Some Thots on Running CQP from Alameda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The idea behind CQP (California QSO Party) is to once a year activate ALL 58 California counties, from which we Californians are looking for all 50 states and 8 Canadian provinces, with DX stations
as a [non-multiplier] Bonus.  The above QSL card showcases a triumphant return to MODOC county in 2013, after a disastrous (but 1st-place) 2012 expedition to this undisclosed SW location in the county (the Northeast most county in California).

While Alameda is usually at the BOTTOM of the [most needed] county list, it surprises me every
year how few actual Alameda county stations actually work CQP; too often none from the city of Alameda itself.

If you go to my CQP page (WQ6X.Info/CQP) you see that I first began CQP exploits joining up with
the crew @ W6ML (MONO) - taking 1st-place 4 years in-a-row.  Then it was onto Ventura county for several solo events as W6C.  Since 2010, I've been part of several 1st-place expeditions w/N6GEO.  Individually N6GEO and WQ6X have set Single-OP county records, as well one for Contra Costa county from our K6U LP Multi-Multi event in 2014.  Researching the county records stats, it seems that in the LP Multi-Single category for Alameda county, the record high score is only 25k points;
easily doubleable with a full blown CQP club operation.

For previous CQP events I have registered numerous 1x1 callsigns, including:

• W6C / W6K            (VENT) Ventura County
• K6M / W6C             (MODO) - Modoc County
• K6S                       (SACR) - Sacramento County
• W6E / W6K             (TUOL) - Tuolumne County
• K6U/K6T/W6C/K6C  (CCOS) - Contra Costa County

While using a 1x1 call such as K6A (A=Alameda) has some possibilities, I would think using our K6QLF call would better showcase the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA); especially having W6QLF as one of the operators.

While I am proposing we run in the Multi-Single (Multi-OP Single Transmitter), that means only
1 transmitted signal is allowed at any given moment.  M/S stations can also dedicate a separate
station for finding/hunting multipliers only.

CQP is a multi-mode (Cw & Ssb) for HF, as well as 6m, 2m & 440.  Because some operators "specialize" in one band/mode or another (Cw, Ssb, VHF, etc.) to make a multi-single operation
work, a Hour/Band plan should be devised in which a different Band/Mode is run during each hour, taking advantage of band propagation, as well as operator availability.  To make this happen,
an operator list should be made, with individual operators indicating which hours / modes
(Cw, Ssb, VHF) each operator is available for.

Another way to conduct a Multi-Single operation is by running TWO stations, each with a different callsign; such as: K6QLF & K6A.  K6QLF makes a run for the county record; registering K6A puts another instance of Alameda county on the radio.  The PR-value in doing this is the likelihood that the Alameda operation could be co-showcased on the Results page in February.  Since 2013, the CQP
contest committee seems to like showcasing some of the events I've been involved in. 

Location-wise, we need access to a location that will allow us to be there beginning Friday morning
or early afternoon enabling us to setup radios and antennas (if they are not already there) and then test the radios individually and in relation to each other.  If we have an existing station location, I can setup an outdoor station using the Coleman Insta-Tent (opens out in 2 minutes) which I have used for MANY CQP and Sweepstakes operations.  The above QSL card shows inside the Insta-Tent during our 2013 CQP operation from Modoc.

To learn more about CQP go to: CQP.Org.

To review the CQP results from last year go to: CQP.Org/Results.

If you have any thoughts / feelings / emotions / idea regarding
the above writeup, you can always e-Mail me at: Ron@WQ6X.Info.

I look forward to working with y'all to FINALLY replace the county record for Alameda county - K6QLF can DoIt.  We've made Field Day happen; CQP is just another variation.

   Ron
  WQ6X

WQ6X Works another disappointing triple-QSO Party weekend

Every radiosport weekend I begin with high hopes that station participation will give us something
to work with.  Unfortunately most QSO parties (CQP excepted) seriously lack in-state participation. 
All too often there are 10x the number of operators looking for QSO party participants than there are actual participants in that state.

