WQ6X Wangles yet another Weird RAC Winter Contest Weekend

The last weekend in December is always a sleepy, mixed-mode mixed-up affair. 
The goal for this weekend was two-fold:

1. Run the Canadian RAC Winter Contest ([CLICK HERE]) mixed-mode QRP
   from Ramona to accomplish an overall high score running QRP power.
2. Run the Stew Perry (SP-160) contest ([CLICK HERE]) QRP from WA6TQT's
   QTH in Anza, coaxing the crippled 160-meter tri-Square to the best "direction"
   for each station worked.

Thanks to a 00:00z starting time, the RAC winter contest was begun using the K3/0-mini from the desk at my office, until 04:35z.   Later, the set up was moved to Concord to finish the contest (dealing with the usual Concord internet pulse-hiccupping.  By midnight, most of North America was sleeping so I joined them, starting back up on 40-Cw around 14:45z to work Japan.  When no more JAs were heard, the move was made to 20-meters as the sun came up, enabling communication with stations eastward from Anza.

Amazingly, 15 & 10 meters didn't open up in Ramona until after 17:00z.  Resuming at 18:45z, throughout the morning and early afternoon CQ calls were made on each of the high bands giving
me RBN (Reverse Beacon Network) stats on my QRP signal.  The 3-el Stepp-IR was rotated and switched from the NORM state to 180-DEGREES and Bi-Directional.  When it was all over, I quickly made screen captures of all the relevant stats and produced a Cabrillo file - all for submission later.

With the screen now cleared, attempts to connect to STN-1 and STN-2 at the Anza QTH failed - it would seem the internet in Anza suffered a power failure with no one onsite to restart it.  With the internet confirmed down, the backup plan was to run WQ6X as a Low Power (LP) station using the 8JK mish-mash Cobra sloper array setup @W7AYT's QTH. The MFJ 993b Intellituner managed to bring the SWR down to 1.4:1, enabling 6-QSOs (14-points) made it to the log. 
Calling "CQ SP TesT" produced one RBN SPoT from K2PO/7 in Oregon.

By midnight, no QSOs outside of CA were happening (e.g. hearable), so I shut things down,
eventually submitting a 14-point LoG to say "I WuZ THERE!"

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X DiD indeed take a 1st-place outside of Canada.

DiD YOU work the RAC Winter or Stew Perry SP-160 contests?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wrangles another Weird EU Contest Weekend

After the CQ and ARRL bruhaha weekends, the 3rd contest weekend in December brings us the
OK-DX RTTY Contest from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening and the 9A (Croatian) Mixed-mode DX Contest, during which WQ6X ran CW-only (85-watts), while the RTTY GiG ran a cooler 69-Watts.
Bonus points accrued for OK and 9A stations in their corresponding contest events.

Unable to acquire local COM-port control of the RRC-1258 (internet interface box) to run RTTY,
the backup plan (using swapped soundcard patch cables, while keying the radio using VOX) accomplished the RTTY intent.

Starting late, after a few QSOs, the internet latency became a horribly notable problem. 
Internet jitteriness got so bad that contest operations were suspended until after 1am (when
everyone has gone to bed).   At 11:00z (3am) operations resumed with the Shorty-40 turned
to ~300-degres (relative to Ramona), enabling me to work the same bevy of JA RTY callsigns;
with everyone around me sleeping, internet bandwidth improved considerably.

After another sleep break, the 9A (Croatian) GiG was in full swing (at least it was on Cw, at any rate).  It would seem that with an SFI of "only" 175 - 184, 15-meters was largely THE band to focus on.
10-meters was barely happening, while on 20, everyone seemed to be skipping over everyone
else, resulting in a seemingly dead band - at least in Ramona.  Space-WX is always a factor. 
Of coarse, the SFI skyrockets to 238 on Monday (doing us No GooD).

Joining up with the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) for our annual Christmas brunch
kept me out of the operator chair for several hours.  Back in the chair at 21:20z took advantage
of upper band openings for a 1/2 hour, thanks to an improved internet.  When the switch was made
to RTTY at 22:47, data-garble had been all but eliminated.  

At 00:00z, with the RTTY contest over, it was off to W7AYT's Concord QTH to finish the remaining half of the (A Cw GiG - with hopefully a more productive internet connection.  The Concord internet connection was pretty much business as usual: reasonably OK latency w/pulsing-cutouts every 90-seconds or so.

While most of my radiosport runs this year have been run with QRP power, signal levels this weekend were poor enough that it was clear running QRP in the (A contest would not have been productive. 
It seems that many RTTY contests (such as the OK RTTY GiG) do NoT offer a QRP category. 
As a compromise, the remote K3 was dialed down to 69 watts as an LP (Low Power) Entry,
while the 9A GiG ran 85-watts to be classified as Low Power.

Once 40-meters to EU faded into the noise, it was time for another sleep session. 
Resuming at 11:00z, turning the Shorty-40 to 300-degrees encountered to increasingly
frequent contest weekend RaDaR intrusion in the Cw segment of 7-Mhz (40-meters) - this
time it was parked on 7.041, with 25khz of SPLATTER on either side, all but obliterating Cw communication.

