WQ6X - SARTG RTTY Remembrances -

The Scandinavian Amateur Radio Teleprinter Group (SART) RTTY events are uniquely structured 24-hour radiosport contest events that are "stretched out" over a 40-hour time frame, inside which there are two 8-hour mandatory off periods.

I did a backwards look at the different SARTG RTTY GiGs documented over the years and found
a surprising JUMP chronologically.

• [X] 2o13 - WQ6X operates NAQP-SSB & SARTG RTTY while hunting for Lighthouses
  
  
  This was WQ6X's entry into the SARTG RTTY contest from N6GEO's QTH in Brentwood California.  In between working the NAQP Ssb GiG 40 SARTG RTTY QSOs eventually
  made it into the log on 15 & 20 meters (40 & 80 were DOA for RTTY).
  
  
• [X] 2o21 - WQ6X Works another WEIRD NAQP Dual-OP
  
  
  After nearly 5-hours of frustrating full-duty RTTY running, from W7AYT's QTH in Concord,
  it was certainly time to give the FT-1000mp a rest.  The biggest problem was actually
  in-shack RFI on 20-meters, disrupting computer USB ports of all things, encouraging
  15-meter operating whenever possible.
  
  
• [X] 2o24 - WQ6X Wanders around a WEIRD Saturday-contest WeekEnd
  
  
  This was a weird attempt at running SARTG RTTY remotely.  Unable to directly
  control the radio, it was a simple matter to swap the audio lines and turn on VOX.
  Because of splotchy internet, I devised the idea of recording the F1 and F3 keys
  into the Elecraft K3's DVK channels 1 & 3.  Because the contest exchange involves
  an ever-increasing serial #, the contest exchange was sent out newly for every QSO.
  While 30-QSOs (11k points) isn't much of a score, what was actually learned in the process is what matters.
  
  
• [X] 2o24 - Reminiscing RTTY Running Realistically
  
  
  This was a variation on Blast from the Past (BFP) Blogs I have written,
  altho it included the many different RTTY GiGs I have participated in during
  the last 15+ radiosport years.  Being a unique 3-part contest, the SARTG events
  certainly belong in that retrospective.
  
  
• [X] 2o25 (Jan.) - WQ6X Uses SARTG-NY as a RTTY RU Training Ground
  

  
  The SARTG NY (New Year) RTTY contest became more of a training ground for adaptive RTTY cabling than it was about how many QSOs could be added to the log.  The gimmick documented in that blog entry was using N1MM+ to key the Yaesu FT-2000 PTT circuit which was parallel hooked to the K3/0-mini footswitch line.  Doing this eliminated the need for using VOX to activate the remote radio (VOX can get into an infinite feedback loop.).  While it was still necessary to type in the run frequency, by running instead of S&P'ing,
  the correct frequency was always in-place.
  
  
• [X] 2o25 (Aug.) - WQ6X Works a Weirdly disjointed Radiosport weekend
  
  
  Contest calendar wise, the 2o25 3rd August weekend produced a bevy of different
  radiosport contests, one of which, the SARTG RTTY, GiG was in the middle of that. 
  The strategy was operating the correct contest (SARTG / NAQP) at the correct time
  for the current band conditions & to predict what the evening propagation will bring us.
  While playing SARTG RTTY, WQ6X also ran the NAQP Ssb contest at QRP power
  and managed to take 1st-place for QRP in that event - I DiD NoT see that one coming.
  
  
• [X] 2o26 - WQ6X Wanders thru YeT another SARTG - NAQP Ssb
                    and International Lighthouse WeeKend
  
  
  For 2o26, equipment cabling problems kept the RTTY operation off the air during
  the 1st 8-hour segment and part of the 2nd segment.  When it was all over the 96-QSO score was considerably less than 2o25's 110 Q's, due to the noticeable lack in multipliers.
  What made the 2o26 event fun was purposely running frequencies most of the time.
  It also gave me the opportunity to make some improvements to the Stereo-RTTY method.
  ([CLICK HERE] to read about Stereo-RTTY.)

WQ6X Wanders thru YeT another SARTG - NAQP Ssb and International Lighthouse WeeKend

While the NAQP events are run twice a year, the International Lighthouse and Lightship weekend event happens only once a year at this time.  Back in 2o12, I ran this 3rd weekend in August mobile,
visiting lighthouse stations from Vallejo (north of San Francisco) all the way to Santa Cruz, making QSOs from each lighthouse location I encountered along the way. These also became NAQP contacts, altho just in case, I submitted what is known as a "checklog". 
([CLICK HERE] to read about this.)

