[3830] WPX SSB WW1X M/M Distributed HP

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                    CQWW WPX Contest, SSB - 2021

Call: WW1X
Operator(s): K4BEN K6BFL AA4LS W0AAE AI6V W4IPC KA4RLL KC1KUG N9SM WW1X KN4YKM AA3TT WW2DX K1TR N2BZQ K9TI KA1KA WY6O N2NT W2MKM K0BBC KD2VHX AL8A N4XU WT1L W2RE
Station: WW1X

Class: M/M Distributed HP
QTH: ME, NY, GA
Operating Time (hrs): 48
Remote Operation

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:  164
   80:  886
   40: 1761
   20: 2517
   15:  509
   10:  204
------------
Total: 6041  Prefixes = 1503  Total Score = 23,499,405

Club: 

Comments:

Thanks to the CQ WPX Committee for making this an exciting weekend. 

The new WPX Multi-Transmitter Distributed category opens up this game to anyone
on the planet. Young operators don't often have the resources to travel, and we
were able to add operators from all over the world.

The team alignment:

A month prior to WPX SSB, I asked if any of the RHR youths would be interested
in WPX and the response was an astounding YES! Well, we couldn’t take all of
them, so we were limited to 10. We told the others that we would find them other
opportunities in the near future to do contesting on the RHR network. With ten
youths secured, we needed to add experience to the team. A couple of quick posts
on Facebook and the CQ contest reflector, and we landed another 16 operators
with most having years of contest experience. With the team set, we started
planning the stations and operating schedule.

Operators:

The team consisted of 26 operators, including ten under the age of 21. Here's a
photo gallery of the team and the stations:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mDrbzbY8ipikGpPp6

Nine countries were represented, with all participants having FCC licenses:

USA
Italy
Gibraltar
Italy
Croatia
Spain
Canary Islands
Israel
West Malaysia

Several of the operators have also competed in WRTC. 

Operating console:

Rock WW1X did the real magic by adding a load of new features to the console to
do M/M contesting effectively. A lock-out in the cloud between stations 1,000
miles apart was added to the list of cool things already in the logger. This was
a game-changer that made entry into this new category possible. 

1. Incrementing serial numbers (per band) 
2. Super Check Partial 
3. Mult recognition in callsign entry window 
4. Digital voice recorder 
5. Single shared log 
6. Dupe checking 
7. Band breakdown 
8. Scoring
9. Available mults in the cluster
10. Lockout per band in the cloud
11. Mult bell

In order to schedule 26 operators, Connor W4IPC (Youth) on the team created a
Google spreadsheet and laid out each operator, band, time slots so everyone knew
when and where they were going to operate. We also used Slack to communicate,
with separate channels for each band, so the team could stay connected over the
weekend. The socialization ended up being half the fun!

These were the basic features we needed to participate. With the team set, we
opened up the operating console for testing a week prior, for the operators to
learn the system. It's amazing how quickly contesters learn how to adapt to a
new way of operating using a new platform and contest software. 

Stations:

Flex 6600's and solid state amps (1000w)

Eastport, ME 
Joneport, ME
Lubec, ME
Summit, NY
Jefferson, NY
Blueberry, NY
Quaker, NY
Atlanta, GA

Game time: 

Keep in mind that this was a completely new experience for us. We linked seven
stations with thirteen operating positions and 26 operators, all living in the
operating console. Could we pull this off? I’m shaking my head trying to
comprehend that we did it! The experienced operators were teaching the younger
operators, and everyone was having a great time. We didn't have a single hitch
or panic moment all weekend.

The bands weren’t great. We had an electrical storm off the coast of Nova
Scotia on Friday night, which created a lot of lightning crashes. Even with
59+20 signals into Europe, we couldn’t get their attention on 40 or 80 the
first night. The Europeans were having a QSO party between themselves and we
just can't compete in a NAQP from Maine. It was a struggle the first night on
the low bands. The second night improved but 40/80/160 just didn't have the
activity to sustain any good runs. Last year we crushed those bands into Europe.
What did save us was the ability to use W4/Atlanta on 40m the first night. The
W4/Atlanta station is owned by Tom W8JI, he recently converted it over to Flex
6600. The station gave us a whole different propagation perspective south and
west. Oh, its really good into Europe as well with 3/3 on rotating tower.

All in all, the bands were good enough to have fun! Sure, we set our goals high,
but 23.5 million is a nice score!

Special Thanks:

We would like to especially thank Tom W8JI and David KA2HTV for opening up
Atlanta, GA and Lubec, ME for our operation.

Final Thoughts:

We won’t know how to proceed moving forward until we see what other contest
committees decide to do. If a distributed category is added to other contests,
we will build our station and logger platform to adapt to the rules. Again,
thanks to the WPX committee for thinking outside the box! You’ve given a bunch
of kids an experience they will never forget. 

As always, I can't thank Lee WW2DX and Rock WW1X for building a beautiful remote
experience! Thanks guys!

73,

Ray W2RE


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