Author: Jeff Stai

Next meeting: 1:00PM (not 11:30AM!) January 31st at Richmaid Restaurant in Lodi. Find out more.

Thirty Years Ago, a bunch of local hams gathered for pizza at Mountain Mike’s Round Table in Martel, and the Mother Lode DX/Contest Club was born!

In this issue: A Roundup roundup! – That new monthly feature! – the return of state QSO parties – a look back 10 & 20 years – classifieds – DX – focus contests – more funny stuff! – and more!

From the Prez

Hey DX’ers and Contesters,

Well, the bad DX’er that I am, I just realized that KP5 is active again.  I checked my log and I have it confirmed on all but 60, 12, 10, and 6.  Now that I actually realize that they’re on the air until February 14^th, maybe I can fill in some or all of those slots.  If there’s a 6 meter opening from NorCal to KP5, please post it on the reflector!  We do have a MLDXCC Spots Groups.io site and that’s a good place to post it.

Speaking of DX, I did my once-a-year LOTW upload/download and found #330 confirmed – VP9C, Cocos (Keeling) Island, which I worked in 2024.  It was another one of many that I just completely forgot to QSL but I guess they finally uploaded the logs to LOTW.  There are four others that I have worked, but never bothered to get confirmed: Monaco, Somalia, Trindade & Martim, and Turkmenistan.  Some of those QSO’s were many years ago but, who knows, maybe they will show up on next year’s LOTW download.  Rick, W6SR, did recently do some research on these and suggested some QSL routes which I’ll be checking out.

In the world of contesting, we had 17 of our members submit logs for the RTTY Roundup this year.  This has always been a NCCC focus contest and, for whatever reason, they did not list it as a focus contest this year.  I just don’t understand that since NCCC has won that contest in the past.  I didn’t want to hurt any NCCC effort that I may not have been aware of, so I really didn’t push it with the MLDXCC membership.  Based on how we did, however, I’d say that we should play hard on this one next year.  Here are some scores I was able to grab off of the ARRL Raw Scores site:

AF6SA	Single Operator Unlimited, High Power	11682
K6NV	Single Operator Unlimited, High Power	58077
K6RIM	Single Operator Unlimited, High Power	60480
K6ST	Single Operator, Low Power	2886 (via 3830scores)
K6TQ	Single Operator Unlimited, High Power	13440
K9YC	Single Operator Unlimited, High Power	112355
KE6GLA	Single Operator, Low Power	55272
N6GEO	Single Operator Unlimited, High Power	52164
N6NFB	Single Operator, High Power	19520
N6XI	Single Operator, High Power	13000
W1RH	Multioperator, Single Transmitter, High Power	70482
W6EU	Single Operator, High Power	78959
W6RKC	Single Operator Unlimited, High Power	19,500
W6SX	Single Operator Unlimited, High Power	56850
WK6I	Single Operator, High Power	62568
WU7W	Single Operator, High Power	4320 (via 3830scores)
WX6V	Single Operator Unlimited, High Power	34626

Thanks to everyone who submitted a score.  Note that although they submitted logs, I was unable to find the raw scores for K6ST and WU7W.

Our meeting this month will feature Gary, NA6O, speaking on RFI, which is always a popular subject.  We will meet at 1pm on January 31^st, at the Richmaid Restaurant, right off of 99 in Lodi.

From the Veep

No report, no worries!

Treasurer’s Quarterly Report

Welcome to 2026!  Dues are due (we run our finances January – December), and at the November meeting those in attendance voted to increase dues to $30 per individual and $45 for a family.   That’s a steal – only $2.50/month (or $3.75/mo for a family) – just 58 cents a week!   Show your club some support and pay your dues today – you can pay them by:

• Sending a check payable to MLDXCC to our treasurer, Sue K6SZQ at 17610 Red Mule Road   Fiddletown, CA  95642
• Paying through Paypal – motherlodeclub@gmail.com   Make sure that you spell Motherlode correctly, and choose the “friends and family option” to avoid us having to pay fees.
• Best way: Bringing a check or cash with you to the meeting!  Hope to see you there.

10/1/2025 Opening Balance = $3,007.07

• Income = $70.00
  • 2025 Dues – Paypal = $0.00
  • 2025 Dues – Checking = $70.00
• Expenses = $0.00
  • None

6/30/2025 Ending Balance = $3,077.07

Secretary’s Report

There was no December 2025 meeting.

“The new 60-meter frequencies approved by the FCC in December will become available to amateurs as of February 13, 2026, along with new power restrictions on those frequencies… FCC-licensed amateur operators holding General Class or higher licenses may operate on a secondary basis anywhere between 5351.5 and 5366.5 kHz, subject to a maximum bandwidth of 2.8 kHz and maximum transmit power of 9.15 watts ERP (effective radiated power).” – via ARRL News

More on the ARRL Contest Update. Last month I mentioned that the quality of the Update newsletter had improved with the return of Brian Moran, N9ADG to the editor’s chair. It took some effort (and Gemini AI) to locate how to sign up for it. Here it is! The most recent issue includes a ton of useful info. You should just subscribe!

Recently Posted Articles

W1RH Year End Remote Station Update – Bob W1RH

Tube of the Month – Norm N6JV

New feature! QSL of the Month – January 2026 – Bob W1RH

Videos!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel! (We’re up to 8 now! – ed)

DX…

Via DX-world.net

Upcoming DXpeditions via NG3K

DX Calendar via 425 DX News

Upcoming Contests

Mark your calendar with our MLDXCC Focus Contests! Up next are:

• February 21-22, 2026: ARRL International DX Contest – CW
• March 7-8, 2026: ARRL International DX Contest – SSB

Other contests of note coming up in the next month or so, via contestcalendar.com:

• February 1 (Jan 31st, PST): North American SSB Sprint Contest
• February 8 (Feb 7th, PST): North American Sprint, CW
• February 14-15: CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest
• February 28: North American QSO Party, RTTY

State QSO Parties (via statesqoparty.com) are back!:

• February 7: Minnesota QSO Party (CW, Phone)
• February 7-8: Vermont QSO Party (CW, SSB, RTTY, FTx)
• February 7-8: British Columbia QSO Party (CW, SSB)
• March 1: NSARA (Nova Scotia) Contest, (CW, Phone, Digital (RTTY etc. no FTx)) – 80m only
• March 1: North Carolina QSO Party (CW, Phone, Digital (RTTY etc.) plus separate FTx “Weak Signal” event during the same period)

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Classifieds

For Sale and Wanted: Skip N6NFB is selling a US Tower TX-455 (used, very good) with tilt fixture, Yaesu 800 rotor, and 15 foot mast tube $1100. And also selling a US Tower MA-40 tubular tower. New old stock, still on shipping pallets. $250.

Skip is also looking for “a fairly recent HF radio. FTDX 3000 or similar. My trusty old 756proIII developed a problem during the recent contest and took me out of it. Skip – N6NFBskip@gmail.com

Wanted: Rohn-25 tower sections, bottom plate, wall stand off, & top section.  If you have any of thiese pieces, let me know along with the price.
Dave, w6de – 530-409-7877 – v8dave@gmail.com

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For Sale: Bob W1RH has 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.

Bob also has for sale an Array Solutions 6-PAK 6 port SO2R antenna switch – $250

Contact Bob W1RH w1rh@yahoo.com.

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For Sale: New, never used,  EHU for BigIR  /  $250 or best offer – Thank you, Steve / NC6R nc6r4dx@gmail.com

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High Power Antenna Tuners: Have you always wanted a Big Johnson? Now’s your chance! I bought this EF Johnson Kilowatt Matchbox years ago at a hamfest and never used it – darn those resonant antennas – so I have no idea of its actual condition. Is said to be able plenty more than 1000 watts, and can tune a balanced antenna as well as something at the other end of a coax. Includes the directional coupler. $150 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

I also have a big Dentron MT3000A. Same story, never used it. This unit includes an antenna switch, dummy load, and can also handle a balanced antenna. $200 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

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Humor!

A few more things that popped up around the web this month:

Send more funny stuff for the next issue! – Ed.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

New Standings for 2026 as of 26 January. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here. And if you notice some numbers not quite adding up right – I promise I double checked. ClubLog will hopefully straighten it out soon.

Overall

1	NK7I	86
2	K6YK	74
3	W6DR	68
4	K6RIM	64
5	W1SRD	54

CW

1	K6YK	49
2	K6RIM	40
3	N05Z	19
4	NA6O	13
5	WU7W	7

Phone

1	K6YK	10
2	WC6H	8
2	K6LR	8
3	K6RIM	6
4	NC6R	3
4	K6TQ	3

Data

1	NK7I	90
2	W6DR	68
3	W1SRD	53
4	K7QDX	51
5	W6KAP	48

10 and 20 Years Ago in The Nugget

January is when the club gets a new slate of officers for the year. The privileged few running things in January 2016 were:

• President Shirl Rose AA6K
• VP & Contest Chair Dennis Moore NJ6G
• Secretary Dick Wilson K6LRN
• Treasurer Carolyn Wilson K6TKD
• Board members Steve Allred K6SCA (NC6R) and Rick Casey W6RKC

Other highlights for January 2016 include:

