WQ6X Wangles a Wild 7 (make that 6) Contest Weekend

While wrapping things up at my office in Alameda, I took a look at the WA7BNM Contest Calendar and noticed that there are seven (7) radiosport contest GiGs happening this weekend, beginning with the SA-10 contest, the SP-160 GiG, the Tesla Memorial Cw contest, and the 4-hour NA Sprint RTTY GiG; along with OKQP, IDQP and WIQP state QSO parties.  wOw!

Also on the calendar was the YB Dx RTTY contest.  Every year, I look for it and can't find it. 
Maybe it's like Sweepstakes for Indonesians - a domestic (and only domestically heard) contest event.  The same thing happened with the Tesla Memorial contest.  No one ever seems to show
up for the Tesla GiG. Last year, WQ6X actually put a [shocking] 15 QSOs in the log for that event.

On Tuesday (Mar 8) I whimsically pieced together a plan for how this last weekend should, radiosport-wise.  While the main contest elements were present, a number of external factors "conspired" to give me an intellectually - challenged radiosport workout.  For openers, littered throughout the weekend were a number of disparate (but nonetheless frustrating) solar storms; the worst was saved for last, AFTER the contest weekend events were behind us.

Receiving operating approval to run STN-2 @ the WA6TQT Super-site didn't come thru until NooN
on Saturday.  While I would have like to run low power into the 10-meter yagi stacks there, instead, WQ6X run the SA-10 contest live from W7AYT's QTH in Concord.  For 160 later, I was more-or-less all set.

With a Solar Flux Index (SFI) of around 123, 10-meters was certainly open.  The SA-10 GiG being
a South American based contest, the 3-element Long John yagi was pointed Southeast (S/E) most
of the time.  While calling CQ, I would occasionally sweep the yagi due north to grab the (0-point) Zone multipliers.  Running assisted found spots for VK/ZL/KH6 on the bandmap; sweeping the yagi
to the Southwest picked them up quite easily.  Somehow, they popped just above the atmospheric noise created by one of the weekend's solar storms.

In the SA-10 contest SA prefix multipliers are important, as are the zone multipliers from countries around the world.  A lot of those stations don't seem to call CQ so running a frequency is the only
way to pick them up.  While the main focus was the SA-10 GiG, in the daytime I tuned around
looking for calls in the Tesla memorial contest (TMC) - there were none; at least not in W6, or even throughout the USA.  TMC quickly lost my focus, altho I listen to every station as I tune thru them.  The BiG disappointment on Saturday were the QSO parties (altho the OKQP & WIQP parties were reasonably active Sunday afternoon).

The NA Sprint RTTY contest began @23:00z.  Because no one was up to joining me on an SCCC team, I used the 1st hour of the Sprint time to complete the SA-10 contest, knowing that 10-meters will likely be over for the day.  In place of 10-meters of course, the next stop was a move down to the Stew Perry SP-160 contest after the Sprint GiG was over.

I was originally considering running the 160 contest as a Low Power (LP) entry.  At the last minute
the decision was made to run 1400 watts instead.  With the Space-WX things the way they were,
in retrospect it was the correct decision.

After all the radiosport events were safely completed, we were presented with yet another
solar storm.  It didn't seem to have much impact on 75-meter operations Sunday evening,
altho later it DiD put a damper on my usual late-evening shortwave listening period - Bummer Dewd!

Overall, this radiosport weekend put 5 contests on the 3830 list for WQ6X.  Considering all the variables to contend with, I am amazed it was possible to make them all happen during the weekend.

What about YOU?

DiD YOU work any radiosport GiGs last weekend?

Is WQ6X in YOUR Log?

WQ6X Squeezes in Another ARRL Dx Ssb Contest GiG

This last weekend was "Touch and Go" regarding the ARRL Dx Phone Contest.  In years past,
I have run the DX contest events solo, even once remotely from Stateline Nevada.  This year thinking nobody would mind, N6KI gave me the go-ahead to single-OP the Dx contest if nobody else wanted to operate.  A group email from Dennis elicited several thumbs-UP responses to operate as a team and VOILA! - we had a 5-person remote operating team to run as a Multi-OP Single-Transmitter (Multi-Single) event.

Over the weekend, various time commitments required careful orchestrations in order to make it all work.  A side-glancing solar storm hit add noise disruptions midway thru the contest.  When I multi-OP with NX6T, I usually operate the "dinner shift" (7 to 10pm) and the 2am to whenever in the middle of the night.  For this GiG I ran 5 to 8pm on Saturday and the 10am to 1pm shift both days, giving me OP-time on the high bands as well as the low bands in the evening.

