Ken Harker WM5R
1999 ARRL International DX Contest, Phone, N5CQ M/S

Ken Harker KM5FA (click for more photos.)

John N5CQ has built a world-class Amateur Radio DXing station in the hills west-southwest of Austin, TX. He invited some members of the Central Texas DX & Contest Club (CTDXCC) to come out and operate in the 1999 ARRL International DX Contest, phone, as a Multiple Operator, Single Transmitter (M/S) operation. I spent the entire weekend at the station.

N5CQ tries to cover all the angles and all the bands on a single tower with a stack of six Force 12 tribanders on Rohn 55G rotated with RTS components. Three pairs are fed with 3 "Mini Stack Match" transformers and a Stack Match control unit on 20, 15 and 10 meters, allowing selection of any pair, any two pairs, or all three pairs. Three of the antennas are C3's (at 35, 95, and 125 feet) and three are C4XL's (at 65, 125, and 195 feet). The three C4XL's also incorporate interlaced 2 element "shorty forty" sections which are fed with separate feed lines and another Stack Match. Also on the tower are a WARC-7 beam for 30, 17, and 12 meters at about 105 feet, a 2 element linear loaded 80M Force 12 Magnum 280C at 185 feet, and a 160M sloper.