Creative Competition in Radiosport and Toastmasters Part-5: I Just SiT Back and Watch

During my 7 years in Toastmasters, my home club (The Alameda Tongue Twisters) has ranged in size from 7 to 25 members.  With a large membership, getting access to one of the 3 speaking slots every week was difficult.  At other times, I found myself speaking several times a month, as well being Toastmaster, Table Topic Master and Speech Evaluator.

As my club's membership has grown this year alone, I have quietly shifted away from frequent speaking and evaluating to just evaluating and General Evaluating.  As even more members
move thru Pathways LEVEL-1, they increasingly take on speaking and Evaluator roles.

In the month of September, I am [largely] returning back to the way I started Toastmasters:
"I Just Sit Back and Watch"  I even wrote a BLoG about doing this.  In my Biofeedback work,
we call this "LooK"; in radiosport we call this "Listening".  Immerse yourself in LooK long enough
and you end up at "KNOW".

From a Biofeedback perspective, when we not-only Know, but also Know that We Know,
that energy can then be channeled into action.

• In Toastmasters, that action manifests in the delivery of profound and moving speeches, as well as moving on up the Ladder of Leadership, not only in Toastmasters but also in other aspects of life as well.
• In Radiosport, using that focus energy allows for more efficient/effective contest operating in addition to Elmering those who wish to learn the Art of Radiosport.

Currently, as I Sit Back and Watch, 2022 plans are already formulating for engaging in Toastmasters speech contests, and (hard to believe) taking radiosport to the next level.  This actually begins now
as I put together a Multi-Single CQP operation with the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA). 
Last month I wrote a BLoG about doing this.

There are times when "Going For It" is the right thing to Do.
Then again, sometimes, it's a GooD Idea to trust that those
around you have their end covered, in concert with everyone else.

When THAT happens, then Just SiT back and WATCH.

Using Shortwave Listenting as a Propagation Training Exercise

 

In my (so-called) off hours I like to wanderingly tune the Shortwave bands.  In mid-2019,
I penned a BLoG on the topic of  the continuing relevance of shortwave broadcasting and the
[so-called] shortwave radio spectrum.  While the spectrum is clearly not what it was "back in the day", there are still numerous (non-religious) programs to be heard and hundreds of UTE (utility) stations to listen in on.

Listening to the shortwave band allocations sandwiched in between our amateur bands allow us an indirect way to predict atmospheric propagation:

• 75-m SWBC gives indirect propagation info for 80-meter Cw.
• 60-m & 49-m SWBC gives us a perspective on the 60-meter Ssb band.
• 41-m SWBC (7.200 - 7.500) gives us insight into our own 40-meter band.
• 31-m SWBC (9.300 - 9.800) gives us input into our own 30-meter band
• 25-m & 19-m SWBC offers us credible evidence regarding the popular 20-meter DX band.
• 16-m SWBC propagation is much the same as our own 17-meter band.
• 13-m SWBC propagation is nearly-identical to our 15-meter band and even 12-meters.

I often listen to programs, not because I agree with that country's political message but because I enjoy the music played, or, their country's descriptions are vividly interesting to listen to. 

Some of my FAV's include:

• Radio Havana's DX Unlimited program (Various 49-m frequencies)
• Korea Broadcast System (KBS) - 31m & 25m
  
• China Radio International (CRI) - 49m
• Voice of Korea (VoK) - 49m & 25m
  
• Radio New Zealand (RNZI) - 7.245
• Radio Nikkei 2 - 6.115
  
• XEPPM - 6.185
• BBC - 9.410

What do you do in your contest off-periods?

Do you ever checkout shortwave broadcasts?

Which stations are YOUR favorite?

 

WQ6X Works a WEIRD W.W. RTTY Contest

 

Next to the ARRL RTTY Roundup (RU) contest the CQ W.W. RTTY GiG is one of the events that got me HOOKed on RTTY.  This event winds down September in a nice lazy way.  Because I don't expect to make any BiG score in this contest, I use the event to test run new equipment and/or contest software changes.

Last year I wrote a couple of BLOGs about the CQ W.W. RTTY contest.

• [X] - BLAST from the Past: CQ W.W. RTTY Contest
• [X] - WQ6X Runs a Raucous but Riske' CQ W.W. RTTY Contest

Like every September, the Maine QSO Party (MEQP) is always a backdrop, and always
a disappointment because few Maine stations actually play in their own QSO party event. 
Before I finally got a taste of propagation openings to New England, the MEQP was long over. 
Also disappointing this year, was POOR propagation to Asia of all places.  Skipping signals
"across the pond" yielded only a handful of QSOs - Bummer Dewd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The GOAL of the CQ W.W. contests is to work as many ZONES as possible first, followed by as many countries we can work in those Zones.  In the W.W. RTTY contest, a THIRD multiplier is added in the form of USA states and Canadian provinces. While USA contacts are only worth 1-Point (and Canadians 2-Points), the states/provinces as multipliers makes it worthwhile to give North American stations a listen.

