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Author Topic: Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!  (Read 284 times)

K6OK

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Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!
« on: August 24, 2021, 11:40:41 AM »

WW DIGI is the opening act of the "Grand Slam" of worldwide contesting:  WW DIGI DX (end of August), CQ WW RTTY (end of Sep't), CQ WW SSB (end of Oct.) and CQ WW CW (end of Nov.).

It's an FT4/FT8 contest. The exchange is the standard grid square that FT uses. Scoring is unique as it is very distance-weighted. Multipliers are grids and a mult point for every 3,000 km of distance.  Lots of points to be grabbed by working new distant grids.

Obviously, with FT modes, rate is not king.  Since the rate is fixed by each 7.5 or 15 second cycle, maximum scores don't come from working as fast as you can, they come from looking for the most distant QSOs you can make at the moment.  Think of it as "speed DXing." 

A few tips:
  • Use Search and Pounce to your advantage. The CQ message is "CQ WW call grid," so if you answer them, you've already got their exchange. After each decode cycle you can prioritize which stations you call based on highest possible points, whether it be most distant or new grid.  Once you've worked the band, then call CQ to bring in more Q's.
  • Watch PSK Reporter. FT-8 is kind of slow and can get boring. Use the dead time while RXing or TXing to monitor the spots to see where the best DX is being heard. Always be on the lookout for unusual propagation.
  • Use WSJT-X's Color Coding. Under File --> Settings --> Colors use bright colors for "New Grid" and drag it to the top. This will help you spot new mults among the many decodes you receive per cycle.
  • Prepare Ahead of Time. Make sure you have the latest software (version 2.4.0).  If a practice session is announced, use that as a dry run to make sure your PC, software and radio are working together as they should. Right before the contest, synchronize your PC clock and set it as accurately as possible.

If you have a modest station -- 100 watts and wires -- WW DIGI DX is a great way to work new countries and DX. There will be plenty of activity on the air.

Contest starts at 1200 UTC Saturday August 28 and ends at 1159 UTC Sunday (24 hours).

Contest rules and more at https://ww-digi.com/

Good luck, and hope to C U on the waterfall.   --  73 Jim K6OK
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K1VSK

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Re: Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2021, 01:28:05 PM »

Looks like the perfect weekend to switch to a cluster which omits FT8 spots.
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KC0W

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Re: Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2021, 02:55:12 PM »

 Stations who use a long stroked callsign (KH0/KC0W) are unable to send their grid info which is part of the exchange. Perhaps a future revision of FT8/FT4 will finally address this problem.


                                                                                  Tom KH0/KC0W   
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K6OK

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Re: Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2021, 03:32:19 PM »

Stations who use a long stroked callsign (KH0/KC0W) are unable to send their grid info which is part of the exchange. Perhaps a future revision of FT8/FT4 will finally address this problem.

Thanks, I did not know this. That is a serious flaw -- maybe it can't be made to work with the 77-bit payload?  I'm not sure. Sorry if that keeps you out of the contest.  -- Jim K6OK
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KA2FIR

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Re: Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2021, 03:42:01 PM »

Looks like the perfect weekend to switch to a cluster which omits FT8 spots.

Have you been able to find one?
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K6OK

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Re: Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2021, 08:18:35 PM »

Looks like the perfect weekend to switch to a cluster which omits FT8 spots.
Have you been able to find one?

You might try the VE7CC CC Client. Or DX Heat. Both can filter by mode.
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N1UR

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Re: Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2021, 05:21:45 AM »

Since Ft4/FT8 are essentially local skimmers that show everything they are decoding, why would anyone need to "spot" such a signal on the DX Cluster?

The only think that really needs to be spotted anymore is SSB and RTTY, right?

Ed  N1UR
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K6OK

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Re: Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!
« Reply #7 on: August 26, 2021, 10:19:12 AM »

Since Ft4/FT8 are essentially local skimmers that show everything they are decoding, why would anyone need to "spot" such a signal on the DX Cluster?  The only think that really needs to be spotted anymore is SSB and RTTY, right?

Ed  N1UR

There's still value in manually spotting FT4/FT8 for rare DX and dxpeditions, especially fox and hound, which is usually on weird frequencies and to let operators know they using fox and hound. But I agree, run-of-the-mill FT mode contacts shouldn't be manually spotted.  Technically RTTY doesn't need spots in contests because that mode has CW Skimmer-like auto-spots too. Only SSB is fully dependent on manual spotting  -- until somebody uses AI to develop an Alexa-type "skimmer" that can decode SSB CQ's. 
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KA2FIR

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Re: Contest Season Starts This Saturday with WW DIGI DX!
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2021, 03:33:58 PM »

Looks like the perfect weekend to switch to a cluster which omits FT8 spots.
Have you been able to find one?

You might try the VE7CC CC Client. Or DX Heat. Both can filter by mode.

I use dxheat.com and it still leaks FT8/Digital posts when Digital is not selected.
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