WQ6X: Why I like 48-Hour Contests

After the 2023 CQ WW Dx contest GiG, I got to musing through my past
involvement in popular 48-hour contests.  In the process, it occurred to me that
the "Blast from the Past" write-ups on the ARRL Dx contest are 5-years out of date,
which prompted me to write a Blast-2.0 Blog about this event all by itself. 
([CLICK HERE] to read that post.)

In scrolling through the WQ6X Contest Blog entries,
I found the most important 48-hour GiGs:

• [X] - ARRL DX Contests
• [X] - ARRL 10-Meter Contest
• [X] - CQ WPX Contests
• [X] - CQ W.W. Dx Contests
• [X] - All Asian Dx Contests
• [X] - Worked All Europe (WAE) Contests

For W6, starting at 00:00z means that 10 & 15 meter bands are still open to somewhere - most
specifically Asia and Oceania.  As the bands fade, the path becomes moving down to 20-meters
for a continuation of the Asia/S-A run, setting-in on 40-meters for a desperate shot at Europe and
even Africa (before their sun comes up and they fade into oblivion for another 20-hours.

A major secret that is no longer a secret is taking advantage of Greyline DX propagation. 
During worldwide-style contests (DX and WPX contests in particular) some AMAZING short-term QSO opportunities quickly come and go.  Running as an "assisted" entry allows me to internet-see quick in/out opportunities.

A BiG Advantage to
48-hour contests is the hope for an atmospheric-reprieve after receiving
a glancing-blow of CME energy.

While leftover "shotgun" noise may seem to be an annoyance, the hoped-for reality is that we will get another shot at top-notch propagation conditions.  Having an extra 24-hours allows opportunities not afforded in the first 24-hours.

Another advantage of 48-hour GiGs is that it gives me plenty of clock time to dual-OP or even triple-OP a contest event.  For example, CQP-2023 enabled me to run one operation remote from Ramona (W6R), put in some op-hours remotely for NX6T and then even find time to put the WQ6X callsign on the air from the SF East Bay.

 

Just because a contest event runs for 48-hours does not mean I have to operate all of those hours.
For example, running a single-band operation finds me on the air only during the time periods that band is actually open with real propagation to somewhere useful in the world.

Do you enjoy operating 48-hour contests?

What things do YOU like about it?

BLAST's from the PAST 2.0: WQ6X in ARRL DX Contests

While doing some research for another research project researching some of my favorite
48-Hour radiosport contests, the ARRL DX GiGs of course come to mind.  Over 5.5 years ago,
I wrote a Blog looking at the ARRL DX GiGs all the way back to 2013.  ([CLICK HERE] to read it.  Today, it occurred to me that a LoT has happened in the radiosport world along these lines, encouraging me into this current research project.  LooKing back in the WQ6X contest Blog bibliography, since 2018, there have been the following ARRL DX Contest events:

• [X] - (2019) NX6T Nixes ARRL Dx Left Coast Competition
• [X] - (2019) ARRL Dx Ssb GiG: the contest RTTY Ruined
• [X] - (2020) WQ6X Wanders Thru another ARRL Dx Contest
• [X] - (2020) WQ6X Blast from the Past: ARRL Dx Phone Contest
• [X] - (2020) WQ6X joins NX6T Dual-OP'ing another ad-HOC ARRL Dx Ssb GiG
• [X] - (2021) WQ6X Wings 1st Dual-Remote ARRL DX Cw GiG from Alameda
• [X] - (2021) WQ6X joins NX6T remotely for another ARRL Dx Ssb GiG
• [X] - (2022) WQ6X Dabbles in the ARRL Dx Contest
• [X] - (2023) WQ6X Works a Wonderfully WEIRD Dx Contest

wOw! What a Wonderfully WEIRD bunch of contest operations.

What is essentially special about the ARRL (and CQ) DX contest GiGs is that they are 48-hour
affairs, offering up plenty of DX opportunities, while also allowing me to catch up on my sleep. 
With this information in place, I will be able to write a special Blog on why I love 48-hour contests.

Stay Tuned for that one.

Do YOU play around in the ARRL (or CQ) DX Contests?
What kind of wildness have YOU encountered?

For WQ6X SS-Ssb is FULL of Surprises

For me, BoTh Sweepstakes Events (Cw and Ssb) are a function of my radiosport-DNA. 
In recent years, I have gone to great lengths attempting new approaches to taking 1st-place
in a number of different W6 (California) ARRL Sections.  Because I have run so many SS-events
from East Bay section, it surprised nearly everyone this year when WQ6X sent the section as SDG (and NoT EB).