• Rick WA6NHC was asked to provide a description of his station “I live in an HOA infested area made worse by being 250 yards from the end of an airport runway. No, it wasn’t the wisest choice in buying a place to live… Instead of being able to put up big antenna arrays, my R7 vertical accepting too much noise, I put up a simple dipole (in it’s own way). I have access to a ‘common area’ of the HOA behind my property that no one uses. I also take full advantage that most humans rarely look up. Which means that I have a 370′ (112M) center fed (window line) dipole in plain sight. the wires running nearly N/S, that no one ‘sees’ on a very busy street.”
• Immediately following WA6NHC’s report we find “For Sale: A fabulous QTH for the Ham who wants to re-locate to the foothills of the Sierra’s. 2900 sq. ft. house on 5 acres. 4 bed 3 bath storybook home, with a 500 sq. ft. “granny flat” above garage, perfect for the ham station. Includes covered RV storage, barn, storage shed, and 50 ft. Rohn 25 tower. No restrictive HOA’s or CC&R’s. 360 degree RFview, on top of hill at 1500 ft elevation.”
• Norm N6JV’s Tube of the Month was the Eimac 3X2500A family. Looks a little like something from the War of the Worlds…

In January 2006 the folks in charge were:

• “New kid on the block” President Rich Hill NU6T
• “Never been a radio club officer before “VP & Contest Chair Rick Karlquist, N6RK
• Secretary Kay Anderson, K6KO
• Treasurer Carolyn Wilson, K6TKD
• Board members; Ken Anderson, K6TA and Dick Wilson, K6LRN

Other highlights for January 2006 include:

• The program for the January meeting: “Propagation Forecasts at the bottom of the Sunspot cycle. By Kay, K6KO/P40K and Ken, K6TA/P40TA. An analysis of 10 meter propagation from Aruba, P4 during the 2005 ARRL 10 Meter contest against predictions as provided by Dean N6BV. Using Dean’s hour by hour prediction charts we’ll show you what really happened. Dean will be attending the meeting as well. Don’t miss this one!”
• The minutes from the December 2025 meeting say that “President Dick Wilson K6LRN received a letter from Fred Leoni N6YEU representing REDXA challenging some of the logs that where submitted for MLDX/CC in the ’05 CQP. The challenge centered on certain submissions that were from non-current members. Dick discussed the nature of these logs and the importance of fair competition. Consensus from members in attendance was that these logs should not be counted towards the CLUB competition plaque for CQP and that even though MLDX/CC’s roster size is roughly ½ the size of REDXA’s club, we would still prefer to beat REDXA fairly.”
• The Nugget editor Rick W6SR shared that he “will be volunteering a few hours each month to the El Dorado County Sheriff Dept. from now on. I have completed my STAR (Sheriff’s Team of Active Retirees) training and graduated on Jan 20th. As it happened, the 20th was also Karen’s birthday; I mentioned this to our training officer. And at the beginning of the gradation ceremony, which was held in the El Dorado County Board Of Supervisor’s chambers, the El Dorado County Sheriff, his Under Sheriff, the Captain, a couple of Lieutenants plus about 100 guests sang “Happy Birthday” to her. Yeah, she was surprised and I heard about it later, but I know it made her day!”

Did these snippets from years ago trigger any good memories? If so, please send them for inclusion in the next issue of The Nugget!

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!

Next meeting: 1:00PM (not 11:30AM!) January 31st at Richmaid Restaurant in Lodi. Find out more.

Thirty Years Ago, a bunch of local hams gathered for pizza at Mountain Mike’s in Martel, and the Mother Lode DX/Contest Club was born!

In this issue: Member reports! – Another new monthly feature! – Sweepstakes! – a look back 20 years – classifieds – DX – focus contests – more funny stuff! – and more!

From the Prez

Hey DX’ers and Contesters,

It’s the end of the year, and it has been a pretty good one for MLDXCC.  We have had meetings nearly every month this year and our attendance has been up.  We have been working hard to find new DX’ers and contesters and have been inviting them to our meetings.  

We also are in a good position to have won our 10^th ARRL Sweepstakes Club Competition in the Medium Club category.  More on that in another article in this issue of the Nugget.

When I was elected President last year, I did it on the condition that Steve, NC6R, would continue to run the meetings as Past President, and I’d arrange the meetings, find the venues and stream/record the meetings.  That has worked out pretty well.

We do need to elect officers, and should have done that in November.  We did get nominations and we will need to elect officers at the January meeting.  I am not, however, going to be able to do another year as President, even though I indicated that I’d do another year at the November meeting.  A few things have come up that will require that I step back from MLDXCC for a while.  So, we will need to find another President for the club.  I hope to continue to attend meetings as much as possible and, if I’m there, I’ll stream and record the meetings.  We will need someone to arrange the meetings and find speakers however.

Our Next meeting will be on January 31^st and will be held in Lodi, probably at Habanero Hots.  Our speaker will be Gary, NA6O, and he will be doing a talk on reducing RF interference.

Bob has been prolific this month, scroll down to Recent Articles for more! – ed

From the Veep

No report, no worries!

Secretary’s Report

Minutes of the November 22nd Meeting (The Breakroom, Shingle Springs).

FCC Allocates 60-Meter World-Wide Amateur Band. “The Commission allocated 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz (60 meters) to the amateur service on a secondary basis with a permitted power of 9.15 watts ERP. The Commission also authorized amateurs to continue using four existing channels outside of the 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz band, centered on 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz, on a secondary basis with a permitted power of 100 watts ERP. There are no antenna restrictions, but antenna gain must be used to calculate ERP.” – via ARRL Letter

CBS as a service! A web version of the well-known Cabrillo statistics program (CBS) by K5KA and N6TV is now available at the following link:  https://logtools.contesting.com/cbs.php. Contesters have been using this application for years on their own computers, and now it can be used with just a web browser. For supported contests, one can obtain QSO rates, multiplier and country stats, unique counts, dupes, band changes, and more. – via ARRL Contest Update

(Brian N9ADG has recently taken over the editorship of the ARRL Contest Update, and the level and amount of content have improved noticeably!)

Skip N6NFB reports that in the DX marathon, he’s “currently at 197 countries, all modes.”

The 2026 Periodic Table of Contests! Get the full sized version here.

A new amateur radio magazine? It sure looks like it. Called SWR Magazine, it looks well produced and has interesting content. And it’s free! Here’s a link to the December 2025 issue.

Recently Posted Articles

2025 Sweepstakes – Bob W1RH

New feature! QSL of the Month – December 2025 – also by Bob W1RH

Videos!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel! (We’re up to 8 now! – ed)

DX…

Via DX-world.net

Upcoming DXpeditions via NG3K

DX Calendar via 425 DX News

Upcoming Contests

Mark your calendar with our MLDXCC Focus Contests! Up next is:

• January 3-4, 2026: ARRL RTTY Roundup (RTTY only)

Helpful RTTY Hint! Unshift on Space (USOS). “RTTY uses the 5-bit Baudot code, which relies on toggling between Letters (LTRS) and Figures (FIGS) to expand its limited character set. For instance, “N9ADG” requires shifting modes: N FIGS 9 LTRS A D G. If a shift command is lost to interference, text can become garbled (e.g., “599” appearing as “TOO”). The “Unshift on Space” (USOS) feature reduces errors by resetting to LTRS at every space. RTTY software often compensates for this by auto-inserting FIGS symbols before numbers and offering a “hover” feature to decode garbled words using the alternate character set.

“The invisible yet needed shifting and unshifting symbols sent between letters and figures is why it’s NOT good practice to use “5NN” in your exchange for RTTY. It can cost you time since you’re sending FIGS 5 LTRS N N while “599” is FIGS 5 9 9 and time is contacts!” – via ARRL Contest Update

Other contests of note coming up in the next month or so, via contestcalendar.com:

• January 1: SARTG New Year RTTY Contest
• January 10-11: North American QSO Party (CW)
• January 17-18: North American QSO Party (SSB)
• January 23-25: CQ 160-Meter Contest (CW)
• February 1 (Jan 31st, PST): North American SSB Sprint Contest

State QSO Parties (via statesqoparty.com) are back!:

• February 7: Minnesota QSO Party (CW, Phone)
• February 7-8: Vermont QSO Party (CW, SSB, RTTY, FTx)
• February 7-8: British Columbia QSO Party (CW, SSB)

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Classifieds

For Sale and Wanted: Skip N6NFB is selling a US Tower TX-455 (used, very good) with tilt fixture, Yaesu 800 rotor, and 15 foot mast tube $1100. And also selling a US Tower MA-40 tubular tower. New old stock, still on shipping pallets. $250.

Skip is also looking for “a fairly recent HF radio. FTDX 3000 or similar. My trusty old 756proIII developed a problem during the recent contest and took me out of it. Skip – N6NFBskip@gmail.com

Wanted: Rohn-25 tower sections, bottom plate, wall stand off, & top section.  If you have any of thiese pieces, let me know along with the price.
Dave, w6de – 530-409-7877 – v8dave@gmail.com

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For Sale: Bob W1RH has 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.

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.

Bob also has for sale an Array Solutions 6-PAK 6 port SO2R antenna switch – $250

Contact Bob W1RH w1rh@yahoo.com.

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For Sale: New, never used,  EHU for BigIR  /  $250 or best offer – Thank you, Steve / NC6R nc6r4dx@gmail.com

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High Power Antenna Tuners: Have you always wanted a Big Johnson? Now’s your chance! I bought this EF Johnson Kilowatt Matchbox years ago at a hamfest and never used it – darn those resonant antennas – so I have no idea of its actual condition. Is said to be able plenty more than 1000 watts, and can tune a balanced antenna as well as something at the other end of a coax. Includes the directional coupler. $150 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

I also have a big Dentron MT3000A. Same story, never used it. This unit includes an antenna switch, dummy load, and can also handle a balanced antenna. $200 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

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Humor!

A few more things that popped up around the web this month:

And because it indirectly references Calaveras County, https://xkcd.com/3181​

Send more funny stuff for the next issue! – Ed.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

Final as of 31 December 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here. (Bit of a shakeup this month with new members joining the league!)

