KX3 in the ARRL International DX contest

[Jim Sheldon]

Gave the KX3 a workout in the ARRL International DX contest this past weekend.  I hooked it up to the KPA500 and with the KX3 set to 5 watts out, I got between 130 and 138 watts out of the KPA500 which, naturally varied between bands with 130 out on 10 and just shy of 140 on 160.

Bands were in pretty good condition and propagation from Kansas to most of the rest of the world turned out to be almost great.  The money bands turned out to be 15 and 10 meters, but got a goodly number of contacts on 20 and 40 as well.  I did make a few on 80 and 160 to boot.  Total # of contacts 444, total QSO points 1332, multipliers 211 for a total claimed score of 285,052 points.  Total operating time over the contest was 14 hours out of the 48 total.  Entry was in the Single Op, Unassisted, Low Power category.  

My friend and neighbor that runs an Alpha 9500 amp and used to overload the front end of any rig I had before the K3 was absent from this contest for some reason so I didn't get to run the KX3 under really extreme conditions.  It never exhibited a selectivity or overload problem that I noticed.  I operated in "search and pounce" mode most of the time, doing a CQ run only on 10 meters during a time when it was just marginally open on Saturday afternoon.  Even running S & P I got my QSO rate up over 65/hour for several short periods on both 15 and 10 meters and the last few minutes of the contest on 40.

I had the iPad and iSDR running for the "panadapter" and it was really nice to be able to view the weak stations in reference to the "big guns" and with the roughly 150 watts out of the KX3/KPA500 combination, if the station was over S5, I had no trouble working them.  Amazing how much better the op's ears get in a contest, even with good propagation.  As I was tuning up the band, I watched the panadapter rather than the radio and could easily see if I passed over a station that wasn't transmitting when I rolled over their frequency if I didn't tune too fast.  Really helps when working S & P.  The iPad/iSDR combo is nowhere near as good as the P3, but since the P3 doesn't work with the KX3, it had to do.  I've gotten so used to the K3/P3 combination in a contest (or even general operating for that matter) that if my P3 died for any reason, I'd stay out of a contest until I got it fixed, it's that valuable to me!

40 opened early, or maybe it had been open all along and the EU stations just moved there for the last hour of the contest, I don't know.  Regardless, I switched to 40 during the last 45 minutes I operated (shut down about 5:45 p.m. local - 23:45 UTC), started right at the bottom of the band and worked every EU station I heard calling CQ.  Funny, the US "big gun" stations were all calling CQ and getting nothing.  I got there first and grabbed 'em while things were quiet and I didn't have to try and bust many pileups (which didn't seem to be much of a problem either) so during that last 45 minutes, I picked up 40 of the 46 stations worked on 40.

Managed 10 on 80 and 7 on 160.  Worked on all 6 bands were KH7X and HK1NA.

Logging was with N3FJP's latest ARRLDX program (version 3.0) and I used a Griffin PowerMate set next to the keyboard to control the KX3's frequency, sharing the com port via a commercial port sharing program.  

Overall, the KX3 performed very well, it's RX sensitivity is outstanding, the NR isn't perfect, but it did help some, especially on 80 and 160.  It wasn't really needed on the other bands as signals were so far above any noise for the most part that it was easy to work them.

Jim - W0EB
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[Paul VanOveren-2]

Jim, fantastic results with the KX3. Have not had the chance to use one
yet, but had a great time with my K3(758) the KPA 500 and the P3 in the
contest. Age is 73 so can't sit in the op chair very long anymore, but did
manage 600 qs, 190 multipliers and 342,000 pts in about 14 hrs of S & P
only. TH11DX was the antenna. Cut the bandwith down with the 250 Hz cw
filter and backed off on the RF gain and that really helped on 10 meters,
where the signals were rather weak, the solar flux being only 100 or so...
congrats, nice effort..

