WQ6X Weasels another QRP ARRL DX Ssb Contest

In preparation for this weekend's ARRL DX Phone contest, I have been working on Blast from the Past Blogs regarding the ARRL DX Contest GiGs, truly bringing back operating memories from the last dozen years.

This weekend's goals included reprising last year's Southwest Division win running QRP (of course).  These daze, unless given a specific reason to do otherwise, most of my contest activity (outside of the EB session) is run at the QRP power level.  The major exception is RTTY contests that don't have a QRP power entry - I dial back the power to 50-watts and run it remotely.  (When running RTTY from W7AYT's QTH, the Yaesu FT-2000 and FT-1000mp transceivers can run FULL Duty AFSK w/o getting warm.)

While every weekend is more-or-less ad-HOC, this ad-Hocness has a solid underframe.  Thanks to the RealVNC VPN facility and the contents of my Remote GO Bag, I can run radio setups in Ramona and both stations (STN-1 & STN-2) in Anza from nearly any location with internet access.

For the DX contest weekend, the 1st 4-hours came from sitting in my office using an MSI Super gaming computer to remote run the VPN, with knob-twiddling made possible via the Elecraft K3/0-Mini control head setup on the corner of the desk.

With recent dips in the Solar Flux Index (SFI) down to 140, 10-meters was surprisingly open, as well as 15-meters, throughout the weekend.  Most operators will agree that 20-meters was the DuD band this year, in comparison to its reputation as T H E DX band.

During Ssb contests, 40-meters in the evening (and again later after 1am) presents a motley bunch
of stations to work.  Running QRP, only about half of the DX stations heard could actually hear me in return, requiring shouts of "SiX X-Ray - SiX X-Ray".  For the next Ssb contest, I should create a series of .WAV files to repeat portions of the WQ6X callsign.

While I had no intention of working anywhere near the full 48-hour contest period, there was interest
in putting in 2 to 3 hours on the air during each ~8-hour operating shift, enabling all 5-bands to be max-utilized throughout the day and night.

Space-WX wise, we can into the contest weekend period from several days of solar disturbances. 
While technically the "numbers" quieted-down, the bands were nevertheless littered w/patches of leftover geomagnetic disturbance noise(s).

Speaking of 40-meters, it is during Ssb DX contests that I hear the weirdest forms of intentional QRM imaginable; everything from patches of RTTY, occasional SSTV flurries, "data cranking", and in years past, the "F U" jammer.

While I often complain about the unlicensed Indonesian QSOs in the middle of the Cw band, in fact,
in many countries, they have an Ssb segment beginning at ~7.075.  To work Dx stations transmitting
in this band segment, U.S. operators must run Split operation.  While the K3 radio in Ramona is fully capable of running Split operation, it's useless if I am too lazy to engage it.

After careful deliberation, the decision was made to operate Search and Pounce (S&P) only. 
Occasional audio feedback anomalies relegated the idea of running frequencies a non-Item. 
Running in the Unlimited category mandated using Telnet to populate the bandmap and the station selection lists.  

The problem with this approach is the number of false spots encountered.  While some happen
due to operator carelessness, others were CLEARLY intentional.  If a spot has been "Spoofed"
(no submitter's callsign), I delete it and move on - if it comes back, then it is intentional.

When it was all over it would seem that WQ6X took 3rd-place overall, 2nd-place for USA/NA
and 1st-Place for the ARRL SDG section (San Diego) and the Southwest Division - NoT bad
for using limited resources and suffering internet dropouts.

DiD YOU work the ARRL DX Ssb Contest?

For USA/VE stations, how many countries made it to your log?

For DX stations, is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?