WQ6X Works another Weird (but WooLY) Winter Field Day

The final weekend in January marked a "collision" of a number of disparate events beginning with
a remote run of the French REF contest Friday evening and wrapping up w/the end of the Winter
Field Day (WFD) on Sunday morning (just like the ARRL June FD).

Because the REF GiG [specifically] has no power classifications there was no real reason to run
QRP - what is the point of making a sacrifice when we get no credit for doing so?!  Essentially,
the REF GiG gave me something to do while waiting for operators on Anza STN-1 to wrap up
their evening run in the CQ 160 Cw contest.

At that point (shortly after 07:06z) I brought Anza STN-2 on the air and setup a CQ-160 run for about 95 minutes, long enough to put 24 QSOs in the WQ6X Log running QRP.  The corrupted phasing-lines on the 160 Tri-Square has yet to be resolved, leaving it a mystery as to which "direction" the antenna array is REALLY favoring - I would simply use the direction button that produced the loudest signal at any given moment in the contest.  If no reply, I would then try the other two directions.  

Eventually, most stations (due-east) went bedtime-QRT, leaving no one new to work.  After 3-hours sleep, I came back in time for points due-east to wake up and work me before their sunrise shuts down 160-meters on their end.  Late Saturday and early Sunday morning, equivalent op-tome was found, resulting in a ToTaL of 69 QSOs making it to the submitted Log.

For the Winter Field Day GiG, the best explanation for what happened can be found
in the 3830 Score Submission for this contest.

DiD YOU work the Winter Field Day and/or CQ W.W. 160 contests?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Dual-OP's another NAQP Ssb contest - running QRP

It's no secret that I have been running a LoT of radiosport contests remotely from the KN6NBT & WA6TQT mountain top QTH's using QRP power; with reasonably effective
antenna systems, QRP power is NoT as BiG a handicap as you might at first expect.

This year I have already successfully run the RTTY RU and NAQP Cw events,
submitting relatively high-scoring logs in the S-O Assisted QRP categories. 
Running Ssb contests running only 5-watts being w/it a unique set of challenges. 
To be heard more clearly, I tend to run the radio's compression-levels higher than
I would running LP (there is no power amplifier in Ramona).

While the N1MM+software is capable of playing 12 .Wav files, the radio only has four voice
memories (usually controlled by the F1-CQ, F2-EXCHG, F3-TU & F4-CALLSIGN software
function keys).  This leaves 8 function keys to play other .WAV files.  Other logging programs
(such as DX-Log and WINTEST) give us two more function keys.  For people who don't use
logging programs, I have been working on the WQ6X Voice-Player APP giving us 6 or 12
different .Wav file playouts in each Voice Player Group.

Fortunately, for the NAQP contests, we only send NAME and STATE (NoT even a 5-9 or 5-9-9)
which makes it easy to run the majority of the NAQP contest events with only four function keys.

We have been blessed recently with relatively disruption-free Space-WX.  It continued thru the 06:00z (10pm) ending of the NAQP contest, with rain-induced atmospheric noise during the rest of Saturday evening.

From Ramona, it seems that 10-meters came alive from the beginning; only making it eastward
to Anza 30 minutes later.  Reaching the 100-QSO mark on 10-meters (by 20:19z) - w/o Blinking,
I might add - it was time to make the slow trek down to 15 and 20 meters with a short stint on 40-meters, before wrapping up the 6-hours and putting in a 4-hour shift on STN-2 for NX6T.

While Anza (DM13IN) and Ramona (DM13IH) are only 66 miles apart, the difference between
the two hilltops is often quite dramatic during radiosport contests.

For NX6T, most of my operating time was spent running 20-meters while STN-1 kept 15-meters
open way beyond expectation.  Eventually 20m frittered away, inducing the move down to an already explosive 40-meters.  By way of stacked Yagi's and a 40m Stepp-IR, the Anza station is reasonably equipped.  When 15m died for STN-1, I was relieved on 40-meters, sliding down to 75-meters, enjoying the instant band switching afforded by the onsite full-sized 4-Square Vertical Array. 
Running volume QSOs N-E (with the stack) can be quickly transformed into picking off Caribbean multipliers by pointing S-E.

