WQ6X Works another Perplexing RSGB IOTA Contest

Every year, the RSGB IOTA contest (like so many Euro-based events) presents me with an abundance of hope that THIS TIME, we're actually going to hear and work 100+ IOTA islands.  Instead, what REALLY happens is nearer to the opposite end of the spectrum.  I wrote about
this in last year's BLOG; pre-CoViD 2019 actually delivered on it's promise.

Being an RSGB contest, the usual 12:00z start time requires I somehow roll out of bed at 5am to check these things out.  Calling CQ on 40 & 80 returned no callers, making it easy to find an excuse to go back to bed, getting up in time for the monthly ARCA (Amateur Radio Club of Alameda) club meeting.  Calling CQ on 20 afterwards was also a disappointment.

The RBN STATs illustrate the degree to which WQ6X called CQ IOTA throughout Saturday and Sunday morning.

Last weekend in the NAQP RTTY contest, altho there were no RBN Spots for 10-meters, a total of 20 RTTY QSOs made it into the 10-meter section of the log.

During IOTA, while there were a handful of RBN Spots, only 2 "local" W6 stations were workable on 10-meters.

On 10-meters, the yagi was rotated 30 - 60 degrees followed by a lengthy call and then another rotate.  

15-meters was a complete no-show; the same as
80-meters.  Tuning around on Ssb, I heard no stations working the IOTA GiG, relegating the log entry to Cw only.

 

Amazingly, 40-meters represented the majority of the IOTA QSOs; quite surprising since usually,
20-meters is THE band for Island working.  Hoping that 15-meters would produce some islands,
a LoT of time was devoted to the band; in the end, yielding Nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a nice surprise to have island stations returning my "CQ IOTA" calls;
they gave me 15 points, while receiving only 2 points in exchange.  In desperation,
I turned to the EASY Button, altho I dunno if it really made a difference or not.

Looking through the log, the most noticeable country missing from the log was JAPAN. 
Normally JA stations FLOOD DX contests.  Because Japan qualifies as several IOTA islands,
I would have expected DOZENS of stations, not ZERO.  Despite the problems in Cuba, CO8NMN managed to copy WQ6X on 40 meters.

While Canada hardly qualifies as an Island over all, such locations as BAFFIN Island (I believe VY1) and Prince Edward Island - P.E.I. (VY2) should have been all over the place - instead, ZERO.

BUMMER DEWD!

Oh well, this IOTA GiG is more-or-less what I have come to expect.
Maybe next year will be different - I've been saying that every year. 
One year I may actually work 100 IOTA islands - it CAN happen, ya' know.

What about YOU?

Did YOU work the RSGB IOTA contest?

How many IOTA islands made it into YOUR Log?

Is there Value in Documenting Contest Activity?

Back in August of 2015, with nearly 2 1/2 years of Blog writing behind me, I was prompted to
make a response to N9RV's Op-Ed piece in the March/April 2015 issue of the  National Contest Journal (NCJ).  While my response was quite clear, today, after the disappointing IOTA contest,
I am again visiting the above question.

WQ6X Contest Blog entries entries (like my Facebook page) comprise a sort of diary of my radiosport activities, amongst other things.  From time to time, I take a look back at various kinds of operations I've been a part of since the Blog's beginnings in 2013.  The most recent was a BLAST from the PAST regarding the IOTA contest itself.

Every Cabrillo log file I submit has a URL link to http://WQ6X.Blogspot.com.  It was from the Blog write-up for the IOTA GiG that got me to thinking about the various variety of radiosport activities
that I've played around in since about 1996 (25 years ago).

For WQ6X, radiosport is immensely enjoyable.  Taking the time to document each event keeps
me connected with the process now as well as they way it was 20+ years ago.  It also gives you
(the Blog reader) an opportunity share in my memories and relive where YOU were during a given radiosport event.

Six additional years of Contest Blog writing has certainly confirmed there is plenty of value to be had from documenting each contest event, as well as the events leading up to each event.

What about YOU?

Do YOU document your contest operations?

If NoT, WHY Knot?

If So, please send me a link to your work.

I can also link to it from the WQ6X Contest Blog.

BLAST from the Past: RSGB IOTA Contest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In preparation for this weekend's RSGB IOTA contest I took a look into the Radiosport
WaY-Back machine at previous IOTA GiGs I have written about.