Leading up to this weekend, I have written about the NAQP Ssb experience. 
Here are some of the more prominent examples:

• [X] - WQ6X Muses over NAQP Ssb Contest Events
• [X] - WQ6X Blast from the PAST: NAQP Ssb - Part 2
• [X] - BLAST from the Past: NAQP Ssb Contest

On the agenda for the third weekend are 4 uniquely different radiosport events.

• [X] - ILLW
• [X] - SARTG WW RTTY
• [X] - NAQP Ssb
• [X] - ARRL Rookie RTTY Contest

The SARTG GiG runs 8-hours ON (00:00z), 8-hours OFF, 8-hours ON (16:00z), 8-hours OFF,
8-hours ON. (08:00z).  This offers up plenty of sleep time and/or offers me the opportunity to run
other radiosport events in the 8-hour off periods.

Sometime on Friday for reasons that I am unable to fathom, a different K3 radio was swapped
in at the Ramona QTH (the original was to me working just FB).  Afterwards, the left channel audio disappeared.  Friday evening while setting up the morass of cables required to make remote RTTY
a reality, the mic audio-in also seemed to not be functioning.  Unable to resolve that kept me out of the 1st 8-hour segment of the SARTG RTTY contest as well as part of the 2nd 8-hours and the opening hours for the NAQP ssb GiG.

Aside from the radio setup, the KN6NBT's "Medium Pistol" QTH in Ramona a single tower brings
us a 3-el Stepp-IR, a 2-el SHorty-40 and an 80/75 Inverted Vee - all peaked @ 55'.

The mic audio problem turned out to be easily resolved via a menu setting.  From there, the operating plan changed into finishing the 2nd 8-hour segment in the SARTG GiG, run the final 6-hours of the NAQP Ssb contest, take a 2-hour rest break and then finish Sunday with the 3rd 8-hour run of the SARTG contest.  

With the left channel audio missing, the inputs were shorted together to give a MONO starting point.

When running Stereo-CW, Left and Right can easily be sorted out.  However, running Stereo-RTTY required the right channel QF-1A filter to perform "double duty" - the aux. notch filter helped shape the audio passband aa bit to render RTTY demodulation more accurately.  

For Ssb, the K3's auto notch filter knocked out the usual bevy of tuneup turkeys, while the aux. notch could knock out nearby station "crud" (above or below the passband).

For NAQP, 75-meters was its usual left coast disappointment.  By the time 75 opens to W6,
a large number of eastward stations (already reaching their 10-hour limit) shut things down by
03:00z (~11:00 on their end).

While the International Lighthouse event had its tentacles intertwined throughout the weekend, because I ran very little actual Ssb time, I missed most of those stations.  When it was all over,
only 96 QSOs made it to the SARTG log, altho enough to secure an LP 1st-place for the Left Coast.  Making only 232 QSOs in the NAQP log, WQ6X was positioned more-or-less in the middle of the 3830 LP scores.

On Sunday, tuning around the RTTY sub bands, the Rookie RTTY was all but a bust. 
Most of the stations calling CQ were NoT rookies, making them worth 0-points.
Only 2 actual rookie stations made it to the log - this happens almost EVERY rookie contest.
Wassup that people host a custom contest event and then no one plays in their event?  W-E-I-R-D.

DiD YOU work the 3-weekend radiosport contest GiGs  How many Lighthouses did YOU work?

Is WQ6X in any of YOUR Logs?

WQ6X Barely Balances another dual-OP NAQP Cw ConTesT

Thanks to summer solar storm noise, the NAQP Cw GiG is always a mixed bag. 
From one point of view the solar-WX anomalies were "minor", except that doesn't
take into account atmospherically caused noise from such things as lightning bursts
across the continent.  Nevertheless, this weekend's main goal was to replicate the dual-OP
NAQP Cw operation from the GiG in January.  ([CLICK HERE] to read the write-up on that.)

Normally NX6T runs high power (HP) in most contests, except that the NAQP contest purposely 
does not allow for a high-power category (only LP and QRP).  What NX6T has going for it in
a low power contest is WA6TQT's massive antenna farm up on the hill outside of Anza.

With its minimal Name/State exchange, I think of NAQP GiGs as the PERFECT introduction to domestic radiosport contesting.  On the other end of the spectrum is the November Sweepstakes (domestically) and the Worked All Europe (WAE) contests on the DX end of things.

NAQP Cw/Ssb is scheduled twice each year - in January and again in August.  (The NAQP RTTY GiGs materialize in early February and late July).  All events are scheduled to run during "winter propagation" conditions and then once under "summer propagation" conditions.  Frequently the difference between the two periods are dramatically different.  Just looking at the Space-WX numbers tells us a lot. (More on that later.)