In an attempt to reduce that confusion, when. I recorded the voice memory for Function Key 2
(F2),  I PURPOSELY exaggerated enunciation of the section name "Sannn Dee Aaa G-o-o-o". 
With a 5th function key, it would have been possible to record "SAN DIEGO - Sierra Delta Golf!".

The goal for 2023 SS-Ssb was to put some hours in the remote-OP chair for NX6T's LP multi-single operation (I ran 7-10pm Saturday and 3-8am Sunday) while running a dozen or more hours as WQ6X running Unlimited-QRP remote from KN6NBT's Ramona QTH in N. San Diego County.

It didn't take long to realize there was a dearth of serious activity from the SDG section,
encouraging the finding of clear run frequencies, creating lengthy pileups that often disappeared
as quickly as they began.  5-stations call in at the same time - I work one station (10-seconds max), say "QRZ?" and - NOTHING!"  HuH?  Where'd-j'all GO?  You can't wait 10 SECONDS?  wOw!

Fortunately, a new addition to the SS-Ssb rules allows self-spotting every 10-minutes, creating
an Ssb-equivalency of the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) available to CW and RTTY operators.
Typing WQ6X into the callsign field and clicking the "SPOT" button would bring a flood of calling stations w/in 30-seconds.

A quick summary of a few key highlights (excerpted from the 3830 Score Submission) are useful:

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X running QRP took 1st-place overall and set
a new record for the Southwest Division - NoT bad when you consider what I had to work with.

NX6T (running Low Power) took 2nd-place overall and 1st-place for the Southwest Division. 
Overall, I think this was one of the most successful challenging Sweepstakes I have ever
run - even surpassing 2011 run of SB-section from a tent on Carpinteria State Beach.

DiD YOU work the ARRL November Sweepstakes?

IS WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

For WQ6X: Stereo-SSB creates Quite a Saucy sensation for a Sensational Sweepstakes

To understand the impetus behind this Blog's exuberant title, you should understand a little
bit about a concept that I have overall embraced in many different ways - namely, the idea
of Stereo-audio in HF radiosport operations.  

Over the years I have extolled what to me are the obvious virtues of Stereo-Cw and to a much
lesser extent Stereo-SSB.  With the Sweepstakes phone GiG securely behind us, mentally replaying
the remote operations run as NX6T (from WA6TQT in Anza) and WQ6X (from KN6NBT in Ramona), operating conditions were such that making use of the Stereo-SSB approach became absolutely crucial.

WQ6X's operations always create stereo audio effects by way of a pair of 45 yr.-old analog Autek
QF-1A audio filters; one for each channel.:   LEFT = VFO-A  ---  RIGHT = VFO-B.  QF-1A filters
come equipped with an aux. notch filter built-in to the left side of the front panel.  For the most part,
the audio frequency settings on each unit were set once and then left largely unchanged throughout the entire 30-hour Sweepstakes event.

When Ssb stations would move-in on the run frequency (creating that annoying high-pitched bird-chatter), the aux. notch filters could reduce the grating intensity down to tolerable levels (if there can be any such thing).  Running a K3/0-mini (rather than the usual Yaesu FT-2000) left me w/o a Contour control - something I've come to rely on with the newer Yaesu transceivers.

Another approach was to adjust the shift control somewhat off to the left, accomplishing an equivalent of Yaesu's Contour - except that the Elecraft shift is VERY sharp on the end of the adjustment - it's easy to go too far and dramatically reduce receive levels.  Of course, it has been been well established that the Bestest audio filter is the aural circuits already wired into our brain.

From time to time, the background sound-shape would become monotonously annoying, requiring
an audio frequency adjustment in either or both of the QF-1A's, creating a different listening "feel"
to the operation.  It is clear to me that "shaping the audio" not only makes operating more fun, it also contributes significantly to fatigue-reduction.  Bottom-line: the stereo-audio concepts have many applications in the world of successful radiosport operation.

Prior to an upcoming Ssb contest, I spend time tuning the lo-bands in the evening (40 & 80)
and the high bands in the daytime simply listening to Ssb QSOs while playing around with the
QF-1A controls as I discover the proper settings for the different kinds of voices heard.  Practice tuning in each station, adjusting the filters in your transceiver in conjunction with these external filters.  For a REAL challenge, tune around on 20 or 15 meters looking for a pileup of stations after a RARE DX station.  As you twiddle those knobs, certain voice characteristics will sometimes jump right out of the otherwise unintelligible jumble.

Have YOU ever utilized stereo audio in radiosport operations or even ragchewing?

What Discoveries DiD YOU make?