Paul


On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 7:57 AM, Jim Sheldon <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Gave the KX3 a workout in the ARRL International DX contest this past
> weekend.  I hooked it up to the KPA500 and with the KX3 set to 5 watts out,
> I got between 130 and 138 watts out of the KPA500 which, naturally varied
> between bands with 130 out on 10 and just shy of 140 on 160.
>
> Bands were in pretty good condition and propagation from Kansas to most of
> the rest of the world turned out to be almost great.  The money bands
> turned out to be 15 and 10 meters, but got a goodly number of contacts on
> 20 and 40 as well.  I did make a few on 80 and 160 to boot.  Total # of
> contacts 444, total QSO points 1332, multipliers 211 for a total claimed
> score of 285,052 points.  Total operating time over the contest was 14
> hours out of the 48 total.  Entry was in the Single Op, Unassisted, Low
> Power category.
>
> My friend and neighbor that runs an Alpha 9500 amp and used to overload
> the front end of any rig I had before the K3 was absent from this contest
> for some reason so I didn't get to run the KX3 under really extreme
> conditions.  It never exhibited a selectivity or overload problem that I
> noticed.  I operated in "search and pounce" mode most of the time, doing a
> CQ run only on 10 meters during a time when it was just marginally open on
> Saturday afternoon.  Even running S & P I got my QSO rate up over 65/hour
> for several short periods on both 15 and 10 meters and the last few minutes
> of the contest on 40.
>
> I had the iPad and iSDR running for the "panadapter" and it was really
> nice to be able to view the weak stations in reference to the "big guns"
> and with the roughly 150 watts out of the KX3/KPA500 combination, if the
> station was over S5, I had no trouble working them.  Amazing how much
> better the op's ears get in a contest, even with good propagation.  As I
> was tuning up the band, I watched the panadapter rather than the radio and
> could easily see if I passed over a station that wasn't transmitting when I
> rolled over their frequency if I didn't tune too fast.  Really helps when
> working S & P.  The iPad/iSDR combo is nowhere near as good as the P3, but
> since the P3 doesn't work with the KX3, it had to do.  I've gotten so used
> to the K3/P3 combination in a contest (or even general operating for that
> matter) that if my P3 died for any reason, I'd stay out of a contest until
> I got it fixed, it's that valuable to me!
>
> 40 opened early, or maybe it had been open all along and the EU stations
> just moved there for the last hour of the contest, I don't know.
>  Regardless, I switched to 40 during the last 45 minutes I operated (shut
> down about 5:45 p.m. local - 23:45 UTC), started right at the bottom of the
> band and worked every EU station I heard calling CQ.  Funny, the US "big
> gun" stations were all calling CQ and getting nothing.  I got there first
> and grabbed 'em while things were quiet and I didn't have to try and bust
> many pileups (which didn't seem to be much of a problem either) so during
> that last 45 minutes, I picked up 40 of the 46 stations worked on 40.
>
> Managed 10 on 80 and 7 on 160.  Worked on all 6 bands were KH7X and HK1NA.
>
> Logging was with N3FJP's latest ARRLDX program (version 3.0) and I used a
> Griffin PowerMate set next to the keyboard to control the KX3's frequency,
> sharing the com port via a commercial port sharing program.
>
> Overall, the KX3 performed very well, it's RX sensitivity is outstanding,
> the NR isn't perfect, but it did help some, especially on 80 and 160.  It
> wasn't really needed on the other bands as signals were so far above any
> noise for the most part that it was easy to work them.
>
> Jim - W0EB
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--
Paul VanOveren
5911 Snow Av
Alto, Mi 49302
[phone]
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[K3WWP]

Mike KC2EGL and I (John K3WWP) gave my KX3 (S/N 2325) a workout in the ARRL
DX Contest also. I'd work a station, then Mike would work the same station
in kind of a "two op two call one rig" operation or as we call it, "tag team
operation". Between the two of us we made 599 contacts in 67 DXCC entities.
Power was 5 watts for all contacts using my attic random wire, 20m attic
dipole, 15m vertical dipole on the side of my house, or 10m dipole on my
porch roof. We only worked a couple Asian stations (RC9O, C4N), but that was
good enough for a weekend QRP WAC for which Mike got his NAQCC QRP Simple
Wire Antennas WAC award.