Overall

1	NK7I	260
2	W1SRD	256
3	W6DE	232
4	K6OK	223
5	K6RIM	217

CW

1	K6YK	193
2	K6RIM	192
3	K6OK	149
4	W1SRD	147
5	NO5Z	146

Phone

1	W1SRD	169
2	K6YK	154
3	K6RIM	127
4	WE6Z	126
5	NO5Z	123

Data

1	NK7I	251
2	W1SRD	238
3	W6DE	209
4	K7QDX	202
5	K6OK	189

10 and 20 Years Ago in The Nugget

But first! Last month’s look back brought back some fun memories. From Steve W1SRD:

“That pic of Chesterfield really shows what a narrow spit of land that particular island we landed on really is. It would take a major storm surge to threaten anyone ashore though as the coral reef breaks the surf a good 100 yards off shore facing the open ocean. It was quite a trip. I would love to go back there to “do it again” hoping for better solar conditions, but that’s likely never going to happen. Chesterfield is now part of the Coral Sea Preserve and the chance of getting a permit is pretty much zero.”

And more from Alan AD6E:

“Thanks for the reminder. That (TX3X) was my last expedition and one of the most enjoyable … despite the Vegemite for breakfast. It was a great team with many NCCCers. I had to spend a few minutes revisiting my Google photo album.

“Best story:  One afternoon I was working CW into NA but getting many loud JAs. I started ending each Q with “NA UP”. The rate was great and nary a peep out of JA. Eventually the band faded to NA and I said “NOW JA”. It was like someone suddenly turned on Niagara Falls.”

“This is the pair of boobies that stuck to their guns and never moved from where we found them. We set up the CW tent about 10ft away and they stayed there the whole time. Aptly named C and W.” (More ND6E photos from TX3X – and more boobies! – here.)

And Skip N6DGW, “I’ve always wondered if the boobies know that we’ve named them ‘Boobies?’”

Now, let’s look back a see what we were up to way back when. In the December 2005 issue of The Nugget:

• It being year’s end, Prez Dick K6LRN thanked the outgoing officers and board, and noted that based on preliminary results the MLDXCC was leading REDXA by about 100,000 points in Sweepstakes club results.
• Then in a thoughtful aside, Dick quoted an SFgate article about a basin forming in Ethiopia, “…the split is the beginning of a long process, which will eventually lead to Ethiopia’s eastern part tearing off from the rest of Africa, a sea forming in the gap. The Afar desert is being torn off the continent by about 0.8 inches each year.” He wondered, “Is it too early to start thinking about separate country status?? Are Martti or Kan packing bags & making plans??”
• A bunch of member updates. Ken K6TA and Kay K6KO were down in Aruba for the ARRL 160m, with Ken operating as P40TA. They were sticking around for Kay to operate the ARRL 10m as P40K, and Ken in the Stew after that. Rick N6XI recounted several recent contest efforts and added, “I’m tired of accumulating ham shack pallor and intend to spend some quality time in the Sierra sunshine, sliding down mountains on a pair of hi-tech barrel staves!”
• Lots of DX news as always, one notice caught my eye: “Rick Hilding, K6VVA has been working on activation of the Farallon Islands (NA-178) for a year and a half, and now he says there is a possibility of being QRV sometime in January or early February 2006.” We’ll have to see if that pans out.
• The November meeting minutes revealed the nominating committee reporting the slate of officers for 2006. (I’ll save those for next month.) The planned entertainment was “a CD from Paolo, I2UIY that proved unplayable.” Alas. But a spirited discussion of upcoming contest strategy filled the void. Lyle W6WF was voted in as a new member.

There was no December 2015 issue of The Nugget.

Did these snippets from years ago trigger any good memories? If so, please send them for inclusion in the next issue of The Nugget!

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!

Next meeting: November 22nd at The Breakroom in Shingle Springs. Find out more.

Thirty Years Ago this month, a bunch of local hams gathered for pizza at Mountain Mike’s in Martel, and the Mother Lode DX/Contest Club was born!

In this issue: Member reports! – A new monthly feature! – the Tube of the Month – classifieds – DX – focus contests – more funny stuff! – and more!

From the Prez

Well, we all just survived another set of Sweepstakes CW and Phone weekends.  As I write this, MLDXCC is in a pretty good position to win our 11^th Sweepstakes in a row, but you never know until all of the logs are checked and the final results posted,

The Raw scores for SS CW have been posted in the ARRL website and it is a tie between the Arizona Outlaws and MLDXCC.  Note that “raw” scores are the scores submitted by the operator, prior to log checking.

• 1,906,060 – MLDXCC – 24 logs
• 1,900,563 – Arizona Outlaws – 20 logs

The raw scores show us leading by 5,500 points but log checking can change that, so we will wait for the final results.

I want to note that our three smallest scores, from W6RKC, K6ST, and K7RC (K6DGW) made the difference.  If those three logs had not been submitted, the Arizona Outlaws would have beat us in CW, based on raw scores and probably log checking.

I can’t thank all of you enough.  We had some terrific scores.  I’ll say more about this at our next meeting.

The raw scores for SS Phone won’t be out for a couple of weeks, so it’s too early to tell just where we stand.  With that said, we have 20 logs submitted so far and the Arizona Outlaws have 11 logs submitted so far.

Our SS Phone scores are just huge, which is typical for our club and I’m totaling 1,493,426 points so far.  It’s going to be hard for AOCC to beat this phone score, but we will wait and see.

I am always concerned about some of the big clubs that just might not make the 50-log total, dropping them into the Medium Club Category.  

The Florida Contest Group is one of those, but as of today they have submitted more than 50 logs, so I don’t see them as an issue.  

Contest Club Ontario, as of today, has 30 logs submitted for CW and 19 logs for Phone.  That’s 49 logs.  Two more will push them into the Unlimited Category.  I took a quick look at their 3830 CW numbers and they are well below our SS CW numbers, but there are also five log scores missing.  I’ll have more to say about this at our meeting this Saturday.

There’s always the possibility that some other club out there has come from out of nowhere to clean our clock (as we did 10 years ago) so let’s just wait for the results before we start blowing our horn.

We have lost some of our big point generators in the past year.  A couple that come to mind are Fred, KH7Y (now NO5Z) and Bill, N6ZFO.  Fred is now in New Mexico and Bill moved to Virginia.  We will miss them both.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that we have had five premier contesters join MLDXCC.

• Hank, W6SX
• Jim, K6JS
• Jim, K9YC
• Al, K6RIM
• Don, K6GHA

I can’t say enough about these guys.  All belong to the true “Mother” club, NCCC.

Hank, W6SX, does it all with wire antennas and really doesn’t live that far from us as the crow flies (Mammoth Lakes).  

Jim, K6JS, has six pieces of SS lumber in his shack and makes very good wine.

Jim, K9YC, besides being a fantastic contester, is on the ARRL Contest Advisory Board and is also a world authority on ferrites, baluns, RF interference, and audio.  

Al, K6RIM, has been very active in the Northern California DX Foundation as well as the Northern California DX Club.  He’s also in the Redwood Empire DX Association.

Don, K6GHA, has won several plaques in contests such as CQP and 7QP.

Here’s a look at our claimed raw scores for SS CW:

CALL	SCORE
K6GHA	47040
K6JS	118440
K6MM	77952
K6NV	70224
K6OK	112560
K6RC	113400
K6RIM	113736
K6ST	2128
K7RC	9630
K9YC	140448
KE6GLA	38398
KH6TU	124320
N6GEO	80640
N6RK	102240
N6TV	97744
N6XI	13680
W1RH	120120
W1SRD	95592
W6EU	101136
W6RKC	3400
W6SX	110712
WC6H	167328
WX5S	108192
WX6V	61320

Here’s a look at the scores, as of this writing, for SS Phone:

CALL	SCORE
K6BEW	13566
K6GHA	39000
K6JS	38508
K6NV	55728
K6OK	48202
K6ST	13776
K6TQ	25116
KE8FT	76626
KH6TU	92988
N6ACL	68000
N6GEO	57720
N6RK	103916
N6XI	5000
NR6Q	144570
W1RH	72480
W1SRD	177650
W6LP	163370
W6SX	34048
WC6H	260736
WX6V	41426

Speaking of contesting, how many of you worked “Tina” in Sweepstakes phone?  “Tina” is the brainchild of Tim, K3QE.   Tim will show you just how far along we are with creating an AI voice for contesting.  In a contest, Tim is pushing all of the buttons, but it’s Tina’s voice you hear on the air, and we all know just how a female voice can penetrate the pileups.  I saw his presentation in Dayton this year and it was both educational and hilarious.  Jim will be our speaker at our meeting this Saturday.  I hope to see you there at the Break Room or via Zoom.

From the Veep

It’s that time of year; Sweepstakes CW & SSB have come and gone. How did you do? Did you achieve your QSO goals? Archive a clean sweep? 

Sue K6SZQ and I ran in the multi-single category and had good results. We had some challenges to overcome and we able to be on the air for only 14 hours total. At the end of the contest however we managed to log 961 contacts and all 85 mults for a score of 163,370. 

Once the log checking is completed, we’ll see if we can retain the top spot in the medium size club category. That is quite an achievement if we’re able to do so! I’d like to personally say thank you to each of you for your effort in the Sweepstakes Contest. Whether you’re a big station or a little pistol, each one of you are valued and needed as part of the MLDXCC team.

As some of you know, I try to keep a balance between DX and Contesting, however a totally new challenge lately for me has been DX on 6 meters. Last week I was able to add 3 new DX country’s to my 6 meter count. I logged 3 contacts with Japan (JA), 8 contacts with ZL (New Zealand (ZL) & 4 with Australia (VK). All this was all done with 85 watts and a 4 element beam. Now if conditions would just open the East Coast so I could log Delaware & Rhode Island and complete 6 meter WAS.