For the 2021 IOTA event, WQ6X will be operating from W7AYT's QTH in Concord, attempting to leverage the wire antennas and the 3-el Long John yagi for 10-m into some sort of island hunting exercise.  We only have 24 hours (12:00z to 12:00z) to log as many islands as we can.  

As to what constitutes and island, that in and of itself is an interesting study. 
To get started [CLICK HERE] for the overall contest rules and links to the other
IOTA resources.

LooKing backwards the previous IOTA GiGs include:

• [X] 2020 - WQ6X JoTs a few ThoTs about Juggling BoTs in IOTA
  
• [X] 2019 - WQ6X Runs best IOTA Contest EVER
  
• [X] 2017 -  WQ6X Dabbles in RSGB IOTA GIG

There's really NoT much more to say for the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The REAL Question is, what will the 2021 RSGB IOTA GiG be like with this
year's considerably improved solar cycle behind it?

Do YOU ever run the RSGB IOTA GiG?

Is WQ6X in one of THOSE Logs?

WQ6X Negotiates another Summertime NAQP RTTY Contest

The NAQP RTTY contest is an excellent event from which to learn RTTY contest operating procedure.  Because we send our Name and QTH, the information exchange becomes more personable, encouraging more exchanges.

This was another ad-HOC RTTY operation from W7AYT's QTH in Concord. It seemed like 80%+
of the contacts made required the use of a crow bar
or the jack hammer being stored in the garage here. 

The BiG disappointment was only 1 QSO on 15 meters. The BiG Surprise was a 10-meter opening yielding 20 QSOs, with a majority of them on the east coast. Sweeping the 3-el Long John yagi thru a 180-degree arc found callers. 

The beacons said the band was dead, and yet
real human operators proved the beacons wrong.
40-meters was a bit of a disappointment, altho
over a dozen stations were worked above 7.100. 

On the low bands, being able to switch between the CHA-250 Vertical and the 8JK-Cobra's often found
one antenna to be a better receiver.  Ironically the CHA-250 vertical often heard LESS noise than the 8JK-pair. 

Thank You Yaesu, for the A/B antenna button - the ability it enables is immeasurable.
The FT-1000mp ran full 100-watt RTTY no problem producing very little heat.  Front-ended by
an older but classic RigExpert PLUS unit, the Yaesu sends flawless AFSK.  My next goal is for
the installation to work in FSK mode instead of AFSK.  

The W7AYT QTH is evidently located in or near a receive signal vortex.  Particularly on 80/40
METERS, it seems the Yaesu "hears" way less than they "hear" me; almost a 3:2 signal exchange. 
I used to think the FT-1000mp front-end had been compromised.  As it turns out the ICOM 7000
also encounters the receive-vortex problem; pointing to the geographical location as the main culprit.

When it was all over, while I didn't post a SUPER score, I reached my personal operating-goal of at least 100+ QSOs; this year was 106.  DiD YOU work the NAQP RTTY contest?  Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

8 things I do after EVERY Radiosport Weekend

A couple of years ago (July 2019) I wrote a Blog entitled: "7 things I do after EVERY Radiosport Weekend".  That blog remains complete, with the information contained valid even MORE today.  However, there is one after-contest activity I've been spending MORE time with:
The RBN (Reverse Beacon Network) facility.

What I find it curious that the RBN spots my callsign(s) all over the country and yet there are
evidently no operators listening on those band where I've been spotted.  In reverse, during
the NAQP RTTY GiG last weekend, while there were virtually NO RBN spots when calling
"CQ NAQP" on 10-meters, QSOs were made with nearly a DOZEN stations on the east
coast and several points in between (CO & MO).

One of the advantages  to "backward looking" by way of the RBN is that I am less prone to self-invalidation for low QSO counts.  If the RBN spots declare I am being heard, then we gotta find
some way to motivate operators to check all the bands, as well as Calling CQ.

([CLICK HERE]) to  view the latest WQ6X RBN Stats.

What Do YOU Think?

Do YOU utilize RBN statistics?
What have YOUR results been like?