While the Solar Flux Index (SFI) has been hovering in the 80's this past week, the lower band propagation (80 & 40 meters) way overshadowed the upper bands.  10-meters was a no-show
and 15-meters was a barely-show at this receive-vortex QTH, altho other California stations
worked DOZENS of stations, even into Europe and Africa - lucky them.

LoTs of "local" CA stations came thru by way of what I will call "back flutter propagation". 
Later, when EU stations finally came thru on 20-meters via "polar flutter", I initially discounted
them as "local" stations (worth only 1-point, instead of 3-points for Europe) until the decoder displayed callsigns that were CLEARLY European.

Eventually after Europe faded from the decoder screen on Sunday, because E. Asia is either
sleeping or commuting to work, altho there was a propagation opening to Asia, the only available operators to work were those old timers who are retired and no longer commuting.

With RTTY I learned NoT to accidentally put the decoder screen in Pause mode, leaving it
unattended for hours.  Coming into the shack after doing a CQP presentation for the Amateur
Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA), according to the Task Mangler, something had taken over the CPU. 
Putting the decoder back into GREEN operation mode unleashed a seemingly infinite flood of hours-old previously decoded text.  N1MM wasn't responding and needed to be TERMINATED.  En route to that, it was noticed that MMTTY had acquired a several hundred MB memory footprint, which kept it locked in memory.  Also terminating MMTTY returned the CPU to its [relatively] quite mode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because this was my 1st CQ WW RTTY GiG from the Concord location in quite awhile,
we could easily say Miss Addams, that this was indeed another weekend of learning.

What about YOU?  DiD You Enjoy a Weekend of Learning?

DiD YOU run the CQ W.W. RTTY Contest this weekend?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wonks on the Radiosport WEIRD Side

Whattaya do after bringing a RockVille audio mixer back from the repair bench?  For me,
the WA7BNM Contest Calendar locates a radiosport event that will exercise the equipment
features that has just been given the go-ahead.

This last weekend I did JUST that.  Having recently re-integrated the JPS NIR-10 & NIR-12 units
into the FT-1000mp's Sub-RX audio line, convenient access to 4 QSO parties, the Scandinavian Cw GiG and the NA RTTY Sprint contest exercised and exorcised the external filter equipment and it's cabling, which (as I explained in the previous Blog), allowed re-evaluation of the correct cascade order for the (B) channel (right-side of the listening experience).

Now, in order to adequately test a proper audio configuration, we need numerous signals of sufficient amplitude to energize the various units along each channel's audio path.  A busy contest weekend (such as Sweepstakes or CQP) would be an ideal test-event, altho it is noted that the testing should have already been done PRIOR to these events.

I reiterated in the previous Blog on learning, that behind ALL the audio filtering used @ WQ6X/6 is the Stereo-Cw concept.  In general, I prefer the filters to be adjusted in such a manner as to more-or-less encourage lower-pitch signals to appear on the more-or-less Left-side of my listening experience, relegating the more-or-less higher-frequency signals to appear more-or-less on the Right-side of
the listening experience.

During the NA Sprint contest (where stations frantically frequency-jump right on top of other stations), Stereo-Cw "spreads" those signals across an approximate 150-degree ARC, creating a unique spatial experience that cannot be accomplished using a MONO audio configuration.

Use of Stereo-Cw was the factor which enabled discernment of signals fluttering over the North pole from Scandinavia during their Cw contest.  The FT-1000mp's narrow Cw filters begins the process of singling -out stations to work.  By synchronizing VFO (A) ==> (B) and invoking the transceiver's
dual-RX mode offers up a form of stereo diversity reception for difficult to copy polar-fluttered signals.  

What was slated to be a non-Event at the Concord location became a 4-QSO log submission,
adding yet another contest event to the WQ6X 3830 Scores list for an early-Autumn contest total
of 94 events - made possible largely by way of Stereo-Cw.

Off-contest weekends allow testing different filter combinations, in readiness for important
up-coming contest events like CQP, JIDX, WAE-RTTY and the November Sweepstakes.

What about YOU?

What preparations Do You make for maximizing radiosport performance?

Radiosport: Learning - It's All about learning - Part 2

Recently, I wrote a blurb on the fact that, for me, Amateur Radio (in general) and radiosport (in particular) is all about learning.  This last weekend was another oddball, off-contest weekend.
While there were several state QSO parties (IA, NJ, TX & WA), the poorly attended NA RTTY
Sprint and even the Scandinavian Cw contest, the bands seemed noticeably "UN-occupied".