WQ6X Offers ThoTs on the IARU HF Championship WeeKend

Being that the IARU is "subsidiary" to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the IARU HF Championship is a reminder that we should leverage the upcoming IARU HF Championship into an opportunity for global interconnectedness between all countries.  As I recall, there are teams competing from Ukraine and Russia and about 30+ other countries.

In brief, we could say that the IARU HF Radiosport contest is a perfectly unique 24-hour compromise between the 48-hour CQ WW and ARRL DX contests events.  Some of the differences include:

• IARU uses the IARU zones instead of the 40 CQ-Zones, states, or power levels.
• Being a 24-hour contest (instead of 48), there are no 2nd-day "Do Overs" - if we miss something, we miss it.
• The IARU championship leverages BOTH Cw and Ssb in one 24-hour period.
  Of course, one of the IARU contest challenges is which operating mode to use and when.
• Every 4-years the IARU contest coincides with the WRTC championship (the Olympics
  or World Cup of radiosport).

Because this is a worldwide
event, solar disturbances will distribute unevenly around the globe, favoring
(or disfavoring) different areas at different times. 

The REAL challenge for radio operators worldwide is navigating the geomagnetic effects by changing antenna direction(s) or making a sudden band change to leverage current ionospheric conditions.  

We often rely on reasonably consistently predictable propagation shifts to specific areas of the world at specific times - solar disturbances can either shift the shift or distort it altogether.

Running a multi-mode event offers the opportunity to leverage both Stereo-SSB as well as Stereo-CW methodologies.  Having decided to reprise the Ramona QTH again this year, the question becomes what power level (5-watts or 99-watts) to run. The influencing factors behind the decision include Propagation, Space-WX and Antenna settings.  

Even when they are available to me I don't turn on KW amplifiers when running Single-OP. 
For me, amplifiers are just one more thing that can go wrong.  At Anza, occasionally an amp has failed during an NX6T multi-OP run, requiring we switch to the backup station or revert to Low Power (LP); however, once you begin with HP, that is the classification the log will be submitted in after the contest.

Whenever possible in ARRL contests, I am always looking to be a part of setting Section and/or Division records.  In the IARU contest, in recent years, I have been a part of 5-records, with some
of them from running Single-OP of some sort.

This year, for me, plopped in the middle of Saturday morning is the first Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) Zoom training session during 16:00z to 20:30z of the IIARU contest - some screen juggling may be in order.  Thanks to a 32" monitor, the goal will be to position the VNC viewer and Zoom windows next to each other during those 4+ hours.  I guess we can call this SO2E (Single-OP 2-Events).

Prior to the contest, the 4-voice memories ion the remote K3 have been loaded, such that theoretically, we can Search & Pounce (S&P) w/o needing a microphone during the entire 24-hour contest period.

To use more than four voice memories,
I can turn on the VOX and use a locally
run copy of N1MM+ to play out local .WAV files, offering 8-to-12 additional verbal expressions.

When running Ssb, the N1MM function
keys F1 to F4 map to the M1 to M4 buttons
on the K3 radio series.  Voice memories
are recorded during a time when there is no internet jitter during the recording process.  Later, when jitter sets in, the memories will play correctly anyway.

Having a microphone connected to the radio along with a foot switch enables saying things that were not pre-recorded.  However, in general, using the voice memories most of the time reduces voice fatigue - especially near the end of the contest.

For Cw, the function key macros become a set of 12 messages that like the voice memories
will play out correctly even if there is internet jitter on my side of the connection.  Notice some
of the more unique function messages like "ROGER" and "WEIRD".  When operators do dumb
things, I salute them with the "W E I R D" key.  On Ssb, function key F-12 can play out the WEIRD.Wav file.  When asked if they got my exchange correctly, function key F9 sends: "R-R-R"

as in "Roger, Roger, Roger".  Otherwise, the necessary correction is sent and we go-round again.

With barely 13-hours remaining before contest start, it would seem that WQ6X is ready for yet another annual installment in the on-going saga of the IARU HF championship, with this year's attendant WRTC 50-team competition.

Are YOU geared up to run the IARU HF championship?

LooK for WQ6X on HF bands EVERYWHERE.

 

WQ6X WPX (Weird Prefix) ConTesT after-ThoTs After the Fact

June 1st of each contest year marks the end of the CQ WPX contest Trio (RTTY, Ssb, Cw).

As it turns out, I didn't watch the Q5 Video about the [then] upcoming WPX contest until AFTER

the contest event was well behind us.  In a way, it is preferable to have done it that way.  It was interesting to note (after the fact), the accuracy of many projections made during that 45-minute discussion.

A write-up about the contest and how it turned out has already been posted ([CLICK HERE] to read that).  I also posted some brief thoughts about WPX before the contest.  ([CLICK HERE] to read that.)

