Mother Lode DX / Contest Club

Author: Jeff Stai

  • DX and Contest Quiz Questions

    At the February MLDXCC meeting Bob W1RH conducted a sort of trivia contest of various DXing and contesting questions. Here are the questions with the possible answers to choose from.

    1 – The Following Contests Allow Self Spotting. Check all that apply:

    ARRL SWEEPSTAKES
    CQWW
    IARU WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
    NAQP

    2 – K1LZ HAS A M/M REMOTE CONTEST STATION IN WHICH STATE?

    Vermont
    Maine
    New Hampshire
    Rhode Island
    Massachusetts

    3- In the North American QSO Party, the exchange is state/province and name. You do not need to use
    your own name. In the January NAQP, WO4O used W1N as a special event callsign. What name did he
    use?

    Chiefs
    Bills
    Trump
    Eagles

    4 – THE P49Y CONTEST STATION IS LOCATED IN WHICH ENTITY?

    Aruba
    Bonaire
    Curacao
    Carriacou

    5 – THE WINNERS OF THE 2024 SS CLUB COMPETITION ARE (Unlimited, Medium, Small):

    PVRC, SCCC, PL259
    PVRC, MLDXCC, PL259
    YCCC, NCCC, Arizona Outlaws

    6 – THE MLDXCC CLUB CALL IS

    K6TA
    K6AO
    K6KO
    W6FI

    7 – A FT8 CONTEST QSO CAN BE LOGGED WHEN YOU RECEIVE:

    73
    RRR
    RR73
    All of the above

    8 – A STATION OPERATING 2BSIQ CAN USE WHICH MODES?

    SSB
    CW
    RTTY
    FT8
    All of the above

    9 – 4U1WB COUNTS FOR WHICH DXCC ENTITY?

    USA
    UN HQ
    ITU HQ
    Austria

    10 – HOW MANY CURRENT DXCC ENTITIES ARE THERE?

    331
    339
    340
    344

    11 – THE PREFIX, FP, IS IN WHICH CQ ZONE?

    14
    15
    2
    5

    12 – THE VP8PJ DXPEDITION OPERATED FROM:

    South Sandwich Islands
    South Orkney Islands
    Falkland Islands
    South Georgia Islands

    13 – THE PREFIX, VP9, IS IN WHICH CQ ZONE?

    8
    5
    7
    13

    14 – WHAT WAS THE CALL OF THE FAILED BOUVET DXPEDITION?

    3Y0J
    3Y0I
    3Y0K
    3Y0Z

    15 – ON A MULTI-ELEMENT YAGI, THE AZIMUTH AT WHICH MAX SIGNAL REJECTION OCCURS IS:

    To the rear
    To the front
    To the side
    Above the antenna

    16 – THE BATTLE CREEK SPECIAL IS A:

    Multi-band vertical
    RTTY Modem
    Single-band vertical
    Mobile antenna

    17 – JAMES BROOKS HAS RECORDED MANY DXPEDITIONS. WHAT IS HIS CALL SIGN?

    ON6WW
    W6JB
    9V1YC
    5X1Z

    18 – THE VK0IR DXPEDITION WAS ON WHICH ISLAND?

    Macquarie Island
    Mellish Reef
    Kermadec Island
    Heard Island

    19 – THE K5K DXPEDITION TO KINGMAN REEF COUNTS FOR DXCC

    Yes
    No

    20 – WHO COINED THE PHRASE, THE DESERVING?

    Lloyd Colvin, W6KG
    Don Wallace, W6AM
    Hugh Cassidy WA6AUD
    Bip Bachmann W6BIP

  • DX and Contest Quiz Answers

    At the February MLDXCC meeting Bob W1RH conducted a sort of trivia contest of various DXing and contesting questions. Here are the questions with the correct answers.

    1 – The Following Contests Allow Self Spotting. Check all that apply

    ARRL SWEEPSTAKES
    NAQP

    SELF SPOTTING MEANS THAT YOU SPOT YOURSELF INSTEAD OF RELYING ON OTHERS

    2 – K1LZ HAS A M/M REMOTE CONTEST STATION IN WHICH STATE?

    Maine – Krazzy is from Bulgaria (LZ prefix).

    3 – IN THE LAST NAQP, WO4O USED THE SPECIAL EVENT CALL, W1N. WHAT NAME DID HE USE?

    TRUMP

    4 – THE P49Y CONTEST STATION IS LOCATED IN WHICH ENTITY?

    Aruba – Also P49L. Built by Carl, AI6V, as P49V. P49Y is Andy, AE6Y. P49L is John, W6LD

    5 – THE WINNERS OF THE 2024 SS CLUB COMPETITION ARE (Unlimited, Medium, Small):

    PVRC, MLDXCC, PL259 – (we hope)

    6 – THE MLDXCC CLUB CALL IS

    K6AO – Was John Fogg, Portola Valley, CA

    7 – A FT8 CONTEST QSO CAN BE LOGGED WHEN YOU RECEIVE:

    ALL OF THE ABOVE

    8 – A STATION OPERATING 2BSIQ CAN USE WHICH MODES?

    ALL OF THE ABOVE – TWO BAND SYNCHRONIZED INTERLEAVED QSO’S.

    9 – 4U1WB COUNTS FOR WHICH DXCC ENTITY?

    USA (WORLD BANK)

    10 – HOW MANY CURRENT DXCC ENTITIES ARE THERE?

    340

    11 – THE PREFIX, FP, IS IN WHICH CQ ZONE?

    5 – ST PIERRE AND MIQUELON

    12 – THE VP8PJ DXPEDITION OPERATED FROM:

    SOUTH ORKNEY ISLANDS

    13 – THE PREFIX, VP9, IS IN WHICH CQ ZONE?

