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?