It could be said that just because I can't hear them doesn't mean that they aren't on the air, only
that I can't hear them.  However, I would think that if there ARE stations calling CQ during a given QSO party, their callsign would show up on one or more spotting networks.  This weekend, switching thru numerous servers resulted in no more than a handful of station spots during the QSO party operation periods.

The Ohio QSO Party (OHQP) offers us only 12 hours to work them.  With an event ending time
of 04:00z, 40-meters is just barely reliably open to Ohio, while 80 meters may well not have even opened to Ohio yet.  Saturday evening, I heard Ohio operators calling KH6 stations (in HQP), while neglecting their own QSO party.  

Calling CQ OHQP/KSQP/HQP throughout the QSO party periods resulted in 0 replies to those calls.  Even CQ calls for the YO DX contest were a No-Go.  For Hawaii, all but one of the 8 QSOs made was on Cw; where were the Ssb stations?  Sunday afternoon a KH6 station was heard ragchewing with a DX station on 14.319, however he was NoT part of the HQP event; I get the impression he didn't even know about the HQP event.

Also this weekend was the YO HF Dx contest, a Cw & Ssb GiG.  While I gather EU stations found HUNDREDS of stations to work, only 2 signals (a PA & a PC station) were heard in Concord, not on 20-meters, but amazingly enough on 40; unfortunately with one-way propagation.  While we are allowed to work non-EU stations (for less points) in this event, only K0ZR made it to the eventually 1-QSO log.  No matter how paltry the score, I always post a 3830 score and submit a log to the contest event sponsor.

While an SFI of 78 hardly helped, the bottom-line was very FEW callsign spots from stations ANYWHERE during the 4 events.  Eventually the SFI jumped to 92, accompanied by K-Index=5.  Several events had a provision for digital signals however while there were FT8 signals (which I can't decode) on most bands, no RTTY signals were heard.  Bummer DEWD.

Also during the weekend was the W.W. digital contest, as well as the US/VE Islands GiG, both with virtually no participation activity.  In recent years, I've yet to encounter any activity in the US/VE Island GiG - HuH?  Wassup with that?

In summary, this Blog entry summarizes my ongoing complaint that there is not enough in-state participation in most QSO parties, nor is there much in the way of USA participation in EU-style
Dx contests.  

For QSO parties, what is the point of getting our hopes up by hosting a QSO party when most stations in your state don't participate?  What propels the California QSO Party (CQP) to the ToP
of the list is that it is a HIGHLY organized event with HUNDREDS of California stations activating
ALL 58 California counties.  I wrote about this problem EXACTLY 1-Year ago. 
([CLICK HERE] to read that Blog.)

In order for radiosport events to work, operators must plan/prepare well in advance to make
it all happen.  For every radiosport event I have a band plan laid out in advance, and for CQP
I even publish that plan in the WQ6X.Info/CQP web section.

DiD YOU work the state QSO parties this last weekend?

Is WQ6X in YOUR Log?

WQ6X Works another WEIRD NAQP Dual-OP

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year, for WQ6X, the NAQP GiGs have been a disappointment, altho I should point out that operations with NX6T have been more productive than ever; while we were "evicted" from Nashville,
we have been welcomed at Radio Ranch (WA6TQT's QTH) atop the mountain in Anza.  Having access to STACKED yagi's (40m - 10m) along with 3-Square & 4-Square arrays for 160 & 80
meters makes ALL the difference.

The 3rd weekend in August brings us a bevy of different radiosport events beginning with the SARTG (Scandinavian) RTTY GiG (Part-1), the NAQP (North American QSO Party) Ssb contest (from 11am to 11pm PDT on Saturday) and ending w/SARTG (Part-3) at 1am (Sunday) for 8 hours.  In the background of all this was the annual International Lighthouse and Lightship weekend (ILLW) event.

For the SARTG GiG (Part-1), I opened by calling CQ on 21089.89 with no [RBN] results. 
In order to say that we gave 10-meters a chance, WQ6X put in a lengthy CQ SARTG call on 28088.88; again with no results and no RBN spots.  