At 8pm (04:00z) back in the Ramona OP-chair, there was no 4-Square for 75-meters, only a 55' high Double Bazooka Inverted Vee.  At least on 40-meters Ramona's 2-el Shorty-40 yagi can be rotated, with a noticeable increase/decrease in signal levels.

When it was all over, I GoT to sort out the STATs and submit the LoG.  By Sundy afternoon, scanning the 3830 Score submissions, it was clear that NX6T made it to 7th-place overall (4th-place for USA)
in the Multi-2 LP category, while WQ6X''s 257 QSOs (33k points) accomplished a clearly-centered 2nd-place in the Single-OP Assisted QRP category.

What about YOU?

DiD YOU work the NAQP Ssb contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X Wangles another WEIRD NAQP-Cw WeekEnd

For this radiosport weekend, the watch-phrase was "stable internet connection". 
An internet failure at WA6TQT's QTH in Anza on Thursday nearly sidelined NX6T's Multi-2
operation.  Miraculously, by Friday evening, the Anza QTH was QRU & QRV - additionally,
WQ6X was cleared to run QRP from KN6NBT's QTH in Ramona, altho at the last minute,
an operator illness necessitated my running another 2-hours during the [so-called] "Dinner Shift"; something I do frequently when running with NX6T; alto running remotely, Dennis (N6KI) can't
bring me back Italian meatballs like he used to do when we ran live from "Nashville".

During the morning and afternoon WQ6X runs, 15 & 10 meters were WIDE-Open,
with more and louder signals heard on 10-meters in Ramona (using a 3-el Stepp-IR @55')
versus 4-el. stacked Yagi's @ 72'+ in Anza - GO Figure.

With some judicious frequency juggling more-or-less clear "windows" were found for running frequencies on: 28014.14, 28019.19, 28025.25, 21031.31, 14036.36, 7028.28 & 3516.16.

Running as a Multi-2, K4RB AND K7ENA kept 15-meters wildly alive, switching to an already
wide-open 40-meters by 23:00z.  During my 2nd-shift, 80-meters was open to the E. coast by
01:25z (early for the left coast) and surprisingly, 160-meters was quite alive by 02:30z - all this
while STN-1 (on 40-meters) racked'em in during that same period.

Brief internet disruptions were a challenge, along with my access to VNC viewer, which seemed to be resolved by restarting the Windoze-7 laptop; altho the outage may simply have been an apparency.  When it was all over, I missed the operating goal of 300+ QRP QSOs, which was offset by my nearly 400 QSO contribution to NX6T's 7th-place (overall) score, 2nd in California to the mighty N6RO, in Northern California (about 6.5 miles from the Concord location I operate from).

One of the things I appreciate about the NAQP GiGs is their short (12-hour) full-bore intensity.  Starting at 18:00z, the bands erupt into controlled pandemonium, then, 12-hours later, the bands return to the utter-quiet state they were in before the NAQP began.

LooKing back, I am utterly amazed at how well we are able to run complex radio systems remotely; the transceivers, the logging software and the software-directed antenna switching.  Having a VPN like VNC Viewer is almost as effective as actually sitting at the keyboard in Anza and Ramona. 
When it all synchronizes properly, it is a wonder to behold.  When it doesn't, then it's @#$!x&*@!

One of the cool things about the NAQP approach to radiosport is the exchange of NAME and STATE.  Having YL ops participating always spices things up a bit.  Running as WQ6X, YL's added to the log included: W4CMG(Cathy), KC9YL(Anne), KY4GS (Amanda), AF9J(Ellen) & WA1S(Ann).

