WQ6X Dual-OPs the CQ Weird-wide Cw Contest

Usually, I reserve the "Weird" moniker for the CQ WPX Contests because of all the weirdly-different prefixes.  For this year's CQ W-W Dx Cw contest, everything about it was weird.  "Weird" doesn't necessarily imply anything bad, just wildly different; and it couldn't have been more different during this last contest weekend.  This was a weekend of contrasts.  Thanks to the sudden JUMP in SFI numbers, overall band conditions were all quite alive compared to 2019 - Solar Cycle 25 is suddenly on the move upward.

For WQ6X, November's CQ W-W Cw GiG weekend has been through a number of different phases/places in the last 10 years.  Last year I wrote up this contest with an embedded
Blast-from-the-Past.  Some notable contrasts include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other contrasts encompassed audio equipment and antenna changes at the W7AYT installation
in Concord.  Operating configurations from year-to-year are one experiment after another, seeing
not only what works (technically) but what "feels right" from the operating standpoint.  Nearly every contest weekend, I make minor changes AFTER the contest weekend - to be more fully enjoyed in the next competition.

This year I decided to try something different.  Because the sloping trapezoid antenna has contributed virtually nothing to contest operations (altho it makes a good "noise antenna for the MFJ-1026), it was temporarily disconnected.  The coax was routed to a temporary installation of a BUDDIPOLE that has been languishing at the W7AYT QTH.  It TOO turned out to be a better less-noise RX antenna, more than a transmit one (altho the SWR was always under 1.2:1).

It also turns out that the 3-el 10-m Long John yagi would tune on 15-meters (probably as a oversized BUDDIPOLE) - a handful of contacts were made that way.  While running the revamped 8JK VEE on 15&20 meters, switching to the yagi on receive would yield a slightly weaker signal, but virtually NO atmospheric noise.

Equipment-wise, in the last year, the WQ6X installation has not only shifted to a larger room,
it has gained a number of additions.  In addition to the ubiquitous pair of Autek QF-1a filters
and the JPS NIR-12 we now have:

• An ICOM 7000 (for now mainly an excellent SWL receiver).
• A "Moscow Muffler" for tuning out the "Woodpecker".
• Introduction of a RockVille 8-Channel mixer (w/internal stereo amp.).
  
• An MFJ-784 super DSP Filter to process Left-Ear audio.
• Reintroduction of a modified MFJ 752-B to process Right-Ear audio.
• Reintroduction of an MFJ-1026 noise phase canceller.
  
• An A/B switchable Yaesu SP-6 speaker.
  

While we had no bodies on site (no B-i-C) San Diego Contest Club members have recently made trips to Fallbrook performing antenna inspections, replacing internet-controlled coax switches in the shack, and even restoring the computer hard drive for STN-1
(rolling configuration settings back to late 2019).

Anticipating propagation improvements to Asia, before and after the contest, I made a number of listens on ~7.039 looking for the Russian military beacons. 
This weekend the "F" beacon was QUITE loud,
the "M" beacon was somewhat loud and the
long-missing "K" beacon is still technically
M-I-A (missing and/or off-the-air).

A loud "F" beacon supported the experience
of DOZENS and DOZENS of Chinese stations,
several VR2/VR6 stations and even a not-insignificant appearance of Zones 21 & 22; normally tough to work, even from the Left Coast.

Thus far, everything seems overtly (overly?) positive and yet as we know "Murphy" has to
make an appearance sometime/somewhere.  This year it happened early Saturday evening. 
I had the 5 - 8pm shift.  After 20 meters finally died (around 02:45z), moving on down to 40-meters Europe was everywhere (not so common from the Southwest USA).  I went on an S&P rampage, claiming dozens of countries and a bunch of zone multipliers.

Then, at 03:25z - WHAM! - the microwave link for our internet connection died.  NX6T did NoT respond.  Internet was not restored until shortly after NooN
on Sunday.  