In addition to faster internet, the radio setup in Concord has the advantage of the full-blown,
multi-faceted, continuously evolving Stereo Audio facility.  ([CLICK HERE] to read about it.) 
While my Alameda office sports a Radio Shaft 16-channel stereo equalizer, a 2nd pair of Autek
QF-1A filters have yet to be configured for the Alameda location.  (The original pair of QF-1A
units were moved to the Concord QTH once the Stereo Audio approach was confirmed to be
effective for radiosport running.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X, scored near the middle of the submissions
and managed to take 1st-place for California (CA) and the W6 call area - NoT bad for just
screwing around.

DiD YOU work the 9A or OK DX contests?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Conducts a QuainT QRP 10-MeTeR ConTesT

Similar to speech contests in Toastmasters, before major radiosport competition events, I look
at previous years score results, study the all-time high score records and even consult previous
WQ6X Contest Blog posts about the upcoming events (and sometimes related contest topics and weekends).

For this year's 10-meter contest, there were 5 specific goals:

1. Run as WQ6X QRP from Ramona, using CW-only, setting a Southwest Division Record.
2. Run as W6R (Whiskey SiX Radio), setting yet another Southwest Division record.
3. Put Cw hours in the OP chair for NX6T as a part of the team, winning Southwest
   Division for the Multi-OP Single-Xmtr category.
4. Put contacts in the log as W7AYT to win SOU QRP (Phone-only) for East Bay
   (EB) while chasing the illusive PAC Division record for QRP-Ssb.
5. Thoroughly leverage the Stereo-Cw and Stereo-Ssb modalities using the recently
   revamped audio configuration(s) for WQ6X's portable setup at W7AYT's Concord QTH.

The 10-meter contest begins at 00:00z (UTC) which is 4pm on the Left Coast (Pacific Time). 
After a few "false start" hiccups, WQ6X ran the Ramona radio remotely from my office in Alameda.  By 03:30z there was nothing left to hear (in Ramona), altho spying on N6CY at the helm of NX6T,
it was clear that their superb antenna farm enabled them to hear stations we can only dream of
in Ramona - amazing when you consider the two locations are only 66 miles apart; altho Anza's elevation (3,921') is nearly 3x that of Ramona (1,427'), not to mention stacked arrays for 40m thru
10m (versus a 2-el Shorty-40 and 3-el Steep-IR @55').

Saturday morning EU, the Caribbean and SA were wide open.  After putting 171 QSOs in the Cw log,
it was time to switch logs to run as W6R on Ssb.  Not surprisingly, the 1x1 callsign confused many stations, altho the JA OPs are used to me using 1x1 callsigns and overall, they loved W6R.

Here are some of the Spaobox comments posted about the remote operation from Ramona.

Being a mixed-mode contest, running Stereo-Cw was somewhat different from running Stereo-Ssb.
Either way, audio from the K3/0 Mini, is sent to an audio mixer, which redirects to an audio splitter, which splits the audio into 3 different filtered audio lines, which run to a Rockville 4-channel mixer, emptying into a 15-watt stereo amplifier.  Output from the amp can be sent to either OwnZone wireless headphones or a pair of LEKATO speaker boxes, specially wired for Stereo radio audio. 
The vintage Autek QF1-A filters is the secret behind the esoteric stereo mechanism.

[CLICK HERE] to read the various BLOG Entries on the Stereo Audio concept.

When it was all over it would seem that WQ6X took 3rd-place overall and set a Southwest Division division record.  W6R took 2nd-place overall and also set a Southwest Division record.  W7AYT took
a 3rd-place and set a record for East Bay (EB) section.  Unfortunately, the PAC Division SOU QRP record is still out of reach - as they say, wait til next year.

From Orange (ORG) section, NX6T took 23rd place overall for the crowded Multi-Single HP category.
For USA and Canada, NX6T took 7th-place, while enjoying 1st-place wins for ORG section and Southwest Division.  While no multi-op records were set, it was nevertheless an impressive operation.

DiD YOU work the ARRL 10-Meter Contest?

IS WQ6X, W6R, W7AYT or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wings yet another WEIRD ARRL-160 Contest

In contrast w/2023 (and even years before) when I ran as WQ6X from W7AYT's Concord QTH
while putting in hours for NX6T's HP run, this was WQ6X's 1st ARRL 160-meter contest run using QRP power.

The ARRL 160-meter contest begins @22:00z on Friday (favoring Midwest and East coast OPs). 
On the Left Coast, the band is only beginning to open @00:00z.  Client commitments kept me out
of the OP chair until 03:00z, altho K2NV (NNJ) was hearable as early as 23:30z.

Running remote from Anza (STN-2) offers the advantage of opening a radiosport contest from
my office in Alameda, then continuing the Anza operations later from W7AYT's QTH in Concord
(with its periodic, pulsing internet dropouts).  Either way, the same K3/0-Mini (w/RRC-1258 Box). 
The N1MM+ software is run through a VPN known as VNC viewer.