NX6T Survives 1st-time IARU Contest from Anza

With NX6T operations from Nashville now a distant chain of memories, we focus our attention and channel our energies forward from our new (I hope) home hosted by WA6TQT in Anza.  The location (known as Radio Ranch) is so strikingly different from Nashville.  I hear somewhat loud stations in Anza that were not even faint-whispers in Nashville.

After the IARU GiG was over, Dennis (N6KI) regaled me with a summary of our past IARU performance.  While we've always posted a 1st-place for San Diego (SDG) section, our USA
and WorldWide standings have been "middle of the list", at best.  The Factors attributing to this mediocrity included the operators available, man-made noise (QRN) to the Northeast (at only 900'
ASL we were physically close to the electronic noise curtain).  

Other factors contributing to our middle-performance include marginal (at best) antennas for
80/160 (a pair of coaxial-Bazooka Inverted Vee's) and sharing internet access via a microwave
link, as well as a bunch of other factors I cannot now remember.

In contrast, our use of Radio Ranch offers antennas already 2800' ASL.  The multi-acre land parcel
is largely away from interference-generating electronics.  Antenna-wise, multiple towers sporting stacked Yagi's for the high bands and stacked Stepp-IR's for 40 meters, the low bands were
covered by way of 4-Square (80-m) and 3-Square (160m) antennas.

Thanks to a set of Green Huron (GH) antenna control boxes, pointing and phasing the various antenna arrays is AMAZINGLY powerful.  Another factor in our favor is the now ever-increasing
solar flux index (approx 77 for IARU weekend).

One of the things I like about the IARU GiG is that it's multi-mode (a sort of Multi-Band 10-meter contest).  This year, every shift I ran, I spent a not-insignificant amount of time running frequencies
on Ssb; 40/75 meters, particular.  While the K3 (on the Anza end) sports a DVK for voice keying, recording it remotely from my end appends a "PSSHT!" sound before playing the recording;
I am assuming that spritz originate at my end as none of the operators experience that - the
story of my remote operation radiosport life.

It is interesting to use the RBN network stats as a tool for "backward looking" after a given event.  Screen capturing those RBN stats and saving them for "next year" will be an eye-opener, one or
more years from now.  Looking at the end of contest RBN stats for 2021, I was astounded by the variety of NX6T spots; something we saw only a fraction of in Nashville.

Last year I wrote a couple of interesting pieces on the IARU contest:

• [X] - A BLAST from the PAST look at IARU
• [X] - A write up about the 2020 event
  

With this years RBN spots, the BLOG entries for this time next year will give us all kinds of (meaningless) comparison data.

As more and more European operators submitted their logs. our 6th place standing slipped quietly down 13 points; at least JUST in the Top-20.

DiD YOU participate in the 2021 IARU HF Championship?

Is NX6T in BOTH your Ssb and Cw Logs?

WQ6X Barely makes Marconi Cw GiG Memorable

This was one of those off-beat mixed-back radiosport weekend, as the DL-DX RTTY shared
24 hours with the Marconi Memorial Cw Contest (colloquially known as MMC).  During the 2020
DL-DX+Marconi weekend, I ran Both contests as NX6T, while squeaking a pair of QSOs into the WQ6X Concord Log.

This year, with Nashville now history, running RTTY from WA6TQT in Anza has not yet been facilitated.  At least I was allowed to run the Marconi GiG at 100 watts.  For the DL-DX GiG, the FT-1000mp ran flawless RTTY, 'cept only 2 signals were heard at the Concord location - GO Figure.

While I truly MISS the Nashville operation for many reasons, the Anza station more than doubles the ASL and gives me access to stacked yagi's for the high bands and stacked 3-element Stepp-IR's for 40, as well as a 4-Square and 3-Square directional antenna system for 80 & 160 meters respectively.

Remote operating, while wonderful, also has it's caveats.  Once in awhile, dropped bits to/from the Elecraft K3/0 may cause the receive audio to DOUBLE in amplitude, waking me up from my sound snoozing.  It's a weird thing to hear my voice thru the K3/0 monitor (via the internet), however if I am ALSO listening to the NX6T signal live with my FT-1000mp in Concord, I am amazed at how "slow" that 0.5-sec internet latency actually is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was Finally ALL Over, 132 hard-earned QSOs closed-out the log.
As the SFI Index ebbs and flows in the high 70's (and beyond) we experiencing a revisit
to the 20-meters of years ago, when 20 would be open virtually all night.