 

By 20:30z N6KI had NX6T back on the air for a couple of hours while I was seeing clients at my Alameda office.  Returning to Concord, WQ6X made another run on 10 meters, chasing spots and putting a couple more zones into the log.  Unfortunately, I think most of Sunday's 10-m opening was missed - Saturday conditions in Concord were more favorable.  At 22:45z I took over NX6T and ran 20-meters until the end of the contest, with a mix of running frequencies (14010.40) and clearing out the non-USA spots on the bandmap.

Intentional QRM-wise, this contest weekend was incredibly benign.  For some reason, CQ W-W contests rarely encounter intentional QRM, even on 40-meters.  QRM-wise, my major complaint
was the National Tuneup Frequency (N-T-F) on 40-meters during my 320+ QSO run from 10:00z to 16:00z Saturday morning.  Even the Ssb QRM seemed to avoid us.  Maybe everyone was working the Dx contest and had no time for jamming or Ssb ragchewing.

While I was sad for the Weird-wide contest to end, I would assume that the anti-contester coalition was cheering the 00:00z ending time.  Twenty meters was transformed from a panoramic plethora
of pandemonium into complete silence; all in a matter of 10-seconds.

When it was all over it would seen that NX6T took 11th-place for USA and 1st-Place for San Diego Section as well as W6 (California).  Considering the loss of 17 hours, it is amazing that we came
back as well as we did.

DiD YOU work the CQ Ww Dx Cw Contest?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Survives another Frazzled Dual-OP Sweepstakes

As I enjoy the fresh air outside W7AYT's QTH after an after-the-fact (after-contest) wire antenna inspection, a smile broke out as I LooK back to how this weekend actually played out.  Overall,
the goal was to somehow dual-OP the November Sweepstakes Ssb contest GiG, winning another certificate for East Bay (EB) section and maybe, even another PAC Division plaque (as was done back in 2015).  I also had the same goal for my participating remotely in NX6T's Multi-OP (LP) run.

Before every Sweepstakes I review previous operations and stats to give me ideas for how the next Sweepstakes GiG should be run.  In 2017 I took a Look back and was amazed by the many different forms of operation WQ6X (often as W6K) has put together for Sweepstakes.

• [x] -  BLAST from the PAST: November Sweepstakes.
  

Of ALL my favorite contests, Sweepstakes is my favorite, favorite.  However, Ssb contests always frazzle me; with Cw/RTTY I can quietly live in my headphones with Euro-electronic music blended thanks to the RockVille mixer I added to the equipment lineup in Concord.  The music is chosen to neutralize the RTTY signals in my listening - yet still copy signals.  With Ssb, I can also use music, but with varying voice-inflections, it becomes more tricky; and, sometimes I have to "shout" into the microphone to get the contact - not needed w/Cw and RTTY.

Considering the equipment array available to me, this would be a challenge.  If participation in the
Cw event is any indication of what to expect, because "anyone" can run Ssb, the expectation was
for there to be an increase in overall participation of more-ore-less 35%.  I guess an "EASY" way to estimate participation is by comparing reported QSO counts from both events, realizing that a station can only be worked ONCE in Sweepstakes GiGs.  As you can see (above), there was a considerable increase in participation for the Sweepstakes Ssb event.

Section-wise, Sweepstakes 2020 events seemed to produce more activity from areas of the country that have been lacking Sweepstakes activity in recent years; notably, NE, NNY, WV, NH, AL, AR & NV.  Lacking in this year's Ssb event were many of the "easy" Canadian provinces, whereas QC, PE and NL were relatively easy this year.  The ONE section missing from most logs (NX6T & WQ6X incl.) was of course NT (Northern Territories).

One thing that may well have contributed to increased participation over last year (and even from
the Cw GiG 2 weeks ago) is the incredible increase in Solar FLUX Index which jumped from 78 - 88 during the weekend; unfortunately accompanied by K-Index = 3.  Tuesday after the contest the SFI was recorded at a record-high of 100 with the K-Index down to 1.  wOw!  I guess Solar Cycle 25 is in FULL Swing!

