CQ-WPX (CW) results with RGO One

I had intended to use the CQ-WPX (CW) contest as a way of looking at the RGO One's receiver performance in crowded band conditions but my planned "20 minutes here, 20 minutes there" turned into about 11 hours of operating time on all bands 10-80m.

I'll write up my impressions of the radio itself soon but, long story short, the little rig has a fantastic receiver and was a joy to operate. Weak signals next to strong ones? No problem. De-sensing in the presence of numerous strong signals? Doesn't happen.

Telegraphers as human wormholes to the past?

Samuel Morse, 24 May 1844

Eventually the concept of communicating via dots and dashes will become a faded memory. Although it hasn't happened yet, it is happening. In the years to come, Morse Code will become an increasingly distant, increasingly abstract memory in grainy black and white.

Many who were expert in its use have faded from our ranks.

"Human wormhole" is a phrase coined by blogger Jason Kottke after learning that American president John Tyler (our 10th president) was born in 1790 and still, as of 2019, has two living grandsons - one in Tennessee, the other in Virginia at the old family home.

"To meet either of these two octogenarians would be like shaking hands with the 18th century - and someone needs to come up with a name for that concept - thus the term human wormhole".

This weekend's CQ-WPX (CW) with RGO One - Preparations complete!

Although I won't be able to start this weekend's CQ-WPX (CW) at the very beginning, I plan to put in a few hours Saturday morning, evening and Sunday morning - all with the RGO One.

N3FJP's contest software has been downloaded and configured to key the rig via my WinkeyerUSB.

This will be my chance to see how the radio performs in contest conditions and I will be operating in both "search & pounce" and run modes. This is one of the few the only contest in which my callsign (like other 2x1's) often generates multiple replies to a CQ.

I am particularly interested in how the radio performs with numerous strong signals on the band and in the T/R switching at speeds of 28+ wpm.

I already have an idea of the latter due to the numerous CW QSOs made with the rig over the past 6 days but contests have a way of distilling certain performance parameters of a radio.

Hope to work you this weekend - this is one of the fun ones, regardless of power level used.
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Hans G0UPL's presentation at Dayton on the QSX

Most of the following has been posted before but there are a few new details on the "forthcoming" QSX (3MB pdf). In a related video, Hans mentions that he is currently working primarily on the T/R switching and the firmware for the QSX.

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Videos: Elecraft K4 & Flex MultiFlex

Competition is great. Both of these videos were made in Dayton on May 18, 2019:

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