Behind the scenes, a number of occurrences were occurring:

• The SFI dropped from 102 ==> 73 in about 36 hours.
• A revamped RockVille mixer was reintroduced to the portable operating position @W7AYT, paying special attention to Channel 4 (CH-4), with a specific focus on the recently cascaded [NIR-10] ==> [NIR-12] combination fed by the FT-1000mp's less capable sub-receiver.  Reading the e-Ham reviews on the NIR-10 and NIR-12 DSP units,
  it would seem that the like/dislike of any one unit over the other largely depends on one's style of operating versus the degree of  thoroughness with which you read the NIR DSP manuals.
  Both the NIR-10 & NIR-12 manuals describe the unit's functions in 3 (similar, but
  slightly different) ways.  Both manuals seem to have been written by the same "committee", or at least, using the same word processing template.
• Running both units in cascade enables the best features of both units to be utilized,
  altho reading the e-Ham comments has led me to believe the NIR-12 should cascade
  into the NIR-10 - not the other way around (as it is now).  This of course takes us back
  to the Doctor.
  

In 2014 I asked the QST Dr. about the proper way to cascade audio filters and equalizers. 
I've written two Blogs addressing this question: 

• The DR. Validates Cascading Filters

  More Lessons Learned from Listening to the Dr.

In the 1st Blog, I published a copy of my letter which appeared in QST.  While technically the Dr. did not really answer my question, his theory description made for a fascinating look at what goes on "behind" the electrons when signals are directed through
one or more audio processing units.

 

Remember that "filtering" is a function of removing "bits" of the signal.  At the end of the filter chain, most likely the overall amplitude will have been reduced by some "NN" percent.  My solution to
this was an embedded stereo amplifier card inside
the RockVille mixer which was recently written up.  ([CLICK HERE])

Just prior to typing this Blog this evening I rolled out the operating table (it's on wheels), got behind it and amidst the morass of cables, swapped the NIR-12 to cascade into the NIR-10.  

 

Using the DYN Peak facility (in the NIR-12) much of the DSP work is accomplished right there, allowing the NIR-10 to finish the job.  In my Experience, the NIR-10's Notch facility is way superior to the NOTCH Button in the NIR-12, altho ironically the consensus in the e-Ham groups rates the NIR-12 notch superior - maybe the FT-1000mp "has something to do with it".

Therefore miss Addams, in the spirit of learning, it has been empirically demonstrated to MY DeeP satisfaction that the proper order of the 3 filter units for the FT-1000mp sub-Receiver should be: AUTEK QF-1A ==> NIR-12 ==> NIR-10.  While I may find an even DIFFERENT order for all the
filters, for now, I am enjoying this current FB configuration.  Remember: "Underneath" all of this, Stereo-Cw is alive and well, making things even MORE interesting.

What about YOU?
Have YOU played around with nested audio filtering?

What were YOUR results?

The National Tune-Up Frequency Contraversy - Part 1

 

Radio historians often quibble over which commercial broadcast station was first to the airwaves.  Having callsigns and operation on specific frequencies allows easy station identification.
A classic early station is none other than WWV, established around 1920.  Prior to making
formal transmissions, most station operators, tune the XMTR to properly match the antenna.
Because they are more-or-less the sole occupants of those frequencies they can do whatever
they want.

Radio amateurs share a frequency pool, giving them access to virtually any frequency in that pool, with no exclusive right to ANY specific frequency.  Because we also need to tune up our transmitters, it makes sense to choose a frequency in the vicinity of our proposed operation to effect transmitter tune-up; and herein lies the problem.

On any given day at any given time, seemingly out of nowhere a BLEEEP! blasts our ears,
jolting us out of our calm-inducing QRN-meditation; once again, our friend TuT, the (Tune-Up Turkey) has invaded the operating window.  I've often defined "National Tune-up Frequency" as any frequency I happen to be running at any given moment; especially during a radiosport contest. 
However, there is a lot more to it than just that.

