WQ6X operates 2014 JIDX Cw solo from SF East Bay

Work commitments kept me from driving to Fallbrook to join NX6T's 1st-place multi-2 operation for 2014's JIDX 2014 GiG, so, at the last minute I again reserved the W6J callsign and set up a portable GiG from Concord, Ca. - in the SF east bay section - running an ICOM 7000 into an HF2-V vertical, tuned for all bands.

Because 20-meter activity here was poor and I missed the only 15-meter opening (15 was dead by 02:00z), I decided to follow last year's lead and submit the log as a Single-band 40-meter entry - 71 QSOs in 31 prefectures (4 more QSOs than 2013).  Of course, I submitted the log with all 97 QSOs (from 80,40,20 & 10) to satisfy the JARL's log-checking software.

Thus far, according to the 3830 Scores website, I am the only single-band-40 low power entry - we shall see.  Then again, last year my submission to 3830 website was the only one for 40-Lp, yet I actually placed 3rd - a reminder that entries on the 3830 scores website are only rumors.

Thanks to this weekend's mediocre SFI of 136 and K-Index of 5, the atmospheric noise was HORRENDOUS - often S-9.  Two days after the contest, the SFI is back up to 160 and a K-Index of 1 - Go Figure.

Because noise is vertically-polarized, running a vertical antenna didn't help matters much but it was all I had available for this location; the numerous trees in the area were not on the QTH's property and were inaccessible for hanging my 8JK dual-Sloper arrangement.

Even though I thought the use of the 1x1 callsign would be an obvious JIDX tribute, I was amazed by how many stations had trouble with the W6J callsign this year (way more than last year).  Then, because the S/N ratio was so poor, stations would immediately move on and start calling CQ; often not working anyone for several minutes, while I continued to call them.  The bottom-line is it PAYs to be patient and work the stations that are calling you; no matter how difficult it may seem.

I originally was to run the N1MM logger on an old Windoze XP system, but RFI coming thru the keyboard (even with magnetic donuts) made XP run weird.  Instead, I switched to running WINTEST on an RFI free Windoze 7 computer.  I lost some serious operating opportunities due to logging software glitches.

After my work commitments on Saturday I arrived in time for a 15-m & 10-m opening.  I worked all I could find on 10-meters and then switched to 15-m to discover that the antenna had a make/break connection which only manifest on 15-meters.  After 40-minutes of antenna futzing I resolved the antenna problem just in time for 15-meters to drop out at 02:00z (In recent weeks, 15-m has been staying open until 04:30z).  Results?  A QSO count of 0 for 15-meters.  After the 15-meter mishap, because of the weak signals and the noise, Saturday evening (02:00z to nearly 07:00z) yielded no stations on 20 meters; another reason to submit the SOSB-40L score.

Repeatedly, my biggest complaint about JIDX  again this year is the POOR turnout on the part of the Japanese stations themselves.  (I have the same complaint with the All Asian Contest.)  To makeup for that dearth, I spent a lot of time calling CQ JA, when in fact there should have been 2x to 3x the number of search and pounce (S&P) opportunities available to me.  While I don't mind running a frequency, technically, for JIDX I should not have to. 

Another complaint is that prefectures 48, 49 & 50 are never active during JIDX, altho this year I did work #48.  How can we work all prefectures if 49 & 50 are never active.  In my mind, that is a glaring Ooooopppppssss.

I am also surprised by the number of JA stations that don't know what prefecture (by prefecture # - 1 to 50) they are operating out of.  Asking for their JCC # often solicits the needed information; if you know how to convert  that number into a prefecture.

To keep track of prefectures by band, some years ago I devised an APP known as the WQ6X Prefecture Checker.  If there is enough interest in this product I may well release a freeware version of the software.

Did you play in this year's JIDX Cw contest?
How did it go? 
Did you experience significant atmospheric-QRN?

Or, were you immune from it.