For me Sweepstakes is all about NoT giving up.  This year brought with it all number of challenges.  While I love using the Electro Voice 664 microphone for ragchewing (yes, even I chew the rag once in awhile), it is NoT a contest microphone (with a narrow audio frequency PUNCH).  Because using the Heil PRO headset worked so well remotely, the 664 was turned upright creating a mic stand, thanks to a mini-bungee cord I found in the junk box.

Because Sweepstakes is a domestic contest, we rarely have to put up with the usual 40-meter intentional QRM, altho this year the National Tuneup Frequency was rampant.  The NTF is one
of my major beefs that I wrote about in 2019.  ([CLICK HERE] for more information on the NTF).
In that Blog I also documented the F-U monkey.  Tuning around 75-m Saturday evening I heard
N6JS loud and clear on 3.839.50 (right next door to the 3.840 "garbage dump" frequency).  I was
NoT surprised to see that he had been joined by the F-U monkey.  It evidently didn't phase him because he put up with it for over 1/2 hour.  Every time I tuned thru that area of the band, there
THEY were - the Bobsey Twins.

The BiG surprise came at around NooN when one-by-one, the USB ports on the computer
just stopped responding - HuH?  (On Monday it was discovered that the batteries in the wireless
keyboard were nearly dead, probably contributing to the problem).  After 20+ minutes of futzing
about, the only thing responding was holding down the laptop power button, in effect crashing
the computer.  Once rebooted, everything ran fine.  When you consider that I had not rebooted Windoze-7 in nearly 38 days, I guess something had to give.  The upside of that debacle is that
PE and SB sections made it to the log within less than 10 minutes after restarting, leaving us to
find NT (for our final section), which unfortunately, never happened.

I wrapped the 2020 Ssb Sweepstakes as WQ6X, managing a WHOPPING 82 QSOs in the log. 
One of the last sections for WQ6X was none other than EB section itself.  It would seem that WQ6X not only garnered a 1st-place for EB section, but possibly for the PAC Division as well.  HuH?  How'd THAT happen?  NX6T easily took 1st for SDG section and Southwest Division; missing that 84th section may well have cost us the overall 1st place, as we had the exact same QSO count as WW4LL.  Then again, it ain't over until the LCR (LoG Checking Robot) scrutinizes the logs. 
If the GA Contest Group made more logging errors than we did, the two top positions could
end up being swapped.

As they say, when all is said and done, remember this, Sweepstakes is STILL a traffic handling exercise.  When I view things from THAT perspective, it easily encourages me to do the BEST
that  I can while keeping an ACCURATE log.  When newcomers show up in the Sweepstakes
and are not sure how to put together an exchange, we veteran operators take the the time to
assist them thru.  After all, the veterans did that for US when we were first learning; which is
why we are now seasoned Sweepstakes operators.

Did YOU work the November Sweepstakes Ssb contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

     OCTOBER 2021 NEWS FLASH!!!

 

WQ6X Uses JIDX Contest to Test Alameda Audio

This last weekend found me in in Alameda (instead of Concord) Takin' Care of Bizniss. 
The weekend in between Sweepstakes GiGs brings us the JIDX-Ssb, WAE-RTTY and OK/OM contests.  Dennis (N6KI) put out a call for JIDX operators and only Dan (N6ERD) responded; just enough for putting together a 3-man Multi-Single team, using both NX6T's STN1 & STN2 alternately.

While I have a K3/0-Mini on the way for use in Alameda, until then I rely on the RCForb software
to give me access to STN-1 in Fallbrook.  The software allows me to control the Elecraft K3 on the other end.  The problem is that I am not equipped with P-T-T control and have to rely on VOX to voice-key the radio, requiring me to speak LOUD enough to keep the P-T-T line keyed between syllables.  

Many times during the weekend, stateside stations reported that my audio was breaking up. 
The Japanese stations seemed to hear me well enough; why would a statesider who is not in the contest care about my audio breaking up?  Often their comments would obliterate a weak Japanese station I was trying to copy, requiring me to ask for a repeat.  Most of the time, any copy problems
I had were on the RECEIVING end, not in transmitting.