Space-WX, (while the SFI was not super high) was very cooperative overall.  Then again,
even with some of the nastiest solar storms, 160-meter operations often manage to "fly under
the radar"(so-to-speak).  Space-WX conditions seemed to get noisier as the weekend progressed. 
This month, it would seem that the new SFI-Low was down around 172.  (Wasn't that the final PEAK of solar cycle 24?)

The game for the 160 weekend was to run QRP (5w) into a horizontal Tri-Square, suffering from
an open phasing cable.  Altho nearly 100-feet above ground, my guess is that the antenna switch
was simply bringing in 1 of 3 bi-directional dipoles but not operating as a directional array.

As I recall, I put ZS5CW in the log using the N-E dipole, and worked Arizona & TX using the WEST dipole.  Bottom line, the signal reach using this crippled configuration was only good for 2/3's of the USA, KH6 and some VE's (and of course the ZS5).  None of the Northeast states were workable,
even tho I could often hear them.

Because it would be useful to know which direction(s) the RF was radiating towards, signal
levels were checked using several web SDR receivers around the Southwest (and Northeast),
while consulting the RBN (Reverse Beacon Network) stats.  

Propagation-wise, Friday evening was incredibly HoT.  Unfortunately, Saturday evening was
quite a disappointment.  On BOTH Sat/Sun mornings, JA stations were heard (MoRe and LouD
on Saturday), altho none of them could hear WQ6X.

One of contest BEEFs (complained as a QRP-Operator) is that run stations GIVE-UP on me too quickly.  If you ever listen in on a run frequency I am calling, you will not only hear me call again
(AND AGAIN), I will also be shifting my xmit frequency slight up and down, in case he has a TighT CW filter with some WEIRD audio offset - the goal is to slip in between the "ears" of his narrow passband.  For the most part, I DON'T Give Up - You Do.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X's 11.9k-point score took 6th place overall,
while securing a 1st-place for Orange Section (ORG), as well as the Southwest Division.

I operate such a wide array of radiosport contests, I am often looking for "callsign recognition"
to make the difference. Unfortunately, callsign databases are often grossly out-of-date; WQ6X is
often listed as being in: EB, SB, ORG and/or SDG.  For that reason, I usually have a function key defined to send "SDG" (for example).  Fortunately, in the 160 & 10 meter contests, the exchange is always the same: "5NN CA".

DiD YOU work the ARRL 160-Meter Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wangles a 5.5-Hour 40-Meter HaM SPIRIT Contest

The year 2024 brought us a number of 5-weekend months, altho not all
5th-weekends sported any radiosport activity.  Turns out, the 5th weekend in
November brought a radiosport event I've never seen before: The HaM SPIRIT Contest.

Stumbling onto a lone entry in WA7BNM contest calendar, following the link to the contest
website found it to be a Russian organized/run event.  By the time a log setup for the N1MM
software was created, there were only 7 OP hours left in the event.  Altho it was a multi-band
multi-mode event, the decision was made to run as a LP (Low Power) 40-Meter only Cw station.
This coincided with the morning Greyline period in Russia and EU - which was AMAZING!

Much of the 7 hours was spent calling CQ, encouraging all of the rare Russian
and deep Eastern European stations to call ME for a change, they being rewarded
with the rare "WQ6" prefix - kinda like in the WPX Cw contest.  Skimming thru the log file
after the contest, I am amazed at the different prefixes that responded to my CQ's, including:
RG9, RW9, R8, R2, RL4, RW0, RN3, RM4, HA9, ON6, YP8, Z32, F5, G4, OM5, LB2, DF1,
SP3, & IK0.  The BiG surprise was RD1A/MM operating from ITU Zone 75 and the QR Grid square.  While all those prefixes may not seem a big deal for OPs in the Midwest and the East coast, from Ramona, on 40 meters, those were amazing QSOs.

My BiGGeST beef were the LOUD USA stations who obviously could hear me yet would move 1/2 Kc away and start calling CQ.  I purposely choose oddball run frequencies (7003.69, 7006.69, 7007.77, 7008.88, 7009.69, 7014.14 & 7016.16), so when a station moves in on me, I know it's no accident.

Using Function Key F-11 ("QRL QSY!") a half dozen times usually does the trick. 
With one station station I moved down the 1/2 Kc, called him and made the QSO - he
OBVIOUSLY could hear me.  Notice that NONE of those offenders ever sent "QRL?"
before calling CQ.  Whatever happened to "QRL?" courtesy?

During the last couple of hours, to alleviate bore-dumb, while calling CQ, I began listening
to my calls on various SDR receivers to get a sense for where I was being heard.  Doing this
set the stage for an SDR research project Sunday morning.

The real disappointment in this contest was the final hour as EU and Russia came into daylight,
severing the pipeline with the west coast, just moments before.  The last QSO in the WQ6X
Log came at 06:59, with that remaining hour yawning while desperately calling CQ. 
ToTaL OP time ended up as 5.5 hours, thanks to that inert final hour.

All disappointments aside however, it would seem that deciding to run Single-band
40-Meters Cw found WQ6X in 1st place for that category.  Amazing!
Like has been oft said, "...sometimes just showing up is the major accomplishment".

DiD YOU work the HaM Spirit Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?