After insuring the FT-2000 was Ssb contest ready
(a set of DVK message were recorded, negating the need for making a custom set of .Wav/.MP3 files), a handful of QSOs were made on 20 before
it closed and then on down to 40.  Getting sleep for the 2am shift was more important than putting
1/2-dozen QSOs into
the WQ6X log.

 

At the WA6TQT site a
new pair of antenna control screens is being BETA-tested; we were the test guppies this weekend. 

 

 

Unlike last weekend, no software malfunctions occurred (at least NoT on my shifts).   As a software developer, while I might have designed the screens a bit differently, at least the operating features were (more-or-less) consistent across both screens.  The biggest "stumble" was remembering
which screen (the antenna APPs or WINTEST itself) actually had focus.  

 

The REAL test occurred around NOON on Saturday when in the middle of running a frequency and 10-meters,
the yagi stack developed an infinite SWR problem, necessitating a move down to 15-meters, picking up where
I left off.  Someone onsite resolved
the problem rather quickly, altho by
then my noon-time shift was over. 
All of the yagi stacks were back in operation just in time for a mid-level solar storm to flare-UP.  

 

Propagation per-se' was not affected by the storm, however noise-levels noticeably increased.

The BiG surprise this weekend was 10 and 15 .  Having a perfect-height 3-element Long John yagi
in Concord has given me all manner of excuses to meters to spend considerable time on 10-meters.  For NX6T, 10-meters delivered lengthy openings to South America, JA and Oceania.  Running as WQ6X, 10-meters produced more QSOs than any other single band.  Both stations experienced
a noticeable drop in 20-meter QSOs over previous year - with an increasing SFI, GO Figure.

In addition to the "NR" issue, I have a number of other BEEFs related to this contest event, beginning with I will call the "language barrier".  Like international aircraft communications, amateur radiosport contests are largely conducting using smatterings of the English language.  Because of all this,
it behooves ALL non English-speaking operators to PRACTICE speaking the various phrases
necessary to communicate at LEAST their callsign (say it SLOW-ly) and a correct contest
exchange (again, say it SLOW-ly).

Along those lines, in a VOICE-based contest,
it is ESSENTIAL to be EXACTLY on frequency. 
While I have a Clarifier control built into the radio,
I should only RARELY have to use it; you save us
ALL not-insignificant amounts of time if I DON'T
have to tune you in. 

Asian stations in particular seem to be notoriously
off-frequency.  With their Asian accent, when they
are High in frequency (on LSB) or Low in frequency
(on USB), their voice sounds MUFFLED, making intelligibility nearly impossible.

The REAL answer is NoT for me to tune you in,
the REAL answer is for you to be ON FREQUENCY every time.  I wrote up this BEEF several years ago.

For some weird reason during BOTH the NX6T and WQ6X operations the "6" in the callsign was frequently being heard as a "3".  Now in my Experience, in no way does a "3" sound like "6" or "6" sound like a "3".  This problem required me to repeat "6 Tango - 6 Tango" (or "6 X-Ray - 6 X-Ray") "California, Charlie Alpha". Right there I have also given my state, and yet, they still ask for my "NR".  HuH?  Either they are really NoT listening, or, they don't understand English (or they're DRUNK).

To reduce my frustration-level regarding the above points, I remind myself that radiosport GiGs
are actually training exercises. Running Dual-OP from Concord offers the opportunity to give the modest antenna setup in Concord a good run.  The 8JK Cobra dipole array seems to tune most bands reasonably well.  Until recently, I have not been very happy with the signal levels when
using the Cobra array.  About a month ago, rechecking the feed wires to the termination resistors,
I must have jiggled something (in a good way) as I'm now receiving significantly better signal reports.

When it was all over with, it would seem that NX6T took 10th place overall, 7th place for USA, 2nd place for the Southwest, and 1st place for California; NoT bad for just screwing around.  WQ6X did
not qualify for anything other than a pat on the back for having showed up on the air at all.

DiD YOU work the 2022 ARRL Dx contest?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR Log?

The Continuing Saga of 5-9 & 5-99

This last weekend found me dual-OP'ing the ARRL Dx phone contest, joining up with team-NX6T remotely to WA6TQT's QTH in Anza (San Bernardino mountains in So. California), while running
as WQ6S from my portable setup @W7AYT's QTH in Concord California.  The exchange we give during this 1930's-based contest begins with a "signal report", which back in the 1930's was Significant and Relevant.

As the years progressed, because log entries were written by hand (or typed in) operators got
lazy and began just 5-99 (Cw) or 5-9 (phone) to everybody; from that moment forward, signal
reports became Insignificant and Irrelevant.  Occasionally a station would hand out REAL
signal reports  (I did that at first); a contact with such a station would effectively stand
out in the log.