Rather than just give you my [potentially] narrow-minded viewpoint, you may find the e-Ham discussion forum on this topic to be useful reading; except it gets quite redundant. 
As a substitute, I have paraphrased the main points from that forum as follows:

• I thought the National Tuneup Frequency was any frequency your trying to pass traffic on. Preferably H&W traffic. That's when the key-klowns usually show up. (KB3JLZ)
  
• As far as I have observed over the years the "National" tune up frequency has been
  7.240 mhz, right on top of the weekend West Coast swap net!! (W6PMR)
• SWISH YOUR XIT AROUND WHILE TUNING UP.  THIS WAY NO ONE SINGLE
  STATION GETS ALL THE QRM!!!  (HP2PWA)
  
• I suggest a national tune-up /OOOOOLAH OOOOOOLAH frequency be designated
  to any and all frequencies on which K1MAN "BROADCASTS". 73  (KT0DD)
  
• I agree with your idea of having national tune up frequencies on each band.
  May be it should not be necessary.  Perhaps the idea would be accepted better
  by the high power crowd if a monthly contest were held on the various national
  tune up frequencies. The winner would be the one with the "biggest signal".
  Your idea continues to get better.  (KC4COP)
  
• The idea sounds good, it really does. ...except if your LiD enough to tune up on a freq that is already in use you certainly aren't going to be using the tune up freq. LoL.  (W5NIG)
• I think you all have it wrong.  These people are not tuning up.  They are warming their amps up for the DX.  Since they do not want to miss it they are doing it on the same frequency.  (KX2S)
  
• It did not take me long to realize that you NEVER spot DX until AFTER you work them. Simply because just as soon as you spot the DX, his frequency becomes the NTF! Hams know how to quickly get on the spotted frequency, but they sure as heck don't know what to do after they get there. (W4BQF)
  
• I thought that we already had a NTF. It usually seems to find me whenever
  I get a chance at working some DX on 20.  (N5YPJ)
  
• The "Old Man" was complaining about exactly the same thing in 1926. (N6AJR)
  
• The last time I had a carrier thrown on me, the QRM lasted, non-stop, 6 minutes.
  Either it was done deliberately, or the stupid LiD can't figure out how to tune his antenna after 5 minutes of hard work. I think I find explanation #2 more funny! :-)  (NE1RD)
  
• I would propose that the new frequency would be 14.313. This would take care of the
  LIDS that congregate on that "CHANNEL".  (W5GNB)
  
• This might get out of hand. You would also need a national whistling and blowing
  in the mic frequency as well as a, "OOOOOOOOOOOLA OOOOOOOOOOOOOLA" frequency.  We wouldn't want to leave out any of the LIDS or hurt their feelings.  (KA4P)
  
• It's also true many tuner uppers are sick individuals who do so deliberately to see how much of a rise they can get out of the rest of the world. No one wants to talk to them so they QRM everyone else.   Still another group is absolutely certain that they will not be heard at all if they do not squeeze the last possible watt, usually 2,000 plus, out of their "export" version amplifier. Or that they will damage their tubes if they run even slightly
  "off resonance." So they tune up on the air every 5 kHz, and take five to ten minutes to "get it just right."  It sometimes helps to speak harshly about the offender on the air,
  and to be rude and uncouth if you can run him down in person. It also helps when the community starts DF'ing the source of interference on the QRM'ers frequency. (AC5E)
  
• It's been going on for at least 30 years...i used to refer to the Md. emergency phone
  net frequency as the National tune-up frequency. can/t do anything about it, best to
  just ignore it if possible.   (WB3FTQ)
  

I have encountered most of the above-described situations many times over the years,
especially during radiosport contesting.  We can SOMETIMES blame it on novice-operating,
mistakes made by newly-licensed operators.  However, some actions are SO EGRIGOUS
they are OBVIOUSLY intended to create some sort of a communication disruption.

While it is TRUE that audio-DSP's can auto-notch the carriers out of what I hear, if it is a LOUD station, the AGC will already have lowered the receiver gain, often just enough that the WEAKer station the LiD is tuning up on is now reduced in signal strength even further.

There is more to say about this LiD Phenomenon,.

For now, let the above serve as "FooD FoR ThoT" on the topic.

What about YOU?  Have You ever encountered the National Tune-up Frequency?

How DiD YOU handle it?

WQ6X Wangles another Weird Remote Operation Weekend

For WQ6X, the 2nd weekend in September is a radiosport off-weekend; meaning, not much is happening that I can participate in.  While operators (around the world) were pointing their antennas toward Europe, putting 48 hours into a WAE Ssb contest did not fit into my work vs. play schedule for the weekend.  As it is, with the decision to run another remote radiosport GiG from N6GEO, Europe is largely blocked by a massive hill a bit taller than the DX takeoff angle from the Twain Hart QTH.

Last weekend, I ran a hybrid remote operation from N6GEO.  While sending and receiving Ssb was easy from Tuolumne county, I could not make Cw work remotely.  I chose instead the controversial solution of receiving from Twain Hart while transmitting Cw from the Concord location.

For this weekend, I discovered the proper N1MM settings allowing Cw transmission by way of the K3/0 altho I never DiD figure out how to CAT control the RRC-1258 behind the radio, requiring that mode/frequency changes be typed in manually - HORRORS!

