Wednesday, June 16, 2021

WQ6X Drags Thru another DRCG RTTY Contest

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a [so-called] off weekend radiosport-wise.  (Click [HERE])
It was hoped that this weekend wouldn't fit that pattern.  With the DRCG RTTY contest and the WWSA (South American) contest, I had high hopes; especially since last year running as NX6T , N6ERD and WQ6X took 2nd place as a Multi-OP operation in the RTTY GiG, running under 600
watts at all times.

With NX6T no longer and the ANZA location not yet setup to run RTTY, I chose to run the best

Single-OP operation I can from W7AYT's QTH in Concord.  The SFI and A/K Indexes were all
over the place.  One minute the bands were jumping and the next minute calling CQ for 30 minutes yielded 1 QSO.  The RBN Stats indicated WQ6X was being heard all over, and yet, there were no manned stations hearing those CQ Calls.  If a station calls CQ and there's no operator around to hear, Does it still count as a CQ?

Only 1 QSO was made on 80 RTTY, during the 1/2 hour (combined time) spent futilely calling "CQ DRCG Test".  

An equal amount of time was spent on Saturday afternoon futilely calling "CQ DRCG Test" on 10 & 15 meters.  Both bands were clearly open and yet there were no girls and boys to play with.

 

As you can see, the SFI was all over the place.  On Monday and Tuesday the SFI oscillated between 69 & 81, before settling in at 77, just in time for even worse conditions as we see by midnight on Tuesday (local time).

Also in the WA7BNM Contest Calendar was the WWSA contest (otherwise known as the GACW Contest), focusing mainly on stations in South America.  

The 1st QSO with a Loud LW2DOD on 40-meters offered hope; unfortunately, aside from WH6R (Zone 31), only AC6ZM (Zone 4) and K6DBF (Zone 3) made it to the log.  Bummer Dewd. 

 

When NoT calling CQ for the DRCG RTTY GiG, I was engaging in the futile effort of calling
"CQ GACW Test".  Even MORE than last weekend, I was wandering around the shack mumbling
(to no one in particular) "Where IS Everybody?!"

Working those two events took the WQ6X radiosport participation count to 66 different events thus far for 2021.  While it is doubtful I will ever surpass last year's 142 GiG Events, I get a kick out of playing around in so many different contests and QSO parties.

While there was a dearth of radiosport activity, the off-hours gave me the opportunity to save and organize the memory system in BOTH the ICOM-7000 and the Yaesu FT-1000mp.  Aside from the usual benefits, organizing the memories makes way for the opportunity to do further study of the Russian Military Beacon phenomenon.  I have written about this in the past; the last being in May 2020 when I asked "Wassup with those Russian Military Beacons?".

What about YOU?  DiD YOU play around in the DRCG or GACW Contests?

THEN WHY DiDN'T YOU CALL ME???


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