WQ6X Wings 1st Dual-Remote ARRL DX Cw GiG from Alameda

Business commitments kept me in Alameda over the weekend, giving me an opportunity to join
up with NX6T from our Anza Super Station, while in between getting to put WQ6X on the air remotely
from Nashville; all controlled by the recently debugged Elecraft K3/0 Mini radio (plus the RRC-1258 interface box).  I opened the DX contest from Anza, eventually moving on to remoting into Nashville
in between Anza OP shifts.

Unlike remotely-run RTTY GiGs, the weekend being a simple CW contest allowed me to run the Elecraft audio out through the Stereo-CW system setup at the Alameda location; a near-exact recreation of the basic Stereo-CW setup in use at W7AYT's QTH in Concord.  One difference
added to the Alameda operation is the idea of using an old MFJ-751 Signal Enhancer in-between
the Left/Right Autek QF-1A units; in effect, a crude recreation of the "Center-channel" concept
known to stereo audio buffs.  Tuning the FREQUENCY control on the 751-unit in effect shifts
the balance between left/right, further pronouncing the stereo effect.

In between my long operating shifts @ NX6T (9:00Z -14:300z & 00:00z - 04:00z) I found time to activate WQ6X from the Fallbrook location that was not being used this weekend (NX6T operated
from WA6TQT's QTH).  Throughout the weekend, Dennis (N6KI) elmer'ed me on the fine art of working the hidden camera system in Fallbrook, all so I can see the colored louvers disappear, indicating the A/C has been successfully turned on in the amplifier den of the wiring morass in Fallbrook.  As weird as it looks, we win contests with it. 

Thanks to ROTTEN QRN (Low-SFI, High K-Index) I had to dance around the noise. The secret to making it all work on the high bands was to point the 3-el Stepp-IR to SA, open it up BI-directionally to include Asia and then just Call CQ. Occasionally KH6 or VK/ZL would creep in adding to the fun. 

Sunday morning, noticing that all 3 Russian Beacons were alive on ~7.039, pointing the antenna towards Asia, I put out a CQ on 7018.18, keeping things alive for the next 2.5 hours.  As it turns
out, this time period produced the highest run-rate EVER for WQ6X in the ARRL DX Cw contest.

Knowing that 40 was wide-open to Asia, when I took over the 09:00z shift at NX6T, after S&P'ing
on 80 & 160, I settled in on 7017.17 and more-or-less repeated the exercise from the Anza station, with even more/bigger signals.  When N6CY relieved me at 13:00z, he kept the pile-up going for nearly another hour.  

For me, the amazing surprise was the Northern Europeans and Ukraine who managed to creep thru from time to time, even tho the 40-m antenna stack was pointed directly at Asia.  I want to thank the pileups for standing by and letting their S-3 signals flutter across the pole into the Fallbrook location; quite south, when you think about it.

While I love the simplicity of the ARRL exchanges, I get frustrated by the clueless stations who BARREL THRU with their callsign. I send a proper exchange and he sends his callsign TWICE;
then, Nothing!   HuH?   It took 3 exchanges to make ONE 3-point QSO. This happened repeatedly. Remember: if you don't know the rules - READ 'EM. If you DO know the rules then: PAY ATTENTION!

Because we encountered horrible Space-WX during the contest, I was continuously AMAZED by
the number 0f 5-Watt Asian stations who made it into the WQ6X & NX6T logs; not just on 20 & 15, but on 40 & 80 as well.  On the low bands, many times the QRP stations were as loud (or louder) than the KW stations; you can be sure they were NoT running wimpy-dipoles only 5mh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was all over, there were a BUNCH of STATs to sort out. 
The continental breakdown for NX6T was NoT surprising.  It may well be
that antennas had something to do with it.  Available at our disposal included:

• a 160-Meter TRI-Square
• an 80-Meter FOUR-Square
• a 40-Meter Stacked Array
• 20/15/10 Stacked arrays and Stepp-IR's
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Running as WQ6X from the Fallbrook location I had available to me:

• a pair of Coaxial Inverted VEE's for 80/160 - 13 mh
• a 2-el Shorty-40 for 40 Meters - 13 mh.
  