When that didn't work, without thinking a switch was made to 20 meters.  The antenna tuned weirdly, however KH6ZM became QSO #1 in the WQ6X log; after which I realized I had somehow managed to tune the 3-el 10-m Long John yagi on 20 (with a 1:1 SWR), instead of tuning the CH-250 vertical. 
(I guess the Long John became the equivalent of a Buddi-Pole (w/o loading coils).  Because the 8JK [phased] Cobra dipoles fill the shack w/RFI on 20-meters (tearing up the Toshiba docking port),
only the CH-250 vertical will give me RFI-free operation on that band.

A considerable amount of time was spent calling "CQ SARTG Test", with few QSOs made for the time spent.  Before I realized it, the clock struck 08:00z (1am) ending the 1st 1/3'd of the SARTG RTTY GiG.  On Saturday morning, after a 40-minute board meeting for the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA), it was back to SARTG (Part-2), feeling almost as dismal as Friday evening. 
With a few RTTY QSOs in the log, it was time for WQ6X (Ron in CA) to make an appearance
in the NAQP GiG.

With NAQP, things were a little split.  Running as WQ6X, I encountered the usual receive signal vortex at the Concord location.  In general, it seems that stations can hear me much louder than
I can hear them.  Until the SFI nears the 100+ point, receive signal levels on 10/15 meters @W7AYT will probably continue to be marginal.

From the mountain-top location @WA6TQT and the "monster" antenna arrays, my 2 operating
shifts for NX6T (1pm to 3pm and 7pm to 9pm) were greeted with AWEsome signal levels and lengthy pileups on ALL bands.  Because this was a 100-watt (max.) contest, power amplifiers are not allowed.  Nevertheless, NX6T was LOUD all over North America (and I guess into Europe as well).

 

 

 

 

 

During the last 2 hours of NAQP, WQ6X bounced from 20 to 40, down to 80/75 (with few stations heard/worked), and finally down to 160 (nothing heard).  The last hour was spent making the rounds between 75m and 40m.  Because there is a 10-hour limit for Single-OP stations, by 10pm many had already wrapped things up and shut down - Bummer Dewd!

While this weekend's radiosport GiGs HARDLY went the way I woulda expected, most important,
I got to add 3 more contest events to my 3830-Score list for a total of 81 GiGs thus far in 2021.

What about You?  DiD YOU work the NAQP or SARTG contests?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X WiNGs and WaNGLes another WAE Cw Contest

While I had been remotely thinking
about running this year's WAE-Cw contest remotely, it wasn't until 90 minutes before starting time that I actually put in a request to run SOAB from WA6TQT's Anza location in Southern California.  

Permission was given as long as I ran
100 watts (max.) and didn't rotate the antennas.  Because this was an EU-only contest, I asked for the stacked yagis to be fixed at 35-degrees while the 80-meter 4-Square was "aimed" SQUARELY in the direction of Europe.

This was my 1st WAE GiG from the
Anza location.  Hearing EU signals @ the W7AYT QTH is RARE, altho they were reasonably plentiful @NX6T ("NashVille") in Fallbrook; @WA6TQT, EU signals were EVERYWHERE.  Sunday afternoon was the FIRST time I have EVER heard EU signals @23:45z (4:45pm).

While I couldn't then actually work them, had there been 2+ more hours of operating time leftover, 2-way communication would have easily been possible.  NoT realizing that propagation to Europe happens MUCH earlier in Anza may explain how I missed out on an opening on 80.

Calling CQ throughout the weekend documented the fact that WQ6X's only 100-watt signal was LOUD all over the USA and Canada.  Surprisingly, a NUMBER of spots were made from locations
like KH6, 5W1, ZL1 & VK4 - all off the backside of the yagi stacks.  The signal seemed to have a stronger presence "deeper" into Europe; moving farther northward "diluted" signal quality dramatically.

Other than a single contact on 15 meters and one on 80, the majority of the contest activity was on 20-meters with 40-meters taking up the slack.  With the SFI hovering around 74, 20 meters did not stay open reliably throughout the night, as it DiD last month.

Previous WAE GiGs found using N1MM's Ctrl-Z QTC
setup to be a nightmare.  

To resolve this, the decision was made to create a .ADI practice file in Concord to perfect the QTC sending process.  