With the advent of computer logging programs (with their macro-ized sending), sending a REAL
signal report slowed things down considerably, making it easier for the computer to just computer send "5-9" or "5-99", or, for Ssb contests .MP3 files can be recorded and played back repeatedly
to send the proper exchange to calling stations.

Last year I published a blog entry about the superfluousness of the 5-9 & 5-99 exchange proposing what to do about it.  Until this last weekend, I had nothing more substantial to add.  What stirred my
thinking about this again was the question of what constitutes a "Number" (NR) in the Dx contest.

To understand this distinction, we should review the exchange that is sent during the contest. 
In the ARRL DX contest, event stations in the USA and Canada are sought by amateurs around
the world; WE are the desirable stations.  The exchange we send is as follows:

• USA/Canada stations send "59" or "599" and a 2-letter abbv. indicating their state/province.
• DX stations send "59" or "599" and their power-level, also called their NR (number).

When I ask for your number, I am looking to know your power-level.  Unfortunately, DX stations often ask me for MY number.  In truth I HAVE no number; the only numerical thing I send is "59" or "599". 
I have concluded that what they REALLY want is my STATE (ST?).  For Canadian stations, it is unnecessary to ask for the province; the prefix of their callsign tells us what their province is. 
Contest logging software fills in the province for me automatically.

You've heard me say that before you begin a contest operation you should read the contest event rules thoroughly.  If you read the DX contest rules thoroughly, you KNOW that I have no number to send; therefore, you should NoT ask me for my number, as I have none to give; instead, you should ask for my STATE (ST?).

If we used a Serial # and QTH in the exchange (as is done with the ARRL RTTY RU contest,
the 5-9/5-99 problem would be immediately solved.  Then you would be forced to ask "ST?"
when you are uncertain about what my location is.

It's really as simple as THAT.

Any QUESTIONS?

160 METERS: A Whirrrl'd Unto Itself

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of the 10 HF bands available to radio amateurs, 6 of them currently allow radiosport activity:
160, 80, 40, 20, 15 & 10 meters.  The [so-called] WARC bands were specifically designated to
be "contest free", giving non-contesters relief from the pandemonium often presented by radiosport activity.  The 1st two weekends of December offer radiosport activity at completely opposite ends
of the HF spectrum: 160-meters and 10-meters, respectively.

I/We survived the 10-meter contest.  As it turns out, that GiG is sandwiched between a pair of 160 contests: The ARRL 160 contest (Dec 2nd to 4th) and the Stew Perry SP-160 GiG (Dec 18th and 19th).  The 10-meter GiG relies heavily on magnitude of the Solar Flux Index (SFI) - the higher the better.  By comparison, 160-meters tends to produce greater contest operating possibilities with a considerably lower SFI.  Today, as I transform scribbled notes from December into this Blog entry,
my compatriots @NX6T are easing into the annual CQ-160 Ssb contest, which envelops most of
this weekend.

We often think of 160 as mainly a Cw band, whereas back in the 1950's and 60's AM-mode stations were littered throughout the band.  Today, AM stations still hangout above 1.900; 1.925 in particular.  Of course, single sideband has taken over as the HF voice mode of choice.  The FT8 digital mode
has found itself a home (around 1.842), altho RTTY (at least in radiosport) is not used on 160.

The 2022 CQ-160 Ssb contest seemed to be quite a DuD, despite low-noise and technically
wide-open propagation.  It seemed like (across the USA and Canada) that many normally
160-OPs were off doing other things.  I guess my 1-QSO WQ6X log is NoT so surprising
after all.

Because 160 is so close (in frequency) to the AM broadcast band, either band can be used to propagation-predict the other.  I've often said, if everybody is listening and no one is calling CQ,
the band will seem to be DEAD, when in fact it is wide-open.  I wrote a Blog about this phenomenon.  ([CLICK HERE] to read that.).  This applies to 10-meters (in particular) as well as Top Band (160).

Since adding a Yaesu FT-2000 to the operating lineup in Concord, have a more aesthetically color screen allows for more effective use of the IPO selections, VRF tuning adjustment and DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) controls; these settings are most important on 160 AND 10 meters.

For me, psychologically, 160 exhibits a "warm glow" feeling.  In a contest the "feel" shifts as the OPs East of me drop-off as sleep takes over.  More-or-less 6 hours later, a reverse action occurs as these same OPs wake up and indulge in their various forms of caffeine intake.