WQ6X joins the crew @ NX6T for WPX-SSB 2014

This last weekend found me joining 13 other operators as team NX6T operating from the "NashVille" QTH in Fallbrook,Ca.  Running as a Multi-2, we managed 3,745 QSOs w/1198 prefixes for a score of over 10,500,000 points.  My part in this operation was 565+ QSOs on all 6 bands (160 - 10 meters).  Based on initial scores posted to the 3830 Scores website it would seem that we took 25th place worldwide and 5th place for North America in the Multi-2 category.

For the contest weekend the SFI dropped to 142 while the K-Index eventually creeped to "3" by Sunday morning producing a "popping" static noise on 10 meters. Ironically NX6T's 10-meter operations resulted in our highest band QSO total.  Reports I have read seem to agree that on the high bands propagation was quite good; especially to Europe.

At NX6T we ran the usual pair of K3's and Acom 2000 amplifiers into a pair of Stepp-IR & 40-M yagis @ 40' & 70' respectively.  An altitude of 900'+ to begin with made things even better.  We encountered the usual noise source(s) (discovered when rotating the antennas towards NNE).  Luckily, for 160 & 75 meters we could null some of the noise with a rotatable loop antenna.
There were a not insignificant number of 1st-time participants this weekend; many of them offering up a unique (aka weird) prefix (i.e. a new multiplier); proof once again that patient mentoring of novice operators can reap everyone worthwhile dividends.

True to each successive WPX event, the number of "weird prefixes" continues to increase; esp. from the "European corridor" - makes me wonder what the 2014 WPX Cw event will bring us during Memorial day weekend.  I've concluded that one of the factors contributing to our large number of multipliers is due largely in part to our multiplier-mascot.  I caught a picture of our mascot near the end of the contest.

This WPX contest found 160 & 75 meters lacking in contest activity, altho 40 meters produced surprising activity; esp. from Asia & Oceania.  Now, if we could experience this kind of participation in the JIDX and all Asian Dx contests, I would be VERY happy.

Overall, this is the best WPX Ssb event I've ever participated in; as well as our best effort as team NX6T.  While we didn't produce a top-10 high score, overall, we experienced very few equipment/operator/operational problems; proof that we are learning from our mistakes in contest operations.

Did you work NX6T this last weekend?
We gave you 6 bands of opportunities.

N6GEO & WQ6X do NAQP RTTY as Multi-2

February 22 brought us the winter 2004 NAQP RTTY Contest. I missed the other NAQP GiGs so with NAQP RTTY I easily made up for that. N6GEO and I teamed up as a Multi-2 from his Brentwood Ca. QTH.

N6GEO

<-------------------->

WQ6X

---

We used the same Flex-1500 + Tokyo HyPower amplifier pairs that we ran on St. Croix last month as WP2/WQ6X in the RTTY Roundup (RU).  Each pair was run into a 500-w amp to run more "coolly" at just 100 watts - the NAQP power limit.  We ran these configurations into a multiplexed TH3-jr about 7mh and a ground mounted 6-BTV vertical with a blown 40-meter trap.

This event challenged us with a number of equipment glitches, beginning with a 15-meter bandpass filter failure.  The battery operated MA-500 amplifier developed battery problems early on requiring that we power it off during charging, running the HL-45b at about 28 watts.  Likewise, the other 500 watt amp kept overheating and shutting down requiring power off until cool.  The HL-50 could be safely coaxed to 35 watts during those times.  Even a pair of external fans didn't help much.  I guess RTTY really DOES tax an amplifier; even one running at < 20% capacity.

MFJ Loop & Controller

Not having 40-meters on the 6-BTV hurt us greatly until I remembered that the N6GEO QTH sports an MFJ Hi-Q tunable loop antenna on the roof.  Because it is so Hi-Q the non-tune bandwidth is about 15kc; however it is high-gain in that bandwidth.  Altho the QTH is in an antenna restricted area, most people think the MFJ loop is for some sort of satellite dish access.  I quickly learned the art of calling a station while simultaneously tuning the antenna to resonance.  In less than an hour I made 28 QSO's in 17 sections, as far off as Ontario, New York & Florida - not bad for a stumpy loop.

While the two stations were networked, STN#2 started off signing as WQ6X (instead of N6GEO); a leftover from our WP2/WQ6X operation on St. Croix.   Because we normally use my callsign, I didn't realize we were running as N6GEO until 28 10-meter QSOs were made.

