanges w/WA7BNM confirmed that RTTY-Ops IS the replacement for the SCC GiG (hence the same exchange) and that I had barely 2+ hours left to
play, as the RTTY-Ops GiG ended at 18:00z Saturday morning.  HuH  WTF?
Here is what Bruce Horn (WA7BNM) had to say about this:

• There's been great confusion about this. The SCC retired their RTTY contest as of the 2019 edition, when they partnered with the WWROF
  to co-sponsor the new WW-DIGI contest. That was supposed to be the end of the SCC RTTY contest, but recently RTTYOps (Rag) resurrected the contest. Originally, he scheduled it for the first weekend in October, then he moved it to the first weekend in September and then finally two days ago he moved it to this weekend. He couldn't use the legacy 12Z Sat to 12Z Sun dates because that's when the WW-DIGI contest is,
  so he scheduled it for 18Z, Fri to 18Z Sat. However, there was only
  about a day's notice, so I'm not surprised that RTTY contesters are confused.

Because there was yet no contest entry in N1MM+ for RTTY-Ops, I used the SCC entry and in
the end submitted the log with the SCC contest header.  The CQ SCC message was converted
to "CQ RTTY-Ops Test".  Further adding to the confusion, @18:00z when RTTY-Ops ended,
I immediately heard a dozen CQ SCC Test calls, altho they eventually died away.  The only
RTTY Cq heard was from K0R in the Kansas QSO Party (KQP); my first QSO in that event. 
The rest of the digital/RTTY was filled with stations working the "new" Worldwide Digi-DX contest.

Left on the agenda for the weekend was the YO-Dx HF contest and the 2-Part Kansas QSO Party. 
In 2019, running as NX6T a whopping 15 QSOs were made resulting in 108th place worldwide.  When it comes to the YO-Dx contest, I'm always full of hope that this will be THE year it actually
goes right, for a change.  Unfortunately, with the sunspot cycle still lingering at the bottom, that
dream is rarely realized; oh to live on the East coast for EU contest access.  Because I frequently remote in to operate NX6T (near San Diego), I guess a remote station in New England should
also be considered.

From NX6T, DOZENS of YO/YU spots were visible on the N1MM+ bandmap; unfortunately,
their source was either EU itself or N/E USA.  While a dozen QSOs eventually made it to the
WQ6X log for this contest, they were ALL from the USA (YO/YU QSOs are worth more points).

Left over for weekend was the Kansas QSO party (KQP) as the only real source of radiosport action for the weekend.  I love playing around in the KQP because as QSO parties go, this one personifies the (EASY) BUTTON.  This year the decision was made to run this GiG mixed-Mode for a change.  While 60% of the QSOs were made on Cw, Kansas stations on Ssb actually seemed quite plentiful (as QSO parties go) and overall, LoTs of fun; made so by the uniqueness of the individual operators.

My usual beef state w/QSO parties is about not enough in-State players in their own QSO party events.  With Kansas, there were plenty of new stations and/or new counties being heard throughout the GiG.  The Kansas OPs are also clever enough to run a "Part-2" of their event for 6 more hours on Sunday - PERFECT - Almost as good as CQP (coming up in October).

What was missing with this year's
KQP were stations working 80/160;
even 40-meters seemed lacking.

There was a BONUS station
for KQP using the call KS0KS. 
The 1st time working that station
adds a 100-point bonus to the score. 

Afterwards, working KS0KS gives just the usual (2 or 3) QSO points. 


Additionally, spelling "KANSAS", "QSOPARTY", "SUNFLOWER" & "YELLOWBRICKROAD"
by working 1x1 calls bring about other bonuses.  In fact, over 90% of the stations I worked in
the KQP were 1x1 callsigns.  That got me to thinking.  I became interested to discover what
letters of the alphabet they were actually going for and came up with the following:

•   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J  K   L  M
• N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W    X  Y  Z

There were only 5 unused letters in the above; only the "G", "H", "M", "V" and "Z"
were not used; come to think of it, I don't recall any 1x1 stations using those letters. 
Of those, WQ6X managed to work the following:

•   A   B   C  D   E  F   G   H   I  J  K  L M
• N  O  P  Q  R S  T  U   V   W   X  Y Z

I managed to work the following:

• K0A, K0D, K0E, K0F, K0I, K0K, K0L, K0M, K0N, K0O, K0P, K0R, K0T, K0U, K0W
• NOA, N0C, N0D, N0E, N0F, N0K, N0N, N0O, N0P, N0Q, N0S, N0T, NOU, NOW
• W0A, W0B, W0D, W0F, W0K, W0M, W0N, W0P, W0Q, W0R, W0S, W0T,
  W0U, W0W, W0Y

It would seem that WQ6X worked enough stations  to qualify for all the above words as follows:

• K- K0K  A- K0A  N- K0N  S- N0S  A- N0A  S- W0S
• Q- N0Q  S- N0S  O- K0O 
  P- K0P  A- N0A  R- K0R  T- K0T  Y- W0Y
• S- N0S  U- K0U  N- K0N 
  F- K0F  L- K0L  O- K0O  W- K0W  E- K0E  R- K0R
• Y- W0Y  E- K0E  L- K0L  L- K0L  O- K0O  W- K0W 
  B- W0B  R- K0R  I- K0I  C- N0C  K- K0K 
  R- W0R  O- N0O  A- K0A  D- K0D

Overall, I continue to support KQP.  Altho not as robust as CQP, KQP DOES give us
"Left Coasters" a shot at participating in QSO parties closer to us - propagative geography
seems to reasonably exist between San Diego and KS and the SF East bay and KS. 
We W6's are grateful for your signals.

Having already used the WQ6X callsign from Fallbrook in the KQP GiG, I was not allowed
to also use it from the SF East Bay.  At the last minute I setup a run from W7AYT as - W7AYT,
making 12 QSOs in a last-minute operation; all on 20-meter Cw.  There is a quite considerable contrast between signal levels in Concord, versus what is heard @NX6T in Fallbrook.
Remember my edict: "When in Doubt CHEAT, but within the Rules..."

Because this was someone else's state QSO party I didn't have to worry about intentional QRM.  However that doesn't prevent other stations I'm trying to work from being QRM'd by people who "hate them pesky contesters".  A blatant example occurred on Sunday @23:48z when some clown decided that W0W needed their 7.223 frequency serenaded with the repeated playing of "Taps" (on trumpet).  HuH?  WTF is THAT all about?  Does W0W REALLY DESERVE your annoying little annoyances, or are you just Bored-out-of-Your-Mind?

If you're bored, go ask mommy and daddy what you can do today - (as long as it is done OFF
the air).  When I get bored in the radio shack (which is rare), I purposely look for new things
to get involved with.  An easy solution for me is to skim the contest calendar looking for "little"
contest events (or QSO parties) I may have overlooked; which is how I found the KQP QSO
party in the first place.

Did You work any radiosport GiGs in August's last weekend?

Is WQ6X or W7AYT in YOUR Log?