During winter periods, 160 can be amazingly QRN-free, except of course when lightning storms are scattered all about within a more-or-less 1,000-mile radius.  Noise-wise, summertime is not a lot of fun; probably why there is only one 160 radiosport GiG: the Stew Perry SP-160 contest in mid-July.  [CLICK HERE] for a link to the Stew Perry website.

During previous solar cycles, I've not paid much detail-attention to how 160 functions during a solar flux maximum.  For Cycle 25 I'm going to pay more close attention to nuances of evening propagation and write it up in this contest Blog.

Bottom-Line: 160-meters is a unique and fascinating operating world, which (in contrast with the daytimeness of 10-meters), doesn't normally come-alive until an hour or 2 before sunset.  Granted,
it takes a LoT of "antenna wire" to make it all happen; and experiencing the "Magic" of Top Band is Well Worth It.

When was the last time YOU actually operated on 160 Meters?

What was YOUR Top Band experience like?

NAQP: 10 Fantastic Hours of EM-Comm Training

One of the reasons some operators dislike radiosport contesting is because 24-, 30- & 48-hour
events are JUST TOO LONG - Enter the North American QSO Party (NAQP).  NAQP events,
be they Cw, Ssb or RTTY are 12-hour events (Single-OP operators are allowed to operate 10 out
of those 12 hours).  To make it relatively easy (and more fun), the Exchange sent for each contact
is NAME and QTH (State or Province for NA stations), which makes it more personal (and therefore more satisfying).

To assuage the hate of us "pesky contesters" by Ragchewers, the contest rules dictate
that maximum power output be 100 watts or less and no use of internet spotting is allowed. 
Stations running more than 100-watts who submit a log will receive the BiG DQ (disqualified). 
This is appropriate as in the REAL-world access to amplifiers is often limited, if available at all.

And yet, the 3830 stats still indicate a dozen or more stations who ran high power (HP).

Unlike the 4-hour NA Sprint contests, we are allowed to run frequencies, during the entire event
if we wish.  When I remote in to join the NX6T multi-OP GiGs, we typically run frequencies, resorting to S&P when we run out of calling stations on a given band.  Multi-OP stations are allowed to run the entire 12-hours of the contest event.

Contest time period is from 18:00z to 06:00z the following UTC Day.  Single-OPs have the challenge of determining which 2-hours to NoT operate.  I used to start at 20:00z, allowing me to operate the last 2-hours on 160 & 80 meters.  The problem with that approach is that many stations shutdown operations at 04:00z.  My current strategy is often to begin at 18:30z, taking 30-minute breaks when solar storms hit, or the bands seem to quiet down for a while.  Because we are in an ascending solar flux, 10-meter and 15-meter openings are no longer rare, making available more daytime multipliers.

 

During summertime NAQP GiGs many years ago, I setup portable operations from hotel rooms in
the San Francisco East Bay area to simulate what would be needed to setup a last minute "stealth" operation.  (Notice the use of a classic "Slinky" antenna and an MFJ apartment antenna pointing out the 3rd-story window.)

Prior to the 2019 Field Day GiG, I wrote a Blog questioning whether or not radiosport
contesting qualifies as Emergency Preparedness Training.  [CLICK HERE] to read that.

Last year, in preparation for the California QSO Party (CQP) event from Alameda county, I wrote
a quick Blog on CQP as EM-Comm training.  [CLICK HERE] to read that Blog.  While I love CQP, NAQP with its Name/QTH exchange makes it more personable and therefore for many people more fun.  EM-Comm training SHOULD be fun - if NoT, then why invest the time?

Are YOU into EM-Comm activities.

Have you ever considered NAQP to be a valid training exercise?

When the summertime NAQP GiGs come around, check it out.

WQ6X Dabbles in the ARRL Dx Contest

It's hard to believe another ARRL DX Cw contest has come and gone.  Awhile back, I wrote a
Blast-from-the-Past Blog about this contest.  While this year's event was dramatically different
(It was a Dual-OP), there are some similarities to previous Cw DX contests.  As it turns out, even veteran contesters are often unaware of the fact that the ARRL Dx contest since its inception in the 1930's was to give amateurs from other countries the opportunity to work all (then) 48 states, as well as Canadian provinces.  (Even today, Alaska and Hawaii are considered DX countries rather than states for the purpose of this contest.)  In this GiG USA and Canada are the desired targets.

Being a Cw contest,
using Stereo-Cw fit
right in with the
operating goals.  

The audio cabling
is run such that either
the Yaesu FT-2000 or the Elecraft K3/0 is switchable into CH-4 of the Rockville mixer which feeds a pair
of QF-1A filters cascading into separate DSP filter combinations for each ear.  