While the FOC QSO Party commenced Friday evening, it wasn't until late Saturday morning Cw transmission was finally accomplished.  The Alabama QSO Party was also happening on Saturday (beginning @14:00z) however because of my preoccupation with the FOC GiG (and later the NA SPRINT), the ALQP ended at the same time as the Sprint and was over before I even realized it
had been happening.  This is another reason for QSO parties to also run on Sunday.

Technically, the FOC QSO Party (like Field Day) is an operating event, NoT a radiosport contest; probably the reason it is never listed on the WA7BNM Contest Calendar.  Participation this weekend allowed me to test run keyboard macros for Cw operation, necessary for seamless remote operation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was all over N1MM+ indicated I had run 3-Hours 57-minutes - wOw!
I don't recall making the 1st QSO only 3-minutes into the event, however computers
don't lie, so I must have.  Amazing.

DiD YOU work the FOC contest or the NA Sprint?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

Mixing it up for Maximum Meandering

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During my operating periods with my portable operation in Concord, I am often listening to
multiple receivers at one time, be it dual-RX with the Yaesu FT-1000mp and/or the ICOM-7000
(to include SWL'ing) and/or various SDR (Software Defined Receiver) websites to get a 2nd listen
on one of the frequencies already being monitored.

What makes it all work is a $25 RockVille 8-channel (4-stereo device) mixer with an internally
added $13 4-watt stereo amplifier kit, amplifying the mixed output to run either a set of powered
multi-media speakers (with sub woofer), a dual-input Yaesu SP-6 speaker or wireless "Own Zone" headsets (one transmitter, multiple receivers).  In a previous blog (Radiosport: Learning about Learning), I discussed the problem of "ground loops" sneaking into a complex configuration;
the RockVille keeps the signals apart, and yet is not immune to ground loops.

Prior to starting this Blog entry the above mixer was distorting and breaking into spontaneous oscillation.  A couple of hours on the repair bench identified the POOR solder job I DiD when embedding the 4-w Stereo Amp inside the mixer box.  Coincidentally, since re-installing the
RockVille mixer, the ground loops seem to have all disappeared.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make switching things around easier, as you can see, all cables leaving the
RockVille mixer are specifically labeled (CH# and L/R).  Also notice that low-end
audio mixers tend to offer up 1/4" phone jacks, requiring for WQ6X use, an RCA
to phone plug adapter for each of the 8 audio channels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original scribbles made way to numerous experiments resulting in the updated
layout shown in the above notes.  Because this is not a "professional" installation,
use of RCA plugs is actually a better choice than the fancier (and more expensive)
XLR plugs.  RCA cables are easier to convert to/from 1/8" jacks than the XLR approach. 
Then again, XLR cabled systems have a significantly less failure-rate, compared to RCA
cables (with no locking mechanism).

With all of the above equipment configuration enhancements, it would seem that we now have
"the best of all possible worlds".  The only improvement to this configuration would be to swap an FTDX-5000mp in place of the FT-1000mp - maybe one day, when people tire of all the knob twiddling on those transceivers.

One of the best (yet most basic) circuits of the last 50+ years is the OP-amp stereo mixer. 
With an adequate output amplifier, theoretically an infinite number of OP-amp mixers can be paralleled, mixing nearly any combination of audio inputs.

Have YOU ever used some sort of mixing board/box in you amateur station?

What were YOUR results?

Radiosport: Learning - It's All about learning

 

 

 

 

 

"[S]He who does not learn from the past is doomed to repeat it".

As a radio amateur, for me, radiosport fulfills  3  main objectives

1. Satisfies My competitive nature.
2. Serves as an Emergency Preparedness Drill.
3. Encourages experimentation w/various hardware configurations;
   mainly on the audio end but also on the other [antenna] end as well.

"Back in the day" when the station configuration rarely changed (an ICOM-740, and a Dentron
Jr. Monitor tuner into a homebrew vertical), there was little to learn; it always worked, until it didn't anymore.  There was no remote operating; the closest thing to a DSP was the (American made) Autek QF-1A or the (British made) Datong FL-3 - BOTH IC-based (but analog) filters.  Then again, amazingly, the idea of using external audio filters never occurred to me at the time.

When we begin mixing analog and digital, unintended signal-alteration becomes the new concern.  On Cw, to some degree we rely on signal alteration (Peaking & Notching, etc.) to produce the desired signal-improvement effect.  With Ssb, all too often, attempts to reduce the noise-component succeed only in reducing overall intelligibility.

 

I recently looked at this problem in terms of unintended Binary-Beating which can occur when running Stereo-Cw ([CLICK HERE] to read that).  To use a Biofeedback term, "artifact" (unintended/false) signals are always a problem in the aural sense.