While the SFI was high (186+) and the A-K Indexes were low, a number of signals seemed to have 
a "polar raspiness", except they simply E & N-E stations.  I was beginning to think there was an audio filter adjustment problem on the WQ6X end until I realized it was happening only on 10-meters.  KG5VK confirmed hearing this raspiness in his Soapbox comments - just another anomaly of
high sunspot cycle peaks.

DiD YOU work the January NAQP Cw Contest?

Is WQ6X or NX6T in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X RAC's 1-Up 4 Canada BE-4 DiVing DoWn to 160.

This is the 1st WQ6X RAC Winter contest and Stew Perry SP-160 GiGs run QRP from the mountaintop in Anza.  When I heard that WA6TQT's STN-2 was not committed for the weekend,
I set things up to run the Canadian RAC GiG multi-band QRP, followed by a short run in the Stew Perry contest, again running QRP. 

Client and holiday commitments kept me out of the operators chair until 09:30z (i.e. after 1am PT).  By then, most of America was "snuggled in their beds, with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads".

While I usually run QRP remote from KN6NBT's Ramona QTH, there the 160-meter inverted Vee originally run from Tower #1 in Fallbrook does not properly fit at the Ramona QTH unless the tower
is run up to it's full 70' height (it normally sits "parked" at 55').

From the WQ6X point-of-view (with limited time spent in the OP-chair), Canadian activity in the RAC Winter contest seemed noticeably less than in previous years - I guess we'll know for sure when they publish the contest results in 2024.  Nevertheless, I accomplished the goal of running another QRP GiG having a fantastic array of antennas at my disposal.  Ironically, no QSOs were made on 160-meters Saturday morning; while the RBN receivers heard WQ6X call CQ, evidently no human operators were around to hear it ("if a tree falls in the forest...)

Operationally, the choice was made to run Single-OP Assisted mixed-Mode QRP for the RAC event.  For the Stew Perry SP-160 contest, the rules are very specific about no use of spotting clusters to find stations - I can use the bandmap, as long as I populate it with callsigns actually heard over the air.  Because stations will receive 4X QSO points for working me as a QRP station, encouraging stations to call in was facilitated by the following F1-Call:  CQ SP  WQ6X  WQ6X/Qrp.

Therefore, be patient and work all the weak signals you hear - if they turn out to be QRP,
you will receive a 3-point BONUS for having stuck it out.  Translation?: DON'T GIVE UP
on Us.

The 160-meter "Tri-Square" antenna is currently a real challenge.  One of the dipole feedlines
is broken, meaning when the software tells the switching unit to switch between N-E, S-E and
West, all we REALLY know is that it consistently points SOMEWHERE - we just dunno WHERE
that somewhere is, altho using the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) data may help us sort it out later.

When it was ALL over, 52 160-meter QSOs made it to the WQ6X QRP LoG.

Once again, this QRP operation demonstrated you don't need an amplifier (or even the standard 100-watt radio) to work virtually every station you can hear; altho admittedly, in this contest, the Tri-Square could "hear" way better than other stations could hear it.

Have you ever worked a contest QRP?....  on 160-Meters?

DiD you work the Stew Perry contest to end 2023?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

WQ6X ASKS: Whut Do We Do with an Off-contest Weekend?

The 4th weekend of December (at least from the WQ6X perspective) is typically a non-contest weekend.  The weekend before was the OK-DX RTTY contest, and the following weekend will
be the Canadian RAC Winter Contest.

This is the time of year when I survey the 3830 Scores list for WQ6X for the current contest year (2023) reflecting not only on the successes but LooKing ahead to the coming contest year (2024), beginning with the ARRL RTTY-RU (Roundup) GiG the 1st weekend in January.  As part of planning for the upcoming RU GiG I made a close look at the high score data for the last 3 years.

Most importantly, it turns out that WQ6X actually set a contest record for East Bay section
and the PAC (Pacific) Division in the  2023 Roundup - and this was AFTER having the WQ6X
score dinged down from 2,277 points to a mere 1,736.