 

Because I ran frequencies much of the time, using Stereo-Cw allow the calling stations to surround my listening experience rather than jumble atop of each other.

While the solar flux dropped into the low 90's during the contest period, the weekend was Space-WX free, altho bracketed by solar storms BE-4 and immediately afterwards.  A BiG surprise were the openings on 15 & 10 meters.  Europe from the SF East Bay area was sparse.  Several Scandinavian contacts were made on 15 meters (not 20 as is usual for the area) as is typical during lower SFI periods.  As it turns out, fewer contacts were made on 20-meters (27) in this contest than made
on 10-meters(54); then again, having a 3-el Long John yagi made all the difference.

Propagation-wise, there seemed to be a "signal tunnel" to South America and much of the Caribbean from the Concord location.  Throughout the day, many times 10-meters would sound like a noise-free yet DEAD band.  Calling CQ TEST w/the yagi pointed more-or-less to South America would suddenly yield a flood of calls from that direction, then go quiet again.  More stations were made from this direction on 40 & 80 than from OC/Asia; a reversal from previous ARRL DX GiGs.

In the ARRL DX Contest, for the exchange, WE send our State or Province, while DX stations send us their power level.  Therefore, WHY do Dx stations ask me for m my NR?  Technically, MY Nr is 599, while my STATE (ST) is CA.  If you read the rules, you KNOW what province a VE/VA/VO/VY station is in; therefore, no need to ask.

A noticeable problem was the spot-posting of incorrect callsigns.  While I can usually spot an incorrect callsign and delete it from the bandmap, it comes back after ~7 minutes later - Bummer Dewd.  Also confusing are the FT8 stations spotted as being on Cw, when in fact they aren't. 
The tip-off that they aren't really Cw is their listed frequency (usually up 75-khz from the bottom
of the band), when in fact the last legitimate Cw station is usually around 62-khz (max) from the bottom of the band.

For WQ6X, as a Single-OP, band focus was on 10 & 15 meters; 20 meters offered only poor
(at best) openings.  JA and Central America produced the most DX activity.  The BiG surprise
was the plethora of K6/KH7 stations, which from the Waste Coast are largely no-Brainers.

While the 8JK Cobra array produces 160-meter contacts in 160-meter contests, for this contest, nothing outside the continental USA was ever heard on "Top Band".

When it was ALL over with, WQ6X managed 193 QSOs in 30+ countries; not bad for just trying things out.

The BiG bands this year were 15-meters, 10-meters, 40-meters, 20-meters; with only a handful of contacts on 80-meters.

QSO-wise, overall, this year seemed to
lack activity, compared to the last 2 years, despite the fact that the SFI is WaY Higher than previous years - Go Figure.

The upside is that the major solar storm didn't plaster planet earth until just AFTER the contest event was ended.  Feeling-wise, it seems that solar storms always hit in the beginning or middle of weekend, NoT afterward.

For the most part, even the "worst" day (Space-Wx wise) with a higher-SFI is in general a GooD day (unless of course the K-Index is 6+).

 

DiD YOU work the ARRL Cw contest this year?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Works a Weirdly Wiley Weird Prefix (RTTY) Contest

All three WPX contests (RTTY, Ssb & Cw) have in common various flavors of weirdness; hence the "Weird Prefix" moniker.  For 2022, the RTTY GiG exemplifies what we can likely expect to occur in
the March (Ssb) and May (Cw) variants of the WPX concept, considering the considerable increase
in Solar Flux index (SFI) numbers between this time in 2021 (72?) and this last week (~114).

An increase in SFI numbers brings with it more frequent/reliable band openings on 10 & 15 meters.  With more bands open, opportunities to work some stations multiple times (across multiple bands) increases exponentially.  If you look at past WPX scores during the last two solar cycles, you will notice an increase in point scores, commensurate with where we were in the sunspot cycle at that time.  Unfortunately, an increase in SFI also means an increase in the frequency of solar storms. 
Although the frequency and severity of storms increase during an uptick of the SFI, the storms
seem to NoT last as long.

While I am BORED with including "5NN/599" as part of a contest exchange, I DO like the challenge
of accurately sending/receiving Serial #'s, finding it an interesting challenge to get it right every time.  There is of course operator controversy as to whether we should send "599" or "5NN" largely based historically on the 60+ yr. old fact that sending "599" with mechanical teletypes rather than sending "5NN" (requiring a shift-key sequence in the middle) is more efficient.  However, with today's digitally produced RTTY, the argument is superfluous.

