Why I celebrate Canada in Radiosport

Since the mid-1920's, Canada has always been a not-insignificant part of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).  From a North American radiosport perspective, Canada (and Canadian sections) are sought-after commodities in radiosport events like Sweepstakes (SS), Field Day (FD), the RTTY Roundup (RU) and the North American QSO Party (NAQP) GiGs, to mention only a few.

In July and again in December, Canada hosts their own events, inviting the world to join in:
Canada Day (July 1st) and the Canadian Winter Contest (in December).  Several years ago,
the ON (Ontario) ARRL section was split into 4 distinct sections: ONN (North), ONS (South), ONE (East) and GTA (Greater Toronto Area), bringing us three additional section multipliers
(for a total of 83) to search for.

From the West coast perspective, VE1, VE2, VO1, VO2, VY1 and VY2 stations are all relatively difficult to work, and therefore are highly sought after.  VY2 (Prince Edward Island - PE) is represented almost exclusively by way of VY2TT and VY2ZM, both American-owned amateur stations.  VE8, VY1 & VY0 (Northern Canada territories) are always an interesting challenge. 
Luckily, like VY2, we are seeing more consistent on-the-air activity.  VO1 (Newfoundland) and
VO2 (Labrador) are equally difficult, largely due to their extreme East coast locales.

When I operate from the SF East Bay (EB) section, I often experience what I call a "pipeline to Alberta" (VE6/VA6) by way of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.  While there is a similar propagation
path to British Columbia (VE7/VA7), it is not quite as pronounced as the route to Alberta.

As it turns out, Saskatchewan and Manitoba often provide us with little radio activity in many contest events; or is it that from EB section there is a propagation vortex?  For me, there is only one way
to discover the truth behind that question - participating in the 2022 Canada Contest, which is what
I am going to do.

What about YOU?

Do YOU participate in Canadian-sponsored contests?

Well..... here is YOUR chance.

GO-PHER IT!

WQ6X Works All Asian All the Way

Because of low sunspot activity, the All Asian contest GiGs have required a lot of work to accomplish our goals.

Last year, our 1st A-A Cw GiG from WA6TQT's location we DiD manage
to snag a 1st place.  

For 2022, one thing in our favor was a Solar Flux (SFI) of 144.

While a noticeable storm finally hit, the All Asian GiG was largely immune to its effects.

 

When I run as WQ6X, I am largely S&P'ing (Searching and Pouncing).  When running as NX6T most of the time is spent running frequencies, turning to S&P when things slow down or a juicy multiplier suddenly appears on the bandmap. Being a multiple-single operation allows the use of STN-1 to search for multipliers on another band while we run frequencies on STN-2, altho that almost didn't happen.

A glitch in the newly installed (but poorly tested) antenna switch facility reduced operations to STN-2 until late Saturday morning.  Thanks to the mid-level SFI, 20 meters was open to Asia most of the time, altho by 9am Sunday morning things died down considerably.

This year 160 and 10 meters were no-shows.  Friday evening, 80-meters didn't happen altho 24 hours later (10:30z Sunday) brought a line-up of callers for over 90 minutes.  With 80-meter QSOs worth 2-points, along with new multipliers on a new band, the time spent on 80 was well worth it.

15-meters was quite amazing in that it stayed open quite late and opened early on Saturday and Sunday.  40-meter propagation was quite good and amazingly there was no intentional QRM, altho the plethora or Indonesian Ssb stations in the Cw portion of the band is an ongoing, un-resolvable problem.

Despite having antenna stacks pointed to Asia, when running 1.3kw, even with a decent F/B ratio, Billy Bob and his brother Barney not knowing what "CQ AA" means would call in.  If they had listened before they transmit, they would've heard me working only Asian stations.  Sending "Asia Only" waved them off.  Eventually I changed the F1-CQ message to "CQ Asia" all but solving the problem, except for the "YB" Indonesian stations who still didn't get it and called in anyway.

When I call "CQ ASIA NX6T NX6T" do you not get that NX6T (USA) is NoT in Asia? 
If so, then you should NoT call me. 
Due to my running additional shifts for NX6T, finding extra time to sleep and poor conditions
in the SF east bay, only 8 QSOs made it into the WQ6X log.  At least I can say I gave it a GO.

We were fortunate in this contest that the horrible Space-WX conditions did not happen until
JUST AFTER the contest event was over.