However, WPX being a truly WEIRD contest event often finds me musing over it, usually after Field Day is safely behind us.  The original goal was to put in hours for NX6T running high power at WA6TQT while leveraging the full array of stacked yagis plus TRI-Square (160) and 4-Square (80) arrays on the low bands.

Because we there was a sufficient number of operators, there was time throughout the week to put
the "rare" weird prefix "WQ6" on the air, running another QRP event from KN6NBT's Ramona QTH. 
All the above certainly happened, altho with a number of last-minute changes as the weekend progressed.

For openers, our thoughts of running as a Multi-2 operation quickly vanished when Anza STN-2 developed operational problems and needed to be put on the sideline.  This reduced us to running
as a Multi-single operation with no Multiplier station to back up the immensely frequency runs that NX6T is so well known for.

One way to streamline operations and reduce the tendency for things to go wrong is by way of a dozen robustly-defined N1MM keyboard macros.

Virtually most anything needed during a QSO exchange can be accomplished with these macro definitions.

Have you ever heard "W E I R D"
out of the noise?

NX6T began the WPX GiG with an operator switch, relegating me to run the first two hours from my Alameda office, with horror-of-horrors no Stereo-CW yet configured at that location.  Once you get hooked on the wonder of running fully functional Stereo-CW, operations without it are almost excruciatingly B-O-R-ing. I couldn't fire-up at the Concord QTH fast enough.

I usually start a contest w/high (over-inflated?) hopes, usually supported by a nice QSO run to
open that contest event.  The same thing happens when I open a contest for NX6T, as I did for 2o26.  Thanks to an amazing array or CW operators behind NX6T, we usually ride the QSO-wave thru most
of the contest unless a solar storm hits or something "breaks".

Running Single-OP as WQ6X (and QRP on top of that), it is not nearly as effortless to ride the QSO wave.  If even one extra operator steps in to bail me out, the game instantly becomes multi-OP.  Running multi-OP at QRP power in the WPX contest is prolly not a good idea - besides, there
is no such contest category in WPX.  For multi-OP stations, the definition of Low Power (LP)
is ~ 0.3 - 100 watts.

For future WQ6X Blog write-ups I researched was to look at RBN STaTs from a former time
period - in this case the may WPX contest.  I found the RBN Spot Analyzer and an RBN Mapper facility which can produce an overall map from a given contest day.

The above pictures confirm what I had already observed, which that conditions were better
(and signals more far reaching) on Saturday than on Sunday.  While this information doesn't
change the outcome, it helps me to understand how the outcome ended up the way that it did.

Overall, the 2o26 WPX CW contest run as a another dual-OP was an incredible lot of fun.

DiD YOU work the WPX CW contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wings YeT Another Weird WPX (Weird Prefix) ConTesT

 I was originally intending to entitle this Blog post:
"WQ6X Runs an organizedly dis-organized End of MaY Radiosport Weekend".

WPX Contests (esp. Cw GiGs) are by nature quite weird (yet exciting) events. 
When the choice is made to dual-OP an event like this one, the potential for operational weirdness
all but triples.  The original plan was to join up with NX6T on a multi-single run from WA6TQT's QTH in Anza, while finding time in the middle to run QRP remotely from KN6NBT's station in Ramona.

NX6T was originally considering a multi-2 HP run.  Unfortunately, not enough operators came
on board, making that idea logistically impractical.  As it turned out, weird hardware anomalies required STN-1 to takeover for STN-2 on Saturday morning.  The two stations being nearly
identical in configuration, via a shared log made that transition seamless, except for a 4-QSO numbering discrepancy that was resolved when the Cabrillo log file was created.

I ran the first two hours by way of my Alameda office.  The transition to W7AYT's QTH left
an important USB dongle hub languishing back at my office, requiring a round-trip to pick it up
and restart in Concord.  With a team of only 6 operators, expert resource juggling was an absolute requirement to maximize the performance needed over a 48-hour period.

When running QRP copy can be a bit tricky, s clear frequency (if there IS such a thing with QRP)
and calling LoTs of CQ put the WQ6X callsign on the spotting networks somewhat offsetting the QRP disadvantages.  For me, Cw contests are more enjoyable than Ssb GiGs.  While Cw QSOs require way more repeats, it could be argued a contributing factor is the fact that we endeavor to work stations that are barely S-1 or S-2 - at those signal levels, repeats are inevitable.

While running remote from my Alameda office is fun and convenient, what is missing at this location
is an installation of hardware (a pair of Autek QF-1A external filters) necessary for implementing Stereo-CW.  Fortunately, the Stereo-CW implementation at W7AYT's QTH has been fully vetted
[and] top notch.  It is AWEsome to behold a near-180-degree azimuth of signals orderly arrayed around the operating experience - a 2-dimensional "flat" jumble of callers become magically transformed into a more effective 3-D style operation.