• When you receive an exchange like "599 599 599" or "599 599", is this all a signal report,
  or is there a serial number in there somewhere.
• However, when I send "5NN 599 599" or "5NN 599", we can determine, with just a glance,
  what sets the [alleged] signal report apart from the Serial # to me, sending an extra byte or two of data is NBD (No BiG Deal) thanks to our 2-Ghz+ computers processing the RTTY data.

Instant visual readability is what is important.  Noise and fading can often obliterate a
shift-character (byte), making a group of characters look like numbers.  Example: "216X"
for "WQ6X".  Sending "5NN" (instead of "599") allows it to stand out as such (and therefore
be IGNORED).  I even wrote an entire Blog about this.  [CLICK HERE] to read it.

An advantage of RTTY over Cw is that I don't have to think in order to make sense out of what is
being sent.  Even if I "Zone out" for a few seconds, the data is still lingering in the RTTY decoder
RX-text window.  With Cw, if I miss it, I need to ask for a (time-consuming) repeat.  A downside
to RTTY is that during signal-fading (lacking an adequate S/N ratio) most decoders are unable
to translate the barely readable signals into anything but "garbage"; whereas, with Cw, my ears
can often eek out enough intelligence that my brain can deduce the rest.

In an attempt to solve the "RTTY fading problem", the antenna cabling was re-routed,
allowing a quick switch between the 8JK Cobra array and what I call a Cobra "Trapezoid".   
The 8JK array being a tuned-feeder system is routed through the MFJ-949E tuner, while the Cobra Trapezoid being coax fed, runs directly to the ANT-2 socket on the back of the FT-2000 transceiver. 
The antenna tuning unit of the radio "remembers" which antenna was selected on which band, alleviating my need to remember to switch to the proper antenna; an insignificant (yet crucially important) operator action.

Both evenings, after 07:00z was quite a disappointment; 20-m was NoT open on the Waste Coast, 40-meters was open to JA (altho there were only a handful of active stations), and 80-meters was technically wide-open but no one playing there except for a handful of already-worked W6/W7 stations with an occasional W8 or K3 popping thru, nearly S-9.  Having the weekend littered with solar storms was probably the contributing factor to poor nighttime propagation.

While the array of audio filters and DSP units at the station work extremely well for Stereo-Cw/Ssb, until I figure a way to intercept the RX-audio line to/from the RigExpert decoder unit, the external filters simply make things SOUND more appealing (psychologically) in the wireless headset, currently they do nothing to improve actual signal decoding.

However, with the FT-2000, most of the DSP filter action occurs in the I-F sections of the transceiver, rather than in the AF stages (as implemented in the older FT-1000mp).  The FT-2000 includes a variable Contour control (the MP offered only 4 switch-selected settings), along with an incredibly deep-notched Manual Notch Filter (MNF).  The Shift/Width controls on the 2000 are far more intuitive than the previous radios, providing a graphical representation of "where" both knobs are set to.

Also unique to the FT-2000 is the front-end VRF filter (essentially a pre-selector) allowing signal peaking or de-emphasizing at the RX front-end, allowing for a significant improvement of the transceiver's dynamic-range.  Then again, turning on the IPO (which turns OFF the internal
front-end pre-amps) or adding 6/12/18 dB of front-end attenuation can resolve many front-end overload situations.

All of these features transform the FT-2000 transceiver into an obviously improved candidate for exemplar RTTY operation, beyond all the FT-1000mp provided WQ6X operations from 6+ years.  Both radios run full-duty RTTY @100-watts, showing only a (nearly unnoticeable) increase in chassis heat - both radios built the chassis around a heatsink.  In contrast, the ICOM-7000 (a backup radio used mainly for SWL'ing) can only run RTTY at 50-watts max. w/o overheating.

In numerous contest write-ups over the years, I've described various forms of intentional QRM encountered; especially on 40-meters, after 07:00z.  In this year's WPX RTTY contest the QRM
came mainly from stations who specifically invade the run frequency and [blindly] start calling CQ. 
I purposely choose "oddball" frequencies, so when a station zero-beats me (exactly down to the last-Hz), I KNOW it was intentional, not accidental.  If the CQ'er were off by (let's say) 50-200hz, it could be seen as "coincidentally accidental".  Otherwise (and more likely), intentionally chosen.  I have a special RTTY decoder Button [QRL] that sends "QRL / PSE QSY".  After sending that 3-times, if the IDIOT persists, I have another decoder Button [LID] that sends "QRL / QSY - LiD".   That usually results in a clear calling frequency.