Based on submissions to the 3830 scores website, it would seem that NX6T took 1st-place
worldwide for non-Asian stations in the multiple-OP single-transmitter.category.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What about YOU?

Did You give it a GO?

How many Asian multipliers made it YOUR LoG?

Why calling "CQ Asia" still means that You Should NoT Call Me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last several years, I have written several Blog variations on the topic of
Why You Should NoT Call Me.  Here are some of those write ups.

• [X] - A Dozen+ ways to say "You should not Call Me"
• [X] - 7 Reasons you [probably] Should Not Call Me - Part 1
  
• [X] - WQ6X Offers Further PROOF that "You Should Not Call ME!"
  
• [X] - 7 Reasons you [probably] Should Not Call Me - Part2
• [X] - WQ6X Works another CINCO-de-Contest-Weekend
  
• [X] - You're a DUP OL' Man
  

During this last weekend's All Asian contest OPs at NX6T defined the F1-CQ key to send
"CQ AA NX6T NX6T", thinking that having the antenna stacks pointed at Asia, only Asian stations would hear us and call in.  Despite an excellent Front-to-Back (F/B) ratio, running over 1.3kw means our signal to the Southeast was loud enough that we would want a call from Billy Bob and his brother Barney.

In the spirit of the previous blogs I have written on this subject, I ask the following questions:

• Do you know what "CQ AA" means? - If NoT, then you should NoT Call Me.
• If you DO know what "AA" means, then you know I am NoT in Asia,
  but am LooKing for Asian stations.  Therefore, you should NoT Call Me.
• When I send "Asia Only", do you know that means I am LooKing only for Asian stations?
  If so, then you should NoT Call Me.
• If you know this is an Asian contest, do you know that WQ6X and NX6T are NoT in Asia but in the USA?   If so, then you should NoT Call Me.
  If you DON'T know what country NX6T and WQ6X are in, then you need to study/learn callsign prefixes and NoT call stations until you figure it out.
  If you are using today's logging software, typing in the callsign will bring you IMMEDIATE feedback on what country that station is in.  There is no excuse to NoT know that WQ6X & NX6T are in USA.

All of the above Blog references come down to a very simple simple edict. 
We should ALWAYS listen before we transmit.  If we don't understand what we
are hearing than we should probably not be transmitting on that frequency.

I even wrote a Blog on why we should always listen before we transmit. 
([CLICK HERE] to read that.)

In radiosport contests, if someone asks me to explain to them how that particular GiG
actually works, I take the time to explain the procedure to them and then slowly assist them to
make their 1st contact with me.  This is a GREAT opportunity to put our Elmering skills to good use.

I look forward to the day when you actually call me at the right time and in the right way. 
Radiosport contesting is actually a LOT of fun, when you understand how everything works.

ARE YOU READY?

Analog vs. Digital: Inducing artifact to resolve artifact generation

One of the consequences I've experienced from integrating older generation analog and digital devices is the 130-ms processing delay (essentially artifact) caused by cascading NIR-10 & NIR-12 DSP devices in the right audio channel.  This delay is due the comparatively slow processing speed of the 1990's-era DSP chips used in those devices.  While we can't speed up the DSP chips, it occurred to me that purposely inserting a 130-ms delay (essentially purposeful-artifact) in the opposite channel can balance the audio timing, returning it to more-or-less functionally normal operation.

When BOTH sides incur a 130-ms delay, it goes completely unnoticed (because it occurs in
both ears simultaneously).  An internet search on audio-delay devices turned up the AP-411 A/V
Lip Sync Corrector.  Brand new, they list for $180.  Fortunately, one was found on e-Bay for $75.
The device itself is amazingly tiny.

Altho the AP-411 was intended for A/V stereo (L/R) audio, I repurposed the device into processing both device-lines of the left-channel: an MFJ-752c analog device or an MFJ-784 DSP (w/o any time-delay artifact).  Use of a time-correction device enables listening to the same signal in both ears with different audio processing for each ear, without the time-delay induced echo.

Essentially, the AP-411 device converts analog audio to digital, inserts a time-delay, then converts
the digitized analog audio back to its original analog form, as if nothing happened.  A chip dedicated to this task alone does not need to run very fast in order to accomplish the time-synchronization.  Units like the JPS NIR-10 & NIR-12, because they are capable of a myriad of different processing algorithms, need LARGE multi-processing chips, which actually run more slowly and generate inordinate amounts of heat.