Because this weekend's main focus was the JIDX contest, I updated the WQ6X Software JIDX Prefecture Tracker application.  The APP has been designed so that inputting a Cabrillo .LOG
file the resulting prefecture counts (as well as band by band scores) can be tabulated.

Because I normally take the night shift, my 40-meter contest operations are often a target
for intentional-QRM'ers who are bored in the middle of the night and want to have some fun. 
On Saturday morning (10:50z) my 7167.67 run frequency was invaded by a VFO-swoosher
for several minutes followed by bursts of RTTY after the VFO-swishing was over.  

At 11:18z I was treated with a howling-wind noise, the kind often used by SWBC jamming stations. 
He eventually got bored with me and turned his antenna elsewhere (fading slowly into headphone-oblivion).  Then, at 11:30z, having moved to 7170.70, the ubiquitous Data Cranker made the scene, only this time it sounded like someone stirring a flushing toilet.  Sunday morning while running 7169.69, the Data Cranker was back, disappearing as quickly as it came; if only to taunt me. 
I've written about the Data Cranker before. (Read: Part1 and Part2 for my brief comments
about the Data Cranker AND the recently updated comments about the witch doctor).

Another weird one was a consistent caller 9Z6AH in Trinidad. He would NoT leave until I sent
him "5-9 Zero 3".  He sent me HIS zone and then disappeared into the night.  When he was
safely gone, Ctrl-W (WIPE) purged his non-JA callsign from the Log.  Remember: Read the
Contest Rules before calling a contest station.

On single sideband (Ssb), QRM is an interesting phenomenon.  During my brief stint on 20-meters,
I was constantly being "nudged" up frequency; from 14160.60 to 14161.61 to 14162.62.  The K3's Shift/Width adjustments can only do so much.  Sometimes I would have to move +/- 10-20 Hz within
an area to accomplish what the shift control could not.  Now of course stations have to re-tune me
in; and, as we know, Japanese stations tend to be notoriously OFF frequency during Ssb contests. 
If I was using the K3/0 I would just turn on the R-I-T and tune him in; with RCForb, there is no R-I-T
(or at least if there IS one, I can't find it).

My final comment about the 2020 JIDX Ssb contest is one I make EVERY year - NoT enough JA stations play in their own contests.  While I saw many spots in the band map (JH4UTP, JH4UYB, 7N2UQC, JI4WHS, JA6ZPR, JA9CWJ to name some of the prominent ones) those spots were for the WAE RTTY contest, NoT their own JIDX contest.  

Additionally, we heard NUMEROUS Japanese stations ragchewing amongst themselves rather than participating in
their own Dx contest (did they even know it was happening?).

 

After JIDX was over and a couple hours of sleep, I switched into WAE-RTTY mode. 
To get into the "spirit" of a European (as well as RTTY) contest, I re-read what I wrote last year:

• [x] - WQ6X Wangles a Weird WAE RTTY Contest
  
• [x] - WQ6X Wanders & Wonders about WAE
  

By the time the 00:00z end of the WAE contest, WQ6X only found time for 4-hours of actual
OP time as I had therapy clients in the middle of the day; unfortunately during the EXACT
time 20-meters was open to Europe.  By the time I got back to it, Europe was all but extinct. 
You can READ the WAE Rules [HERE].

Every QSO I made left me with one more unsent QTC message.  In the end, due to technical
screw-ups on my end, NoT a single QTC message ever got delivered to the other end.  OOPS.
Remember: In WAE contests, QTC messages can make up over 1/2 the score.

While I have MORE to say about the JIDX and WAE contest GiGs,
I will leave that for another pair of BLOG entries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was all over, it would seem that NX6T took a World-Wide 1st-place by DEFAULT.

Meanwhile, DiD YOU work the JIDX and WAE contests?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR Log?