Once I glommed on to the Stereo-Cw idea, as each circuit was added one audio cable after
another was clipped (or otherwise modified/adapted) to fit each part of the expanding solution. 
As each individual unit is added to the overall solution, unintentional "ground-loops" often creep
into the audio-path.  Sometimes it seems we spend more time "sniffing out" the ground loops than
we do putting the circuit together in the 1st place.

Since last weekend's All Asian contest, I've been playing around with the audio paths between the FT-1000mp, Icom-7000, Elecraft K3/0 and the RockVille Mixer which (with a pair of switch boxes) routes the radios to the current lineup of external audio filters which include:

• a Pair of MFJ-752 "Signal Enhancer II" units
• a Pair of Autek Research QF-1A Ssb/Cw/Am Filters
• a JPS NIR-12 & recently added NIR-10 DSP filters
• an MFJ-784 DSP and a Radio Shaft DSP-40

Running each of the above filters in many configurations during contest and ragchewing
identified the following traits:

• The MFJ-752 filters are really NoT for Cw.  The Cw position selected by the mode knob accomplishes nothing more than switching in a pair of clipper diodes to effect a crude
  form of noise limiting.  The Ssb NL position of the MFJ-752C does a reasonable job of suppressing high frequency hiss for left ear listening and is positioned to process the Main-RX audio.  For Cw, the built-in Yaesu 500hz/250hz filters do a superb job.
• For the Sub-RX, an MFJ-752B has been modified, replacing the NL positions with connections to an ancient MFJ CWF-2 filter (installed inside the box).  The Ssb NL
  position now invokes the 180hz setting of the CWF-2 and the Cw NL position invokes
  the 80hz setting of the CWF-2.  This provides a reasonably narrow CW bandwidth for
  the sub-receiver.  The MFJ-752 filters are accessed by RockVille mixer channel CH3.
• The Radio Shaft DSP-40 is a unit acquired years ago that I just don't know what to do with, relegating it back to "sitting on the shelf" status; but this time, a shelf at the operating desk, reminding me that it too should be given consideration.
  
• Mixer channel CH-1, blends audio from the ICOM-7000, mainly for SWL'ing, but sometimes as a 3rd receiver.  Thanks to an excellent IF-DSP built-in to the transceiver,
  no outboard filters are needed, or even desired.
• Mixer channel CH-2 blends in audio from the K3/0 audio path.  Altho the K3 has a built-in IF-DSP, a 2nd switch connection to the radio can direct the audio thru channel CH-4. 
• The Stereo-Cw facility is invoked by a separate mixer channel - CH-4 - created by a pair of analog Autek QF-1A filters - one for each ear - cascading into separate digital DSP units.
  
• Mixer channel CH-4 can be switched to process audio from either the FT-1000mp or the K3/0.  With the left channel of CH-4 the Autek QF-1A fronts an MFJ-784.  While it's auto-notch facility is weak, the noise reduction and AGC buttons produce amazing effects.
• With the right channel of CH-4 the Autek QF-1A fronts either a JPS NIR-12 or (currently under evaluation) an NIR-10.  The Dynamic peaking of the NIR-12 provides an amazing noise-free threshold that is perfect for Cw, and to some degree ragchew Ssb.  Then again, if eliminating heterodynes is the BiG concern, there is no better auto-notch than the one
  built into the NIR-10.  The plan is to eventually "cascade" the NIR-10 into the NIR-12 for the right side Sub-RX audio, creating an equivalence to the FT-1000mp's built-in eDSP
  for the Main-RX.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above points were all determined by Trial, Error and Learning. 
The pen-scribbled diagram overall says it all.  In order to effect that learning,
I participate in one of my favorite aspects of amateur radio - KNOB TWIDDLING. 
Altho I am hardly a perfectionist, I DO enjoy evoking an extra-bit of improved copy
on signals during a Hot-N-Heavy radiosport contest.

What about YOU?  What do YOU use to improve signal copy?

PLEASE!  Tell me all about it.

WQ6X runs another All Asian Operation remote SO2R (NoT!)

This year's All Asian Ssb GiG has to qualify as one of the WEIRDEST I have every run, and I have run a diversity of events for A.A. Ssb, from a portable operation in Alameda (2010), a camp site atop Mt. Abel (8300' N/W of LAX in 2011) and a kitchen portable setup from N6GEO's cabin in Twain Hart (2012).  Since the beginning of the WQ6X Contest Blog in 2013, a number of events have been documented:

• [x] - 2013 - Single-OP from N6GEO's QTH in Brentwood.
• [x] - 2015 - Onsite @ NX6T in Fallbrook.
• [x] - 2016 - WQ6X joins up with NX6T for All Asian Ssb
  
• [x] - 2017 - WQ6X runs A.A. Ssb from SF East Bay. 
• [x] - 2018 - WQ6X runs another A.A. Ssb from Concord.
• [x] - 2019 - WQ6X dual-OPs A.A. Ssb w/NX6T from W7AYT.
• [x] - 2020 - WQ6X joins up again with NX6T for All Asian Ssb.