With the wintertime conditions upon us, I’m in the 80 meter antenna building mode. Currently I’m using a pair of crossed switchable inverted V’s (N&S/ E&W) along with a W6LVP receiving loop. Hopefully I can snag a few more DX contacts and complete my 80 meter DXCC. What antennas are you guys running on 80? Please let me know, I’m always interested in hearing about new antenna ideas.

Lastly, it’s that time of year again when we nominate & vote on new officers & board members for the upcoming year. If our club is going to continue to survive; we need new members and new ideas. Please volunteer, participate and vote.

73, Steve / NC6R MLDXCC VP

Secretary’s Report

Minutes of the October 18th Meeting (Round Table Pizza, Jackson).

“It still hasn’t been credited but I had worked 6O3T on 12 and 10 meters and they were prompt on sending their data to LOTW.  On Monday, I was given credit for 22 new credits for a total of 3001.  Its hard to be patient when you get to my age.”

Steve Dyer W1SRD reports “#339, Somalia confirmed via LOTW today 11/7! One more to go to top of Honor Roll – Kerguelen. I hopefully live long enough to see TAAF grant a permit. A bit odd that Somalia was 2nd to last since it’s not super rare, but that’s just how cards fell.”

Dick K6LRN wanted everyone to know about a decent QTH for sale: “There is a house for sale near our Omo Ranch location in (IMO) a great location. 7501 Slug Gulch Rd, Somerset, Ca, 95684 (link to the listing). Has a generator and about five acres. Drawback…about 5 miles to post office, 10 to grocery store and about 20-25 miles into Placerville. Downslope in most directions, slight up slope to the east.”

Recently Posted Articles

Norm N6JV’s Tube of the Month for November

Newly Posted Videos!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel! (We’re up to 8 now! – ed)

DX…

Upcoming DXpeditions via NG3K

DX Calendar via 425 DX News

Upcoming Contests

Mark your calendar with our MLDXCC Focus Contests! Up next are:

• December 5-7, 2025: ARRL 160 Meter Contest (CW)

• December 13-14, 2025: ARRL 10 Meter Contest (CW & SSB)
• January 3-4, 2026: ARRL RTTY Roundup (RTTY only)

Other contests of note coming up in the next month or so, via contestcalendar.com:

• December 20, 2025: RAC Winter Contest (CW, Phone)
• December 27-28, 2025: Stew Perry Topband Challenge (CW)

State QSO Parties (via statesqoparty.com):

• Are done for the year! See you in February for the VT, MN, and BC QSO Parties.

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Classifieds

Wanted: Rohn-25 tower sections, bottom plate, wall stand off, & top section.  If you have any of thiese pieces, let me know along with the price.
Dave, w6de – 530-409-7877 – v8dave@gmail.com

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For sale: Bob W1RH has 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.

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.

Bob also has for sale an Array Solutions 6-PAK 6 port SO2R antenna switch – $250

Contact Bob W1RH w1rh@yahoo.com.

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For Sale: New, never used,  EHU for BigIR  /  $250 or best offer – Thank you, Steve / NC6R nc6r4dx@gmail.com

High Power Antenna Tuners: Have you always wanted a Big Johnson? Now’s your chance! I bought this EF Johnson Kilowatt Matchbox years ago at a hamfest and never used it – darn those resonant antennas – so I have no idea of its actual condition. Is said to be able plenty more than 1000 watts, and can tune a balanced antenna as well as something at the other end of a coax. Includes the directional coupler. $150 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

I also have a big Dentron MT3000A. Same story, never used it. This unit includes an antenna switch, dummy load, and can also handle a balanced antenna. $200 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

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Humor!

Quite a few things popped up around the web this month:

Send more funny stuff for the next issue! – Ed.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

As of 16 November 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here. (Bit of a shakeup this month with new members joining the league!)

Overall

1	NK7I	257
2	W1SRD	254
3	W6DE	231
4	K6OK	216
5	K6YK	204

CW

1	K6YK	182
2	K6RIM	171
3	NO5Z	143
4	K6OK	123
5	NA6O	115

Phone

1	W1SRD	168
2	K6YK	148
3	WE6Z	125
4	K6RIM	123
5	NO5Z	119

Data

1	NK7I	248
2	W1SRD	236
3	W6DE	205
4	K7QDX	200
5	K6OK	188

10 and 20 Years Ago in The Nugget

A new feature! Let’s look back a see what we were up to way back when. In the October/November 2015 issue:

• President Shirl AA6K (sk), after an encouraging health update, made a call to action: “We have periodically discussed a MLDXCC entry into the November SS as a medium club. Last year the SCCC won this category with 45 logs totaling 4.5 M points. Thanks to some research done by Bill/N6ZFO last year the MLDXCC members 45 logs totaling 4.4 M points. Most of our logs were submitted for the NCCC but the research indicates that this is possible so lets go for it. The PL-259 guys won the local club category so let’s have 2 gavels in Northern California!!!” (And so it begins… ed.)
• The September meeing was held at the home of Rich (WC6H) and Anja’s place in Burson. Delcious BBQ was enjoyed by all. Notably Stefan AF6SA, Greg NR6Q, and Dennis KA6JLJ were all voted in as new members.
• A joint meeting of the MLDXCC, NCCC, and REDXA was planned for October 31st in Fairfield, with a program by Paul N6PSE on the “DXpedition to Eritrea E30FB”.
• Verne K6DN: “The day finally came when I lifted the tower with the new 3-el SteppIR up in the air. It has been approximately 10 months from the time some folks helped me transport the tower home to making my first contact with the new antenna.” (Just in time for CQP.)
• Al AD6E shared “the first picture from TX3X,” noting, “It was fun in it’s own way. Just wish the sun had cooperated. A=77 was an unpleasant surprise.”

In the November 2005 issue of The Nugget:

• President Dick K6LRN gave “A BIG THANK YOU to Rick Karlquist, N6RK for the interesting and informative talk on receive antennas at the last meeting.” Dick went on to report: “According to numbers extracted from emails, the 3830 score reporting reflector, etc., we are either a few points ahead or behind the Redwood Empire DX Association in club competition in the recent California QSO Party. If all that participated have sent or will send in logs to NCCC by the extended deadline of November 15, we will be about 100,000 points ahead…it is that close this year. Need help with log? Contact me or Jim. Every point counts!!”
• VP Jim WX6V also noted that “Looks like we are running neck & neck with REDXA (as of the latest score posting on the NCCC website 10/30/05). Several club members have not yet posted their scores…” Jim went on to mention, “Then there was the successful MLDXCC CQWW SSB operation at K6KM just a weekend ago. Our group of club members – in no particular order – WK6I, NU6T, N6NIA, W6SR, N6RK, ND6S, & K6KM – made 1,825 contacts for a final score of 1,758,718. Nice going guys!!”
• In member news, from Rick N6RK, “I got my beverages up for the season just in time for the CQWW phone. I operated from Galt Friday night and got my first European on 160 phone. I also worked V26B, who had extremely high receive noise and wasn’t hearing the other west coast callers.”
• Another Rick N6XI, “I replaced my 3el SteppIR with a 4el version of the same antenna. This doubles boom length to 32′ and is intended to give me slight increases in CQ answer rate and FCAP (first call answered percentage) and a slight decrease in MTBP (mean time to break pileups).”

Did these snippets from 10 and 20 years ago trigger any good memories? If so, please send them for inclusion in the next issue of The Nugget!

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!

Next meeting: October 18th at Round Table Pizza in Jackson/Martell. Find out more.

In this issue: Not a lot I’m afraid, we need your input! But we do have our Tube of the Month – classifieds – DX – focus contests – State QSO parties are over for the year! – funny stuff! – and more!

From the Prez

See you next month!

From the Veep

Ditto!

Treasurer’s Quarterly Report

7/1/2025 Opening Balance = $2,927.07

• Income = $140.00
  • 2025 Dues – Paypal = $40.00
  • 2025 Dues – Checking = $40.00
• Expenses = $0.00
  • None

6/30/2025 Ending Balance = $3,007.07

Secretary’s Report

There was no meeting in September.

Ed Hare, W1RFI, Long time ARRL Lab Engineer, Passes Away – via ARRL

Articles

Norm N6JV’s Tube of the Month for October

Newly Posted Videos!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel! (We’re up to 7, almost double last month! – ed)

DX…

Upcoming DXpeditions via NG3K

DX Calendar via 425 DX News

Upcoming Contests

Mark your calendar with our MLDXCC Focus Contests! Up next is ARRL Sweepstakes! November 1-3 for CW and November 15-17 for Phone.

Other contests of note coming up in the next month or so, via contestcalendar.com:

• October 18-19: JARTS WW RTTY Contest
• October 25-26: CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB
• November 8-9: Worked All Europe DX Contest, RTTY
• November 23: North American Sprint, SSB
• November 29-30: CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

State QSO Parties (via statesqoparty.com):

• Are done for the year! See you in February for the VT, MN, and BC QSO Parties.

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Classifieds

For Sale: New, never used,  EHU for BigIR  /  $250 or best offer – Thank you, Steve / NC6R nc6r4dx@gmail.com

High Power Antenna Tuners: Have you always wanted a big Johnson? Now’s your chance! I bought this EF Johnson Kilowatt Matchbox years ago at a hamfest and never used it – darn those resonant antennas – so I have no idea of its actual condition. Is said to be able plenty more than 1000 watts, and can tune a balanced antenna as well as something at the other end of a coax. Includes the directional coupler. $150 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

I also have a big Dentron MT3000A. Same story, never used it. This unit includes an antenna switch, dummy load, and can also handle a balanced antenna. $200 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

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Humor!

Send more funny stuff for the next issue! – Ed.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

As of 14 October 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here.