The goal of WQ6X audio processing is to make state-of-the-art utilization of BOTH analog
and digital technologies, providing the ultimate signal-intelligibility improvement.  Sometimes
the technologies need to "coaxed" into playing well together, allowing me to Maximize the Art
of Experimentation.

Do YOU combine analog w/digital techniques in processing RX audio?

What ideas have YOU Discovered?

Creative Competition in Radiosport and Toastmasters Part-8: Decision of the Judges is FINAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Toastmasters, timing is everything.  if we don't meet the minimum time requirement(s) or if we exceed the maximum time limit, all of our efforts get disqualified.  In radiosport, contacts made before the starting time or after the ending time are simply ignored by the log checking software (colloquially known as LCR's - Log Checking Robots).

In radiosport, a single-OP log may be reclassified as a multi-OP operation if certain criteria are not met or are exceeded; or, it can become a checklog.  The only way a log entry becomes completely disqualified is if BLATANT-Cheating is somehow discovered in relation to this log entry.

Changes occurring globally (Ex: COVID & Ukraine) have impacted the way Toastmasters speech contests are conducted around the world.  In speech contests, events are currently being conducted virtually; with its inherent advantages and disadvantages.  In radiosport, we are already in-a-way quarantined naturally in the ham shack, or running remotely (or, BOTH).  

In response to the calamity in Ukraine, radiosport operators in Russia are allowed to participate, however their logs automatically become checklogs, ineligible for operating awards.  Despite the unrest on the other side of the world, I have heard and worked many Russian stations, altho admittedly, more of them have been UA9 / UA0 stations from the Eastern end of the Russian Federation.

When we fill out a contest application in Toastmasters or submit a contest log in radiosport,
we check a box ([X]) in which we agree that any decisions of the contest judges are final. 
While both competitions have grievance committees, it is very rare when a legitimate grievance
can change the outcome of an event.

It is for this reason that reading the rules of engagement you may find that you don't necessarily agree with one or more of the recently adopted rule changes; however rules are rules - you have
two choices: agree to participate by the published updated rules, or, don't participate at all.

Several years ago in a Toastmasters division speech contest, it was clear that the speaker adjudicated to be the winner CLEARLY went over time, altho somehow it went unnoticed. 
NoT knowing she was actually overtime, she delivered the EXACT same speech in EXACTLY
the same manner in the district contest and was disqualified for running overtime.

Truth is, the division contest 2nd-place winner was cheated out of moving onto the district level. 
Then again, remember: decisions of the judges (in this case the chief judge) was final.  It could
be argued that both timers erred (doubtful), altho it certainly was not evident to any of the attendees. 
If a timer makes a mistake, the speaker should not be penalized for that.

In BOTH Toastmasters and radiosport, all members of the adjudication staff are of course volunteers.  It's difficult to legitimately criticize individuals who are willing to donate their time, doing the best they can, with what they have.

Over the years I've had issues with specific radiosport outcomes.  In those events, the final outcome is rendered several months after the event itself has concluded.  By that time, plans are already being made for the next installment of the event next year.

Overall, I am thoroughly thankful for being able to participate at all, when you consider what we
are up against around the globe.  Therefore, I simply take my own advice and do the BEST I can
with what I have to work with.  

While I did not place 1st, 2nd or 3rd in this year's District-57 contest, the fact that I was one of the
9 participants at all is to me a miracle.  I have no doubt that I delivered the BEST speech on bullying that my practice could produce.

Do YOU participate in radiosport and/or Toastmasters competitions?

What are YOU thankful for?

 

WQ6X Kicks-IT with Kentucky - ALMOST

State QSO parties all alone on a lonely weekend are all to often an unfortunate situation. 
With weekends like Cinco-de-Contest in May, if one particular event turns out to be a DuD,
there are at least 3 or 4 others to keep me amused.  Bottom-line: When the event is the only
thing happening in a weekend, it had better be GooD.

My purpose here is NoT to single-out any QSO Party in particular, only to point out that more radio amateurs should participate in their own state QSO party, demonstrating to the rest of the world how WONderful their state is.  Now admittedly I make this point from the viewpoint of the California QSO Party (CQP), the largest and most successful of all the individual state QSO parties.