On the flip side, I encountered stations with S-9 signals busily work other stations.  As soon as
I call-in they stop transmitting, ignoring me and any other callers on the frequency.  After making 5 calls, if there is no response, I press the [QRL?] decoder Button "QRL? QRL? QRL?" 3-times.  If still no response, I consider the frequency open and call CQ; often to have the station return and send ME "QRL/QSY".  HuH?  The TRUTH is the station was busy doing other things (possibly SO2R) and lost the frequency.

When it was all over, I DiD what I always do after EVERY radiosport contest:

• Snapshot Screen stats for the WQ6X Contest Blog
• Create a CABRILLO .Log file.
• Post a score write-up on the 3830Scores Website.
• Submit the Cabrillo file to the contest host.
• Write-up the nuances of what happened for WQ6X.Blogspot.com

With the WPX GiG over a week behind us, it is safe to assume that all relevant LoGs have been submitted and their scores posted to the 3830Scores.com, the posted results would seem to indicate:

- 35th place Overall

- 27th place for North America

- 23rd place for USA

-  2nd place for the Left Coast (W6 / CA)

NoT BaD for just screwing around.

DiD YOU work the WPX (Weird Prefix) Contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Works a Wily 4-Contest Weekend

Technically, this was the first real multi-contest weekend for 2022.  And technically, it should have been a 5 contest weekend 'cept Vermont could not be heard in the SF East Bay during the 48 hours of their QSO Party.  What good is having a QSO party that is a wonderfully 48-hours long, when no one in your state is playing on the radio - the mind boggles.  The other GiGs showed some activity,
to some extent:

• [X] - The Vermont QSO Party
  
• [X] - The XE RTTY Contest
  
• [X] - The Minnesota QSO Party (MNQP)
  
• [X] - The British Columbia QSO Party (BCQP)
  
• [X] - The North American SPRINT

 

All the above bitching aside, a major goal for radiosport activity in 2022 is to re-Learn the Art
of contest operating by way of a recently acquired Yaesu FT-2000 transceiver (a 2009 model). 
With the FT-2000, much of the IF filtering and contouring is done by way of a built-in DSP facility. 
This brings more operator options for QRM control, and, increases slightly the operating complexity,
being used in conjunction w/all of the external audio filters and DSP units.

By the end of 2022, having run 70 - 100+ contests, I will have all the interaction-nuances figured out; along with a functionally complete switching system supporting externally-processed dual-RX audio.  While a bit cumbersome, the WQ6X approach to audio is a knob-twiddlers paradise.

Technically, for this weekend, the myriad of filters was a bit under-utilized being that the major focus throughout the weekend was the XE RTTY contest; altho oddly enuf their website homepage does NoT reflect the 2022 change from 24 to 36 hours.  Because the RigExpert Plus receives received audio before all the external audio filters, no WQ6X audio processing on these signals is actually possible - Bummer Dewd.

A side-project for this year is to discover a way to intercept the RigExpert RX-audio path. 
RTTY demodulation accomplished using software algorithms is NoT all that different from running
the built-in DSP chips found in today's mid-tier (and above) transceivers; the main difference being
code execution speed.  With an additional 12 hours to play RTTY, I took the opportunity to explore
yet another variation of the world of Stereo-audio: namely Stereo-RTTY, which will be written up later.

The XE RTTY contest GiG begins at 12:00z, which is 4am Pacific time.  Approximately 2 hours spent S&P'ing and calling "CQ XE Test" on 40 & 80 meters.  At 14:00, I enjoyed the luxury of 2 more hours sleep.

While it is true that band condx. were far from optimal, I was expecting a far better turnout for the BCQP and the MNQP; especially considering that Vermont (VT) was an absolute no-show in the
SF East Bay (EB) area.  After posting my 3830 Scores last night, this afternoon I received a reply from contest coordinator Rebecca VA7BEC:

Your log has been received. I have you in the single-op low-power CW category.

Perhaps the reason you didn’t find any stations on 15 or 20 meters was because 
you weren’t listening. There were lots of VE7/VA7s on the air, particularly CW operators, and they had steady pileups on 10, 15 and 20 and later in the day 40 and 80. And from CA, you should have been able to hear the many operators on Vancouver Island calling CQ. But then, if you were playing in the other parties and XE RTTY, maybe you just had bad timing. 

What a shame. There were so many stations and so many wonderful 
multipliers waiting for you. 

73
Rebecca VA7BEC
BCQP Contest Coordinator

I really appreciate Rebecca contacting me directly and setting me straight on what I missed out
on from British Columbia. It's important to remember that this QTH is largely a receive signal vortex. Quite possibly, the REAL answer woulda been to Call "CQ BC de WQ6X/6 WQ6X/CA" attracting the S&P OP's in British Columbia. As I often say: "Maybe Next Year!".

