we enjoyed the ARRL RTTY RY and WPX RTTY GiGs before all the confusion set in.
The NAQP events are fun because we send Name and QTH, giving it a more personal feel.
Some OPs choose to send a name memorializing a recent Silent Key (SK) amateur. When I run
a frequency, pressing F3 sends "TU [Your Name] QRZ?", which serves as verification that I actually logged your name correctly.
While there were no real solar storms that I am aware of, signal levels at the Concord seemed incredibly weak, despite a 160+ Solar Flux Index (SFI). 10-meters produced one "local" QSO
and 15-meters was a struggle. Moving down to 20m RTTY, the RFI in the shack problem (which shuts off the Windoze-7 laptop, requiring a restart) was back, but randomly so. After 3 computer restarts, it was time to move down to 40-meters, which thankfully was already transitioning into nighttime conditions.
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For this contest, the intentional QRM problem manifested in
swarms of FT-8 signals and tune-UP carriers specifically aligned
on the MARK-frequency tone. For my run frequency, this occurred just above 14.100 (on 20-M) and 7.100 (on 40-M). Hmmm.
Another annoying annoyance is operators (accidentally or on purpose) mis-posting the WQ6X callsign (in this case mis-posting WQ6Q) on the spotting list. This would explain why I needed to make so many callsign (my callsign) corrections.
Because single-OP stations are allowed to operate 10 out of the
12 contest hours, I took 2 ~1-hour naps in the afternoon; who knows what band openings I missed during that time - that's the gamble.
Other than a lackluster operator turnout, the NAQP RTTY GiG was enjoyable,
allowing the opportunity to NiT Pick macro settings for the Feb 2023 NAQP RTTY
events.
Did YOU run the NAQP RTTY Contest?
Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?
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