Admittedly it takes a LoT to produce a state QSO party.  Production also includes promotion. 
NoT only do WE out-of-state operators need to know about your event, your in-state operators
need to know about it, encouraging them to get on the air and put their particular county on the radio.  Operators who are also county hunters, rely on multiple occurrences of each county on the radio.

A BiG mistake made by many state QSO party operations is that they are WAY TOO SHORT. 
The Kentucky QSO party is a perfect example of this.  This year, the KYQP ended at 01:00z - the event was a mere 12 hours.  By the time the QSO party event was over, 40-meters was barely open to Kentucky, and, 80 & 160 meters hadn't opened yet - period.  Stations in Alaska and Hawaii don't stand a chance on any band below 20-meters.

While it is true that band conditions truly SUCKED on Saturday, that is what amplifiers and gain-antennas are for.  Many QSO parties schedule a 2nd part to their event on Sunday, giving everyone
a 2nd chance at making QSOs, making up for poor band conditions on Saturday.

This weekend also hosted the first International Digital contest.  While the KYQP allegedly allows for RTTY contacts, there were none to be heard.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to discover that there were NUMEROUS Kentucky stations operating the Digital contest, while stranding their own QSO Party (if those operators even knew about the QSO Party in the first place).

Evidently the Kentucky QSO party does not make the distinction between single-mode
(Cw, Ssb or RTTY) and lumps all the stations into a FIXED category; one for HP, one for LP and one for QRP; that is, if the 3830-scores website is representative of things. 

We KNOW participation is lacking when
Axel (KI6RRN) only makes 9 QSOs from
the WA6TQT super station (with it's stacked horizontal arrays for the high bands and Vertical arrays for 80 & 160).

I checked 10-meters several times throughout Saturday and even put out a couple of CQ calls on that band with no results.  On other bands,
I copied KV0I/NE (Nebraska) calling CQ KY because there were hardly enough KY stations calling CQ.  

 

Unfortunately, I didn't hear KV0I scoring any callers - Bummer Dewd.  There's more to Kentucky than just horse racing, altho, in order for us outsiders to know that, we need for the Kentuckians to share those things with us outsiders.

I make the above comments not to TRASH Kentucky, rather to point out how important participation is during a state QSO party.  In order for participation to be most effective, the event rules should be designed to attract the maximum number of participants possible to the event (in-state and out-of-state).

DiD YOU participate in the KY QSO Party?
How many QSOs are in YOUR LoG?

Creative Competition in Radiosport and Toastmasters Part-10: Practicing to Practice more Perfectly

In Part-9 of this Blog series, I broke down the idea of practice into several crucial components needed for each style of competition to be encountered.

With contest logging software (I use N1MM+, a FREE program) over recent years I have amassed a creation-collection of functional macros, designed to deliver a tight-delivery of the message(s) needed for a given contest or contest-mode.  Each macro is tested by reducing power to 0 and running thru the keys.

When in Doubt, CHEAT (but within the rules) - in radiosport, Macros are EASILY w/in the rules. 
In BOTH radiosport and speech contests, timing is one of the most important factors; deliver, modify, practice, modify, Practice, Practice, final delivery - while the specifics may be different, the principles are the same.

 

Speech contests and radiosport are all about competition; not just competition with others, but more importantly, competition with ourselves.

Nevertheless, the Judge's Ballot can offer me insight into the what areas
I want to focus on during the eventual final delivery.

It all begins with a compelling speech topic wrapped around carefully crafted speech content.

Effectiveness, Appropriateness and Speech value are a major part of crafting a compelling speech presentation.

With a timer, individual pieces can be tried out, altering wording sometimes to produce a more "tight" delivery.

While most cellphones have a Timer facility
and Timer APPs can be downloaded from the internet, I chose to write my own "Tongue Twisters Timer" APP, insuring that there
are no mistakes.

Behind the scenes design with my APP is the ability to graph the timeline for each delivery and compare the graphs as changes are made.  This data can be quite eye-opening.

When crafting a speech, it is important to be cognizant of where your speech is as each colored light is lit.  Ideally, you should NEVER reach the RED light, not even for a moment.

 

In what do you engage to take your skills to the next level?
Then again, maybe you DON'T want to tell me and give me new ideas.

Creative Competition in Radiosport and Toastmasters Part-9: Preparing to Practice or Practicing to Prepare?