• a 3-el Stepp-IR for the high-bands - 13mh.

The difference in receiving antennas on 40-meters between NX6T and WQ6X was noticeably different.  While a DOZEN 5-watt JA's stations made it into NX6T's 40-meter log, only FOUR QRP-stations were heard in Fallbrook (2-elements in Fallbrook versus a 40-meter STACK in Anza)..

While our scores were WILDLY divergent, I had a LoT of fun putting the Elecraft K3/0-Mini thru
all of it's paces into Anza and Fallbrook.  Altho there was an occasional 1.5-minute internet outage
(in Fallbrook) and the pulsing internet-breakups were frequent, overall it was a successful operation from Alameda.  The K3/0-Mini FINALLY redeemed itself.

DiD YOU participate in the ARRL DX Cw contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wanders thru another WEIRD CQ Weird Prefix Contest

There's no doubt about it, Weird Prefix contests seem to get weirder every year.  Last year there was no lock-down to deal with; this year I was hoping for an increased turnout because of it; we won't of course know until the results are published.

There's a REASON it's called a WEIRD prefix contest, LoTsa weird things happen as well as the Weird callsigns. Nevertheless, working around shack heat problems in Fallbrook (as I ran ~1350 watts much of the time), on Sunday I dialed it back to a mere KW - Oh the sacrifices we make.

For this weekend, a recent change in Ethernet connections all but eliminated dropouts on the W7AYT end of the remote connection. If I disappeared on you it was due to the occasional 1.5-minute internet dropout that sometimes occurs in Fallbrook.  

Saturday AND Sunday I put out CQ calls several times on 10-meters and had no takers; altho somehow I had
a feeling the band was open. With the recent SFI = 71, it ain't no easy thing, but I gopherit anyway. The RBN showed no 10-meter spots; then again it showed no activity on 80-m altho I was running frequencies more-or-less all evening. 

You'll notice I send "5NN" instead of
599 in a contest requiring a serial # afterwards. It's easy to confuse 599
with the serial # as happened when I received: WQ6X TU UR 599 599 599.
HuH? 

 

Overall it was an enjoyable RTTY GiG. I enjoyed all the extra RTTY activity from 14.101 to 14.145
and 21.100 - 21.40. The room is there - use it and enjoy relatively QRM-free contesting.  The biggest problem was the demodulator software (MMTTY) being able to decode signals during periods
of low Signal-to-JUNK ratio.

In years past WQ6X has been the ONLY WQ6 call in RTTY contests.  This year, I was joined by WQ6K, which was probably a bit confusing.  Then again, VE3KTB didn't hesitate to work WQ6K
first followed immediately by WQ6X on 20-meters.

Last weekend in the XE-RTTY contest, the 14.100 beacon corridor was completely QUIET.
This weekend in the WPX GiG I was APPALLED at how it was JAMMED with signals
OBLITERATING the beacon copy - no WONDER non-contesters HATE us.

Beacon-wise, listening around 7.039 during Saturday/Sunday mornings found the "F" and "M" beacons beeping away, and again, the "K" beacon is on the AWOL list.  This is giving me more "data" to complete my next installment on the Russian military propagation beacons - Stay Tuned.

LooKing back to last year's Single-OP event, it would seem that 2020 produced a much bigger score; but then, as I recall, I put more hours in the chair during that event.  While WQ6X hardly set any records for 2021, the time spent was a LoT of fun and gave me the opportunity to test-drive the
"new" remote access facility.

DiD YOU work the CQ WPX RTTY Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wings another Wild Multi-contest Weekend

This last week was actually quite a busy one, between seeing clients and learning to program
C# for Unity in order that I take my design skills to the 2-D and (eventually) 3-D level.  As such,
it seemed too complicated to make my way to Concord, so instead, I managed to run the weekend's assortment of radios[port contests from Fallbrook's STN-1 remotely from Alameda by way of RCForb (to run the K3 Xcvr) and VNC Viewer (a VPN allowing me complete control of the station computer).  