 

Anytime I feel Down after a radiosport GiG, I have discovered that color BAR Graph screens help put it all into perspective. 

Revisiting the Hour / Band breakdown allows me to reevaluate the high and not-so-high points during my operating time.

DiD YOU play around in the MARCONI & DL-DX GiG?

Is (by miracle of miracles) WQ6X in YOUR Log?

WQ6X RAC's a Dual-OP Operation for Canada Day 2021

Sometimes I get so backed-up with running actual radiosport contest events, that finding time to write it all up (with pictures, screen shots and internet links) becomes a challenge and unavoidably Blog writing takes a secondary priority in the overall scheme of things.  In July, the timing of Canada Day adds to the complexity of things.  We're used to most contest events being held on a weekend; Canada Day is July 1st, with the event beginning at 00:00z (which is 5pm the day before on the left coast).

This year, July 1st was on a Thursday; as such, the radiosport event began at 5pm on Wednesday in California (8pm on the east coast).  Putting a call in to the NX6T team informed me that a Multi-single event was planned running as NO6T from Station 2 at the Radio Ranch in Anza (San Bernardino area of So. California).

These stats give us a breakdown of what made this year's RAC GiG different than those we've run before.

Looking closely, 658 QSOs made on
20-meters is no surprise when the stats show that 17 out of the 24 hours we had an operator on 20. 

Because  we are largely a group of Cw operators, it is no surprise that 56% of the QSOs were on Cw, leaving 44% for Ssb; missing many Ssb multipliers.

 A BiG disappointment for me was the poor turnout on 160 meters.  All too often 160 becomes a Cw only band when in fact 160-Ssb is just a HoT.

With only 24 hours to play and a decent number of operators to run Ssb and Cw, my short operating time-blocks also gave me time to run the RAC contest as WQ6X from Concord.

 

 

 

 

 

Like other contest weekends, the RAC GiG gave yet another opportunity to (if you will) "force
a band opening" on 10-meters.  WQ6X called CQ on 10-meters with only 7th call area SDR receivers allegedly "hearing" us.  Then, out of nowhere a pair of Canadian stations come down the 3-el Long John's 33-degree azimuth pipeline to the N. Northeast; that's what the rotor control box is for - finding that "corridor".

When it was all over it would seem that NO6T took 3rd place to RAC stations (VA3RAC & VE1RAC); hardly a fair comparison.  If WE had had an RAC call we would have worked TWICE their individual scores.  Nevertheless, we took 1st place above every non-Canadian entry; which is worth something.

WQ6X took no awards for this event.  More importantly, I gained the opportunity to test run the current K3/0 connection to WA6TQT (Radio Ranch), paving the way for running the DL-DX RTTY contest the following weekend.

DiD YOU play in the Canada Day RAC Contest?
How many RAC stations DiD YOU work?
Is NO6T in YOUR LoG?

NEWSFLASH - THIS JUST IN:
It LooKs like WQ6X took 1st-place for California (W6);
not bad for just screwing around at the last minute.

WQ6X Floats a 3rd Field Day (FD) from Aeolian Yacht Harbor

Just prior to this Blog being written up, I received the sad news that the XYL of our club member (and former president) Bruce Gillis passed away after a protracted illness.  We will miss her spirit. 
A condolence board was created.  [CLICK HERE] to read that.

Radio Amateur's Field Day is a strange thing - it seems to be nearly a year off and then alluva
sudden it's June 1st and FD is only a handful of weeks away.  This year was no exception.  While
I miss doing Field Day from Mt. Abel, my 2nd favorite location is on WB6RUC's 42' sailboat that he docks in Alameda's Aeolian Yacht Harbor, JUST for the FD event itself.

Last year, I ran FD all alone from the yacht harbor, while other Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) members made QSOs from their home QTH.  This year, another ARCA club member (KC2YOT** Roger) also moored his boat at the yacht harbor, so I didn't feel so quite alone. 
In the evening, with the radios turned down, the only sound to break the stillness of lapping
waves is the occasional vehicle driving across the bridge to/from Bay Farm Island.