For NX6T, DXLOG software better supports a multi-operator environment. 
Running Single-OP, I find the 12 function keys to be more easily customizable. 
Being in a somewhat "lazy" frame of mind during the weekend, thanks to a wireless
keyboard and track ball, I was able to lay out on the bed propped by pillows when running
frequencies, either as WQ6X or NX6T.  This works until some idiot moves in on the run frequency, forcing me to sit down at the radio, find a new run frequency and start over.

Success in WPX contests is a combination of Frequency Running and Search and Pounce (S&P),
which is why I prefer running Single-OP Assisted.  Running NX6T under DXLOG found the dual
bandmaps to be fully populated most of the time - the exceptions being 80/160 meters.  Thanks
to stacked yagis on 40 thru 10 meters, virtually 90% of those stations were eventually worked.

When it was all over, it would seem that BOTH WQ6X and NX6T turned in respectable scores,
altho nothing spectacular in either case.  AT the VERY least, what is important is that the NX6T
and WQ6X callsigns got plenty of callsign recognition.  

For WQ6X operations overall, the recently revamped Stereo-CW cabling seems to have held up.

DiD YOU work the 2o26 CQ WPX Cw contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

For WQ6X CW Contests are about Filling-in the GaPs

In preparation for the 2o26 WPX ("Weird Prefix") contest, looking back to the "unfinished Blog" archive, it was noticed that a Blog was started shortly after last year's Cw contest and ended up
on sideline awaiting use.  Then an irony struck me.  Let's begin with what I wrote nearly a year ago:

• Now that the WPX (Weird Prefix) Cw contest is behind us, the 1st couple of weekends
  in June slow down to a near-crawl, at least in the HF spectrum, at any rate.  Co relatively,
  Blog postings largely diminish (altho I am working on a couple of Blog entries soon to be released).  Significant contest activity resumes with the All Asian Cw contest, the weekend
  before Field Day (FD).

For 2o26, the month of May brings us 5 weekends, relegating the WPX contest to the FIFTH
weekend instead of its usual FOURTH weekend, leaving a relatively long GAP before that 5th weekend.  In general, there are 5-things we can do with that "extra time" between events.

• We can catch up on Sleep
• We can conduct hardware/software tests for the radio setup.
• We can seek smaller contests (like smaller state QSO parties) for practice.
• We can clean up the [usually] morass-mess of cabling between equipment units.
• We can listen to EU or JA contest activities happening domestically via way of SDR
  snooping-in on their activities - a "learn by listening" exercise.

While many of the in-between events are mixed-mode (Cw & Ssb), I often opt to run ONLY the CW side of the events, saving my voice and my aural-sanity as weird dialects are often even weirder when the Signal-to-Noise (SNR) increases.  To a large degree, Cw copy is immune from copy-obliteration.

Additionally, running Cw GiGs offers yet another opportunity to play with the Stereo-CW concept,
I have written so much about.  ([CLICK HERE] to see some of those Blogs)

Sometimes it seems like CW is about filling in the GAPS - then again, filling in the GAPS often
leads to better Cw contest operations in the near future.

What do YOU Do between major radiosport contest GiGs?

LeT's share ideas along these lines.

For WeeKend 4, for WQ6X it's all about speaking

In radiosport, we know at least a year in advance the upcoming date of a given radiosport
contest event - case in point, the WPX Ssb contest runs during the 4th full weekend in March.
In Toastmasters, Division-level contests are scheduled for some day/evening at some time in March.  Occasionally, those dates / times collide/intertwine.  The weekend of March 28 brought us the WPX Ssb GiG starting @5pm PDT (00:00z), with the District-57 Division-A contest commencing @12:30pm PDT Saturday afternoon.

Because the WA6TQT superstation in Anza was already reserved by K6JO and problematic
internet jitter conditions @KN6NBT (in Ramona), after the speech contest I lazily made the journey
to W7AYT's Concord QTH where a fully external-filtered FT-2000 can deliver a potent 90-watt signal into the weird antenna system languishing at the East Bay (EB) QTH.

With over 1/2 of the WPX GiG already over, setting up around 10pm (05:00z), 40-meters seemed like the obvious band to open w/Ssb operation.  

Unfortunately, the leftover shack RFI problem had yet to be resolved.  Because the Toshiba Dynadok docking port is less than a foot away from the MFJ-993b IntelliTuner, induced RF was literally taking the Dynadok unit offline.  

