The new version of WSJT-X v2.10-rc5 was released yesterday which includes a new FT4 mode. This mode is designed to compete with RTTY for contesting. It uses a 6 second transmission vs. the 15 second transmission of FT8. It definitely feels much faster than FT8 but I personally feel it should be it’s own contest mode vs being used in RTTY contests. We’ll see how it all plays out over time.
This year again we went out to Egmont Key State Park on the ferry from Fort Desoto Park for the FLSPOTA event. Band conditions were not great and we had difficulty making contacts but it was a really nice day to be out on this beautiful island. This year we had the special event callsignW4E. Corey N1COR went back on Sunday on his own. In total we had 83 contacts for the weekend.
The results of the ARRL Sweepstakes 2018 came out and I got first place in the Single Operator Unlimited Low Power category for the West Central Florida Section.
At this months SPARC Club meeting they showed the plaque for the club winning the Florida QSO Party contest in the Florida club category. This was before I changed callsigns and I was KX4HL. I’m still waiting for the full results to come out to see how I did in the individual category as I worked this contest from my home station also. The next Florida QSO Party is in a couple weeks. I’m working on getting out to operate it from a rare county and maybe link that with a Parks on the Air activation.
This is a new contest record for me. Also I think the most time I put into a contest. I took a couple half hour breaks and an extended dinner and cigar break, operated about 9 hours total. I turned the volume down on the RTTY tones so they didn’t stick with me quite as long as the last couple times I’ve done a RTTY contest, that beeping has a way of driving into your brain. I did really well on 20m but most of the second half of the contest was on 80m and I felt like I was getting overpowered there. I would call and call and I…
I did a little bit of this contest Friday, then a little before I went out on Saturday and then a little on Sunday. This one is fun because it’s all DX. It’s 48 hours though, which is a long time to do the whole thing. I joined the Florida Contest Group a couple weeks ago and Wolf NN7CW is a member. I met him at my first Hamcation, he was doing a CW speed test and it was super fast. I talked to him after he finished about CW. He posted to the FCG group that this contest was slow going (he did over 1200 contacts at this point)…
I participated a little bit in the 48 hours CQ WPX RTTY contest. I ended up with 143 contacts, broke down like so: 80: 340: 8420: 56————–Total: 143 Prefixes: 109 Total Score = 37,387 I turned down the volume a lot this time so the RTTY sound didn’t stay with me too long this time. For the people that do the entire 48 hours, that sound probably sticks in your head for days.
Did some of the NAQP SSB contest today. Came out with 101 contacts. This is a more leisurely contest. I ran a cable from my antenna ground panel on the side of the house over to the porch and did some of the contest from there with my POTA radio (FT-891). Started to get warm here in FL so I moved to the shack. I had plans at night so I only worked about half the contest and then watched a boxing match.
I put some serious effort into the first contest of the year and came out with 496 contacts. This is by far my largest number in a contests(its 18.5% of my total contacts in ham radio). Really pushed at the end to get to 500 but couldn’t quite get there. It’s a 30 hour contest and you’re allowed to operate for 24 hours of it. I slept for 6 hours but also went to a 2 hour class and to a party Saturday night, I also made ribs, and took a break for some Xbox on Sunday. I fell pretty drained and I still hear the RTTY sounds. Last year…
I came in 65th out of 263 in my class in the Outside Europe category. I like how fast they get the results out. It’s interesting as the other contests take almost a year to get the results out. This contest is the most complicated because you can send the details of your previous 10 contacts and get extra points. The results are out pretty quickly (around 6 weeks) . Here’s the full results: https://www.dxhf.darc.de/~waerttylog/user.cgi?fc=loglist&form=referat&lang=en Here’s the email they sent me with the details of my errors. Today I did the RAC Winter contest for 30 contacts.
