RBCC WX8S participated this year in the CQWW DX CW contest as a solo effort operation from Southern Warren County again under the Explorer category delegated for equipment experimentation and new techniques, such as refining our remote base system.
As usual for DX contest, since Ohio / CQ Zone 4 is not a rare DX by any means, there was no point in running on a frequency calling CQ. Therefore, as typical this event for us is not necessarily about total score but instead about total number of DX entity countries worked and CQ zones for multipliers in a hunt and pounce fashion.
Overall, over 500 contacts were made with about 100 DXCC entities worked.
Equipment used:
• Remote Base 1 at Location Alpha
• BuddiHex antenna
• Skookumlogger for Mac OS
Some general operating notes:
- Europe was the points generator as usual.
- Propagation to Southeast Asia was some of the best I have experienced from the Midwest for this contest.
- There was less activity from the South Pacific than typical.
- There was less activity from Africa than anticipated.
The Hexbeam continues to be a great investment.
How We Could Improve:
- Integrate a future solution for SO2R CW operation
- Refine the Remote Antenna Switching arrangement
- Better integrate Hexbeam rotator interface to logging software
Overall I was very pleased with the outcome and look forward to future contest.
Remote Base Contest Club 