The solution to this problem was to select out the 28 WQ6X QSOs and submit them as a single-OP log entry.  The rest of the log was submitted as N6GEO, satisfying all contest requirements.  In the end, as N6GEO we made 382 QSOs with 147 multipliers, slightly over a 2:1 ratio - not bad for all our trouble.
According to the 3830Scores website we made it to 8th place in the Multi-2 category.

Integrated N1MM & PowerSDR software screens

George and I learned a lot from this event.  Our quick response to the problems we encountered kept us in the contest down to the last 30-seconds.  Because we were using the PowerSDR waterfall displays, it was amazing to watch a screen full of waterfalls disappear at 06:00z, leaving a handful of PSK and JT-65 signals remaining.





Now that we know how to do this correctly, we will be ready for the August
[2014] NAQP RTTY contest - bet on it.

Did you play in the NAQP RTTY?

Is N6GEO in your log?

WQ6X Joins operations @ W1AW/6

Because I usually join team NX6T for ARRL Dx Cw, 2014 was no different; except, that it was COMPLETELY different.  Operators at NX6T's Fallbrook location took part in operating as W1AW/6
in the Southern California participation of W1AW's centennial celebration.  http://www.SoCalContestClub.Org/Centennial.php

As you can see, different stations/operators volunteered to put W1AW/6 on the air for six days. 
At NX6T, operators took on a variety of mode-shifts on Cw, SSB & RTTY.  For the ARRL Dx Cw
event, we were assigned 15-meter Cw for the entire contest period.  Other locations were given
other bands.  For that reason, W1AW/6's ARRL Dx entry will be classified as a checklog.  All contacts with W1AW/6 during the contest WILL count towards DXCC and centennial celebration logs, only
the W1AW/6 log "score" will not qualify for any awards, which is a shame as I put on my best ever
15-meter operation for any contest I've ever done.

In addition to 15-Cw, we were given the 80-meter SSB & RTTY evening timeslots on Friday and Saturday.  I was originally slated as a backup operator.  However, some schedule changes found
me running most of the 15-meter operation (making 597 QSOs out of the 862) and making appearances on 80-meter RTTY and then SSB after 15-meters closed down for the day.

Amazingly, on Saturday evening, I was able to run 15-Cw until 05:30z.  There were still openings to Oceania & Asia but I had worked all the stations that were on, so I shutdown 15 and moved to 80/75.  Because the solar flux was so high propagation was overall quite good until early Sunday afternoon when the geomagnetic storm noise moved in.

While I was quite busy operating, I also found time to put up a webpage about the W1AW/6 operations from Fallbrook (http://WQ6X.Info/W1AW/6/), complete with pictures & links to several YouTube videos made during the weekend.

Because there are multiple W1AW portable operations going on around the country (I've personally worked W1AW/2, W1AW/4, W1AW/5 & W1AW/6), they have changed the callsign in Newington to W100AW.

W1AW and W100AW are a testament to the fact that amateur radio has an incredibly colorful history.  Consider the technological advances amateur radio has been a part of in the last 100 years.
What advances can we look forward to in the NEXT hundred years?

Have you worked the various flavors of W1AW?  They're FREE for the taking.

Some additional Tips on working DX stations.

What follows are some addition thoughts that crossed my consciousness after last nite's restful sleep in the patio hammock. After looking at the operational summary stats from my non-contest operations a number of things come to mind. 

In the first installment of these musings (http://wq6x.blogspot.com/2014/01/wq6xs-tips-on-how-to-work-dx-stations.html), I described what it is like for a "beginner" (me) to be on the DX-station end of a pile-up.  
Since publishing that blog entry I received a reply from Valentin (YO6DDF) :
"Thanks Ron,I have read your blog and also have shared on FB for the YO group. 73&DX's Val,YO6DDF.
Evidently my comments have made the rounds.  Beginning Sunday nite I noticed that the European stations seem to be less frantic and more orderly.  Last night I was able to run a pileup on 160 meters for nearly an hour before a pushy Italian (an IW6 call) drove me to leave 160-cw and make a final run on 80-cw before I shut things down at 2,004 non-contest QSOs.  That IW6 is probably STILL swearing about me.
That stations were more orderly easily increased my hourly QSO rate by 25%.  Therefore, approximately 25% MORE stations got to make contact with St. Croix.  Do you SEE how that works?