This weekend, we shared airspace with an FOC GiG (wherein they talk to each other and ignore us non-FOC operators).  There were five events that I focused on this weekend, listed in calendar order:

• [x] - The Vermont QSO Party (VTQP)
• [x] - The Mexico RTTY Contest
• [x] - The Minnesota QSO Party (MNQP)
• [x] - The British Columbia QSO Party (BCQP)
• [x] - The North American CW SPRINT Contest
  

The BiGGest problems this weekend were heat in the shack and incessant internet dropouts.
If I seemed to disappear all of a sudden, it was because either the VPN connection or connection
to the radio would drop out. Nothing more frustrating than hearing you calling me while the VPN won't allow me to type or press function keys.  Nevertheless, somehow I got thru this weekend.

While local filters accomplish nothing in a remotely-run RTTY contest, the above setup works extremely well for CW contests.  Very similar to my setup in Concord, the filters here allow splitting audio between the ears, with low frequencies favoring the left ear and higher frequencies favoring the right.  In an attempt to simulate the 3rd-channel stereo-effect, you will notice a small MFJ-751 in between the QF-1A filters for each ear.  This will be written up in the next installment on Stereo-CW.

The weekend began with the Vermont QSO party, altho you would never know it because no VT stations were to be found on Friday evening.  Assuring myself we had 48 hours to find Vermont, when it was all over on 3 VT stations made it to the log - NoT that they couldn't hear me; there were virtually NONE in Vermont to be heard.  This echoes my BEEF with most QSO parties (Except CQP, 7QP & NEQP) - not enough stations play in their own QSO party - they put on an operating event and then don't participate in their own event.  HuH?

The Minnesota MNQP fared much better - ROVER stations were even worked.  Unfortunately again, the in-state turnout was abysmally low.  I guess I am spoiled by the HUGEness of CQP (followed by 7QP & NEQP) - we go out of our way to populate the bands (to the disdain of non contesters).

The same complaint can be made regarding the BC QSO party.  While there were more BC stations on than VT, they were largely on 40-m and that's it.  None were heard on 80 and none were heard on 15 (even tho the band was open).  I would think pointing the Stepp-IR DEAD north should've filled my receiver with BC stations - NoT So.

Running remote from Alameda, I was too lazy to run SSB. 
Who nose, maybe that was where the REAL operations were being held.  It certainly didn't help matters that Saturday evening was blanketed with a K-Index of 5; altho band noise was the least of our problems.  I would've traded noisy band conditions for the incessant internet dropouts.

The Mexico RTTY contest was the main GiG to play in this weekend.  Being careful NoT to overheat the shack, most of the RTTY time was spent running about 1150 watts by way of a KPA-1500 amplifer.  I purposely chose to run the 3-el Stepp-IR for the high bands allowing me to point the antenna towards South America and later in the afternoon to open it up BI-directionally for adding
Japan to the log.  

Both mornings, anticipating JA activity I looked for the Russian Asian beacons (~7.039) for indicators of propagation.  While the "F" beacon came through loud and clear both mornings, the "M" beacon was weak on Saturday and disappeared altogether on Sunday, just like its K-Beacon sibling which has been AWOL for months.

I was so wrapped up in running RTTY and looking for QSO party stations I  all but forgot about
the NA CW Sprint event.  For this month's running the event began at 23:00z instead of 00:00z
(giving E. Coast stations more of a shot at 20 meters).  My 1st QSO was on 20-meters at: 01:27z,
just in time for the Fallbrook internet to fail.  When things came back online 20 minutes later, 20 was gone and I took refuge on 40-meters until contest ended an hour later.  It was a kick bouncing around the band (instead of hogging a run frequency).

At 00:00z, when it was all over I had 5 logs to create and submit and 5 scores to post on the 3830 Scores website.  Barely 5 weeks into the new year and WQ6X already has 15 radiosport events posted on 3830 Scores.