NEWSFLASH: 04-01-2021
It LooKs like NX6T DiD WaY Better than we expected - 2nd. only to BY1OK:

WQ6X Works a Wonderfully Weirdly WONKY November SS

Being my favorite domestic radiosport contest, Sweepstakes (SS) has found me operating from a number of different locations, including SB in Ojai (over a dozen times), Ohio twice (Cincinnati and Brookdale), Montana (MT) into Idaho (ID) and of course B-i-C in Fallbrook (SDG) as well as remotely.  In recent years most operations have been from Concord in Northern California (EB section) and even a dual-OP (remote to NX6T and local as WQ6X).  A pre-contest write-up of Sweepstakes was made last week ([CLICK HERE] to read it).

This year promised to be similar but yet different.  The goal was to somehow operate dual-OP from Fallbrook (SDG) and Concord (EB).  Because NX6T (as an operating entity) was "dark", that made both stations available to be utilized in some way.

Time on Friday was spent researching past Sweepstakes results for Single-OP operations in the
East Bay (EB) and San Diego (SDG) sections. with the goal of making sections wins for BOTH Northern and Southern California regions.  In order to make this all work, a last-minute registration
of the W6K callsign was made; which will make the 26th usage of W6K made by WQ6X.

Sweepstakes was started as W6K for the 1st hour to "find the Sweepstakes groove" before moving
to STN-2 as WQ6X.  K4RB ran most of the afternoon on 20 meters from STN-1 leaving me to work
15 meters as long as it would hold up, after which a shift was made to 40-meters.  Luckily, in recent months 40-meters has been opening to the east coast early to mid afternoons.  

The weird part of running 15 meters was that somehow RFI from STN-1 was causing the auto-tuner
in STN-2's K3 radio to think that there was high-SWR.  In the middle of transmitting an exchange
the power would drop to ZERO, requiring a press of the manual-TUNE button to keep on going. 
Probably a 1/2 dozen contacts were lost from that; luckily, no multipliers were forfeited.  Sunday morning, running 20-meters as K4RB ran on 15 found no RFI problems; one of those anomalies
we'll probably never understand.

Switching to 40-meters presented an interesting problem.  K4RB was running the Stepp-IR
for 20-meters which is on the same tower as the 2-el. Shorty-40.  In order for the 3-el. Stepp-IR to
be positioned more or less 30-degrees the Shorty-40 was then pointing to 305-degrees (essentially Alaska and Asia).  Usually when working Asia I am frustrated when ol' Billy-Bob calls in from the Southeast.  For Sweepstakes, Billy-Bob (and his brother Barry) were most welcome.  Additionally during that hour many VE's and Midwest stations made it to the log; more or less what I wanted anyway.  It was during this period when QRP station VY2ZM (in the newly added PE section)
gave WQ6X a call.

When the choice was made to run low power, because it was an ARRL contest, I was allowed to run up to 150 watts.  To do that would have required dialing the K3 back to a few watts in order to power the KPA-1500 amplifier to only 149.49 watts like we did back in 2014 in the RTTY/RU contest running as WP2/WQ6X.  Because this would've created an increase in shack temperature, a signal increase of barely 4db was not worth all the hassle.

Feeling-wise, it would seem that the level of participation actually INCREASED this year over 2019.  What were in the past "rare" sections were this year quite well represented.  There were multiple NE, VT, NH, WV and NNY sections.  Still lacking were ND, SC, EWA and DE.  For Canada, NL and PE were readily available if you looked long enough.  

Of course, the DIFFICULT section to work was NT.  I saw many false spots for NT; then late Sunday afternoon VY1OC showed up on 40-meters and was IMMEDIATELY barraged by a flood of unruly callers who knew how to transmit but NoT how to listen.  At one point I heard him send "6X?" and before I could press F4 ("WQ6X") a barrage of W4 & W5 stations covered me up.  Eventually it got
so out of hand that the operator gave up and shut it down.  It would seem that less than 75 stations made it to his log.  If stations would learn to STFU and follow the VY1's directions we would've ALL
had NT in our logs.  Lacking NT, WQ6X worked 83 out of 84 sections missing a clean sweep.

