ARRL International DX Contest 2023
ARRL International DX Contest 2023
This year the HFDXARC acquired the brand new contest call of M6C which we are very proud of and put to good use this time around.
This contest itself is very different from the CQWW, in that we can only score points with QSOs in the USA and Canada, and this meant a totally different strategy being adopted.
The team comprised of 10 members who were all geared up for different time slots throughout the weekend. This in itself was difficult, as we needed the station staffed at all times, even when North America was sleeping.
Friday night saw a team of 3 begin the contest, which started very slow ( as expected ) and eventually sprang into action sat morning. We held frequencies on 10 / 15 / 20 meters and called CQ, to which the response was amazing. At one stage on Sunday, we racked up a 400 QSO count over 2 hours.
So as you can imagine it was frantic and none stop, but during this period an old friend of the Club from over the pond, Steve W4SLT called in and wanted a quick chat with Andy G7LRR. Not exactly the right time eh, but Steve has not spoken to anyone at the Club in over 10 years, and even paid us a visit from across the pond one year. It was an absolute pleasure working with Steve who is now back in touch with the Club.
Amazingly, with the conversation over, I called CQ Contest again and was hit by a wall of stations calling in. Credit to the Americans for their patience and understanding, top operators.
So we kept at it and went right through to the finish Sunday midnight. We hit over One million points for this contest, which is an amazing achievement for the Club, given it was the first time entered by us.
The whole weekend was an absolute pleasure to be involved in, and again the support shown by both Club members and guests was incredible.
A few pictures from the event are below, but the intended video was not done as planned due to how busy everyone was. The next one we shall be better prepared for.
A massive thanks go out to everyone who took part, and to all those who supported us throughout the planning and execution of the contest. The club is picking itself back up after Covid and has a very vibrant feel to it. We have new and old members joining and also have now adopted a digital membership, following many recent requests. More details are on the website regarding this.
Call signs of contesters are
Andy G7LRR – Chris G0URG – Steve M0EBJ – Andy 2E1TAP – SUE M6URG – DAVE 2E0TKO – KEVIN M0KVK – MARCIN M0GLV – LEE G0ULN – John G6LNV
We welcome visitors, guests, and membership requests and openly encourage you all to come down and see us at the clubhouse.
More details on the website along with contact details.
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