I am indebted to the 30 EU stations who accepted my QTC traffic during WAE: 

DL3DTH, OM3GI, DL8WX, DJ5MW (twice), EA5FID, IR2Q, ED1R, DP6R, DL6RAI, R5AJ, DP7X, OM5ZW, OL5Y, F5UTN, 9A5SSS, OM2VL, TM6X, LZ5R (twice), DA2X, S51Z, DF9LJ, LY5W, OQ5M, EA5F, DL7ON, IR2C, OE6MMD, DL9EE, DK5PD and 9A5Y.  

When it was all over, only 2 QTC's remained undelivered.  As I recall, in past WAE events, because propagation to Europe suddenly disappeared, I ended up with upwards of 50+ undelivered QTC messages - OOPS.

There were a BUNCH of AWESOME WPX-style European callsigns for this event, my FAVorite
being SX200JAO.  Other favorites include: 9A5SSS & OZ1AAA, IU0ITX, LY9Y, 9A2AJ, IV3EAD, S53ZO, SM0BRF, DL1BUG, GM3ZRT, M0BY, IK0XBX, DL1NKS, HB9ARF, UX1UA, DH1TST,
OH6UE, EA6/EI6DX & PA0INA.

The Watchword for this last weekend was: F A D I N G.
Eu stations LOVE to run 30-35+ WPM in Cw contests, but in fact because of FADING they
were often barely able to copy 20-wpm.  I made judicious use of N1MM's sending speed buttons,
often dialing it down to 13-wpm in order for them to make copy of my exchange number. 
Using the [F7] key, I could bang out the QSO number again and again. 
Ironically, it would seem that fading was rarely a factor when sending QTC message - GO Figure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was ALL Over, looking at the 3830 Stats disclose that WQ6X ended up:

• 28th Worldwide
•  7th in USA / NA
•  1st-Place Left-coast (W6/W7/PAC)

DiD YOU work the WAE Cw contest?

How many EU Q's and QTC's DiD YOU Send?

Why I still love the ICOM 7000: SWL'ing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over a year ago I wrote about why I still love the ICOM-7000 ([CLICK HERE] to read that).  Since my ICOM 7000 came back from the ICOM repair station (15+ months ago), the only REAL ham radio use I've given it since has been running FD (Field Day) from WB6RUC's boat in Alameda's Aeolian Yacht Harbor.  Otherwise, it sits on the top shelf having been given re-assigned to SWL'ing (Shortwave Listening) duties.

When the radio came back from repair, I was amazed to discover that the 200+ frequency memories had NoT been wiped out!  Over a period of weeks, the memory entries have been upgraded and reorganized to facilitate listening to my "favorite" SWBC stations, while making it easy to find
new stations worthy of my listening time.

Thanks to a relatively superior DSP (compared to most radios), the 7000 makes it extremely easy (and satisfying) to search thru the SW broadcast bands looking for relevant programming related to today's activities happening (or NoT) around the world.  Thanks to the Short-Wave.Info website,
I am able to lookup most of what I hear in the SW BDCST bands.  For UTE (and numbers station) monitoring, I have to rely on other websites for the needed background information.

The website allows us to search for specific stations (such as the BBC), specific SWBC frequencies, or overall SWBC bands (such as the above search of 25-meters).  From there, I use my listening skills to determine exactly what is actually being heard.

The ICOM 7000 has over 500+ memory slots grouped A - F (100 memories each). 
For my use I have organized them as follows:

• A) Relevant Ham radio frequencies (incl. WWV, Beacons & Traffic Nets)
  
• B) Relevant UTE frequencies
• C) Relevant SWBC frequencies
• D) Relevant VHF/UHF frequencies
• E) Relatively UNUSED

With the above-delineated groups, when taking the radio on a trip to wherever, everything is setup
and ready to roll.  To make things easier, some frequencies exist in more than one frequency group.  While somewhat simplistic, the 7000's ability to save/retrieve frequencies does work rather well.

While not the 1950's - 1980's, contrary to popular belief, SW broadcasting is very much alive
and well.  Altho there are many SW receivers out there (including the various SDR approaches),
most amateur transceivers produced in the last 30+ years make for GREAT shortwave receivers;
if they sport over 100 frequency memories, even better.

