ARRL International DX Phone Competition March 2-3 – Join us!

DX Competition Overview

This coming weekend, March 2-3, 2024 is the ARRL International DX Competition – Phone.

Want to experience contesting from a field setup without a long drive or camping? Hear or contact some global DX? See how contesting and contest logging works? This is your chance!

Several RST members, led by Lloyd Johnson, K7NX, and Bill Bennet, N7DZ, plan to set up a fairly simple (although capable) portable contest station for the 2024 ARRL International DX Phone contest starting Friday, March 1 at 5 pm local time. (See direction details at the bottom.)

This event is an HF contest, using SSB on the 160, 75, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands. We plan to use the K7RST callsign and use computer logging. Since it is a DX contest, the US and Canada stations will attempt to make contact with other countries around the world. We can reasonably expect to work something over 500 contacts in 50 to 60 different countries.

RST – Competition as an Education Opportunity

Our purpose for this event is to show people unfamiliar with HF what is available on those bands, plus give anyone wanting to make DX contacts that opportunity. Also you will see how contesting and efficient contest logging works. Experienced HF operators are also welcome of course. Anyone is welcome to operate, either with the K7RST callsign or with your own. It will be a good opportunity to see what contest operating looks like, how we do logging and possibly to make your first of many DX (foreign) contacts. A control operator who knows the equipment and procedures will be helping. Again, the purpose of this event is NOT to win (as if we could anyway), but to introduce contesting HF DX to those who maybe have never seen it, or to give those “seasoned contesters” a chance to make some noise. All licensed hams with their invited guests (ham or non-ham) are welcome! Bring a lawn chair and a snack and join in the fun!

Setup and Schedule

The current plan is to set up the main station in a 27 foot trailer, consisting of an Elecraft K3 with an Elecraft KPA-500 amplifier (500 watts). The antennas that we can use are a 40 meter ¼ wave vertical, a 20 meter ¼ wave vertical, a 10 meter beam at 15 feet and a Hy-gain AV640 half wave multiband vertical. If you have a technician license and don’t believe there is anything for you on HF, you may be surprised. We will have a 3 element 10 meter beam and will be able to run 200 watts PEP SSB in the middle of the technician 10 meter band. That band will be full of DX stations that you can work with your own callsign and claim credit for that country.

Schedule

Thursday, Feb 29 Noon – arrive at Ken’s corral – set up stations and antennas –
Friday, March 1 – 9:00 am – Casually operate all day – play with the radios, verify everything – run back home to find things we forgot
Friday, March 1 – 5:00 pm – Contest starts
Saturday, March 2 – All day – Contest runs
Sunday, March 3 – Contest runs until 5:00 pm but we will start tear down by noon.

Address and Directions

Ken’s location is on the east side of Tucson off of Speedway, right near the B&B Cactus Farm.
Address: 855 N Camino Cordon, Tucson, AZ 85748.

To get to the corral, walk or drive to the corral which is straight west of Ken’s house. Come up the road north of Ken’s house and guest house. There should be plenty of parking in the corral. (Please do not run over the hardline coax!) It will be marked. Ken will have a few chairs and a couple of shade canopies

Reported by:
Lloyd Johnson, K7NX
Bill Bennett, N7DX
Ken Boyd, N7NBV