Because I have been on the low power end of looking for DX stations, I know what it is like struggling to be heard through a morass of voices or cw tones, as a DX station I have endeavored to give everyone a chance; case in point being 10-meter Ssb yesterday afternoon.  In a couple of hours I managed nearly 160 QSOs.  During that time I often asked people to standby so I could listen for QRP stations, mobile stations, VE stations and even Africa.  When I put in my 5th call for Africa, HZ1AB (Saudi Arabia) asked if he would count as Africa - another country for the the log, NICE!

On 10-meters, I was amazed by how many QRP, mobile, or QRP-mobile stations had incredibly strong signals when no one else was walking over the top of them.  
This is proof you don't need power on 10-meters.  One guy in Virginia was S9+ with only 10 watts and a dipole 10 feet above ground.

While a lot of people probably hated it, when the pileups got too thick I would have to take it by call area #'s.  At one point I got creative and asked for stations with some letter in the callsign: "Anybody with an "X" in the call?", "Anybody with a "Q" in the call?", "Anybody with a "K" in the call?", etc.

Probably the part of Ssb operation I disliked the most was hearing 500 different explanations of how COLD it is.  One station in Wisconsin told me it was -40.  I reminded him that we had 85 degrees on Tuesday, making a net difference of 120 degrees, to which he replied "that is just WRONG!".

During operations here on St. Croix, I gave REAL signal reports and would ask EVERYONE to give me their name for the log.  Names make it more enjoyably personal.  Real signal reports allow BOTH sides of the QSO to assess the propagation path between the two locations.  While taking the time to do this may have "slowed things down", as we know, it's QUALITY of communication, not rapidity of communication that makes the difference.
The difference is QUALITY.  Quality is one of the premises that brought me here and Quality is what I leave with.

A number of stations worked me on BOTH Cw and Ssb on multiple bands (the top station worked me on 8 band-modes).  Working stations on multiple bands and modes is one of the reasons I spent time figuring out the amplifier and antenna arrangement.  

While I could easily have run low power  or even QRP, to give more stations a shot at working St. Croix I ran the Alpha 89 amplifier to around 800 - 1,000 watts (except on 30-meter Cw, of course).

I made a number of "bonus" contacts wuth stations here in the Caribbean, including a sked on 75-meters with KV4CF at the other end of the Island.

Did you manage to put WQ6X/WP2 or N6GEO/NP2 in your log?
If not, you missed out.

WQ6X & N6GEO Win the RTTY RU Contest as WQ6X/WP2

This is the current KP2M location

Well.... the purpose of George (N6GEO) and I coming to St. Croix has officially been met.  Less than 2 hours ago the 2014 ARRL RTTY Round came to an end; altho ironically, there were still stations handing out RTTY-RU exchanges a good 5 minutes after the contest was officially over.  Because we were running the PowerSDR software to control the FLEX-1500 radios, it was interesting to watch the "waterfall" display at 23:59:30 FULL of signals slowly..... fade..... away...... until the above mentioned stations were all that was left; which is why they stood out as much as they did.

WQ6X from above

N6GEO running 10-Meters for 2 hours

As a team, George and I amassed 1,094 QSOs w/110 multipliers - all states except North Dakota, along with over 50 countries in the log - 1/2 DXCC.  With all of the contacts I have been making outside the contest period, I easily have WAS (Worked all States), WAC (Worked All Continents) & most likely DXCC (100+ countries).  For me, the curiousity is how many bands I have managed WAS on from the KP2M QTH.  WAC on all bands is harder here because we have not heard many stations from Oceana; altho this morning I heard George working a VK6 (Austrailia) on 20 meter Ssb - good show mate!  (Note:  On Monday K3TN shared his experience of working Asia from this location.  His recommendation is to point the yagi south of Asia more towards the equator to create a zig-zag bounce into Asia.  I'm gonna try that.)