Putting a magnetic donut on the coax out accomplished nothing; wrapping the Dynadok USB cable around that same donut and **PooF!**

Quitting at midnight, the operating goal switched to SOU-10 - a single band entry (with a dose of 15-meters to test the 3-el yagi as a roto-dipole).  

While listening for a 10-meter opening Sunday morning, the microphone system switch box arrangement was re-cabled allowing the following inputs:

1. A $13 eBay special full frequency broadcast microphone.
2. A classic 70's Radio Shaft tape recorder stereo microphone.
3. A HEIL PRO-Set headset.
4. A generic audio-in for playing WinDoze .WAV files

If for some reason it is desirable to actually mix the microphones, a generic usb-powered
Mix unit shares a really identical footprint", using the same cable configuration.

This year's WPX Ssb contest gave us some of the highest QSO numbers EVER.

After a lunch break, the 1st QSO finally made it into the WQ6X log @19:28z.  One of the advantages
of 10-meters is that it can often be very quiet (noise wise), so much so that the band can sound DEAD.  Then, out of nowhere, a dozen stations BLARE in from South America - GO Figure.

Running as Assisted allows us to enable TeLNeT and look for stations spotted in the bandmap while looking for stations in between those spots.  The rotor turning the 10-m Long John yagi got a workout this weekend.  Being used to running a Stepp-IR @Ramona (or stacked yagis in Anza), I had to get used to actually turning the aluminum in the direction of the signals themselves.

Eventually 10-meters was worked-out as far as what I could hear. 
Thanks to the MFJ Intellituner, the 10-meter yagi tunes nicely 15-meters 

(and sometimes even 20).  After 5-QSOs it was back to 10-meters for a 

languished finish.  It would seem that WQ6X took 1st-place for W6.
(In the Division-A speech contest, Ron Fitch took 2nd-place.)

DiD YOU work the WPX Ssb contest?

How many unique prefixes made it into YOUR Log?

WQ6X Runs a Raucous BARTG RTTY Rendezvous

Prior to this weekend's annual BARTG HF RTTY contest, in checking the contest website,
the discovery was made that last year's QRP entry from Ramona resulted in a 1st-Place for
W6 and NA (North America) - who woulda thunk it could happen, considering limited resources available.  ([CLICK HERE] to read the write-up on last year's BARTG RTTY contest.)

One of the things I like about the BARTG event is its 02:00z (7pm PDT) start time.  Cobbling the proper cable configurations for RTTY is a challenge considering that each computer on the network
(2 on WinDoze-7, 1 on WinDoze-10 and 1 on WinDoze-11) each come equipped with a unique soundcard configuration.

The settled-on configuration was to run the K3/0-Mini unit from the WinDoze-7-1 laptop at my office
to open the contest.  Then later, the operation can continue on the WinDoze-7-2 laptop in Concord by transferring the settings back and forth by way of a .ADI file.  The file was made but never used - the internet at the Concord QTH was so horribly unstable that effective communication was all but impossible.  As it turned out, Concord was just a place to sleep.

This of course reiterates the one inherent weakness in running remote - poor internet
connections can undermine the best of operator intentions.  It became very clear that cobbled experimentation would be the operating backdrop for the rest of the weekend; luckily there was
36-hours left to make an attempt at surpassing last year's 1st-place win.  Unfortunately, HORRIBLE Space-WX compounded the situation.

The commute from Concord to my Alameda office is just over an hour (plus equipment packing/unpacking/setup time).  It's better to invest 90-minutes in a commute than to spend
the rest of the weekend fighting internet connectivity that might never be resolved.

In the Blogs on Stereo-RTTY, I have documented the cable configurations needed to make
RTTY work (stereo or otherwise) -([CLICK HERE] to read those write-ups.  Because there is a risk
of DC "ground loops" creeping into the audio lines, there is a judicious use of audio isolation blocks, altho they sometimes introduce an approximate 6db insertion loss.  This isa small price to pay for more-or-less "clean" audio - essential for satisfactory satisfying RTTY audio in both directions. 
To reduce receive signal levels, a USB mixer box was put in the RX audio line.

Unable to run RTTY from the Concord QTH, I was bummed by the prospect of missing out on
all the 40-meter JA multipliers.  If Saturday night is any reflection of Friday night (and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise), the flood of JA stations were all ragchewing on Ssb, not running RTTY or the RUS DX contest.

While the Russian DX contest began at 12:00z (5am PDT), I didn't connect with it until 13+ hours
into the event (01:30z).  Because the Space-WX numbers were so dismal, the idea of running QRP
was certainly not a consideration.  Running BARTG and VAQP made sense, however for RUSDX,
the power level was upped to 92-watts.  As it turns out, there were few Russian callsigns actually heard during the event and only a handful were actually seen in the bandmap.