In preparation for a number of WQ6X operations from W7AYT's QTH in Concord, three
different antennas were compared on the upper bands by calling "CQ DX de WQ6X WQ6X"
and then capturing the RBN stats for those calls.  What is amazing is that the 3-el 10-m
Long John yagi tunes incredibly well as a rotatable dipole on 15-meters and to some degree
on 20-meters.

To quote a classic Christmas song.... "these are just some of my FAVorite things..."

What are YOUR Favorite things to do in your radiosport contest off hours?

BLAST from the Past: RADIOWORLD Editorial - Necessary and Welcome

While conducting mandatory end-of-the-year hard-drive maintenance on the several laptops
which make up WQ6X radio operations, I encountered pictures of the two editorials I wrote for RADIOWORLD (published on April 24, 2022, and December 21, 2022).  Because column-inch
real estate is always limited, magazine editors take it upon themselves to edit submissions for interest, legal or space reasons.  While I am overall pleased with the text that made it into print,
it's interesting to contrast the final result with what was originally written.

In all fairness, the above submission was making reference to two different arenas and the editor consolidated it down to one, with a slightly different order of the text, making it more palatable
to the mixed audience who reads RADIOWORLD magazine.  Nevertheless, it's interesting
to see things that I wrote actually making it into print.

Have YOU ever submitted an editorial or Op-ed piece to a newspaper or magazine?

What was YOUR Experience?

Listening Remotely Resolves Receive Randomity

In recent years, I have made considerable use of running radios remotely; first for NX6T operations in Fallbrook and later from Anza and Ramona (both) in So. California.  Accessing these stations require the use of a properly configured K3/0 (from the Concord location), or a K3/0-Mini from my Alameda office.  Even MORE recently, I have been running the Yaesu FT-2000 remotely between my office
in Alameda and its physical setup in Concord.

To simply listen-in (w/o transmitting) on HF happenings around the world, there are 100's of
SDR (Software Defined Receiver) all over the world, accessible using most any internet browser
on a computer w/adequate sound rendering capabilities.  My FAVorite SDR websites include:

• [X] - KFS SDR - Half Moon Bay
• [X] - Northern UTAH SDR
• [X] - K3FEF SDR in Pennsylvania
• [X] - TWENTE SDR in Holland

One of the benefits of using online SDR radios is that waterfall display that most SDR sites utilize.  Radiosport contest operators who appreciate PAN-adapter displays will find the SDR waterfalls to be near-equivalent replicas.

While use of offsite SDR access (to make QSOs) is NoT normally permitted in most radiosport contests, at other times and for other reasons SDRs can be quite useful tools, especially when propagation-checks around the world are needed.  Recently, I was configuring the FT-2000
portable setup in Concord to run by way of the FT-2000RC.Exe APP.  This software can
be run locally by way of a VPN (I use VNC viewer), or it can be run via IP-address using
the same APP on another computer such as the WinDoze-11 system in my Alameda office.

Having proper access to the FT-2000 is akin to having access to yet another SDR - this from
the North-East, East Bay Area.  When ragchewing with the Redwood Radio Roundtable late in the evening on 75-meters, I often listen to our 3830 frequency with the FT-2000, giving me a [so-called] "skip perspective", while running remote from Ramona (in N. San Diego County).

NoT too long ago I was experimenting with running the FT-2000 in Cw mode using the N1mm+ software.  Pre-defined function keys as well as Alt-K (Keyboard entry) is enough to run most any
Cw contest.

However, no matter how you run a radiosport contest, it ALL begins with listening, especially listening before you transmit - I even wrote a Blog entry about that.  ([CLICK HERE] to read that.)

Have YOU ever spent time listening on the various SDR radios located around the globe?

What Discoveries have YOU made?