While we both bring different assets to our contest activities, the use of SDR radios to run a Rtty contest was completely George's idea, which made complete sense to me from the day he mentioned the idea.  Using software defined radios allows Rtty operators to completely leverage the many advantages that operating Rtty has.  Altho we encountered a number of "blue screens" (the worst was when Windoze crashed JUST as I was about to click on the ONLY Vermont station in the contest), overall everything performed in tandem with no glarring "Ooooooooopppssss" except for not packing an amplifier control cable for the secondary FLEX-1500.

Operationally, we ran the 5 watts from the main Flex-1500 radio into an intermediate Tokyo
HyPower HL-45b amp giving enough driving power to push an Alpha 89 amplifier
(capable of 1.5kw+) to a whopping 149.49 watts keeping us under the 150-watt limit for the low power contest category.  As it turns out, Rtty operations don't really need a lot of power to effortlessly communicate world wide; demonstrated by the 200+ QSOs George pulled off in 2 hours on 10-meters.

Running N1MM for contest logging, the keyboard macros allowed us to pick off
stations with rapid ease.  When the operator is in synch with running a frequency, the GRAB button & F11-Now key can maximize efficiency at "cruising-attitude".  In several cases we managed to keep a line of stations going for 20 minutes or more. Unfortunately,because of band-crowding, stations on either side of our operating frequency would eventually squeeeeeeeze us out.

Speaking of crowded bands, only in Rtty contests, do stations move to higher and
higher spots in a band, virtually up to the end of their corresponding operating segments.  On 20-meters we were working stations as high as 14.132; on 15-meters, as high as 21.145.  The spectrum above 14.1 & 21.1 doesn't get enough use, so for contest periods this is simply maximizing an available resource.  On 40 meters where 7.075 - 7.100 is also shared with Ssb stations in global Regions 1 & 3, the only way to go is DOWN - into the Cw section - in counter-balance to the fact that Cw contests expand UP the band squishing Rtty operations against the 7.100 "wall".

Overall, the 2014 RTTY RU was an AWEsome experience altho I would not mind having
another 18 hours of operating time (like CQ WW RTTY) and the ability to run as a Multi-2.
As Multi-2 we could have REALLY leveraged the KP2M station location. 
Maybe one day the ARRL contest guys will finally add Multi-2 to their contests. 
Until then we simply need to be creative in how we leverage our OP time.

Did you work the RTTY RU contest?
If so, did you snag WP2/WQ6X?

WQ6X's Tips on how to work DX Stations

This is the 2nd installment of my writeup from operations here at St. Croix.
As it turns out running pileups is quite a chore because EVERYBODY wants to make a contact.  However in your haste to make contact with a somewhat sought-after station, it is real easy to ignore proper operating protocols, so I would like to offer you a few tips that will get you contacts with WQ6X/WP2 more quickly and painlessly, as well as just about any DX station.  BTW, you should know, these ideas have only been around for 80 or 90 years, so I would think by now they would be common sense.

1. Tip #1) LISTEN before you transmit.  I cannot stress that enough.  This evening the stations were so out of control I had to take things by call areas.  So, when I say "8 only", that means the 8th call area ONLY!  If you have a "3" in your callsign or a "1" in your callsign you are WASTING YOUR TIME calling me because I will be ignoring you.  If ten people call me who are not 8's then I cannot hear a legitimate 8 station so 1 - 2 minutes of time is wasted.  In those 2 minutes I could have worked several "8" stations and then moved on to the next call area.  So, when you call out of turn you waste EVERYBODY'S time.
   
2. TIP #2) LISTEN FIRST! .  When I send "QRX" that means EVERYBODY should stop sending (I.E. STFU!).  If I have to send QRX 10 times in a row before everybody stops then we have wasted 30 - 40  seconds.
   
3. Tip #3) LISTEN FIRST!  If I send "SP8XYZ only" then do not send me your callsign unless you are SP8XYZ - I ONLY want to hear SP8XYZ.
   