As the Solar Flux begins its first of dozens of Up-Peak, each peak is often inevitably accompanied by a seemingly "sudden" downturn, repeating itself approximately 24 days later.  It is not unusual to be in the middle of a wide-open band, only to have "the bottom fall out"; actually, it's the TOP - solar BELCHes can transform a signal-reflecting ionosphere into a signal sucking sponge in a matter
of minutes.

Tuesday evening we were enjoying some AWEsome propagation worldwide on 20 (and even) 40 meters.  By noon on Wednesday, the SFI was back to where it had recently been - Ho Hum. 
By the time Field Day weekend happened, the only real GooD thing we could say is how quiet the geomagnetosphere was.  Unfortunately, what noise we were spared was compounded by the the electrical junk-noise from the corral of boats surround ours, even tho we were docked at the end of the pier - device RFI travels amazingly far.

Operator-wise, we were considerably short-handed this year (altho several club members visited the Aeolian wharf).  Roger (KC2YOT**) was our CW-only operator this year, making QSOs (as I recall) on 40, 20 & 15 meters in the daytime and 40-meters in the evening.  Zachary (W6AKE)  accounted for our VHF presence.  He e-mailed be a .JPG of his hand-logged logsheet.  After FD was over, I created a special N1MM environment and hand-typed the QSOs in, allowing us to include a Cabrillo file for those QSOs as part of the log submission.

During Field Day I LOVE operating as many bands and modes as I can.  This year certainly gave me the opportunity.  I ran the ICOM 7000 through a classic DENTRON JR. Monitor to the Butternut HF-2V vertical, which was tunable all the way down to 160 and up to 15 meters.  Onboard there is already a Sloper antenna from atop the mast down to a rear-boat insulated coax block.  Down below this wire connects to an SC auto tuner.  A manual coax switch allowed for instantaneous selection of the best antenna for EACH Qso.

The 337 QSOs doesn't include the dozen+ callers who kept repeat calling on each band.  If they had read the rules (the whut?) they would know they could work me only once per band-mode.  Because most repeat-callers were on SSB, I told them to look for me on CW on the half-hour.  You mean that Morse code thing?  Isn't that obsolete?  FD Cw QSOs are worth 2 Points while Ssb QSOs are worth only 1 point - you tell me.  

Now, my detractors will probably want to say I cheated; I looked it up in the FD rules - there is NO Rule declaring that EASY Buttons are disallowed in ANY ARRL radiosport contest.  

You've heard me say "When in Doubt CHEAT! (but within the rules)".  EASY Buttons are certainly within the rules, and even the Spirit of the rules.

The problem with REAL EASY Buttons is that they can either break, or the batteries can run down.  I solved this dilemma by developing a WINDOZE APP giving me all
the power and advantages of the desk-side button.

Last I checked, the essence of Field Day is to try out NEW Equipment, NEW Configurations, DIFFERENT operating locations & MORE Operating Modes.  "New" equipment often means old add-on equipment which still has use under emergency conditions; which is what Field Day is attempting to simulate.  Being radio-ready aboard a sailboat has all kinds of not so obvious advantages. 
Sounds like I should write a BLOG on JUST that topic - Stay Tuned Folks....

Meanwhile back on the boat...   my plan of operation was largely dictated by tracking the Solar-WX (as you saw above) in conjunction with massive amounts of calling CQ multiple-times per hour, noting the RBN Spots.  We brought a Internet HoT-Spot onboard the boat giving me access to all kinds of information, from which to boil it all down in a statistical-pot, creating magical powers enabling me
to know which band and mode I should be using at any moment in time - N  O  T.

In that I have a number of radio projects in various stages of needing to be completed, I've been delaying my BLOG-writing responsibility, leaving me with less to say about this year's event, compared to [2020] and [2019].  What that REALLY says is that for 2021, I've taken all that I have learned from the 2 previous FD operations at the Aeolian Yacht Harbor, enabling a near-flawless K6QLF operation, without loss of life/limb, radio/tuner, masts/antennas, sailboats or batteries.

Next year may well bring another nautical surprise.  Thoughts are already formulating in that direction.  DiD YOU participate in the 2021 Radio Amateur's Field Day? 
Is K6QLF in YOUR LoG?

** P.S. I JUST got word that Roger KC2YOT has been transformed in the K6QLF tradition
           into W6QLF - may his Left Foot survive the transition.