WQ6X Wields a Wild & Wooly QRP 10-Meter Contest

wOw!  The 2023 ARRL 10-Meter contest was another of those wOw events - to say the LEAST.
It is fortunate this is one of those 48-hour GiGs that I wrote about recently.  The contest weekend
was interspersed with client commitments Saturday morning followed by a holiday brunch for the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda (ARCA) - for which I am currently club president.

On the left coast, the start of the ARRL contest coincides with the end-of-the-day for 10-meters. 
I got a late start (01:36z), running the K3/0-Mini from my office to the KN6NBT station that I run
remotely from Ramona California.  The band was dead to most areas east of Ramona however,
the band was WIDE-open to Oceania (VK/ZL) with Hawaii and what was left of Japan.  The REAL action would have to wait til 15:54z when I came into the office and spent an hour S&P'ing before
client work.

Rather than spend valuable operating time driving to Concord to setup the K3/0-Mini there, the decision was made to run WQ6X from my Alameda office after the brunch event and then, at 00:00z takeover the [remote] "helm" for NX6T.  My job was to keep NX6T active until the band falls apart; which happened by 02:15z.

Arriving at W7AYT's QTH at 03:30z, the K3/0-Mini was setup in a portable fashion.  On the oft-chance there might be any random band openings, CQ calls were made throughout the evening, rotating the yagi to various azimuth headings; unfortunately to no-avail.  In the previous sunspot cycle, I would often encounter late evening 10-meter band openings around this time of year, leaving me the expectation it could happen again this year, which of course DIDN'T happen - Oh Wail.

This is what I posted as part of the 3830Scores WQ6X entry on that page.

This is a WQ6X FIRST - running the 10-Meter GiG QRP from Ramona California. Client 
and ARCA radio club commitments kept me in Alameda Friday and part of Saturday, so I ran Ramona's K3 radio from my Alameda Biofeedback office using a K3/0-Mini. Upon arrival @W7AYT, the K3/0-Mini was installed just in time for a two-hour OP stint for NX6T finishing Saturday for me. Sunday morning, the band started to open around 6am and amazingly enough there was a Greyline opening to EU at 7am (15:00z). When that died, I went back to bed for a couple of hours and then picked up where I left off around 10am until the GiG ended at 4pm. Condx. to JA and Oceania where MUCH better on Friday/Saturday than Sunday, altho a couple of Asian multipliers Sunday afternoon made up for the lack of QSO volume. There was LoTs of atmospheric noise all weekend, even tho no solar storms were (to my knowledge) indicated so the K3-DNR was an absolute necessity. Running Stereo-CW (see the WQ6X Blogs on that), made CW copy more effective. m

When it was all over, it would seem that NX6T took a 2nd-place (for the Southwest Division) behind the AOCC (Arizona Outlaws), while WQ6X managed a 1st-place for that division running Single-OP unlimited QRP - beyond that will be made known when they publish the contest results next year.

DiD YOU participate in the ARRL 10-meter contest?

IS NX6T or WQ6X in YOUR LoG?

For WQ6X CQ W.W. IS a World-Wide Wonder

The ONE word I shall use to overview the CQ W.W. Cw weekend this last weekend is

wOw!

Virtually every variety of contest experience you can imagine was in simultaneous play
throughout the 48-hour operating period.   As I wrote in a recent Blog ([CLICK HERE]),
I LOVE 48-hour contests because in a sense they enable what I call DO-overs.

DO-overs are nice when sometimes we incorrectly focus our op-time on a non-producing band
only to discover a nearby band was LOADED with workable activity.  DO-overs are nice when
(like this weekend) solar storms produce temporarily-marginal conditions, such as just after 08:00z
on Saturday morning.

Other than the increasingly worsening Space-WX (see above), virtually everything that is notable about this contest event made its appearance in the 3830-Score Submission after the contest.

Virtually everything else we need to know can be gleaned from the N1MM+ ending screen.

When it was all over, it would seem that WQ6X took a 2nd-place (for USA) behind K6JS.

DiD YOU work the CQ W.W. Cw contest?

Is WQ6X in YOUR LoG?