WQ6X Works another CINCO-de-Contest WeeKend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2021, the Month of May brings us 5 unique contest weekends beginning with the usual
5-contest weekend starting off the month; what I call CINCO de Contest:

1. [X] - Italian ARI Dx Contest
2. [X] -7QP - 7th call area QSO Party
3. [X] -INQP - Indiana QSO Party
4. [X] -DEQP - Delaware QSO Party
5. [X] -NEQP - New England QSO Party

There was also the 10-10 Cw contest beginning at 00:00z.  Unfortunately, every time I checked
10-meters from Fallbrook (and yes, even called CQ) it seemed DEAD to me; altho other stations certainly found people to work.

This year's Cinco-de-Contest weekend was full of Reversals and Surprises.  Being a Target speaker for the Toastmasters District-12 Speech/Evaluation contest required that I remain in Alameda to give the Target speech.  After that, it was much easier to use the K3/0 Mini from Alameda rather than making the trip to W7AYT's QTH (in Concord).  Thanks to the $11 eBay special [microphone] I was able to run both Cw and Ssb, filling in whatever shift/mode needed.  (I even looked for 7QP RTTY signals, considering I/we were operating mixed-mode.)

With the goal of another 1st-place plaque from New England QSO Party (NEQP), NX6T ran from
our Super Station in ANZA.  Throughout the weekend Axel (KI6RRN) and I alternated band/antenna access from "Nashville" (our Fallbrook location); WQ6X on STN-1 and KI6RRN on STN-2.  I didn't expect to "win" anything this year.  The goal was simply to "UP" the 2021 contest count for WQ6X.

Typical for the Cinco-de-Contest weekend, for me, the ARI GiG was all but a no-show.  While I heard plenty of ARI activity in the daytime while running the state QSO parties, by the time I was ready to give ARI a GO, with 8 hours left, nothing was heard; rotating the shorty-40 while calling CQ and checking 80-meters yielded nothing.  I ended up submitting a 3-QSO log (with 2 of those QSOs
made via RTTY - Go Figure).

My personal run-goals for the weekend was for WQ6X to excel at the 7QP contest (considering that California is surrounded by the 7th call area) and put in a reasonable appearance in the NEQP GiG, with Indiana and Delaware on the side.  The INQP/DEQP GiGs garner my usual [annual] complaint:  Where ARE the IN & DE stations? Have they ever heard of ROVER stations?

With the speech contest obligation in the middle of the radiosport contest period, I found time
to run as WQ6X (mixed-mode) remotely from the Nashville STN-1.  When I was speech-contest'ing, KI6RRN was chasing QSO party stations.  When he was on shift @NX6T, I took that opportunity to run WQ6X from Nashville, until my 22:30z Ssb shift.  I closed out the 7QP for NX6T (between 10:15 and Midnight).

While there was plenty of 7QP/NEQP activity, calling "CQ 7QP" flushed out dozens more 7th area stations casually tuning the bands.  The BiG problem was that "Billy Bob" and his brother "Barney" were also tuning
the bands and kept calling in out of sheer boredom (boredumb?).  

On Ssb I would say "Gee, I hope y'all are in the 7th
call area, because I'm working only the 7th call area";
I couldn't make it any more clear than that.  

Their signals usually being weak made it doubtful they were actually in the 7th call area.  Sure enough, they were all in PA, NC, FL, GA, KY and TN.  HuH?  WTF?  DiD you HEAR what I JUST said?  If NoT, then you should not have called me.

 

I've written several Blogs on why you should NoT call me:

1. [X] - 7 Reasons You [probably] Should Not Call Me - Part 1
2. [X] - 7 Reasons You [probably] Should Not Call Me - Part 2
3. [X] - WQ6X Offers Further PROOF that - "You Should NoT Call Me!"
          (written during last year's Cinco-de-Contest weekend).
   

For this year's 7th area QSO party translating the above blog points goes like this:

1. Do You know what "CQ 7QP" means?  If NoT, then you should not call me.
2. Do you know that WQ6X/6 means I am in the 6th call area and NoT the 7th call area? 
   If NoT, then you should not call me.
3. Do you know that WQ6X/CA means I am in California and NoT the 7th call area? 
   If NoT, then you should not call me.
4. On Ssb, if you  hear me say "7th call area only" and you are not in the 7th call area... 
   then you should not call me.
5. Do you even KNOW where the "7th call area IS? 
   If NoT, then you should not call me.

Before you BLINDLY call a contest station, please do the following:

• Listen to hear what contest that station is running 
• Look up that contest on the WA7BNM Contest Calendar.
• Read the RULES for that contest.
• If you're not in the geographical location the CQ caller is looking
  for, then MOVE ON - find a non-contester to converse with.

A tragically, if NoT funny example of this was when during my off-time (around 22:50z on Sunday), while tuning around STN-1 in Fallbrook, I encountered N6KI running a frequency for NX6T, calling
"CQ NE QSO Party, this is NX6T in California calling for New England"; something like that.  

I happened onto his frequency because I heard nearly a dozen stations calling in - wOw!  LoTsa New Englanders for our log.  WRONG!  It was just "Billy Bob and Barney", along with their cousins "Cheryl and Connie".  HuH?  You mean I'm NoT the only one this happens to?  I believe 1-outa-10 QSOs was actually from New England.  Do operators even Listen?  Or, do they just blindly call stations, oblivious to what they are actually all about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By midnight, the 7QP GiG was over (the INQP was over at 02:00z). 
For Sunday, the DEQP and NEQP GiGs picked up where they left off on Saturday,
ending at 23:59:59z (5pm local time)  

For NEQP, that meant several dozen more contacts made it to the log.  For DEQP, only
ONE new station was on the air; he wasn't actually new, I just missed working him on Saturday. 
It seems like every year ONLY 3 stations are on the air from Delaware.  HuH?  Wassup with THAT?

This year, the surprise was how many 7QP & NEQP stations were on the air.
MY FD-compatriots from years past (W6KC & W6SW) put together an interesting expedition as N7D, activating the RARE Esmeralda county - well done guys.  THIS is how QSO parties should be done.

Expeditions and ROVER stations are often the secret to successful QSO parties; at least, that's how we Doit
in California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was all over, the surprise for NX6T was that we won the M/S category for 7QP, beating out
NV9L (Valerie and her husband).  The reversal was that NV9L clearly took 1st-place for NEQP;
having geographical closeness certainly helps in this case.

What about You?  DiD YOU run the 7QP & NEQP QSO parties?

How many counties made it to YOUR LoG?

P.S.:  As of June 1st the results are in. 
         NX6T took 2nd place to NV9L and her husband in the NEQP contest.
         NX6T took FIRST PLACE in the 7QP GiG (NV9L took 2nd).