Overall

1	NK7I	247
2	W1SRD	241
3	W6DE	216
4	K6OK	200
5	K6YK	195

CW

1	K6YK	174
2	NO5Z	138
3	K6OK	121
4	NA6O	112
5	N6WM	111

Phone

1	K6YK	121
2	W1SRD	120
3	NO5Z	116
4	N6WM	111
5	K6TQ	103

Data

1	NK7I	238
2	W1SRD	223
3	W6DE	191
4	K7QDX	189
5	K6OK	173

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!

Next meeting: October 18th at tbd in tbd. Find out more. (No September meeting.)

In this issue: CQP tips, tubes – classifieds – DX – focus contests – State QSO parties! – funny stuff! – and more!

From the Prez

Just random rambling thoughts…..

I played around in the NA CW Sprint a couple of weeks ago.  “Played” around is probably the best way to phrase it.  While copying 36 wpm is not an issue for me in a contest like this, just trying to figure out the strategy and using N1MM is.  I’m sure, after some goof-ups, there were a few out there who clearly thought that this guy wasn’t worthy of a 1×2 callsign!  It’s not like I haven’t done a few of these.  I have.  Maybe once or twice a year.  The NCCC Sprints are a great way to practice.  I just need to remember to do so.

I have now done a few CW, Phone and RTTY contests since my migration from Writelog to N1MM, but had not done a CW Sprint with N1MM until this one.  My biggest issue was the function key setup.  I’ve grown used to N1MM’s default function key configurations, which have seemed to work out just fine for me.  For the Sprint, however, they were worthless and I had to figure it out on the fly, which did result in some sloppy exchanges from me.  I did put a note out on the NCCC reflector and Ed, AJ6V, sent me his function key file, so I’ll try it out on a NCCC Sprint.

Before I go any further, let me say that I started out using CT and then went to Writelog.  I have found Writelog to be incredibly stable and I have had no complaints with the program until I got a Flex.  In theory, Writelog should be a great logging program for Flex users, since they have a native Flex driver, but I found over the years that I would have one problem after another.  Flaky problems, especially when using SO2R.  Steve, W1SRD, told me long ago to switch to N1MM and now that I have, the Flex issues are no longer an issue.  SO2R and everything else seems to be trouble-free now.

So, back to N1MM.  The CQWW RTTY contest is this weekend and it will be my second RTTY contest using N1MM.  In my first N1MM RTTY contest, everything went perfectly, including SO2R.  What I miss from Writelog are some of the tricks WK6I taught me, like “WK6I, TU NOW K6TQ 599 SV”  There’s got to be a way to do this in N1MM.  Just haven’t figured it out yet.  Oh, and when working SO2R late in a contest I would use Jeff’s other trick….”WK6I TU QRV 28090 W1RH CQ”.  Maybe someone reading this can clue me in.

More rambling.

My first ham transmitter was home-built, using a 6AG7 and a 6L6.  I built it from a circuit the 1954 handbook, which my father had although he never got his ham license.  The circuit is nearly identical to the old Heathkit AT-1.  I don’t have a clue what I did with the home brew transmitter.  I was 13 years old at the time.  The receiver I used back then was an old Heathkit GR-91 that I built when I was 12 years old.  Don’t know what happened to that one either.  I have often regretted losing track of what I did with that receiver and transmitter so when Rusty, W6OAT, mentioned on the NCCC reflector that his neighbor had a Heathkit GR-91 headed for eWaste, I had Rusty grab it for me.  Another friend happened to have an old Heathkit AT-1 and I grabbed that.  Bill, N6GHZ, also gave me an old HQ-100 receiver, which I thought might be a good match for the AT-1.  All of these boat anchors have been sitting in the shop for a few years now but I am getting interested in making them work.  I have never plugged in the GR-91 but I did try the AT-1, and it’s a basket case just waiting to be repaired.  When I had that homebrew Novice transmitter, I came across a used VF-1 at Selectronics, in Sacramento.  Now, if I only had one of those to go with the AT-1.

The same friend that gave me the AT-1 also gave me a Heathkit DX-35 and a DX-100.  I gave the DX-100 to Fred, NO5Z (better known as KH7Y), who restored it but I kept the DX-35.  After I got my Conditional class license (remember those?), I copied the circuit of a DX-35 control-carrier modulator and used it with my home-brew AT-1.  Worked great!  So, I kept the DX-35 with the idea that I’d restore it also.

But, once restored, what do I do with this stuff?  I suppose there’s Straight Key Night for the AT-1, if I can find a VF-1 or crystals.  But what about the DX-35?  Well, today I got the ARRL Contest Update and it mentions the AM QSO Party, hosted by the antique Wireless Association.  Never heard of this, but now I have a reason to get the DX-35 operational, along with the GR-91 or the HQ-100.  All it takes is time…

Our next meeting will be on October 18^th.  I have Greg, NR6Q, tentatively scheduled to do our October meeting, which will feature his “Saga of the Free Tower.”  I’m still waiting to verify Greg’s availability, but I can’t wait to watch this presentation.

One more thing.  I want to thank our Pacific Division Director, John, NZ6Q, and his wife, Annie, N6ACL, for attending our last meeting and filling us in on some of the current happenings at the ARRL.  John has done an outstanding job as Pacific Division Director, along with Carol, KP4MD, as Vice-Director.

From the Veep

KB in the CQP!

Secretary’s Report

Minutes of the August 30th Meeting (Round Table Pizza, Jackson)

Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act

Articles

Rich WC6H on CQP Strategy

Norm N6JV’s Tube of the Month for September

2025 RTTY Roundup extended results article

Newly Posted Videos!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel! (We’re up to 4! – ed)

DX…

Upcoming DXpeditions via NG3K

DX Calendar via 425 DX News

Upcoming Contests

Mark your calendar with our MLDXCC Focus Contests! Up next is the California QSO Party. on October 4-5, 2025.

Other contests of note this month, via contestcalendar.com:

• September 27-28: CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY
• October 11-12: Makrothen RTTY Contest
• October 18-19: JARTS WW RTTY Contest
• October 25-26: CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

New! State QSO Parties (via statesqoparty.com):

• October 11: Arizona, South Dakota, Nevada
• October 11-12: Pennsylvania
• October 18: New York
• October 19: Illinois

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Classifieds

For Sale: New, never used,  EHU for BigIR  /  $250 or best offer – Thank you, Steve / NC6R nc6r4dx@gmail.com

High Power Antenna Tuners: Have you always wanted a big Johnson? Now’s your chance! I bought this EF Johnson Kilowatt Matchbox years ago at a hamfest and never used it – darn those resonant antennas – so I have no idea of its actual condition. Is said to be able plenty more than 1000 watts, and can tune a balanced antenna as well as something at the other end of a coax. Includes the directional coupler. $150 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

I also have a big Dentron MT3000A. Same story, never used it. This unit includes an antenna switch, dummy load, and can also handle a balanced antenna. $200 or best offer. Jeff WK6I wk6i.jeff@gmail.com.

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Humor!

Send more funny stuff for the next issue! – Ed.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

As of 22 September 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here.

Overall

1	NK7I	238
2	W1SRD	236
3	W6DE	216
4	K6OK	196
5	NO5Z	189
5	K6YK	188

CW

1	K6YK	169
2	NO5Z	135
3	K6OK	120
4	N6WM	109
5	NA6O	108

Phone

1	K6YK	118
2	W1SRD	117
3	NO5Z	116
4	N6WM	111
5	K6TQ	101

Data

1	NK7I	230
2	W1SRD	217
3	W6DE	191
4	K7QDX	187
5	K6OK	167

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!

Next meeting: August 30th at Round Table Pizza in Martel (Jackson). Find out more.

In this issue: tubes as always, and… ancient PowerPoints? – new videos! – classifieds – DX – focus contests – State QSO parties! – funny stuff! – and more!

From the Prez

Hello Contesters and DX’ers!

We’re going to talk about CQP at our next meeting so I thought I’d suggest a few items for everyone to peruse.  

There are five categories for a California club to enter in:

• Yosemite
• Joshua Tree
• Sequoia
• Redwood
• Channel Islands

The number of logs submitted determines what category a club is in.  

• The Yosemite category is for those clubs submitting 31+ logs.
• The Joshua Tree Category is for those clubs submitting 21-30 logs.
• The Sequoia Category is for those clubs submitting 11-20 logs.
• The Redwood Category is for those clubs submitting 6-10 logs
• The Channel Islands Category is for those clubs submitting 1-5 logs.

In 2024, the Yosemite category had no entrants.  Not one club submitted the required 31 or more logs.

The Joshua Tree Category is where the Southern California Contest Club and MLDXCC ended up, with SCCC submitting 30 logs and MLDXCC submitting 28 logs.  SCCC beat us by a lot….775,754 points.  In short, we were not even close.

The Redwood Empire DX Association was the only entrant in the Sequoia Category, with 12 logs and, obviously, won the category.

Pizza Lovers 259, with 8 logs submitted, won the Redwood Category beating the West Valley ARA, with 10 logs submitted.  This was a fairly close competition.

Last, but not least was the very interesting Channel Islands Category.  There were 42 clubs represented in this category.  The winner, by around 150,000 points, was the Sierra Foothills ARC.  The Orange County ARC came in second.

It is interesting to look at the clubs in MLDXCC territory who submitted logs:

• 5 logs – Sierra Foothills ARC
• 2 logs – Calaveras ARS
• 2 logs – River City ARCS
• 3 logs – Yuba-Sutter ARC
• 2 logs – El Dorado County ARC
• 1 log – Stockton-Delta ARC
• 1 log – Toulumne County Amateur Radio and Electronics Society
• 1 log – Fresno ARC

Recruiting from local clubs could be a possibility for us.  Something else to dig into are the respectable scores from some of the members of clubs competing in the Channel Islands Category.  Let’s take a look at the scores they contributed to their club total (with bonus points).