For 2021, because the Concord location has been a signal vortex in recent months, my thinking was to run as WQ6X remotely from N6GEO's QTH in Twain Hart.  As I recall, there is a beautiful clearing in the Northwest direction from the back of the lot.

Along with All Asian, there was the CWOPS Open 3-Part GiG (altho I missed Parts 1&2) and a pair of state QSO parties (COQP & TNQP).

With the announcement that NX6T from Anza would be "Dark" for Labor Day weekend, thoughts turned to what should be done with this radiosport weekend.  It occurred to me that with 2 K3/0 setups (a K3/0 in Concord and a K3/0-Mini in Alameda) that it should be possible to remote into N6GEO's Twain Hart location, instead of making the 3+ hour trip to the cabin (fire smoke permitting).

It took most of Friday afternoon to correctly activate the K3/0-Mini setup; just in time to work JA7YRR @01:04z.  After that (repeated throughout the weekend) - NoThing!  All too often on 20, I would hear the same 3 JA stations; all loud - and no one else.  My guess is when the 2021 results are tabulated, participation-level for this year (compared to 2019-20) will be reduced by ~25%.

Considering that first QSO to be flukey, it was back to Concord to fluke together an N6GEO connection using the original K3/0.  Getting radio access to the Twain Hart station by way of
an Ethernet -> wireless connection was the easy part.  Controlling the RRC-1258 interface box,
not so easy.

The K3/0 units give DVK access to the remote K3 transceiver, which allows recording the standard
4 contest messages (CQ, EXCHG, TU & WQ6X).  With the DVK, I was able to run frequencies and Search & Pounce.  To run Cw, I had to resort to drastic measures, I inadvertently ended up running SO2-IR (SO-1R + Internet radio).  What that meant for this operation was to use the K3/0 to listen from N6GEO's QTH (kinda like using it as an SDR) and transmitting from the WQ6X setup in Concord.

I'm sure that doing this violated all kinds of rules, so I submitted the logfile for those events
as a CHECKLOG; I simply wanted the experience of doing this and didn't care about actual log placement in the results.

It wasn't until Monday (after the contest) that I realized it would have been possible to run Cw from N6GEO by rerouting the Cw RIG-Expert's Cw cable from the on-site FT-1000mp to the K3/0's Cw paddle jack - real obvious when you think about it.

While the scores this weekend were barely passable, more important was the opportunity to try different remote setups and overall, make a few QSOs here and there, with repeatable success.
Having access to the Stereo-Cw concept (documented last week) made pileup running easier.

DiD YOU work any of the radiosport contests this weekend?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

Stereo-CW: Learning to Navigate PILE-Ups

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've written a number of Blogs on the topic of Stereo-Cw, and (more recently) on Stereo Ssb. 
There is a Bibliography of links to these Blogs at the end of this one.  The original 1976 73-magazine article did NoT really consider the implication of using Stereo-Cw when running pileups; whether in a contest or as a DX (or otherwise sought after) station.

Also, at the time that article was written there were no popular XCVR's on the market capable of
dual-RX, such as the Kenwood TS-950SDX/TS-990, the Yaesu-FT-1000mp/FT-2000/FTDX-5000, the Icom 756-PRO/7600/7800 series, the Elecraft K3S and the FLEX & Ten Tec Orion II transceivers.

The idea behind Stereo -Cw was/is to create an enhanced spatial experience from mono audio. 
In a dual-RX environment it can become a bit tricky operationally, altho it just becomes a new challenge to master.  Because of the simplex nature of Cw, Stereo-Cw makes complete sense.

Sometimes when calling a run station, while it seems my signal is not being heard, it might be the case that my frequency selection is just outside of the calling Cw station's narrow filter.  By shifting frequency up to +/- 200z around the run frequency, often, all of a sudden I find the opening and the stations replies back immediately.  I've noticed that experienced contest stations often call me slightly off frequency but within the receive passband.