What about YOU?

DiD YOU play radiosport this weekend?

Is WQ6X in one of YOUR LoGs?

WQ6X Dual-OPs 1st-Ever CQ-160 Cw Contest

wOw!  As I write this, January is Already OVER.  Because they gave us 5-weekends last month,
the CQ-160 Cw contest managed to be tucked right into the last two days (Daze?).  Dual-OP'ing certain contest events (usually Cw & RTTY) has become a new sub-hobby within the HOBBY Amateur Radio.

For this 160 GiG, remote operating came in two flavors: ANZA-based (as NO6T) and Fallbrook-based (as WQ6X); "officially" NX6T was dark, off the air.  Additionally, I put in a reservation for the W6C callsign, creating a Concord signal-vortex investigation; more on that later.

Equipment-wise this weekend opened with some subtle (but not-insignificant) changes to the
audio-line.  Thanks to the newly added Radio Shaft A/V switch box (4-channels of stereo audio & mono audio) it is now possible to switch either the FT-1000mp, ICOM-7000 or Elecraft K3/0 into the main audio filter line.  I've never been impressed with the K3's APF (Audio Peak Filter); with the external audio filters we get the best of both modalities.

Being able to combine the already AWEsome DSP in the ICOM-7000 with the AUTEK, NIR & MFJ filters in the audio line makes for some amazing receive capabilities; more on that later.

-----------------------------------

While I've been utilizing the "Stereo-CW" modality in WQ6X operations for years, this CQ-160 GiG (being a Cw contest) allowed me to knob-twiddle, looking for the EXACT Left/Right adjustment of the Autek QF-1A filter pair.  You may remember, for me the idea is for lower-pitched signals to appear
in the left-side of my Experience, while the higher-pitched signals appear in the right-side of my Experience.  The Stereo-CW concept must be Experienced to really GROK the jist of what I am saying.  All you need is a pair of identical filters intercepting the audio-line to Experience it.
I circled the frequency-settings demonstrating how "subtle" these settings really are for
a TRUE Stereo-CW Experience.

I've written a LoT about this idea, the most recent being AUGUST of 2020.  Based on this weekend's experiment, another BLOG-installment should be forth-coming.  When running a Cw pile-up, having different signals appear at different "locations" in my experience allows me to mentally-focus more-easily on that specific signal.  Used in conjunction with the R-i-T, allows me to position signals around in my listening-Experience.  During the CQ-160 contest (both from Anza and from Fallbrook) having Stereo-CW capability with the K3 made for an AWEsome operating Experience.

DISCLAIMER:
WARNING!: Stereo-CW should NoT be undertaken when seriously under the influence.

As weird as it may seem, the W6C Experiment was a marginal success, although the W6C callsign confused nearly everyone I worked; I had to reassure them that I was for real (because I was).  What
I unfortunately confirmed was the FACT that Concord California (at least locations near the creek) is indeed a signal-vortex.  As to what I should DO about it, that is fodder for a future BLOG entry.

When it was all over, it would seem that NO6T took 47th-place W.W., 10-place for USA, 2nd-place for the Southwest Division and 1st-place for California - GO Figure.  At #284, WQ6X was in the REAR of the Single-OP Assisted (HP) category.  As for W6C's 9 QSOs, we have to get the magnifying glass out to find them.

DiD YOU work the CQ-160 Cw contest?

Is NO6T, WQ6X and/or W6C in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Reconfigures Radios amidst the BARTG Sprint

Life has kept me so involved in SO many things, I've not found the time to BLOG Post, although
I operated radiosport GiGs every weekend in January.  Being a 5-weekend month a LoT of radiosport happenings happened to happen giving me opportunities to not only operate, but work on the equipment configuration at the Concord location.

