WQ6X Works a Whimsy Radiosport Weekend

The weekend before the CQ W.W. DX contest is always a slow one radiosport-wise. 
With that in mind, this weekend became an opportunity to re-evaluate behind-the-scenes
wiring which enables integration of the two radios (a Yaesu FT-1000mp and an ICOM-7000),
7 external audio/DSP filters, a RockVille 4-device stereo mixer and two audio switch boxes.

Contest-wise, there were two events worthy of my time:

• [X] - The Stew Perry SP-160 contest - starting @15:00z
• [X] - The 4-hour NA SPRINT Ssb contest - starting @00:00z

A 3rd GiG the UKEI Ssb contest is all but impossible to make happen from the Concord QTH. 
Had I thought it through, WA6TQT's Anza location (where NX6T ran the 160 contest that evening) with 5-over-5 stacked yagis for the high bands would've been an ideal QTH from which to work into Western Europe;.  Then again, as I say about the UKEI GiG every year: "Maybe next year" - maybe begets maybe, begets maybe.

For the SP-160 GiG, by the time the event begins, daylight has already shutdown 160 meters for
the morning.  To make use of the time while waiting for 5pm (00:00z) to open the band for (approx.) 14 hours, STN-2 was our choice to run 160.  While I played around in the NA Sprint contest for 2 hours (my shift @NX6T was to begin at 7pm) N6KI (Dennis) managed 50 QSOs into the log.

Ironically, after putting my friend George (N6GEO) into the SP-160 log, STN-2's computer crashed. 
(George texted me "I DiDn't Do It".)  A switch was eventually made to STN-1, costing us a precious prime-time hour of 160-meter OP time.  Band condx. were OK 'cept the atmospheric static (caused
by raging rainstorms) was HORRIBLE.

After settling in, 65 QSOs made it to the log, before my 7 to 9 shift was over.  Absolutely the best QSO made during that period was NoT NP2X, it was G4AMT, altho it took two separate attempts
to make it happen.  Because we were sending Grid-Square #'s, completing a QSO can be tricky. 
On the 2nd call-in, I copied Terry's info the 1st time.

Too wired to sleep, I put WQ6X on the air from Concord (SF East Bay).  While BOTH antennas
(the 8JK Cobras & a CH-250 Vertical) tuned 160 meters OK,  their radiation efficiency was probably HORRIBLE.  Nevertheless, a WHOPPING 8 QSOs made it to the LoG.  With a whopping 90 minutes of sleep, the midnight to 4am shift came up real quick.  As an NX6T operator, what amazed me overall was the number of DUPE callers during BOTH operating shifts.

During high-static levels, OPs need
to learn that by sending unnecessary information first, by the time they finally get around to sending the GRID #, it is once again static-obliterated, requiring multiple repeats. 

To combat this problem on our end,
we defined the [F2] Key to send ONLY DM13.  When I ask for your NR (NR?),
I DON'T want, your callsign, my callsign, "5-9-9" or anything else - I JUST WANT YOUR NUMBER!  (Is it Really that complicated?) - Just in Case - I wrote this up sometime ago ([CLICK HERE]).

The BiG surprise were the two Japanese stations who called in after the sun went down in their part of the world.  At 4am, WM6Y (PJ) relieved me to finish off the contest.  There were few non-DUP QSOs left to make.  Phil's patience added 22 QSOs to the log during the last 4 hours.

One of the advantages of running NX6T remotely from Concord is that audio from the K3/0 unit can be switched thru the QF-1A and NIR DSP filters in stereo-Cw configuration.  (I've written many Blogs about Stereo-Cw - [CLICK HERE] for the latest installment.)  When it's used to run pileups, stations
(of different pitch) appear at different locations in a 180-degree arc from Left (low-pitched signals) to 

Right (high-pitched signals).

When it was all over, it would seem that NX6T took 2nd-place for the HP Multi-Single classification; which is pretty good when you consider what we had to work with.

DiD YOU work the Stew Perry 160-meter contest?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?