WQ6X Embarks on another Ssb Sweepstakes

(NOTE: This Blog piece was written while enroute to W7AYT's operating QTH)

It is nearly difficult
to fathom that the Cw Sweepstakes is already
2-weeks past/passed
and JIDX is just another distant DX Memory, until April's epic JIDX Cw GiG.  

The Fall Contest Season is well under way with 6-Weeks left before the New Year. 
The year 2023 has encouraged a LoT of QRP Radiosport activity, that is for sure.

If you look back on the variety of Ssb Sweepstakes Events WQ6X has been a part of,
([CLICK HERE]) the goal is for 2023 to represent yet another interesting chapter in the World
of WQ6X-Sweepstakes.  The 2023 Ssb Sweepstakes is destined to be yet another dual-OP opportunity running WQ6X from Ramona, remotely from the SF East Bay area, as well as
remoting into our ANZA Superstation as NX6T.  

Running QRP Ssb GiGs can be a bit tedious; luckily, this is a domestic contest, with no real
language barriers - only Northern/Southern dialect differences.  This year, the operating challenge comes from the ARRL contest committee's restructuring of some of the Eastern Canadian section names; we survived it two weekends ago - this weekend should be easier.

Because it is so compact, I have repurposed an old laptop bag into service as a "GO-Bag"
for the K3/0-Mini and its related RRC-1258 Internet Interface Box, along with a repurposed
laptop power pack with a 2nd power plug spliced onto the original.

As it turns out, arriving @W7AYT's QTH found me EXHAUSTed, so I began
the afternoon with an afternoon nap be-4 "Installing" the K3/0-Mini installation
into the installation already installed in the Concord installation.

          ( STAY  TUNED  FOR  THE  RESULTS )

WQ6X Works a WEIRD JIDX & WAE Weekend

With the Sweepstakes Cw contest well behind us, the 2nd weekend is all about Europe and Japan; so-called Europe with the WAE (Worked All Europe) RTTY contest with the Japanese DX Ssb contest sandwiched in the middle.  RTTY, I run by way of the FT-2000 in the SF East Bay.  

For the JIDX contest, I put in 2-shifts for NX6T at 2am to 5am and then 6 to 10pm (both on Saturday) running the Anza station (WA6TQT) remotely from the bay area.  WQ6X ran a last-minute operation
on 40-meters before the contest ended.  Here is what I wrote about it in my WQ6X 3830-scores submission:

This TRULY was a last-minute WQ6X ad-HOC JIDX operation.

Running operator shifts for NX6T and numerous commitments in Alameda

kept me out of the OP-chair until waking up @11:00z reminded me that

WQ6X had yet to make a JIDX appearance.  Remembering that the best

openings to JA are after midnight, I settled in on 7131.31 for 90 mins.

Rude stations and purposeful RTTY QRM required I move the run

frequency +/- 100-cycles.

For this Blog entry, I have decided to let the soapbox comments tell much of the story.

...seemed like activity down as many times bands open with good sigs from JA 

but no takers of our CQs.  We missed Friday nite 80 Mtr action as new antenna

management software locked our 80 4 square in NE Azimuth plus knocked us

off air for 30 minutes. Lost another 2 hours due lack of operators at couple time

slots.  20 meters still doesn't yield many QS and 40 Qs were way down for us

this year.

Thanks to WA6TQT for use of great site. 

 73 Dennis N6KI

It would seem that NX6T took another worldwide 1st-place (ToP MoP as the Japanese call it) for
the multi-single category.  (K3EST @N6RO has advanced to the Multi-2 classification, leaving NX6T to dominate the multi-single category.)  Assuming that no one submits a SOSB-40 LoG, WQ6X takes
a 1st-place in that category - by default.

Because this was an Asian-focused weekend, it made sense to look for Russian beacon activity
on their ~7.038 cluster frequency.  The "F" beacon has been AWOLE in W6-land for nearly a year. 
As recent as Friday evening before JIDX, only the "K" beacon has been heard.  Sunday morning,
out of nowhere the "M" beacon makes a mediumly-strong appearance.

What Do We SaY about Cw Sweepstakes?

In a recent blog about CQP beginning with an idea to become a unique operating event, proper research (in advance of the contest event) enabled setting TWO county records: one for San Diego County and one for Contra Costa.  For November Sweepstakes Cw, having set a number of records for East Bay (EB) section, this year, the decision was made to focus on the San Diego (SDG) section and therefore the Southwest Division.

From research, the determination was made to run WQ6X as Single-OP Unlimited (U) QRP,
requiring the submission of a log score with 160+ QSOs for over 25-K points - this would be accomplished interspersed with three 8-hour operating shifts for NX6T running remote from WA6TQT's QTH on the hilltop in Anza California.