At 01:45z, an interesting occurrence occurred when I started calling "CQ RU TEST WQ6X WQ6X"
on 7008.68.  Some IDIOT started sending "STAHLIN" after each CQ call.  Later (@02:07) on 7017.17 STAHLIN was back followed soon after with "PUTIN".  When I took the "RU" out of the CQ call, the IDIOT gave up his tirade.

Other weird things that occurred included:

• At 05:20z we had a new variation on the "A-Beacon'
• At 08:30z, 40-meters was LITTERED with JA ragchewing - they used to be dedicated contesters on 40-meters.  Now they are dedicated ragchewers.
• At 09:10z, tuning around 40-meters a numbers station was heard on 7184.11 @17-wpm sending an incrementing number followed by Question Marks.
  EX: 9912XX??8????.  Later at 13:30z the station was weaker sending 9916XX??8????
  The direction seemed to be Northwest from Anza (i.e. Asia)
• N7ESU works me and then moves up 1KC to call CQ - HuH?  The WHOLE band is open, why right next door?
  
• N6AR/4 worked me and then moved DOWN 1KC to call CQ.  REALLY?  WTF?!

Sundays in radiosport contesting are often
a mixed bag - they either allow us to "catch up"/pick-up on where we left off, or they can
turn out to be dismal DuDs, this one due to
the ongoing onslaught of geomagnetic noise.  

With WQ6X as an often-desirable callsign
to work, I often spend a not-insignificant amount of time calling CQ on Sunday afternoons.  

While there is often a dearth of responses to those calls, what else do we have going?

While we had until 02:00z to accomplish
(if you will) self-redemption, that mostly accomplished nothing other than to prolong
the agony.

The contest weekend may have ended Sunday evening however, the funky Space-WX
conditions were with us for another 36+ hours.

When it was all over, WQ6X managed just under 100 RTTY QSOs - enough to make a 2nd-place showing in this classic RTTY event.

DiD YOU work the plethora of March 14th weekend radiosport contests?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wangles 2 Speech & 5 Radiosport ConTesTs

For 2o26, the 2nd weekend in March brought us its near-annual cluster of early March radiosport
contests, front-ended this year by a Toastmasters Alameda Area Speech and Table Topic contest. 
I was representing my club - the Alameda Tongue Twisters (A-T-T).

Prior to the drive to Union City Public Library, I pointed the 10-meter yagi-stacks to ~120-degrees
(S. America) and began operations in the SA-10 South American 10-meter contest.  To make things
easier, the morning run was made on Cw.  Running QRP, the yagi-stacks were rotated between 105
and 141 degrees, depending on whether the stations in Argentina (LT/LU) @141-degrees or Curacao (PJ2) @104-degrees.

For the International Speech contest event, I had been rehearsing delivery all week up until Friday evening.  As I point out in the 6 Ps of contesting ([CLICK HERE] to review that), successfully contesting involves: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

By noontime, Toastmasters contest results found me with a 2nd-place in the Table Topics contest
and a 1st-Place in the International Speech contest. (In 2-weeks I will compete at the Division-level
for the speech contest to be held in Fremont California.)

After the Toastmasters GiG I returned to my office to add Ssb QSOs to the SA-10 contest log before the band dropped out (in my mind) prematurely.  At that point the tripe was made to W7AYT's QTH to continue the remote run, taking advantage of all the audio filters enabling Stereo-Cw and Stereo-Ssb operation.

By the time things were ready to go in Concord,
10-meters had already closed for the day. 
For the West coast that was the end of the SA-10 contest (which officially ended @ 12;00z - 5am Sunday).  With pre-setup for RTTY, I missed
out on the 4-hour RTTY Sprint contest GiG. 
Focusing on the state QSO parties eventually
settling in one the Stew Perry (SP-160) contest.

The 160-meter TRI-Square wire array @WA6TQT recently had the broken phasing cables repaired
with the hope of returning "normal" operation(s)
to the "Top Band" activities in Anza. 

Until the actual performance is confirmed, the decision was to forgo running QRP and run ~90-watts for this GiG.  What is important is simply being there and submitting a log to enable further WQ6X callsign recognition.

Sunday morning, we got a new GiG - the Wisconsin QSO Party (WIQP).  Unfortunately, similar to the IDQP and OKQP GiGs this year, turnout was almost non-existent - Bummer Dewd.  Bottomline with all of these QSO parties, at least I can say that I played in their event.

What about YOU?

DiD YOU play in any of the above events?

Is WQ6X in YOUR Log?