If ALL stations call on the EXACT same frequency, separating them out can be quite difficult.  However if the callers are spread out +/- around the run frequency, with the Stereo-Cw and
interesting thing happens- they seem to be spread out spatially "around" my listening experience. 
Depending on their audio frequency, I might hear them more-or-less to the left of my listening experience, somewhere in the middle, or more-or-less to the right of my listening experience

With the external audio filters properly set, next, look back down into the I-F to insure that the I-F filter selections are compatible with the audio.  Recognize that while we are largely using audio processing as the MAIN tool, indirectly, we are "evaluating" what is in the I-F passband.  On that basis, also consider whether the passband should be Sharp, Medium or WIDE.  Widening the I-F passband brings more signals to the A-F passband to be "sorted out" by our stereo-assisted brain.  

An undocumented "goeswith" to using Stereo-Cw is the [inadvertent]  "Binary-beating" effect caused by the "heterodyne action" built into the parietal areas of our brain.  In the Superheterodyne, we combine 2 signals to purposely produce a 3rd (intermediate I-F) frequency.  

A consequence of having 2 ears equi-spaced around your head and 2 parietal lobes, your aural circuits are designed to combine audio frequencies from the Left/Right in order to "echo-locate"
(i.e. GPS).  In the process, frequencies from both sides heterodyne, creating a 3rd frequency
that seems to move between the Left/Right sides of our experience.

As a Light/Sound therapist, I purposely use the binaural-beating phenomenon to effect an overall influence of brainwave frequencies.  As Cw signals come and go inside the Stereo-Cw passband,
an occasional "false" signal will inadvertently seem to come and go.  By shifting the BFO/Clarifier control, that "station" may suddenly disappear, as the frequency shift alters the binaural-beating - from which I ask "was it REALLY there to begin with?"

With practice you can learn to navigate a near-180 degree ARC of signals all around you. 
A boringly-flat passband becomes transformed into a vibrant, spacious passband.

From this weekend's QSO Party and CWOPS GiGs, I noticed the above separation while waiting
in line to work popular stations.  I found that by "positioning" the to-be-worked station at about the
10:00 o'clock position in my listening experience, the calling stations are more-or-less positioned around the remainder of the listening experience, with most position "to the right" of the station
I am going for.

Stereo Cw Bibliography:

• [X] - Stereo-CW - it's EASIER than You Think - the Blog which started it all.
• [X] - Some Further Thoughts regarding Stereo Cw
  
• [X] - Leveraging the Art of Dual Receive - Another Look (with additional Blog links)

 

Stereo-Cw: The Filters behind the Filtering

In the original 1976 73-Magazine article and my original Blog about Stereo Cw, the original
audio circuit utilizes fixed frequency filters to accomplish the stereo separation effect.  Using fixed filtering simplifies the circuit, making it less expensive.  The main disadvantages to this method are SPECIFICALLY the fixed frequency filter and the requirement to build the circuit, putting it in some sort of enclosure or burying the circuit board somewhere inside the receiver or external speaker enclosure.

Being a "Knob Twiddler", I already own a bevy of external audio filters that can be additionally-purposed into creating Stereo-Cw/Ssb audio.  Filters I have played around with (most of them
still in active use @ my WQ6X installation) include:

• JPS NIR-10 & NIR-12 Outboard DSP Units
  
• Autek QF-1A and MFJ-752x Analog audio filters.
• An MFJ-784 DSP unit and even an MFJ-CW2 passive filter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it turns out, a pair of Autek QF-1A's (one for each ear) best creates variable frequency
filters for each ear.  Adjustable cutoff frequencies allow changing the spatial-location of signals
in my listening experience, while also offering the opportunity to PEAK a specific signal and work
that station quickly, making "room" for other stations in the passband.  Because these filter units ALSO have analog notch capabilities, annoying signals can be "de-emphasized" in the receive passband.  

Additionally, the current installation includes an MFJ-784 DSP for processing the left ear and the
JPS NIR-12 DSP to process right side audio during an intense frequency run.  Twiddling the filter knobs bring stations into the passband to log them quickly and then immediately moves them out, allowing me to "locate" the next station in my Left/Right listening experience.

 

 

 

Recently, an NIR-10 has made its way into the shack.  While I really like the DYN Peaking in the NIR-12, the auto-notch filter in the NIR-10 is FAR superior to that in the NIR-12.  While the NR feature in both units are similar, the NIR-10 seems to do a better job, altho BOTH units have a noticeable 130ms delay in processing the audio.  If you have the same signal in both ears, running the JPS
units introduce a near-echo on the right side, which can be annoying.

Use of the above filters create another excuse to repurpose vintage filter boxes that might either end of on the scrap heap or end up being parted out for other purposes - NoT!  Also, as you can see in the above picture, those different filter units give me plenty of knobs to twiddle, which is a good solution to boredom, when a run frequency all of a sudden becomes quiet.

Have YOU ever used any of the above external audio filters?

What unique ideas have YOU created with them?