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?