June 2025
Volume 30 Number 6
The next meeting of the MLDXCC will be on June 21st in Shingle Springs. Find out more.
From the Prez
Hello Nugget readers,
I do believe all of you are aware by now, but MLDXCC has won the club competition for the 2024 ARRL Sweepstakes. This is our 10th first place win in a row. It was announced in the June QST. I really like competing in the Medium Club category. It’s always a good competition and a win every year is never for certain unlike the Unlimited Club competition where PVRC is just shooting fish in a barrel. Congratulations also go out to PL259 for winning the Small Club competition.
I went to the Dayton Hamvention again this year and I actually spent some money. I came back with a Flex PGXL amplifier, the TGXL tuner, and the AGXL 8×2 antenna switch. All of this now makes for a complete SO2R remote station. To get to that point, I need to replace the Array Solutions 6×2 switch with the AGXL and W6SR and I need to do a bit more antenna work.
I am really impressed with the PGXL amp so far. The protection circuits work as they should and this amplifier can put out a true 2 KW. The amp has three fan/blower modes: Standard, Contest and Broadcast. In the Broadcast mode, the fans absolutely scream and I like that in an amplifier. It never hurts to blow too much air on an amplifier. The down side of this is if the amplifier is located at the operating position, it can be incredibly annoying when running in Broadcast mode, which is recommended for RTTY, FT8 and SO2R operation. The good thing is that in an all-Flex station, the transceiver, amp, tuner and antenna switch are all on the network. No serial cables, USB cables, etc. are necessary. All control is over the network. This means that the transceiver, amp, tuner and of course the antenna switch can be located nowhere near the operating position. I am going to be rack mounting the 6700, tuner, amp, rotor controllers, bandpass filters, etc. all in an open-frame rack that will be located away from the operating position.
We’ve got a great meeting planned for this month. Craig, K9CT, will be giving us a tour, via Zoom, of his contest super-station. Hope to see you at the meeting.
From the Veep
Hello MLDXCC!
As a reminder, Field Day (6/28) is just around the corner. Yesterday I received my ARRL 2025 Field Day T-shirt so I’m ready to go! As of now, Sue K6SZQ and I will be working from our home station so keep an ear out for us. Remember to update your logging program for Field Day use too.
Worked any good DX lately? I know HF DX lately has been a little sparse; however there has been some activity from Wake Island. Six meters (50.313 FT8) however has been very active! Currently I’ve been able to log 46 states, only needing RI, DE, VA & WV at this time. As a suggestion from a club member I’ve started to pay attention to grids as well.
How’s your DX Marathon numbers looking? Remember even though you’ve worked a DXCC country before, they count as “brand new” again every year for the Marathon. WARC band & FT4/FT8 contacts all count for the Marathon as well.
Well that’s all for now, time for me to go check east coast six meter propagation.
73 and Good DX, Steve NC6R
Articles
Minutes of the May 10th Meeting (Habanero Hots, Lodi)
Presentations and Slides from Dayton
Photos from the 2025 IDXC in Visalia by N6TV
SCDXC Newsletter Lives!
The Southern California DX Club is gone, but a newsletter is still being published – and there’s a lot of great content there! Check out the June 2025 issue. (Thanks Rick W6SR for the tip!)
Speaking of DX…
Upcoming Contests
Via contestcalendar.com:
- June 21: All Asian DX Contest, CW
- June 28: ARRL Field Day (yes, I know…)
- July 1: RAC Canada Day Contest
- July 5: CQ Worldwide VHF SSB/CW Contest
- July 12: IARU HF World Championship
- July 19: North American QSO Party, RTTY
- July 19: CQ Worldwide VHF Digital Contest
Humor!
Steve NC6R wanted everyone to see this 😅.
Send more funny stuff for the next issue! – Ed.
Classifieds
I have a WaveNode WN2 Digital Watt Meter, with four HF sensors. This unit sells new for $385, with a single sensor. I have been using is in an SO2R configuration with a sensor on the input and output of each amplifier.
That way, I can always see my input and output power. Rick, W6SR, who uses my station remotely more than I do, has depended on the software display to know how much power he’s running.
There are several options for the look of the computer display. And there are several other features such as rotator control and antenna switching but I have just used the wattmeter function.
I’m selling this because I have purchased the Flex PGXL amplifier, which has built in and remotable watt meters. It can be yours for $200. Contact Bob W1RH w1rh@yahoo.com
Need a REAL dummy load, rated 500W continuous (2 kW peak)? Here’s an old MIL TS-118A/AP, which is also a Bird 693. Flat to >1 GHz. Normally configured to use the included thermocouple sensors and a built-in meter, I’ve included a little shorting plug that turns it into a simple dummy load (disables the meter), but you can run it either way. The steel case weighs more than the instrument! Will sell for $140 because that’s what the special LC to N adapter cost me. Manual: https://birdrf.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/23027152223767
Contact Gary NA6O gwj@me.com
Jim K9YC passed along information about some free towers and antennas “for a lot of labor”. They are located west of Portland OR. More details here.
Rick N6RNO has one of these shack warmers for sale, new in box. Contact Rick at rick@eversoles.com for details.
ClubLog DXCC Standings
As of 17 June 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here.
Overall
| 1 | NK7I | 227 |
| 2 | W1SRD | 224 |
| 3 | W6DE | 201 |
| 4 | K6OK | 184 |
| 5 | K6YK | 182 |
CW
| 1 | K6YK | 162 |
| 2 | NO5Z | 122 |
| 3 | K6OK | 120 |
| 4 | NA6O | 105 |
| 5 | N6WM | 104 |
Phone
| 1 | W1SRD | 116 |
| 2 | K6YK | 115 |
| 3 | NO5Z | 114 |
| 4 | N6WM | 111 |
| 5 | K6TQ | 101 |
Data
| 1 | NK7I | 216 |
| 2 | W1SRD | 195 |
| 3 | W6DE | 177 |
| 4 | K7QDX | 173 |
| 5 | K6OK | 154 |
Resources
Check out the Resources menu up there at the top of every web page for useful DX and contest info.
Prepared for the MLDXCC by Editor and Webwookie Jeff WK6I. Please do send me any corrections, omissions, or material for future issues of The Nugget. It is much appreciated!