Since my Dual-OP of the NAQP Ssb GiG (with NO6T and as WQ6X), the equipment configuration underwent a dramatic shift as the Elecraft K3/0 was moved to the top shelf and the MFJ filter-Trio
was moved directly below the FT-1000mp, enabling it to look "logically correct" - filters for the left
ear appear to the left-side of the operation while filters for the right-ear appear more to the right.

While unfortunately, the wonderful filter settings maximize the local audio (for the FT-1000mp and ICOM-7000) they (as yet) are not inline with the K3/0.  For the next trip to Concord, a plan is being devised allowing the K3/0 to be switched into the filtered audio chain.  For this trip I was just happy
to have the K3/0 more at eye-level.

Filter-wise adding in a Radio Shaft audio switch box allows two kinds of filtering for the FT-1000mp.  Above the keyboard sits a pair of Classic MFJ 752 "Signal Enhancer II" units; the "C" model for the left ear and a modified "B" model which allows switching in an old CWF-1 filter for Cw, as the right ear (Sub-RX) by choice lacks any CW filters.

Overall, I've never been a foot pedal operator.

I've not managed to connect with transmitting using my feet. 
Most foot pedals are either too small, move around under the
table or always seem to be at the wrong "angle" relative to my feet.  Rummaging around the storage shed I happened across this unit that was "shelved" when it didn't make it into a CQP operation
from Twain Harte years ago.

The downside of this unit (the reason it was sidelined) had everything to do with the super-mini plug on the end that doesn't mate with any of the audio adapters available from the junk box.  There was nothing to be lost by hacking the plug and replacing
it with something more contemporarily functional.

For my operating-style, BiGGER is indeed Better.  Now I actually find foot-pedaling to be fun.  The old saying ("If it feels GooD Doit") certainly applies here.  While I still love VoX, Foot-to-Talk can certainly be a very effective modality.

Remembering that the REAL goal was to run the BARTG RTTY Sprint contest remotely, once the K3/0 and audio filter swap was complete it was time to shift into radiosport mode.

What I LIKE about the BARTG Sprint contest is the rules specifically stating that it is UNNECESSARY to send "599" (or "5NN") as part of the exchange.  What I DISLIKE about
this contest is that over 50% of the participants either didn't read the rules (or didn't care),
or, were too lazy to clean up their software keyboard macros eliminating the USELESS
signal report (which never really was a REAL signal report anyway).

This seems like a minor beef until you realize that not only is sending "599" a waste of time,
when medium-fading surrounds the signals, after sending "599" the signal fades and the Serial-# does not decode.  My response is to send "UR NR AGN?", to which I would often receive "WQ6X UR 599 599 #8@2#0"  HuH?  JUST SEND ME THE NUMBER DAMMIT!

In a way, it could be said that the "significant" happenings occurred outside of the BARTG RTTY contest/context.  With no advance warning the Russian K-Beacon was back in action, after a lengthy absence, return and then absence again.  The "K" beacon (on ~7.038) is rather useful for predicting 40-meter propagation openings to Asia.  

Unfortunately, at 13:26z our "friend" the WooDPecker made a NASTY appearance off and on for about 30 minutes.  I dunno what is worse, being intentionally swarmed by FT-8 signals (forcing me to move) or the WooDPecker.  What is frustrating is having a "Moscow Muffler" sitting in the equipment stack which is worthless for remote operating.  Even IF there were a WB-1C in Fallbrook, the technology is too old to allow remote adjustment.  When are the SDR manufacturers going to
offer a Software Defined Receiver (SDR) with a WooDPecker blanker DSP in the front-end?

Other than the incessant internet dropout problem I encounter in Concord when remoting-in by way
of the RRC-1258 unit, the BARTG GiG ran rather smoothly, once I got started.  A plethora of ZOOM meetings made it impossible to conduct both simultaneously with any amount of coherency, costing me juicy QSOs from the 1st four hours of operation.

When it was all over, according to 3830 Scores, WQ6X took 37th place across USA, 4th-place for California, 2nd-Place for the SW Division and 1st-place for the San Diego section; not bad for just screwing around.

DiD YOU work the BARTG RTTY Sprint contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?