4. Tip #4) When I am listening to a station come back to me do NOT jump in and ask me for my callsign.  When you ask that you may obliterate a weak station I am attempting to copy.  The MAIN reason you can't figure out my callsign is because everybody is sending on top of me.  Has it ever occurred to you that if you are sending at the same time I am, two things happen:
   #1 - I can't hear you.
   #2 - no one else can hear me because you are sending on top of me and may be louder than I am.
   
5. Tip #5) If you continuously violate guidelines #1 to #4 eventually you will piss me off and I will get tired and do what I have done the last 3 nights - I will abruptly QRT.  So guess whut?  You STILL don't get to work me.  
   
   If you want your chance to work a DX station, you need to "get in line", be courteous and patient.  All too often we CAN hear you, but when you call out of turn, to be fair to others we will ignore you and do our best to work those who are more courteous.
   
6. Tip #6) LISTEN (are you getting how important it is to listen?)  Friday on 15-meter Ssb I worked 190 stations in 2 hours, and you know what?  They were courteous, listened to and followed my instructions - and guess what?  It worked!!  We all had a fun time.  Why?  Because they listened.  When I asked if there are any QRP stations, the non-QRP stations (the 99%) kept their mouth shut and let me give the weak QRP stations a chance.  When I called for mobile stations, only mobile stations answered up.  As it turns out, nearly everybody who wanted to work me got their chance quickly and effortlessly.  The same thing happend on 160 meters and 80 meters this evening.  But as soon as I get on 40-meters - Ssb or CW - stations (in all honesty MOSTLY Europeans) get PUSHY & RUDE, which RUINS it for EVERYBODY.
   
7. TIP #7)  If I didn't work you then you are NOT in the log.  So if you send me a QSL card and I see you are not in the log, I will tear up your card and you will have wasted your card and your stamp.

I know you want to add St. Croix to your DXCC list, but please understand that the way people get the DXCC award is to EARN IT. You earn DXCC by legitimately working 100+ countries.  You do that by LISTENING before you transmit; then transmit at the PROPER TIME.  If you are not sure if you should transmit, then you probably should not.  Instead you should listen until you are SURE it is YOUR TURN to transmit.
 
It really IS THAT EASY - listen before you transmit.  Before you know it, you will have that DXCC award, with not only 100 countries, but 200+ or even 300.  However you cant get that If you don't learn how to LISTEN BEFORE YOU TRANSMIT.

Can I make this any more easy to understand?
If so please let me know how and I will attempt to simplify the above tips even further.

WQ6X/WP2 & N6GEO/NP2 drop anchor on ST-Croix. in the Caribbean

WQ6X/WP2 & N6GEO/NP2 are currently operating from the KP2M location on the Caribbean island of St. Croix (CQ Zone 8), ostensibly for the RTTY RU contest this coming weekend, but also to put the Virgin Islands on the air before & after the contest.  George is focusing his efforts on PSK31 and RTTY operation while I focus on running pileups on SSB & Cw from 160 to 10 meters on SSB & Cw.  Thus far in 24 hours I have passed the 500 QSO mark - not bad for an ad hoc setup. 
I found a brief opening on 160 meter Cw last night and managed to snag 10 stations.  Look for me more on 160 Ssb & Cw in the coming week.

Because this blog exists to give you my thoughts/feelings/emotions regarding operating, I would like to make a few comments about what it is like to be a sought after DX station.

The FT-1000mp gives me a lot of operating options, which are needed to successfully pull off such an operation.  I am amazed by how many stations (esp. on SSB) who are off frequency and need to be tuned in. How can they even understand me when they are that far off frequency?

I am also surprised by the number of stations who cannot follow directions.  Sometimes the pileups are so fierce that I have had to take it by call areas.  I call for area "1" and get obliterated by stations from other call areas.  My solution is to simply repeat my instructions and IGNORE the stations who don't listen and/or follow instructions.  It got so bad at 07:00z that I finally went QRT and was amazed by how PROUD many U.S. stations were that they chased me off. Remember folks, the most IMPORTANT operating tip is COURTESY. 
When you call out of turn you can obliterate the stations who are legitimately trying to get thru.