• Sierra Foothills ARC – KD6HOF – 152,768 (Expedition to Butte/Plumas)
• Sierra Foothills ARC – N6WYZ – 113,600 (Expedition to Alpine County – new contester)
• Sierra Foothills ARC – WU6X – 103,344 (Expedition to Siskiyou County)
• Calaveras ARS – KA9MDP – 125,124 (Expedition to Alpine County – new contester)
• Calaveras ARS – N6FRG – 61,484 (Expedition to Calaveras County)
• River City ARCS – N6PGQ – 105,468 (Placer County)
• Yuba-Sutter ARC – W6PNH – 66,750 (new contester, Sutter county)
• El Dorado County ARC – KN6UDK – 61,190 (new contester, Madera county)

If you total up all of the above scores, the total is 789,728 points.  

You may recall that I mentioned above that SCCC beat us by 775,754 points.  Note, however, that if every one of the stations listed above entered logs for MLDXCC, we would be in the Yosemite Category all by ourselves but at least we would have the pleasure of out-scoring SCCC.

So, my question to all of you: Do you know any of the stations mentioned above?  These are stations that are ripe for recruiting.

See you on Saturday!

From the Veep

Did you get an opportunity to participate in the NAQP SSB contest? I was pleased to host Skip N6NFB at home during the contest. He ran the contest under his call @ 100 watts and managed to log quite a number of states on 15 meters. Hopefully some of those will turn out to ones he needs for 15 meter WAS. 

My HF activity has been someone what limited lately as other jobs tend to take precedence.  I’ve yet again allowed myself to be looped into another repeater project. While very time consuming, the results are rewarding.  

My six meter quest continues. Band conditions have been on again, off again. I continue to look for Delaware and Rhode Island only to have them fade out. One day last week there were a number of openings, thanks to a sporadic “E” event.  This was my first real exposure to that much of an opening.  As the name implies, one minute they were there, then gone the next, very frustrating indeed.

I had previously mentioned to a couple of members that I had purchased a receive loop from W6LVP. I’m looking for it to be an asset during the winter season on 40, 80 & 160. I’m still looking for four (4) DX Q’s to confirm on 80 meters. 

How’re 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 CQ DX Marathon. Also for those of you using FT8 / FT4, those contacts count in your Marathon totals as well.

I like to urge each one of you to become involved in MLDXCC by attending meetings, submitting your DX contacts to Club Log, participating in the CQ Marathon and by contributing your contest scores. Please list your log submission under the name “Mother Lode DX Contest Club“.  

Also invite new people to club meetings. It doesn’t matter if they are new to the hobby, we all started somewhere. MLDXCC is an award winning DX & Contest Club and with your support we can continue to excel.

Thank you all & 73,

Steve / NC6R

Secretary’s Report

Minutes of the July 26th Meeting (Round Table Pizza, Jackson)

The Southern California DX Club has published their last monthly newsletter.

It’s time to brush up on your code skills for the fall DX and contest season! Two great resources to help are CW Academy and Learn CW Online.

Don’t wait until the last minute to get your RTTY going for the CQ Worldwide next month, visit Don AA5AU’s excellent RTTY Contesting site for help (or ask on the MLDXCC email list.)

A new four-part interview of noted (and perhaps notorious) DXer and DXpeditioner Don Miller W9WNV was posted recently on the NCDXF chat. Here’s the link to it in case you missed it.

Articles

Norm N6JV’s Tube of the Month for August

Steve NC6R found an old thumb drive with International DX Convention (IDXC) presentations on it. Enjoy!

Newly Posted Videos!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel! (I’m very lonely there… – ed)

Corrected link (and callsign) for the May 2025 presentation on 6m DXing

DX…

Steve NC6R presented a list of interesting upcoming DX at the last meeting, but I’m going to make you read the minutes to see it!

Upcoming DXpeditions via NG3K

DX Calendar via 425 DX News

Upcoming Contests

Mark your calendar with our MLDXCC Focus Contests! Up next is the California QSO Party. on October 4-5, 2025.

Other contests of note this month, via contestcalendar.com:

• September 6-7: All Asian DX Contest, Phone
• September 13-14: Worked All Europe DX Contest, SSB
• September 13-15: ARRL September VHF Contest
• September 14: North American Sprint, CW
• September 21: North American Sprint, RTTY
• September 27-28: CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY
• October 4-5: California QSO Party (MLDXCC Focus Contest)

New! State QSO Parties (via statesqoparty.com):

• August 30: Kansas, Colorado
• September 7: Tennessee
• September 20: Texas, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Washington State Salmon Run

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Classifieds

For Sale: New, never used,  EHU for BigIR  /  $250 or best offer – Thank you, Steve / NC6R k6sca@volcano.net

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For Sale: Palstar HF-AUTO, $1,000, picked up. Shipping is extra. Like new, little use. Replaced by an Amplifier with Tuner.
https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/pas-hf-auto
Model number shown in picture of the back panel.
Includes 12 Volt power supply cable and FTDI serial to USB cable to connect to computer running
W1TR automatic tune software. See links for W1TR software.
https://k5fr.com/binary/Palstar%20HF%20Auto%20Setup.pdf
http://www.glagowski.org/radio/Software.htm
Dave, w6de 530-409-7877

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For sale: Bob W1RH has 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.

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.

Bob also has for sale an Array Solutions 6-PAK 6 port SO2R antenna switch – $250

Contact Bob W1RH w1rh@yahoo.com.

---

Humor!

Steve NC6R has a quote of the month:

“You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.” – Albert Einstein, explaining radio

And a bit of prescience from 1906, stumbled into by your editor:

Send more funny stuff for the next issue! – Ed.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

As of 25 August 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here.

Overall

1	NK7I	232
2	W1SRD	231
3	W6DE	209
4	K6OK	190
5	K6YK	188

CW

1	K6YK	168
2	NO5Z	130
3	K6OK	119
4	NA6O	107
5	N6WM	106

Phone

1	K6YK	118
2	W1SRD	116
3	NO5Z	115
4	N6WM	111
5	K6TQ	101

Data

1	NK7I	223
2	W1SRD	206
3	W6DE	184
4	K7QDX	183
5	K6OK	159

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!

Next meeting: July 26th in Martel (Jackson). Find out more.

In this issue: tubes, verticals, and… tuning forks? – new videos! – classifieds – DX – contests – State QSO parties! – funny stuff! – and more!

From the Prez

Hello DX’ers and Contesters,

If you missed our last meeting, you missed a good one.  Craig, K9CT, gave us a presentation on his contest super-station in Illinois.  The good news is that Jeff WK6I will have the video of the presentation up on the website by the time you read this. Look for the Resources tab on the website, click on it and go to Videos (also linked below – J.)  

I do have some videos available from our past meetings, but very few were actually recorded.  Little by little, I am editing these down and sending them off to Jeff, as YouTube videos, so he can add the links to the website.

---

The California QSO Party will be here before you know it, so now is the time to start planning whether or not you’re going to operate from home or as a county expedition.  

Last year, SCCC’s CQP score was 4,593,487.  MLDXCC was well under SCCC, with 3,817,733 points.  SCCC also won the Club Competition, in our category, in 2023.  MLDXCC beat SCCC in 2022.  Let’s go for the WIN in 2025!

I have reserved our August meeting for a California QSO Party (CQP) strategy meeting. The Lincoln Swap is in September, so there will be no meeting that month.(As always, see the Meetings page for the latest!)

County expeditions can be a lot of fun and can be a way to really rack up the points for the Club.  A group of us were in Alpine County last year and part of that group has also operated in Tehama County for several years.  We had a blast!   The more county expeditions MLDXCC members can do, the better, especially if they are in rare counties.

Dean, N6DE, has done an exceptional job with CQP, and that includes compiling an annual list of rare counties.  I don’t see any 2025 updates on the website yet, but you can bet that they will be there soon.  You’re going to want to look at that rare county list and then claim it. (See below for the latest!)

---

How many of you have wished you had the ultimate operating location during an HF contest, a VHF contest, or even when trying to work that all-time new one?  This could be on the top of a mountain, the side of a mountain, or on an ocean beach.  Chris, KI1P, lives in Northfield, Vermont, and with a location like that one would think that he has a pretty darn good QTH.  Not the case.  An HF beam, pointed at Europe, looks into a granite mountain that is nearly in his back yard.  To solve this problem, Chris bought a retired television live truck and turned it into a superb contest station, with top notch equipment.  It is essentially an HF and VHF rover.  There is a lot more to this story and you can hear all about it at our next meeting, which will be on July 26^th, at Round Table Pizza, in Jackson (Martel).  I saw Chris’s presentation at the Contest Forum this year in Dayton.  Chris has a great sense of humor.  You will find it very entertaining and you may just want to find a retired television live truck and build one of these rover contest stations yourself.  Hope to see many of you there!

From the Veep

Hello MLDXCC! 

Well, Field Day (2025) is now completed, how did you guys do? With a part time effort (due to challenges), there were 392 Q’s in the log. It always gives me pleasure to work the new (younger) operators. Their excitement is refreshing. Make sure you get your score and field day stories to Jeff WK6I so he can put them in the news letter. 

Worked any good DX lately? As observed, HF conditions have been a little up and down. Stations in Europe on 20 are now workable in the evening providing some new Marathon contact.

Six meters (50.313 FT8) however has been very active at times. The last several evenings the north (BC, WA & OR) and south (AZ & NM) path has been active.  Regarding my WAS search on 6 meters, I’m still waiting for a good east coast opening to Delaware & Rhode Island. 

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.

Also listen for the K6C Special Event Station starting July 11^th. This is a special call for the California State Fair (Cal Expo). I will be on 20 SSB various evenings, so give me a shout.