Late Sunday afternoon,  K4RB wrapped it up on STN-1 and turned the station over to N6KI to
put 271 QSOs into his log.  Dennis and I swapped bands frequently, giving us both a chance
to make November Sweepstakes "one more for the log".

When it was all over, both logs were filed with the ARRL Sweepstakes log submission
page as well as scores posted to the 3830 Scores website - it ain't over until the "paperwork"
is finished.

Based on the 3830 Scores website, it would seem that WQ6X took 1st-place from the San
Diego (SDG) section, 2nd-place for Southwestern Division and 28th-place overall in the SOULP classification.  In East Bay (EB) section, it would seem that W6K took 1st place in the SOULP classification, 2nd for Pacific Division and 96th-place overall.

DiD YOU work the 2020 November Sweepstakes Cw Contest?

Are WQ6X, K4RB, N6KI or W6K in YOUR LoG?

     OCTOBER 2021 NEWS FLASH!!!

WQ6X sets the stage to sweep another Sweepstakes

It's hard to believe that we are at that time of year when it is time to make time for the November Sweepstakes contest time.  As I put together a unique operating strategy for this weekend,
I was motivated to revisit some of what I have written about Sweepstakes and how it turned
out.

Here are some relevant things I have said about Sweepstakes altho I have written LoTs more
in the WQ6X contest blog alone:

• [x] - The WQ6X.Info Sweepstakes page
• [x] - (2019) WQ6X Wings another Cw Sweepstakes GiG
  
• [x] - (2018) WQ6X Dual-op's November Sweepstakes for a Change
• [x] - (2019) WQ6X Wings another Cw Sweepstakes GiG
  
• [x] - (2019) For Cw Sweepstakes WQ6X LooKs back to move Forward.
  
• [x] - (2017) Blast from the PAST: November Sweepstakes
  

Because this is a Cw contest, the bevy of filter combinations I've been perfecting in recent
weeks will get a REAL workout, under intense contest conditions.  If those filter-combos
can survive Sweepstakes, they can probably survive ANY radiosport contest.

Somewhat unique to this year's Sweepstakes in the shuffling around of QTH's in the 4 Ontario sections and the creation of an 84th ARRL Section, giving Prince Edward Island it's own section designator - PE.

LooKing back, I have run a wide-variety of Sweepstakes venues.  Probably the most unusual experience (altho there have been several) was driving a moving truck for a friend and operating
from Montana (MT) section during the 1990 Ssb Sweepstakes.  At noon Sunday I was informed
that if I didn't get the truck out of there soon, it would be snowed in for several days from the 1st blizzard of the year quickly moving in.  

The truck was promised back in Vegas on Tuesday, so I took down the sloper wires and made them into a rectangular BOX LooP around the top of the truck, tuning them (more-or-less) with a Dentron
JR line tuner.  The ICOM-740 and Dentron tuner never once jumped off the seat.

An overturned cardboard box created a makeshift table for a Toshiba T-1200 laptop running the CT contest software.  That was the only Sweepstakes where I not only ran mobile, but actually gave
out contacts from 2 ARRL sections (MT & ID); probably a violation of the rules, but in those daze
I never submitted a log, so they didn't get the chance to "D-Q" me.

Thanks to the ARRL Sweepstakes web page detailing past contest results
(https://contests.arrl.org/scores.php) it was easy to look at the log submissions from last year. 
While there were nearly a dozen stations running from the East Bay (EB) section, only 2 stations (outside of WQ6X) submitted a qualifying log.  I guess the choice to run Single-OP Low Power Unlimited was the correct choice.

Busy with other things, I've not
given much attention to the Space-WX numbers until just now.  At this stage
of Solar Cycle 25, an SFI=93 is nearly unheard of, except maybe back in the days of Solar Cycle 19 (1957-58).

I have a theory that solar flares occur more when the SFI is rising (than when its dropping) which implies that we could be "in for a surprise" Space-WX wise.  We will know how it turned out on Sunday evening.