While Popular Communications (Pop 'Comm) is no longer with us, at least CQ magazine still has
The Listening Post column with LoTs of reported SWBC and PIRATE Radio frequencies listed.

I often end my day with Radio Nikkei2 (08:00z - 10:00z) playing Japanese and American POP music.  While I may not understand the dialogue in between plays, the music (whether Japanese
or English) is essentially universal.

Do YOU use your amateur transceiver for SWL'ing?
Or, do you use a separate receiver for that purpose?

Please, share your thoughts with me.

WQ6X Creeps thru another NAQP Cw Contest GiG

This NAQP was a TesT of whut I THINK my understanding IS of the worldwide RBN system. 
LooKing back to yesterday, I Dunno if I "passed" or "failed".  While another weird, wandery Cw contest, the NAQP GiG transformed an outside HoT into a CooL world of CooL Cw; whatever
THAT Means.

Because this was a Local (i.e. NoT a Remote) Operation, the full array of external audio filters was available to tweak the weakest of weak signals.  Altho analog, the QF-1A filters (one for each ear)
are AMAZING in the PEAK position; almost TOO GooD.  This weekend, much of the time the FT-1000mp's eDSP was turned on (NR: B-setting) to clip the annoying tops off the noise (in the
left ear).  For Ssb, it turns out the NL diodes in the MFJ-752C accomplish much the same result.
Analog + Digital is Truly superior to either mode alone.

Being a part of Team #1 for the Southern California Contest Club (SCCC), I was going to Gopherit, however I wasn't going to go all out (SO2R and all that); for me, 12 hours is not long enough to make that happen.  My goal was to spend time leveraging RBN (Reverse Beacon Network) spots for the upper bands to "force" openings that might not have happened otherwise.  In the process, unexpected multipliers can be added to the log.  (This year the multiplier/QSO ratio was 81 / 209 ~38.8%)

NAQP was begun by WQ6X calling CQ on 10-meters.  Almost out of nowhere, 5 stations (MD, SD, CO, NM & CA) were added to the log; later, 2 California stations gave me the CA Mult on 10-meters and an extra 2-points.  On the other end of the radio spectrum, 5 160-meter QSOs made it into the log; after which things were eternally quiet (i.e. time to switch back to 7044.94).

On 15 meters, the RBN listed no SPOTs for WQ6X (except CO), despite, Wkg CA, CO & PA.  Signals would literally JUMP out of silence, only to disappear 5-seconds later.  Making a run frequency work on 20-meters didn't happen until 01:26z on 14037.37.  While 20-meters produced nearly 40% of the QSOs, it was largely a disappointment (compared to years previous).   

By 02:00z it was Search & Pounce time, not finding a run frequency (7044.94) until 02:39z, which produced callers until 03:38 when a switch to 80-meters (3535.35) was made with only mediocre results.

After the contest was over, I remembered that nearly 2 years ago a "BLAST from the Past" write up was written about the NAQP Cw GiG. ([CLICK HERE] to read that.)  While the NAQP GiGs aren't necessarily my favorite because they are only 12-hour events, an upside to them is that they are
only 12-hour events - GO Figure.

DiD YOU Work the NAQP Cw Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

P.S. If you look closely, you will notice a Radio Shaft DSP-40 audio-DSP unit being given consideration for inclusion to the morass of external audio filters currently in use.

Sometimes just showing up... Part III

Thus Far, I have written 2 Blogs under this moniker.  (Click [HERE] and [HERE]). 
Reflecting back on several radiosport exercise combinations I been a part of since the WPX
Cw GiG (May 29th) found me musing once again over the importance of just showing up.

Two of my favorite radiosport competitions are the ARRL November Sweepstakes (BOTH Cw and Ssb) and the California QSO Party (CQP).  After teaming up N6GEO running as W6K for the 2014
Cw Sweepstakes, it would seem that we not only posted a high score for the EB (East Bay) section, we won the PAC Division plaque as well.  The following year (2015) running in the relatively new SOULP category, WQ6X won the PAC Division plaque

Both events have in common the fact that I/we just showed up, made a few QSOs, submitted a logfile and got on with the next radiosport event the following weekend.  The contest attitude was more laissez-faire rather than dead-serious operating.  I/We are used to winning section certificates;
picking up a Division plaque is always a pleasant surprise.