In BLOG #9 of this series, we looked at the importance of Practice, Practice, Practice. 
On the radiosport end of things, we looked at how using macros can be a practice activity. 
Which of course assumes macros exist in the first place.  This is where preparation comes in. 
Practice and preparation are two-sides of the same activity.

In radiosport, because I keep a running contest calendar, I know what events are
coming up  (short-term) and take whatever steps necessary to be ready for that event. 
This includes: 

• Setting up a log under N1MM+ and testing the behind-the-scenes macros
  (Cw & RTTY) and/or .WAV/.MP3 files Ssb).
• Turning the power down to 0, I contest all the function keys to make a series of dummy-QSOs.  When I'm satisfied the logfile is functioning correctly, it is then reset to start over for the actual event.
• To make score and log submission easier, sub-directory structure is already in place
  for the log files as well as the blog write-up itself.
  Double-checking this structure before encourages me to review previous contest operations for this event, creating an operating plan for THIS year.

        Likewise, with Toastmasters, a number of preparatory processes are in order:

• Whenever/wherever possible visit the venue where you will be speaking; know what the speaking room will be like, guaranteeing you will NoT be surprised as you enter the room. (Know before you go.)
• With events currently being held virtually, you largely have control over the speaking area.  However, depending on lighting and camera quality, your presentation may not come off the way you initially intended.  (If you even thought about it at all.)
  I use my business Zoom account to practice delivery and record speeches for playback and study.  Because my club runs hybrid meetings, I can get feedback from 2 kinds of participants to ascertain the effectiveness of my online presentation.
• I watch videos of former Speech Contest Winners to get a winner's feeling, on the belief that a particular "feeling-set" goeswith delivering a winning performance.  I am hoping
  for that to be infectious.
• I read the judging criteria that judges will be using to evaluate my performance.
• I study the contest rules THOROUGHLY.  The LAST thing I want is to end up DQ'd (disqualified) due to some technicality that could have been prevented by knowing
  about it.
  

With BOTH above activities, as preparatory changes are made, it may be necessary to practice
the procedures yet again, which may result in further changes and further practice.

As you can see the process of winning competitions is a thoroughly intimate process. 
However remember: If it ain't FUN, it ain't Toastmasters.

Where'd Y'all GO?

As an Introspection Therapist, I am fascinated by what people do or don't do and the reasoning behind it all.  This level of inquiry becomes useful when I am looking to improvement my own radiosport performance, for a given contest.  Worldwide contests possess a different operational character than, say, domestic contests, State QSO Parties or even Sprint-style contests.

In radiosport contests, operations for me is a combination of running frequencies (i.e. calling CQ)
and searching-and-pouncing (looking for stations calling CQ).  To maximize the logged contacts,
we need to do BOTH; some stations ONLY call CQ, while some stations ONLY search-and-pounce.

Some operators call CQ as a function of SO2-R (Single-OP 2 Radios).  The difficulty comes when they are NoT well-versed in the SO2-R technique.  They often strand callers on their run frequency due to over-focus on the 2nd radio.  When I sense that is the case and there is no response to
3 calls (or 3 callers) I then send "QRL?" 3 times.  

If there is still no response, I now press F1 to call CQ and the frequency becomes mine.  Occasionally, the previous "resident" will blindly call CQ on top of me; clear evidence they are NoT listening BEFORE they transmit; prompting me to press function key 11 (F11), sending "QRL QSY".

Operators running frequencies often BLINDLY call CQ after each QSO requiring the other callers
on the run frequency to wait 5+ seconds for that CQ call to complete, when in fact there is NO NEED to call CQ - we waiting callers already know who you are.  The correct action is to wait 1 to 2 seconds for callers on the run frequency to press F4 and identify themselves.

When I run a frequency and I hear multiple callers, after each contact I press the [ESC] key rather than F3 (to send "TU WQ6X").  With other callers lined up, I want to work next-up in the pile-up as quickly as possible.

However, there is one situation (despite all I know and understand) that I have yet to fathom: 
I will call CQ on a run frequency and receive calls from (let's say) 6 stations.  I work one of those stations (approx. 10 seconds), send "QRZ?" and am met with SILENCE (Silencio Profundo).  

HuH?  Where'd Y'all GO?  You can't wait 10-seconds to be next in line?  What ELSE do you have to do in that amount of time?  It will take you far-longer than 10-seconds to find another CQ caller.