I've not seen three GOOD forecasts on the display for a bunch of years.  If the POOR on 10-meters can be converted to FAIR this weekend, WQ6X may encounter a for-real 6-band Sweepstakes opportunity, the likes of which have not been known for a BUNCH of years.

You may remember me saying "When in Doubt, CHEAT! (But w/in the rules)". 
Reading the rules and studying past SS results gives me LoTs to Thingk about in this regard. 
As I write this I am considering 3 different ways to run yet another unique Sweepstakes..

Then again, if at anytime I get bored on Saturday/Sunday, I can always fire-up a LoG in the Ukrainian DX Contest, leaving the U.S. and Canada to survive for awhile w/o me.

Are YOU going to play in the 2020 Cw November Sweepstakes?

What CALLSIGN should I be looking for?

WQ6X 1/2 Sprints around a Russian Contest (by playing with audio)

It's a GooD thing I had no specific contest plans for this weekend as once again, everything
was all over the place.  Being an off-contest weekend (between CQ W.W. Ssb & November SS Cw),
I was not hoping for much beyond being able to test equipment configurations in Concord & Alameda; which I guess technically DiD happen.  I wrote up the latest experiments in a separate Blog entry
([CLICK HERE] to read it.)

As it turns out,  on the contest agenda there was only the Russian WW MM (Multi-media) Dx
contest and the NA Sprint on Ssb, which I had forgotten about until midway thru the event itself.  Unfortunately, the Russian WW MM contest turned out to be a BiG Ho-Hummer (i.e. a DuD). 
As I wrote in the contest soapbox,the event was more like a state QSO party which has 5x
out-of-area participants looking for those few brave enough to make it all happen for us. 

While it is true that JUST because I can't hear them, they are there nonetheless; spotting networks give us an overall accurate indication of run frequencies.  This weekend's bandmap was relatively empty; especially where Russia is concerned.  What good is it for me to run as an "Assisted" operation when there is no one around to "assist" me?!

By the time I got around to actual contest operation, 20-meters had already shutdown, much earlier than expected, leaving only 40-meters to run.

Surprisingly, there was a POOR turnout for Cw, leaving no alternative but resort to RTTY to have any chance in the Russian contest.

Nevertheless, in-the-end, the 240-point log WAS submitted to the contest website - the contest organizers appreciate it and once in awhile, even a low-scoring log can take an operating award.

Finding little to run, the focus was on continuing to rewire the dual-RX setup at the Concord location.  Tuning around 40-meters ssb while testing filter combinations, I was BLASTED OUT of the chair
by a well-in-progress NA Sprint Ssb contest.  Nearly 2 of the 4 operating hours were already gone. 
The goal became to run remotely as NX6T until it went dry, switch to WQ6X to run locally and then finish remotely again as NX6T.

Because STN-1's hard drive has recently been rolled back to a 2018 image, all the recently added N1MM keyboard macros where gone and MMTY.Exe did not exist in this configuration - work to do before the fun can begin.

Having consumed a 1/2 pint of Peanut Butter Stout, it made sense to load-up the K3's Voice Keyer memories to do most of the talking, leaving me to fumble on JUST the callsigns and operator names.  Then, once logged, it's forgotten.  Fortunately, when I switch bands, N1MM "remembers" your "Vitals" and fills them in for me to work you yet again, but on a new band.

The Sprint contests are unique in that there are no "run frequencies" per se'. Having to move every other QSO of course invites potential pandemonium.  Amazingly, the Sprint operators seemed to shoe-horn them selves around a number of of ragchewers who seemed almost oblivious to our frantic operations going on around them - proof once again that our frequency bands can be shared for multiple-purposes, all at the same time.

Eventually, 40 metes ran dry of new Sprint stations.  Switching to the FT-1000mp locally turned out
to be QUITE a disappointment.  Not only was the location's signal-vortex in full force, QRN levels of an approaching solar storm made an Ssb Sprint from Concord all but impossible.  This left me band-hopping between 40/75 meters as NX6T up to the 04:00z contest end.