Also, while running a frequency I have been taking time to listen especially for mobiles and low-power (QRP) stations, because they deserve a break too.  The best QRP signal today was an S-9 1 watt signal on 10-meter Ssb from Maryland; proof that you don't need power on 10-meters to work the world.

Because I detest DX-peditions who only give out 5-9 or 599, I endeavor to give out REAL signal reports and exchange operator names for my log to make it more personal.

I will have more to say about our operation here, but for now, this is to let you know that St. Croix is radio-active.  My goal is to get WAS & WAC on all bands and as close to DXCC on as many bands as possible.

When we are finished here I will be uploading the WP2/WQ6X log (as well as the RTTY RU log) to the LOTW so y'all can get DXCC credit for our operations here.

Have you worked WQ6X or N6GEO on St. Croix?
There is still plenty of time.

WQ6X & N6GEO join up for 2013 ARRL 10-Meter contest

This last weekend wrapped up the 2013 radiosport season by way of the ARRL 10-Meter contest.  This was one of the most active 10-meter contests I have encountered in years; perhaps ever!  There were so many CW stations that they took over the 28.065 - 28.100 RTTY/Data region, extending to as high as 28.135.  SSB activity pushed up as high as 28.700.
After a false start on Friday evening (N1MM software settings got munged from the W.W. Dx contest) we got things in gear and found our 10-meter rhythm.

Using my WQ6X callsign, N6GEO and I operated a FLEX-1000 SDR radio into a cascade of 3 amplifiers: a 5-watt amplifier (boosting the Flex-1000's 1-watt) and a Tokyo Hy-Power  HL-50 (for 50-watts) ending up into an MA-500 amplifier, all to eventually give us 140 watts for the M/S LP category.   Once again we ran all this power into a TH-3 jr. atop  a 22' crank-up military mast.
  
Because the Flex-1000 is early SDR technology, all manner of things can go wrong, and many of them did this weekend.  For openers N1MM all of a sudden could not talk to the SDR radio at the start of the contest.  Once we got things resolved I was only able to snag 24 contacts (22 on Cw) before the band finally faded out to the depths of the south Pacific.  Luckily, 10-meters was open and active both Saturday & Sunday morning; altho the opening to Europe was stronger and longer lasting on Saturday than on Sunday.

Because we were using SDR technology, it made sense that we pair it up with a CW Skimmer, enabling us to pick off CW multipliers more easily.  Skimmer is essentially worthless on SSB so we had to remember to turn it off, saving CPU power for the SDR.

Operationally, a number of things surprised me this weekend.  For example, many times when running a pileup several stations would call.  After spending 10 - 15 seconds to work the first station, the other stations would disappear.  Why call me in the 1st place if you're not going to stick around for the contact?

Because of its early SDR design the FLEX-1000 has been shown to demonstrate audio latency problems.  Because of that, the 1st letter of callsigns (on BOTH Cw & Ssb) was often chopped, requiring several repeats.  On ssb I would tell people they are "too quick for my vox", and yet even then, they could not wait an extra 1-second before coming back to me.

Similar to 20-meters where we have a beacon network at 14.100, on 10 meters we have a series of beacons in the 28.280 - 29-300 spectrum.  I often heard Kw-level stations near the 28.3 bottom of the phone band.  We have 400+ khz of ssb spectrum on 10-meters, why do we need to cram stations in the bottom 10-khz?  Beacons serve a useful purpose, IF they can be heard.

This weekend was proof of what can be accomplished on 10-meters if we only give things a chance.  Friday evening the band remained open until 8-pm local time.  Both mornings I was surprised to find the band well open at 7-am local time, meaning that I should have started both days a 6-am.  Oh well.... next year. 

Unfortunately, a year from now sunspot cycle 24 could be near the end.  This last weekend we were fortunate to be in the well into what seems to be a double sunspot peak with the flux around 162 and very quiet A/K Indexes.  Next year the SFI could be back to sub-100 status.  Then again, we may well be amidst a unique triple-peak phenomenon. 

So, from now until next December give 10-meters all the attention you can muster during radiosport events.  Our lucky break won't last forever.