Just as baffling is the frantic calling station who ID's several times yet when I send then an exchange, they disappear.  Just as frustrating is the frantic caller (often louder and overpowering callers, or super-weak, requiring a half-dozen repeats) who then turns out to be a DUP.

• If you KNOW we have worked before, then what is the purpose of calling in again?
• You're a DUP in my log.  Did you enter my callsign in your log the 1st time?
  Do you even USE a log?
• Have you read the contest rules? 
  If SO, then you KNOW you can only work me ONCE per band. 
  If you have NoT read the rules, then you should NoT be participating
  in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Running a frequency and search-and-pounce methods are a learned art - practice make more perfect.  One of the reasons I engage in so many different contest events is to improve BOTH
of these skills.  However, as I have written before, it ALL begins with listening.  It then continues
with transmitting precisely, explicitly and consistently.  Many operators DETEST contest activities. 
If we're going to doit, then let's doit right.

What do YOU do to improve YOUR radiosport operating skills?

WQ6X Wangles a WEIRD Weird Prefix Contest

Every year the WPX Cw contest wraps thew spring radiosport period.  How fitting that it is a 48-hour GiG, offering Cw OP's one last opportunity to get their "fix" before the season ends.  This year, the WQ6X goal was to dual-OP the contest, altho a shortage of operators @NX6T found me running remotely nearly 90% of the time.  The difference in signal-levels between Concord and Anza is strikingly dramatic.  In the midst of it all was some quirky space-WX.

Other than the usual intermittent internet "gurgling", the remote operation to NX6T ran flawlessly. 
In Concord, having remedied the 20-meter RFI problem, operations ran about as good as could
be expected, considering the receive-vortex of the Concord location.  From the NX6T perspective,
I was amazed by the hoards of JA & YB stations all over the bands.  Then again I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of really WEIRD weird prefixes.  While they are sometimes difficult to log, they make the QSO-experience a LoT more interesting.  Then again, a number of AWEsome openings to Europe at several normally-unexpected times made things even MORE AWEsome.

Without intending to, I made an interesting observation.  During the OP-periods when I ran as WQ6X, calling "CQ WPX WQ6X WQ6X" yielded LoTs of callers; however, when running as NX6T, "CQ WPX NX6T NX6T" yielded NO callers, while "CQ TEST NX6T NX6T" produced pileups.  While this hardly qualifies as a scientific experiment, I DiD find the "coincidence" compelling.

If was certainly refreshing
to encounter countless stations on multiple bands; it certainly simplifies logging subsequent contacts. 

Altho most of those QSOs were worth only 1-point, multiplied by multipliers, each was actually worth 1,024 points; in-the-end totaling over 1,000,000 points.  I guess it could
be said that WPX is an example of how 1,000's
of little things can add
up to something BiG.

Also very noticeable in
this contest was the number of [so-called] long-path contacts that were made.  

LooKing at the Greyline sub-screen throughout the event, I was often surprised by what areas of the globe were producing contacts at any moment.  To get a better idea, I should've brought up a copy of the DX-Sherlock to either confirm/deny what I was actually hearing.

The last 12 hours of the WPX contest brought us a continually decreasing Solar Flux (SFI) down to around 98-102, where it currently sists on Friday after the contest weekend.  Because the sun rotates every ~27 days, this brings hope that the upcoming All Asian and Field Day events will find us with an SFI ~150 during those weekends.  (At LEAST I can DREAM.)

As weird prefixes go, NX6 and WQ6X certainly qualify on that basis, making frequency-running more productive.  Then again, S&P'ing for more weird prefixes is crucial to maximize the multiplier count.  With points-per-Qso ranging from 1 to 6, point scores can end up ridiculously high - NX6T was just shy of 10-million points, far surpassing last year's first WPX run from the Anza location.

This year's WPX GiG seemed like a magnet for DUP contacts.  On Cw, it's too complicated
to explain that we have worked before.  Because there is no penalty for logging 0-point QSOs,
we simply log it and get on with it.

When it was all over, it would seem that NX6T barely squeaked-out a 2nd-place (in USA) for the
Multi-2 category.  We ended up in 10th-place worldwide, 3rd-place for North America and 1st-place
for the Southwest Division - not bad for a motley crew of 7 operators.

What about YOU?  

DiD YOU work the Weird Prefix Contest?
Were YOU one of those WEIRD prefixes?
Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?