Did you check your masternode tab on the new qt wallet where you have your masternode.conf?
Heh - I checked it a day or two back, marveled at its elegance, and then forgot all about it. Looking at it again now I saw it reporting "status ENABLED" while the wallet was syncing, then "WATCHDOG EXPIRED" once it synced. I pressed the "Start Alias" button (hey, this is way easier than doing it with console commands) and got a message that the MN had started. My earlier attempts through the console had all reported failure to start. The "WATCHDOG EXPIRED" status is still on (needs a mouseover explanation?) and the masternode.me stats still say don't say 12.1 a few minutes and refreshes later, but I think things may be OK. I'll keep an eye on it. Now to do my other 100 MNs (I wish).
Thanks for the suggestion!