    5

    14 – WHAT WAS THE CALL OF THE FAILED BOUVET DXPEDITION?

    3Y0Z – THE DXPEDITION FAILED BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT SAFELY LAND. THE BOAT GOT TO APPROXIMATELY ONE MILE FROM THE ISLAND

    15 – ON A MULTI-ELEMENT YAGI, THE AZIMUTH AT WHICH MAX SIGNAL REJECTION OCCURS IS:

    TO THE SIDE – A SHARP BROADSIDE NULL
    ABOVE THE ANTENNA

    16 – THE BATTLE CREEK SPECIAL IS A:

    MULTI-BAND VERTICAL (40/80/160) – WERE OFTEN USED ON DXPEDITIONS

    17 – JAMES BROOKS HAS RECORDED MANY DXPEDITIONS. WHAT IS HIS CALL SIGN?

    9V1YC – HE HAS FILMED MANY MAJOR DXPEDITIONS. HE OWNS A PRODUCTION COMPANY IN SINGAPORE

    18 – THE VK0IR DXPEDITION WAS ON WHICH ISLAND?

    HEARD ISLAND – 1997

    19 – THE K5K DXPEDITION 2000 TO KINGMAN REEF COUNTS FOR DXCC

    NO (Deleted March 19th, 2016 – was administered by US NAVY. Changed to US Fish and Wildlife, which also administers nearby Palmyra. Now counts as Palmyra/Jarvis.

    20 – WHO COINED THE PHRASE, THE DESERVING?

    HUGH CASSIDY, WA6AUD (first used in the West Coast DX Bulletin)

  • 2025 RTTY Roundup Final Results

    I’ve seen the final results for the 2025 RTTY Roundup and here are the results for the MLDXCC. The club competed in the Medium Club category and came in 9th place.

    RTTY Roundup Medium Club

    Generated by wpDataTables

    Club member scores for Single Op, Low Power:

    • K8TR – 6174
    • KE6GLA – 4294
    • K6DGW – 1650
    • KN6TZK – 735
    • N6NFB – 323

    Club member scores for Single Op, High Power:

    • W7RN – 231990
    • K6TQ – 41391
    • KH6TU – 35108
    • N6XI – 19642

    Club member scores for Single Op, High Power, Unlimited:

    • AF6SA – 60900
    • W1RH – 57798
    • WE6Z – 53054
    • K6NV – 34293
    • NU6T – 28416
    • N6GEO – 25527
    • W1SRD – 23785
    • W6RKC – 11926
    • WX6V – 11122

    Thanks everyone for your participation!

  • Deleted Country of the Month – PDR Yemen

    An occasional feature, courtesy of the Southern California DX Club.

  • Rotate Your Yagi

    by Gary Johnson NA6O

    Everyone knows how to rotate their Yagi antenna: Just turn the knob and away it goes. But this article isn’t about that rotation, it’s about rotating it a different way, for maintenance. When your beam has a problem wayy out where you can’t reach it, the usual expectation is that the whole thing is going to have to come down off the tower. Many of us have seen balun failures or lost the tip off of an element or had an element twist on the boom, and there’s no obvious or easy way to reach it. It’s bad enough that we have to hire a climber, and even worse when the work involves tramming the whole shebang down to the ground and back up. Thankfully, professional tower busters have tricks that save us much time and effort. The first time you see it, the light goes on and it’s obvious… If only you had thought of if first!

    The simplest trick is to rotate the Yagi by loosening the boom in the boom-to-mast clamp, allowing the boom itself to rotate. This lets the elements swing down alongside the tower. Now it’s possible to climb up or down and reach at least the elements that are close to the tower. Our local climber Mark, N9LS, did a service call at my station W6SRR where some plastic clips out on the elements had slipped out of position. He was able to reach them and fix the issue easily.

    The more elaborate and flexible trick is to dismount the Yagi entirely while temporarily supporting it at its balance point with some combination of slings, ropes, and a come-along. At N6RO, we had a balun failure on a long 20m Yagi and Hector, AD6D, used this method. Once the antenna is free-floating, it’s easy to position it at any angle along the tower, allowing access to anything that needs attention.

    So be sure to consult the pros when you have a problem up the tower. They may even show you a different way to rotate.

  • Tube of the Month – March 2025

    by Norm Wilson N6JV – Visit the museum at N6JV.com

    WD-24

    Westinghouse was one of the first American companies to commercially produce vacuum tubes. RCA held the triode patent so Westinghouse and General Electric made tubes for distribution by RCA.  These companies also developed experimental tubes for their own use and to develop new products and perfect construction techniques.  The featured transmitting triode was found at a swap meet.  I don’t think I paid much as nobody knew what it was other than an early, primitive triode that was probably made about 1920.  Eventually I identified it as a Westinghouse WD-24, but I have no reference source to prove it.  All tube collectors have a library of reference material and I think someone knew what it was and supplied the operating voltages and currents.  The plate could be run as high as 2000 volts at 250 ma.  The filament was 10 volts at 15 amps.  The tube stands 12 inches tall.  Westinghouse tubes had several prefix codes and often WD was used to indicate a developmental tube.

    This tube was made by spot welding rods to support the plate and grid.  The ends were connected to internal metal clamps.  In operation, the tube was mounted with straps.  This system is similar to what de Forest tubes of this period used.  The feature that doesn’t make any sense is the square box shaped plate.  Making the spacing between the grid and plate uniform, minimizes the creation of hot spots  The variable grid to plate spacing may result in an odd-looking set of performance curves.  This design didn’t catch on but it is an interesting example of early experimentation.