Now the BiG question is what wassup with the MNQP and VTQP.  Looking up the 3830 score submissions, it would seem that there was SOME activity in Vermont, altho there were 10x the number of outside of Vermont callers for each VT station on the air.

For me, the MNQP was a 4-QSO disappointment.  Then again, with only 14 hours of actual OP-time allotted for the entire event, stations on the "Left" Coast (as well as Hawaii) have very little access to MINN on the low[er] bands (160 & 80 meters).  At least the BCQP gives us a 2nd-chance to work them on Sunday.

The NA Sprint contest being a 4-hour "Quickie" comes with unique challenges in that
no operator is allowed to dominate a frequency, making it their exclusive RUN frequency. 
In the Sprint there are NO run frequencies, we simply engage in a unique form of Searching
and Pouncing (S&P'ing).

The best way to explain how last weekend's SPRINT went overall is to include here a copy
of the comments I posted when submitting WQ6X's 3830 Scores entry for NA SPRINT.

While this was NoT my 1st-ever Sprint, it WAS the 1st-time I ran the Sprint using a newly acquired Yaesu FT-2000 transceiver. While I had a lot of fun, I was frustrated by the stations who need to STFD (Slow Down - QRS) and the OPs who would start sending their exchange BEFORE I was done transmitting. By the time I am finished transmitting they have already sent the number, which now requires a REPEAT. The WASTED ~6 seconds would have been UNNECESSARY if they had waited 1.2 seconds for me to finish. WAKE UP People.
I KNOW it's a SPRINT, but when you send too fast I have to ask for a repeat, slowing us ALL down.

As for the XE RTTY contest, while I would've liked to hear more stations here in the East Bay,
there were many OPs who managed to log over 1,000 contacts during the 36 hours of this contest.  While the "5NN" needs to be exorcised from the exchange and replaced with something else (like the operator's name), overall this RTTY is a lot of fun (as RTTY GiGs go), making me wish they would run it twice a year, like the NAQP RTTY events are done.

Despite all of my bitching about operator turnout, this last contest weekend added 4 contests to the
WQ6X 2022 radiosport database and gave the FT-2000 transceiver a good workout.  Like the older FT-1000mp, the FT-2000 runs 100-watt full-duty RTTY w/o generating any unnecessary heat from
the PA amplifier area of the radio.

DiD YOU participate in any of the above contests?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wanders Wonderingly thru the CQ-160 Cw contest

The last weekend in January brings us the CQ 160-meter Cw contest.  As I have been doing for some time now, this weekend was another Dual-OP operation.   My weekend goal was to put in OP-time on a couple of 11:30 - 4am shifts with NX6T remotely to our setup @WA6TQT's QTH in Anza, while testing a 20-watt/ch amplifier in the audio line, in addition to eeking what few contacts I could using the tuned 8JK Cobra dipole array.

I am often amazed that the Cobra array works on 80-meters; on 160, working any stations outside
the SF East Bay area seems like a miracle.  Amazingly, calling "CQ Test" yielded callers, altho overall, band condx. SUCKED, confirmed by comments from other operators East of Colorado.  While the Solar Flux (SFI) was UP, this weekend's CQ-160 Cw contest benefited very little from that fact; probably because of the attendant solar storms (K-Index = 4) along with factors that are beyond
my figuring when it comes to 160 meters.

Because this was a Cw contest, the Stereo-Cw concept was given a significant performance evaluation w/the recently acquired Yaesu FT-2000 transceiver.  While quite similar to the earlier
FT-1000mp, with most of the DSP circuits now moved "forward" to the IF stages, the external audio circuits become even more effective.

2022 brings a considerably increasing Solar Flux Index (SFI).  It has been hovering in the 120's all week.  Unfortunately, as the SFI increases, so does the propensity for sharp (but short) solar storms.  The upside to the downside is that as long as the K-Index is < 5, 160 (and sometimes 80) meters are immune from the effects of geo-magnetic storms.

A problem with single-band contests (like those for 160 or 10 meters) is BOREDOM.  When you have worked everybody (or at least everybody you can hear) there is no other band(s) to switch to; maybe the answer is to invest in some extra sleep instead,

When it was all over, the 3830 stats make it clear that DX stations (mostly EU) had a considerable advantage over the rest.  NX6T took 18th-place for North America, 16th-place for USA 2nd-place for CA (W6) and 1st-place for the Southwest USA.  When you consider we were working with a 2-legged 3-Square vertical, it's amazing we did as well as we did.

 

 

DiD YOU work the CQ 160-meter Cw contest?

Is NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?