SSB in Radiosport: LEARNING the ART of HoW to Listen

It is no secret that in radiosport I prefer CW contests 1st, RTTY contests 2nd and Ssb contests
a distant 3rd.  I have previously written about what makes Cw contests my favorite ([CLICK HERE]
to read about this).  With CW/RTTY contests, speaking dialects are NoT a problem - we use limited variations on English to get the message thru.  (The use of Q-Codes makes a HUGE difference.)

While it is true that Crappy Cw and off-frequency RTTY signals can make for tricky copy, RTTY signals can be tuned in using the R-I-T (Clarifier) control, and we can ask for repeats on Cw until
we get it right.  With Ssb (voice), in DX contests, repeats are all too often necessary. 
As I mentioned in the write-up on the ARRL DX Ssb contest ([CLICK HERE] to read that),

Non-English-speaking stations often think they heard me say:

• WQ4X - Whiskey Quebec Four Xray - HuH? - How does SIX become FOUR?
• Whiskey Quebec Six Foxtrot - HuH? - How does XRAY become FOXTROT?

I would then say "California - Charlie Alpha" - transl. "Charlie Alpha" is in the SIXTH (6th)
call area.  In retrospect, I should have used several of the pre-recorded .WAV files to say
my callsign in four different ways. As they say - maybe next time.

Things to do for an improved Ssb radiosport operating experience include:
For RECEIVE

• Leverage the filter systems built-in to the radio itself.
  Example: the FT-1000mp and FT-2000 transceivers I use are equipped with
  some form of a CONTOUR facility (the FT-2000 Contour control is linearly-variable)
  
  
  
  
• Implement external audio filters to contour the audio passband to improve the listening experience.
• I utilize a pair of audio mixers:
  - A USB powered unit for processing 1/8" cables to blend the input.
  - A Rockville 4-channel stereo unit supporting RCA cables.
  
  
  
• The Rockville unit combines audio from a number of different filter units:
  - A pair of Autek QF-1a units to run Stereo-Cw and Stereo-RTTY
  These filters are front ended by a Radio Shaft 16-band Stereo Equalizer
  - A pair of MFJ 752 "Signal Enhancer" units for Stereo-Ssb
  
  
  
• An MFJ-783 Super DSP filter to supplement Ssb audio in the left channel.
• A JPS NIR-10 cascaded into an NIR-12 to supplement filtering in the right channel.

For many operators the above layout may seem daunting.  In fact, once a "sweet spot" is found,
these settings can then be left for future operations.  Altho I don't use one, you might find it useful
to create an audio filter "cheat sheet" to record the ideal settings for each approach used, similar to the way we do with manually adjusted antenna tuners.

I am a hopeless knob twiddler, living under the probably delusional illusion that proper knob
twiddling can make a hopelessly unreadable signal to become readable.

It's one thing to improve Ssb reception to reduce the number of repeats.  However, if the quality
of your Ssb audio is questionable, repeats will still be necessary.  Once we have the receive-side of the equation worked out, next up is to optimize the transmit side of the operation; first mic filter wise, followed by perfecting how we actually use the hardwire to get our vocal communication thru.

The choice of microphone(s) makes all the difference.  Using a simply 4-port switch box
the following can be switched into the transmit audio line:

• A $13 Ebay-special full frequency microphone
• A Heil PRO-set
• A Radio Shaft stereo microphone (intended for reel-to-reel tape recorders)
• RTTY transmit audio from the laptop sound card

While many of the newer design transceivers come equipped with (usually menu driven) equalizer capabilities, we can front-end older transmitters and transceivers with equalizers similar (if not identical) to the ones we use on receive.  Different microphones offer different frequency response curves and output levels; a stereo equalizer can be set for two different microphones (or audio sources).

Using an audio switch box or audio mixing unit to select the microphone appropriate to the operation at that time (Ex: ragchewing, net control work or contest running).  

Of course, the efficacy of proper equalization can easily be undermined by having the mic gain and/or speech processor settings set exceedingly high.

To gain certainty on how our transmit audio sounds, listen to the audio via
the MONI circuit built-in to many transceivers. 

However, if "distortion products" enter the PA amp after the Moni circuits, the only accurate way
 to know that is an external receiver (w/the RF gain turned down to prevent front-end overload distortion). 

Another approach is to listen to your signal by way of a webSDR that can hear the signal at a decent level.  Many SDR's sport "waterfall" spectrum displays offering a visual representation of signal quality.  Additionally, many SDRs support signal recording for replay and analysis later.

The final step in perfecting Ssb audio is to rehearse/practice what you will be saying in advance of
the contest event.  While you're at it, recording .WAV/.MP3 files will not only save your voice later,
it will capture and repeat perfect pronunciation (when you eventually do get it right).

As you can see, successful listening isn't JUST about listening - there are many factors involved.

Do YOU run Ssb radiosport contests?

What do YOU use to improve audio continuity?