When it was all over (assuming no unexpected surprises), it would seem that WQ6X DiD indeed set a new record for the Southwestern ARRL Division.  NX6T placing 9th overall, while taking a resounding 1st-place for San Diego section, was thoroughly trounced by the W8TK team operating from Arizona (AZ) section.  Their unique QTH made for 15-meter band condx. we could only dream about. 
In Anza, from the NX6T point-of-view, 2nd-place is NO-place.

The BiG problem for the CW Sweepstakes weekend was the multitude of nuisance solar
storms that came and went - and came and went - at least they individually rather quick.
This is what I posted in the 3830 Score submission.

This is the 1st-ever WQ6X SS-Cw GiG running QRP from the S-West Division.

Researching Section/Division records it was noticed that the SOA QRP 

record for the Southwest Division was easily surpassed.  Accomplishing

that goal and putting in approximately 8-hours in the remote chair for 

NX6T made for an exciting Sweepstakes weekend.

Conditions on Saturday were quite good.  On Sunday the solar storms plagued

us creating noise everywhere and weird fast-fading of signals that fooled me

into thinking they were coming in from Europe, but were in fact N. America.

An unusual pain-in-the-ass was the DOZENS of purposely FAKE internet spots

being submitted to the 40-meter bandmaps on Sunday morning.  When I saw NX5T 

constantly being spotted on the NX6T run frequency, I knew it was NO accident.

Another issue is the deliberate FT8 signals in the Cw portions of the bands

when those signals NEVER occur during non-contest periods.  These IDIOTs

need grow-up and get a life.  If they spent as much time operating legitimately

as they do disrupting others, the bands would be a different world.

However, overall this weekend was a success and WQ6X seems to have

over-doubled the previous high-score record for the ARRL S-West Division.

While WQ6X only made 10th-place overall, evidently, the actual activity from the
Southwest division was quite lacking, making it possible to easily post a high score. 
Rest assured, someone will wake-up for 2024 and NoT let that happen again.

DiD YOU work the ARRL Cw Sweepstakes Contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Teaches HF and Runs CQ WW Ssb

Every 4th Saturday of the month, the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) hosts membership meeting; currently in person from the conference room @ the Oakland Yacht club on the waterfront
in Alameda.  For the September and October meetings, I gave a 2-part presentation on running HF radios, targeting in particular Technician class licensees as well as General/Extras for whom running on HF is new to them.

After the presentation I demonstrated running a Kenwood TS-590s on HF thru an LDG auto-tuner
into a V-shaped Buddi-pole antenna setup outside overlooking the yacht harbor.  The idea was to familiarize attendees with HF in order that we could put together a 5-hour November Sweepstakes multi-OP operation as K6QLF (Kilowatt Six Quebec London Foxtrot). 
Links to the talks can be found at ARCAHam.Org.

Radiosport-wise, I was just screwing around that weekend playing around with a number of station changes.  With so many things going on all weekend, the first QSO didn't happen until 02:50z on Sunday.  Luckily, the FT-2000 ran flawlessly into a 10-meter Long John yagi, which amazingly
enough, tuned AWEsomely on 15-meters as a rotatable dipole.  For 20 & 40 the usual 8JK Cobra dipoles, accomplished the job, although there was rampant RF all over the shack.

The solar storms that weekend sprayed noise all over the bands killing things Saturday evening,
so instead I made time for a 75-meter round table sked at 05:30z and then signed off for the night.  Conditions were only marginally better on Sunday - with the SFI only 135 (altho up from 122) with
A-Index=28 & K-Index=4 - Bummer Dewd!

Sunday morning, at 10:00z, looking for some sort of Asian opening on 40-meters every run frequency
I found was almost immediately BOMBARDED by RTTY QRM and what I call a "data burbler". 
At 11:00z the QRM came from what I call a "Data Spritzer" (that's what it sounded like), followed
up almost immediately by Bill-Bob and his brother Barney having their 6am ragchew up 1.2kc
from me - oblivious to the fact that I had been there for an hour already.  

Then, at 11:13z the7.160.60 run frequency became the National Tuneup Frequency - the NTF.

It certainly is a GooD thing I was just screwing around and not looking to submit any kind of a high score.  In that case I would want to run remote - 'cept I was too lazy to set any of that up; considering that I had missed over 1/2 of the contest operating period already.  The important CQ WW weekend
is the CW GiG, which happens after Thanksgiving.

DiD YOU work the CQ WW Ssb contest?

What WEIRDNESS DiD YOU encounter?