[3830] WWDigi K6DAJ SOAB LP

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                    World Wide Digi DX Contest - 2019

Call: K6DAJ
Operator(s): K6DAJ
Station: K6DAJ

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: CA
Operating Time (hrs): 5.5

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:           
   80:   5      3
   40:  31     12
   20:  10      8
   15:           
   10:           
-------------------
Total:  46     23  Total Score = 1,840

Club: Northern California Contest Club

Comments:

A lot of my contest experience involves expectations. If I start a contest
knowing it will beo be a tough slog, and it turns out a bit better than
expected, I'm ecstatic. But if it turns out significantly worse, well...  

In this contest, I made a whopping 48 Qs in 5 1/2 hours of operating! (I had to
leave for the airport at 1730z)

Nothing I could do seemed to be able to mitigate this pathetic rate.  I tried
changing mode, band, frequency, antenna direction, time slice, contest mode,
anything.  I tried howling at the moon and cursing at the sun.  All my efforts
resulted in prize-winning one hour rates of:  15 / 9 / 7 / 10 / 2 / 5 (the last,
in a half hour).   These looks more like 5-minute rates in the NS than 1-hour
rates (well, the 15 would be memorable in a Sprint!)

In addition, I was not able to use N1MM, due to a problem with the integration. 
In the Friday practice contest, I discovered that every few Qs, the PTT would
just stop working (e.g. "TUNE" would not do anything). The only
work-around was to close the WSJT window and then type "FT8" in the
N1MM entry window again.  This was not an RFI problem (the USB port was still
talking to the computer with no problems, and when I later switched to the
stand-alone WSJT-X, I had no problems); rather, it is some kind of problem with
the communication between N1MM and WSJT. Due to this problem, I concluded that I
could not use N1MM in this contest, so used WSJT-X stand-alone.

***I would be very interested to hear if others have had this problem and, if
so, what they did to solve/work-around it. ***

Why were my rates so abysmal, and so much worse than normal FT8 operating? 
Perhaps it was the solar unrest.  Or maybe the WSJT-X software was overwhelmed
with too many signals to decode, interfering with one another.  Or, in the
middle of the night, some vandals replaced my antennas with dummy loads. Very
funny, guys... you can come out now!

80 was slim pickings. Worked a few JAs, VKs and a YB on 40 (my "best"
band, which is not saying much).  20 was the worst.  I simply could not raise
anyone domestic, though I worked an LU and a YB.  All domestic stations, even
locals, would CQ in my face. I later learned from my friends that I was CQing in
*their* face.  Or I'd call someone and be unable to complete the Q.  Or they'd
call me and be unable to complete the Q. It was like a really bad slapstick
comedy. 

In video game design, the holy grail is "easy to learn, difficult to
master."  If it is too hard to learn, people give up. But if it is too easy
to master, people get bored. In particular, there has to be a skill set that the
person can develop through practice and discipline.  Similarly, in the musical
world, guitar is particularly popular because it is relatively easy to learn,
yet it is possible to spend your life mastering it. A new digital mode for
contesting similarly needs to be designed with this goal in mind.  

The JT modes are surely ground breaking for exploring the boundaries of radio
communication and DX. But they have a way to go if they are going to be
compelling as contest modes. There needs to be more for the contester to do to
keep him engaged, and to give him the sense that he has some ability to affect
the outcome though skill and technique.


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