As a veteran of over 1,000 contests, I can say the KX3 tops any other rig
I've ever used in contesting. Only a couple times in the whole contest
(about 20 hours in our case) did we hear more than one signal in the
passband (other than big pileups, I mean). There was virtually never any
splatter into the passband from super strong signals even those only a few
hundred Hertz away. I think the couple times we did hear any was because the
other station's transmitter was at fault, not the KX3 receiver.


* John K3WWP - 100% CW / QRP - Proudly promoting Morse Code:
*
* On the air with my KX3 #2325, K2 #6418, KX-1 #02101
*
* As NAQCC VP - # 0002 FC # 1 - http://naqcc.info/
*
* As FISTS Keynote QRP Columnist - # 2002 - http://www.fists.org/
*
* With my CW-QRP site - http://home.windstream.net/johnshan/

 









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[Jimk8mr]

Add me to the list of KX3 ops in the ARRL CW DX Contest.
 
I spent about 11 hours as HI/K8MR, operating with very simple wires from  
the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino resort in Punta Cana. Totaled 615 QSOs with 172  
Multipliers. There were some very slow times for us,  especially on the low
 bands, when European signals were booming in, much louder than stateside.
But we  couldn't work them in this contest  :-(
 
Best rate was an hour+ of 140/hr on 15 (and some 10) operating under a  
beach hut with a 10 foot piece of wire strung around the underside of the hut's
 framework. Precautions were used to protect the radio: I taped over all
unused  connecters and screw holes, and kept the radio in a ZipLoc bag, open
only enough  to get out the coax and keyer and headphone lines. Sent by hand
and logged on  paper from the beach!
 
Night time operation (and late afternoon after the internal batteries ran  
out) was from the room with wires run from our fourth floor balcony.
 
Jim, W8WTS, was also with me and shared time at the radio, using HI/W8WTS.  
I don't have his final results but I believe they were similar to mine.
 
I was able to pack all the radio stuff in the equivalent space of slightly  
less than a carry on suitcase. (A few tools did have to go in checked
luggage).  Definitely a new horizon in contest expeditioning!
 
 
73  -  Jim   K8MR
 
 
 
 
 
 
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[Jim Brown-10]

On 2/19/2013 3:06 PM, K3WWP wrote:
> I'd work a station, then Mike would work the same station
> in kind of a "two op two call one rig" operation or as we call it, "tag team operation".

That's against  the contest rules. It is not permitted  to use a
transmitter with more than one callsign during any given contest. There
is a a permitted exception that permits a husband and wife to use the
same rig with their own calls.

73, Jim K9YC
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[Jim Brown-10]

Right, they would be check logs. If you're not competing, that's
perfectly OK.

Many contest rules, including this one, are intended to prevent
operators from "gaming the system."  The intent of this one has to do
with artificially boosting the scores of a club by doing exactly what is
described here.

One of my favorite contests, the North American QSO Party, limits power
to 100W, and most stations on Field Day, another favorite, run 100W or
less, and the Field Day rules give more points for low power and QRP.
These rules make the contest a lot more fun for most stations, and
violating them by running high power is NOT OK.

73, Jim K9YC

On 2/20/2013 5:20 AM, Dominic Baines wrote:

> Surely only if they put entries in?
>
> As check logs perfectly valid.
>
> 72
> Dom
> M1KTA
> On 20/02/13 02:23, Jim Brown wrote:
>> On 2/19/2013 3:06 PM, K3WWP wrote:
>>> I'd work a station, then Mike would work the same station
>>> in kind of a "two op two call one rig" operation or as we call it,
>>> "tag team operation".
>>
>> That's against  the contest rules. It is not permitted  to use a
>> transmitter with more than one callsign during any given contest.
>> There is a a permitted exception that permits a husband and wife to
>> use the same rig with their own calls.
>>
>> 73, Jim K9YC

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