Well that’s all for now, time to go work outside before it gets to hot! Remember to stay hydrated!

73 and Good DX, Steve / NC6R

Treasurer’s Quarterly Report

4/1/2025 Opening Balance = $2,787.07

• Income = $140.00
  • 2025 Dues – Paypal = $20.00
  • 2025 Dues – Checking = $120.00
• Expenses = $0.00
  • None

6/30/2025 Ending Balance = $2,927.07

Secretary’s Report

Minutes of the June 21st Meeting (The Breakroom, Shingle Springs)

The California QSO Party (CQP) is October 4th and that day will arrive faster than you think. The CQP web site has just been updated for 2025. You can now go there and register your planned activity, and you can track what others have planned.

The Northern California Contest Club (NCCC) has announced a new special on-air event — the NCCC 55th Anniversary Fiesta, taking place Saturday, August 9, 2025, from 1900Z Saturday-0300Z Sunday (noon to 8pm Pacific Time). This is an “operating event” with no log checking, on CW, SSB, and RTTY. Find out more!

The Southern California DX Club (SCDXC) notes in their July newsletter that due to waning interest, the August 2025 newsletter may be the last one. Readers are encouraged to respond if they desire to see more newsletters after that.

One of your editor’s local clubs – Tuolumne County
Amateur Radio & Electronics Society (TCARES) – puts out a great quarterly newsletter, here’s the latest issue. (Tell us about your local club!)

Articles

Tube of the Month – July 2025 by Norm N6JV

Multi-Band Verticals by Gary NA6O

Study of a Telegraph Tuning Fork by Gary NA6O

Newly Posted Videos!

Subscribe to the MLDXCC YouTube channel! And Please “like” the videos, it will help people find them!

• K9CT Contest Station (June 2025)
• 6 Meter DXing from NorCal, Chuck NA6XX (May 2025)
• Antipodal Focusing, John K4ERO (March 2025)
• Carl K9LA Solar cycle 25 Predictions and Progress (October 2023)
• Rob Sherwood NC0B – Lab tests of HF Transceivers (March 2021)

More videos!

Classifieds

For Sale: New, never used,  EHU for BigIR  /  $250 or best offer – Thank you, Steve / NC6R k6sca@volcano.net

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For Sale: $995 takes all, HF Amp / Tuner / Swr-Power Meter / Dummy Load – see below.  Located in Northwest Reno, NV and can deliver to NCCC Truckee BBQ Sun July 27th if desired.  Barry K6ST k6st@arrl.net 

HF Amplifier 160m – 10m Ameritron AL-811H. The Al-811 gives you 600 watts PEP output. 13.75 x 8.65 x 16 inches. Weight: 31 pounds. The Ameritron AL-811H is similar to the AL-811, but with four fully neutralized 811A transmitting tubes for 800 watts of power.

LDG AT-600ProII is a general-purpose automatic tuner intended for use with midsize amplifiers with up to 600 watts output SSB, 500 watts CW, 300W Digital from 1.8 – 54 MHz. Easy to Read Bar Graph – Dual Antenna Switch – Switched-L tuning network.

High Power SWR watt meter. HF, peak reading, 3kW

MFJ-250X VersaLoad KW Wet Dummy Load with oil. Lets you tune up fast!

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For sale: Bob W1RH has 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.

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.

---

Bob W1RH also has the following items available:

Alpha 91B amplifier.  $1200

Brand new, in the box, Svetlana 4CX800A amplifier tube – $250

Array Solutions 6-PAK 6 port SO2R antenna switch – $250

Contact Bob W1RH w1rh@yahoo.com

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For sale: Eimac 8877 and 3CX800A7 tubes, all tested to factory spec (June 2025) by retired Eimac engineer, includes individual data sheet for each tube.  Price $700 each, $1200/pair. 

Also for sale Jan 7203/4CX250B NOS in sealed can $100 each and Jan 7609/4CX150D NOS in sealed can $30 each.

Contact Mike, K6LQ wn6yqs@aol.com

---

DX…

Upcoming DXpeditions via NG3K

DX Calendar via 425 DX News

Upcoming Contests

Via contestcalendar.com:

• July 26: RSGB IOTA Contest
• August 2: North American QSO Party (NAQP), CW
• August 9: Worked All Europe DX Contest, CW
• August 9: NCCC 55th Anniversary Fiesta
• August 16: North American QSO Party (NAQP), SSB
• August 17: ARRL Rookie Roundup, RTTY

New! State QSO Parties (via statesqoparty.com):

• July 26: Alabama
• August 9: Maryland-DC
• August 23: Hawaii, Ohio

Humor!

Steve NC6R found this on KL7J’s website, “How Cold Is It?“

Send more funny stuff for the next issue! – Ed.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

As of 17 July 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here.

Overall

1	NK7I	229
2	W1SRD	227
3	W6DE	205
4	K6OK	187
5	K6YK	183

CW

1	K6YK	163
2	NO5Z	122
3	K6OK	120
4	NA6O	106
5	N6WM	104

Phone

1	W1SRD	116
2	K6YK	115
3	NO5Z	115
4	N6WM	111
5	K6TQ	101

Data

1	NK7I	220
2	W1SRD	200
3	W6DE	180
4	K7QDX	173
5	K6OK	157

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!

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

Another Bug Restoration

Minutes of the May 10th Meeting (Habanero Hots, Lodi)

Presentations and Slides from Dayton

Photos from the 2025 IDXC in Visalia by N6TV

Norm N6JV’s Tube of the Month

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 DXpeditions via NG3K

DX Calendar via 425 DX News

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

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

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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

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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.

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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!

All the news from the home of the very first Cinco de Mayo celebration…

The next meeting of the MLDXCC will be on May 10th in Lodi. Find out more right here.

From the Prez

Hello DX’ers and Contesters,

It’s interesting how I became the President of this club again… especially when I said I would not do it. I’m just too involved in our Community Emergency Radio Assn, CERA, the non-profit organization supporting the El Dorado County Amateur Radio Club, the El Dorado County Neighborhood Radio Watch, and El Dorado County ARES. I am also a board member with the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council and am the Chair of the Coloma-Lotus fire Safe Council. In short, that’s all the bandwidth I have.

So, as things were going downhill, at that lightly attended meeting at the end of the year, Steve NC6R reminded everyone that the Southern California DX Club folded because no one would agree to run the club. He also said that there was nothing we could do since he was termed out except perhaps to do a bylaws modification. At that point, and perhaps without a lot of thought, I suggested that I take on the position of President on paper and Steve take on the position of VP on paper. I continue arranging meetings and speakers and Steve continues to run the club.

And that’s how we’re making this club survive today. And, I’m asking myself why I’m taking the time to write a President’s article for the Nugget when I’m really only a paper prez!

OK, end of rant, unless you want to hear me rant about all of the email QSL’s I’ve been getting in the past few months. Makes me want to take my email address off of QRZ…

Now to the good stuff.

We have a terrific meeting this month. “6 meter DX’ing, From Northern California”. Our speaker is Chuck, NA6XX, and he will be giving his talk in person at Habanero Hots, on May 10th in Lodi. We will also stream this meeting. I’m told that the internet is good at that location, so cross your fingers.

Next month, Craig Thompson, K9CT, will do a talk and virtual tour of his incredible contest station, in Illinois. The meeting will be at the Break Room, on June 21st, in Shingle Springs, and we will stream it via Zoom.

Stu, K6TU, will also be doing a talk for us on his great propagation website, K6TU.net. No date or location yet.

We may also do a joint meeting with NCCC. And, I am working on several other super speakers, thanks to the magic of Zoom.

I want to thank Jeff, WK6I, for taking on the job of newsletter editor and running the website. Also, thanks to Norm, N6JV, for doing both of these tasks for years prior to handing it all over to Jeff. Norm will continue to do those great tube articles that I look forward to every month.

If we’re going to grow this club, we need to get the word out to the local clubs as to when we have our meetings. Please help us out and notify your club of our meeting dates and presentations. – Bob W1RH

Articles

Santa Maria 2026 DX & Contest Convention

Norm N6JV’s Tube of the Month

A Ham Radio Station for Jenna by Gary Johnson, NA6O, and Jim Ewing, N4TMM

Humor!

Send more funny stuff for the next issue! Thanks Sue K6SZQ for this one! – Ed.

Classifieds

 “I have three items for sale. All the items are on a make and offer basis. The items below are excess to my need, since I live in a HOA 55 plus community. I use a remote station location at W1RH’s QTH. Call or email me for more info. or offers.” de Rick, W6SR ricksamoian@outlook.com or (530) 672-2885.

Johnson KW matchbox very nice condition. This is an original unit that has NOT been modified.

Honeywell 4 cycle KW inverter sine wave generator. Used for portable operating. Quiet, and perfect for K3 and KPA 500.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

As of 7 May 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here.

Overall

1	NK7I	220
2	W1SRD	215
3	W6DE	194
4	K6YK	178
5	K6OK	162

CW

1	K6YK	149
2	NO5Z	116
3	NA6O	104
4	N6WM	104
5	W1SRD	99

Phone

1	K6YK	115
2	NO5Z	114
3	W1SRD	114
4	N6WM	111
5	K6TQ	101

Data

1	NK7I	209
2	W1SRD	182
3	W6DE	173
4	K7QDX	163
5	K6OK	139

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!

All the news from the “NCCC’s Kuiper Belt” – K6DGW

We had no meeting in April due to the International DX Convention, so no minutes to report, and the March minutes made it into the previous issue of The Nugget. Also no missives from the Pres. or VP this time. We’ll be back in sync next month! – Ed.