What about YOU this weekend?

Did you run the NA Sprint or the Russian WW MM contest?

Is NX6T buried somewhere in YOUR LoG?

More Lessons Learned from Listening to the Dr.

It's a GooD thing I had no specific contest plans for this weekend as once again, everything
was all over the place.  Being an off-contest weekend (between CQ W.W. Ssb & November SS Cw),
I was not hoping for much beyond being able to test equipment configurations in Concord & Alameda; which I guess technically DiD happen.

In both locations I've been tweaking the RX audio lines looking for the correct cascade order for each device in each separate (Left/Right) audio line, using as a reference advice received from Joel Hallas (W1ZR) - the QST Dr. - back in 2014.  I even wrote a Blog Entry about this.  At the Alameda location
I recently brought back a classic Radio Shaft 15-band equalizer to process split-RX audio

I've used this equalizer during CQP expeditions to process (mono) RX audio - using the equalizer's Left Channel - and all TX microphone audio in the right.  Bringing in a classic FT-1000mp transceiver (w/dual-RX audio) and making the discovery of "Stereo Cw" has changed the RX-end of the WQ6X operating world considerably.  The "goeswith" in Stereo Cw is a doubling of equipment interaction possibilities; for better or for worse.

Cascading filters which use "infinite gain" IC's at the core of their design, is prone to outbreaks
of feedback; experienced as sudden sheiks/howls when the gain of the cascaded devices surpass
some specific (but unspecified) threshold.  In extreme cases, the feedback loop is so pervasive it requires cutting the power to the Rockville mixer (Concord) or equalizer (Alameda) and starting over.

Remember: amplifier circuits don't discriminate; whatever signals go into the amplifier are
processed indiscriminately by the bias-parameters of the amplifying device(s) along that audio path.  To be clear, noise (atmospheric or electronically created) is itself just another signal; albeit an undesired one.  DSP chips can extract/alter individual bits of any signal be-4 or after amplification; however the principle is still the same: What goes in to the amplifying stage(s) comes out more, or comes out less, depending upon the characteristics of the amplifying device (Tube, Transistor or IC).

In the world of electronics (and electron flow) we don't get something for nothing; every process has one-or-more "gotcha's".  In this blog's opening picture, the arrows represent audio flows for each side of my listening experience.  Each of those individual circuits (radio-based or external device) can easily contribute its own artifact to the audio-line that device is a part of; and, in most cases, the other audio stream (Left/Right) will be impervious to this artifact; another benefit of Stereo Cw.

After weeks of Empirical-Experimentation the various cable orders to the 4-Ch (stereo) Rockville
mixer have worked out quite nicely:

1. CH-1: ICOM 7000 (mainly for shortwave listening)
2. CH-2: Elecraft K3/0 - for remote radio access of NX6T in Fallbrook.
3. CH-3: Stereo audio from the Yaesu FT-1000mp
            A) Left Side: Unprocessed raw audio
            B) Right Side: Audio run thru an enhanced MFJ 752-B Signal Enhancer
4. CH-4: Processed audio from the Yaesu FT-1000mp
            A) Left Side: Autek QF-1A ---> MFJ-784 Audio DSP units
            B) Right Side: Autek QF-1A ---> JPS NIR-12 Audio DSP units

By combining audio from CH-3 & CH-4, mixing processed and unprocessed sound is possible. 
This helps with discerning different Ssb stations in each ear.  With a dual-RX transceiver like the FT-1000mp we get not only Stereo-Cw but Stereo-Ssb, with one voice in each ear.

 

Having an altogether genuine Japanese Yaesu SP-6 speaker allows switching (monurally)
between A/B audio for the Main/Sub RX audio paths from the FT-1000mp transceiver. 
Additionally, the AF-REV button on the bottom allows swapping audio channels as well.

The Bottom-Line: all this audio-processing equipment gives me more knobs to twiddle,
and knob-twiddling is what it's all about.

What about you?  Do YOU like to knob-twiddle?

What kind of knob combinations do YOU use?