A similar thing happened in CQP.  Beginning in 2010, I joined up with N6GEO for a number of successful 1st-place (albeit miraculous that we pulled it off) expedition events from Modoc and the Sacramento River.  Operating from CCOS (Contra Costa) and TUOL (Tuolumne) counties we figured on easily achieving 1st place.  What I did NoT expect was to set county records from those events. 
A couple of years back, N6GEO set a new Single-OP (unassisted) record for Tuolumne county.

Additionally, the CQP contest committee has showcased 3 operations I have been a part of on the previous-year result pages.  I often joke that the contest committee must be desperate if they keep showcasing my operations on their results pages.

We are coming up on the California QSO party in October followed by the November Sweepstakes
a month later.  Plans are being made to create a unique set of multi-OP operations from Alameda county (CQP) and EB section (Sweepstakes).  While I expect these operations to be reasonably organized, the overall goal is to show up, mentor new contest operators and have a good time. 
If we ALSO happen to set a county record and/or pickup a PAC Division plaque, even better.

Again, it's ALL about just showing up and taking things from there.

What about YOU?  Do YOU show up?

Tell me about your results.

WQ6X Wangles and Wrangles another Weird WadioSport Weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a radiosport weekend, I am at a loss to describe the disconnectedness underlying the radiosport process.  While I have run this weekend before, probably the only word I can use to describe THIS weekend's rendition of it is: BORE-DUMB; Boredom that literally creates a dumbing-down effect.  Whatever word(s) I use, the truth is that it was one scwewy contest weekend.

Last year's Russian Multi-mode gig was an even worse-show than this year.  Missouri's MOQP event was moved from April to the end of July for the first time.  While BOTH contests were multi-mode
(Cw - Ssb - RTTY), only Cw stations were heard in BOTH contests.

Due to the scarcity of actual radiosport activity, much of the so-called OP-time was spent testing various combinations of audio filters that have been coerced into working compatibly together.

I also used the weekend to make
CQ MOQP and CQ MM-Test calls, monitoring the RBN web stats (with no calls actually answered during over 4+ hours of calling CQ).  NoNe of my CQ calls on 10-meters showed up on the RBN, except the BRIEF time I spent calling "CQ MM Test" on 10-meter RTTY.

 

Normally, when radiosport GiGs produce so FEW QSOs like this weekend (11 for MOQP and 2 for Russ-MM), I post nasty comments on how people should play in their own QSO parties and multi-mode contests should be working all 3 modes.  This last weekend, the "blame" goes to the receive-vortex aspect of this operating QTH.  Checking into 75-meter traffic nets, most of the time the WQ6X signal is well heard up and down the left coast.  The problem is, all to often I can barely hear stations calling me.

This weekend, other stations (mostly
on the east coast) were making 100's
of Multi-mode contacts and hearing DOZENS of MOQP stations.

With 2 wire antennas (phased-Cobra's),
a CH-250 vertical and a 3-el Long John
Yagi (for 10-m) I was expecting to hear
a significant number of QSO party participants and (maybe) make 50 QSOs in the Russian M-M GiG.

I can of course blame the depressingly low SFI numbers, altho the truth is that
the geomagnetosphere was nearly completely quiet.

 

Altho there no response to my CQ calls,  seeing a variety of divergent spots like ZL4YL, VK4CT, K1TTT and VE7CC reminded me that at LEAST I was being heard, mostly around the world; or at least, around the Pacific, at any rate.

Despite the handful of QSOs made in this weekend's contests, the time was made to post the score on the 3830Scores website and submit a log to BOTH contest sponsors.  That way, stations who DiD work me will get the proper credit they deserve and I get two more contests added to WQ6X's 2021 contest total (currently at 80 radiosport events thus far).

DiD YOU work the MOQP or the Multi-Mode contest?

HoW DiD things turn out for YOUR efforts?