Treasurer’s Report – 2025 1st Quarter

12/31/2024: Opening Balance = $2,629.07

• Income $230.00
  • 2025 Dues – Paypal $40.00
  • 2025 Dues – Checking $190.00

• Expenses $72.00
  • P.O. Box Rental $72.00

3/31/2025: Ending Balance = $2,787.07

Articles

Why is The Nugget no longer published as an Adobe PDF?

Norm N6JV’s Tube of the Month

The 2024 DX Marathon results were posted, and the MLDXCC placed 4th World in the Small Club category!

Some interesting websites gleaned from IDXC presentations.

Gary N6AO is taking a break from the Antenna of the Month. Stay tuned.

And with the dissolution of the SCDXC, no more Deleted Country of the Month, unless someone would like to step up and continue them.

Another Editor’s Note – Club History

I am still hoping someone has some history about the first 5 or 6 years of the MLDXCC locked away someplace – please let me know if you do. If it is memories, I’m quite happy to interview you and take notes.

I’m also still hoping someone knows anything about John Fogg, K6AO. I have so far learned that he edited the NCDXC newsletter in 1965 (source: NCDXC SK list), he built a 2 meter “pip squeak” transmitter from a design in QST in 1972 (Palo Alto ARA news), he lived in Pine Grove as early as 1976 (ditto), and in 1949 he lived in Alhambra not far from where I grew up (Callbook). And, for a brief moment I was excited to see a Wikipedia article, but it’s likely that our John Fogg was not the mayor of Pensacola FL from 1994 to 2009 (Wikipedia). Hihi. – Jeff WK6I

Classifieds

 I have three items for sale. All the items are on a make and offer basis. The items below are excess to my need, since I live in a HOA 55 plus community. I use a remote station location at W1RH’s QTH. Call or email me for more info. or offers. de Rick, W6SR ricksamoian@outlook.com or (530) 672-2885.

Johnson KW matchbox very nice condition. This is an original unit that has NOT been modified.

Honeywell 4 cycle KW inverter sine wave generator. Used for portable operating. Quiet, and perfect for K3 and KPA 500.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

As of 15 April 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here.

Overall

1	NK7I	215
2	W1SRD	206
3	W6DE	186
4	K6YK	168
5	NO5Z	162

CW

1	K6YK	139
2	NO5Z	116
3	NA6O	103
4	N6WM	103
5	W1SRD	98

Phone

1	NO5Z	114
2	W1SRD	113
3	K6YK	111
4	N6WM	111
5	K6TQ	90

Data

1	NK7I	204
2	W1SRD	172
3	W6DE	167
4	K7QDX	151
5	K6OK	129

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 Webmaster Jeff WK6I. Please do send me any corrections, omissions, or material for future issues of The Nugget. It is much appreciated!

You’ll notice that The Nugget is no longer published as an Adobe PDF file. It’s now being produced in a blog format. This is for a couple of reasons:

• Nobody really knows what goes in the depths of search engines on the Internet, but it is generally believed that content posted as normal website content (using Hypertext Markup Language, aka HTML) show up higher in search results than PDF content. This helps us attract new members better.
• PDF files are not easy to read on small devices like phones and small tablets. Modern web pages know how to adapt to the size of the device – they call this “responsive” – making it easier for our members to enjoy the content on any device.

Also, you’ll see that some of the major content and news is getting published right away – items like the Tube of the Month – rather than waiting for a monthly Nugget cycle. This is done to get the info to you in a more timely manner, and frankly it’s easier for your editor to spread the work out over the course of a month.

Since it’s now in a blog format, you can access The Nugget and related news and features using an “RSS Reader” application such as Feedly, which runs as a web app in your browser, as well as iOS and Android. Copy this link:

RSS Feed

…on the Nuggets page to add The Nugget to Feedly. (It works here too.)

While you are setting up Feedly, you might also want to add some other ham radio related blogs, like:

• SolderSmoke Daily News
• World Wide Radio Operators Foundation
• OnAllBands
• KB6NU’s Ham Radio Blog
• Hack a Day
• AE5X
• Calaveras Amateur Radio Society
• WQ6X Contest Activities
• Q R P e r

Do you have any other favorite radio blogs? Let us know in the comments!

If you are someone who prefers to print The Nugget, I’ve briefly tested it and things seem to print fairly reasonably. But if you have issues printing do let me know.

Meeting Minutes – March 22,2025

Round Table Pizza, Jackson
Meeting was called to order at 12:19 p.m. by Treasurer Sue Allred, K6SZQ. There were 12 attending in person, with 2 more attending via zoom. Of these there was one guest. Sue welcomed everyone. Each member and guest introduced themselves.

Old Business:

• The January minutes were published in the February Newsletter. Rick Casey, W6RKC, moved to accept the report as published. Dave Sanders, K6TQ, seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
• The November and December treasurer’s reports were published in the February newsletter. Rich Hill, NU6T, moved to accept the reports as published. Stefan Nicov, AF6SA, seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

New Business: None.

Member Achievements:

• Rick Samoian, W6SR, worked VK9DX Norfolk Island on 6 meters.
• Jeff Stai, WK6I, got the banquet organized for the Visalia International DX Convention

Announcements/Discussion:

• The upcoming International DX Convention was discussed, along with the uncertainty with future events.
• Bob Hess, W1RH, while managing the livestream, showed photos of Stefan Nicov’s Solid State HF amplifiers and discussed the possibility of him doing a presentation on them.
• Bob Hess also passed around a list of equipment for sale from Tony Dowler, K6BV.

Next Meeting: Proposed date to be May 10, the location is Habanero Hots in Lodi.

Adjournment: Rick Samoian, W6SR, moved to adjourn the business meeting and move to the presentation. Jeff Stai, WK6I seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 12:50 p.m.

Presentation: John Stanley, K4ERO, gave a fascinating presentation on Antipodal Focusing and its effect on ionospheric propagation near the opposite side of the earth from the transmitter. You can also get further information from his article in the March, 2025 QST.

Respectfully Submitted,
G. “Skip” Chraft, N6NFB

Treasurer’s Report

Sue K6SZQ reported that, given the low level of activity, she’s going to switch to quarterly reporting. Look for the first quarter report in the next issue of The Nugget.

President’s Corner

Hi MLDXCC’ers,

Well, here I am as President of this club again.  I swore it would never happen but Steve, NC6R, termed out.  In an attempt to keep the club healthy, I made the suggestion that I’d take over as President and Steve will be VP… with one condition… Steve will keep running the meetings and I’ll continue to arrange the meetings and speakers.  So, nothing has really changed other than a “loophole” in the Bylaws that allows us to continue as we have over the past three years.

I want to thank John Stanley, K4ERO, for a terrific presentation at last month’s meeting on the subject of Antipodal Focusing, meaning propagation from your QTH to the opposite side of the earth.  We did record the meeting and, hopefully, Jeff will find a way to post the link on the all-new MLDXCC website.

I can’t thank Norm, N6JV, enough for what he has done for our website and newsletter.  Without Norm’s constant “nagging” for content, we would not have had a newsletter and website with the great content we have had over the years.  Alas, Norm has finally found someone to take over the website and Nugget.  We all thank Jeff, WK6I, for taking on the challenge of filling Norm’s big shoes.  Keep doing those great tube articles, Norm!

We have some really good speakers lined up for the upcoming months.  Our May speaker will be Chuck, NA6XX, who will give a presentation on 6-meter DX’ing and propagation.  Chuck, who lives in San Jose, will be driving to Habanero Hots, in Lodi, to give us his presentation in person.  I also plan to stream this meeting.  The date is May 10^th.

A few others have agreed to do upcoming presentations.  Stu, K6TU, will give a talk on his K6TU.net HF propagation site   Craig, K9CT, will give us a presentation on his super contest station.  Gary, NA6O, has also offered to give another one of his very entertaining talks.  Other presentation for future months are in the works.

Both Steve and I have resisted streaming our meetings in the past for various reasons.  We will be streaming more of our upcoming meetings.  I do hope we can get more of our members from outside the core area to attend.  Maybe even Will, from down south who often participates in our reflector conversation, will show us what he looks like!

In our February meeting, I did a contesting and DX’ing quiz, which seemed to get rave reviews, so we may do another one of those in the upcoming months.  The February quiz, and the answers, are in this month’s nugget.

Last, and certainly not least, several of our members participated in the CQ WPX SSB contest last weekend at WC6H’s contest station.  Besides Rich, the operators included Jeff (WK6I), Steve (NC6R), Gary (VA7RR), Tim (NU6S), and Barry (K6ST).  The team did a whopping 14,097,405 claimed score to support NCCC’s effort.

For those headed to Visalia, travel safe and have a great time! – Bob W1RH

Articles

Norm N6JV’s Tube of the Month

Gary NA6O reminds us how to properly Rotate Your Yagi (no, not that way!)

The Questions and the Answers to the quiz that Bob W1RH presented at the February 2025 meeting.

The Deleted Country of the Month, courtesy of the SCDXC.

2025 RTTY Roundup Final Results

Classifieds

Tony K6BV has the following items for sale, please contact him at dxer@k6bv.net.

ClubLog DXCC Standings

As of 31 March 2025. You can see complete MLDXCC standings on ClubLog here.

Overall

1	NK7I	211
2	W1SRD	200
3	W6DE	181
4	K6YK	164
5	K6OK	154

CW

1	K6YK	136
2	NO5Z	113
3	N6WM	103
4	NA6O	102
5	W1SRD	95

Phone

1	W1SRD	112
2	N6WM	111
3	NO5Z	106
4	K6YK	101
5	K6TQ	81

Data

1	NK7I	200
2	W1SRD	168
3	W6DE	161
4	K7QDX	149
5	K6OK	128

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 Webmaster Jeff WK6I. Please do send me any corrections, omissions, or material for future issues of The Nugget. It is much appreciated!