WQ6X wangles a different sort of ARRL 160 contest

wOw!  It's hard to believe that the ARRL 160-meter contest is already now behind us.
In preparation for making some sort of showing in the 2025 GiG, I published
part 2 of a Blast from the Past blog on the ARRL 160 contest operations. 
([CLICK HERE] to read that compendium - when it is finished).

The ARRL 160 meter contest sports a WEIRD starting time (22:00) which would seem to favor Eastern timezone and EU timezone stations.  Altho amazingly, I noticed that there were pockets
of band openings that I would not have expected (such as hearing PJ2T in So. California @23:30z
on Saturday).

For this event, my goal was to run NX6T (w/N6KI - Dennis) to set a section (ORG) and a Southwest Division record for the multi-OP Low Power entry.  Somewhere in the middle of that, my 2ndary goal was to put WQ6X on their from Anza station #1 running QRP to submit a score that by default will
be a a simple 1st-place for the QRP category in the ORG section and maybe even SW Division. 

Technically, each contest event teaches  us new operating skills - if we are alert enough to recognize what there is to be learned.  One of the advantages of running remote from the Concord location is having access to a bevy of audio filters for running Stereo-Cw, useful especially during pileups (whether I am running one or trying to break into one).

Station and remote setup testing found everything to be ready in time for a typical 00:00z starting.
The goal was for me to operate for approximately 4 hours and then hand it off to N6KI and make
the drive to Concord to continue operating at around 06:30z.

We used DXLog to run the contest using the crippled Tri-Square 160-meter wire antenna (one
of the phasing lines is only partially connected)
so technically we never knew what direction our
signal was broadcasting to.  

During S&P I would switch to the direction that seemed to produce the strongest signal on receive.

 To get an idea as to where we were being heard, DXMaps was used to display the signal paths from Anza to all points from Northwest and Northeast
to East and Southeast.

 

I could not determine any specific pattern to the switching, so most of the time it was simply
guess-and-try - good enough to put 325 QSOs into the log.  The record we sought to break was
250 QSOs and 69 multipliers for 35,100 points.  By the time for the Saturday startup, the record
was nearly accomplished.  With that behind us, the goal was to take it significantly beyond that
to insure  the record stands for at least a few years: 325 QSOs - 71-Mults = 46,647 points.

Thanks to the Dennis (N6KI) thorough knowledge of utilizing DXLog, we ran the software about
as efficient as I have ever encountered.  However a weird software bug identified the SJV section
as JV, requiring that we enter it as "JV" - requiring that I hand edit the Cabrillo file before submitting
it to  the contest reflector.

When it was all over, it would seem that NX6T took 3rd place overall and 1st-place for ORG
section and SW Division - not bad for just winging it all the way.  WQ6X took 1st-place for QRP
by only 20-points - any QSO entry mistakes in that log could eventually relegate the score to
second place.  However, either way, 1st-place for the ORG section is a slam-donk.

DiD YOU work the ARRL 160-meter contest?

Is NX6T (or WQ6X) in YOUR LoG?