2026 WPX CW NC8C (K5ZD)
CQWW WPX Contest, CW - 2026
Call: NC8C
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W8
Operating Time (hrs): 36
OpMode: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 9
80: 100
40: 890
20: 1300
15: 579
10: 77
------------
Total: 2955 Prefixes = 1137 Total Score = 9,339,318
Club: North Coast Contesters
Comments
NC8C is the club callsign of the North Coast Contesters. I appreciate them allowing me to use it. Much better contest call than I expected. And it was nice being the only NC8.
Conditions leading up to the contest were encouraging. As usual, that changed once the contest started. Conditions were still OK, but signal levels were down. Very rapid QSB presented a challenge when copying callsigns and serial numbers.
Didn’t help that the weather outside was outstanding.
Too much daylight here to start on 40, so I opted for 15 and 20. Ended up spending most of the first hour calling people. It got a bit better once I could run on 40m.
I just finished installing Green Heron Everywhere automation for antenna switching. Discovered a few config errors once the contest started, but I was able to debug them as I went along. Nice to finally be able to click on a spot and have the amp and antennas all do the right thing!
Always interesting to hear the polar paths on 20 during the night hours. Seems strange that a UA9 will be booming in during the middle of his afternoon, yet the band will be flat here during our afternoon.
I did achieve my #1 goal for the contest by not allowing WU2X (N6MJ) to double my score. I was avidly watching the scoreboard as WU2X and AA3B showed me the way.
Was ready to quit around 20z on Saturday. A bit burned out from a long contest season. Took a break for some food and came back. Bands had started to improve so I just kept setting new goals.
Tuned across 80 and heard some EU signals, so decided to call CQ. Had a nice run of weak, but copiable Europeans. That was fun. Then went to 160 and called CQ. Very surprised to have 9A1A call in. It took a few tries for him to get the serial number.
I then stopped and slept for 5 hours. Gave up some low band points, but that definitely improved the attitude. Sunday was a grind. I was working anything I could find just to add to the QSO total. Even if it meant calling USA stations on backscatter.
Score is above the W8 single op record, but not sure it will survive the log checking. This will not be a golden log. 🙁
I would never have made it to the end if not for having the scoreboard to keep me engaged and entertained.
Thanks to everyone around the world who played the game.
Station
2 x Elecraft K3 + PGXL amplifier
WriteLog
160m: Inverted vee at 70′
80m: Inverted vee @ 80′
40m: 2-el Moxon @ 90′, 2-ele 40-2CD (NE) at 40′, dipole at 25′
20m: 5-el/5-el @ 80’/50′
15m: 5-el/5-el @53’/28′
20-10m: C31xr @70′
Rates
QSO/Pref by hour and band
Hour 160M 80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total Cumm Off
0000Z --+-- --+-- 49/43 41/40 30/23 --+-- 120/106 120/106
0100Z - - 132/101 6/3 - - 138/104 258/210
0200Z - 2/1 94/67 27/16 - - 123/84 381/294
0300Z - 6/4 90/49 40/21 - - 136/74 517/368
0400Z - - 46/21 65/26 - - 111/47 628/415
0500Z - - 92/45 19/7 - - 111/52 739/467
0600Z - 24/5 49/20 17/6 - - 90/31 829/498
0700Z - - - 8/5 - - 8/5 837/503 50
0800Z --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- 0/0 837/503 60
0900Z - - - - - - 0/0 837/503 60
1000Z - - 13/8 - 7/4 - 20/12 857/515 34
1100Z - - - 112/70 4/1 - 116/71 973/586
1200Z - - - 85/31 12/6 - 97/37 1070/623
1300Z - - - 85/38 13/4 - 98/42 1168/665
1400Z - - - 27/19 69/18 - 96/37 1264/702
1500Z - - - 8/3 86/28 - 94/31 1358/733
1600Z --+-- --+-- --+-- 17/5 68/19 --+-- 85/24 1443/757
1700Z - - - 7/1 41/4 23/10 71/15 1514/772
1800Z - - - 16/14 - - 16/14 1530/786 43
1900Z - - - 41/11 5/3 - 46/14 1576/800 19
2000Z - - - 74/17 12/6 - 86/23 1662/823
2100Z - - - 40/10 44/11 - 84/21 1746/844
2200Z - - 2/1 13/5 18/5 13/7 46/18 1792/862
2300Z - - 5/1 69/18 6/4 - 80/23 1872/885
0000Z --+-- --+-- 14/5 68/14 5/1 --+-- 87/20 1959/905
0100Z - 4/2 82/16 5/2 4/2 - 95/22 2054/927
0200Z 1/1 64/4 33/9 - - - 98/14 2152/941
0300Z 8/0 - 32/5 29/11 2/1 - 71/17 2223/958
0400Z - - 39/25 32/10 - - 71/35 2294/993
0500Z - - 39/5 5/2 - - 44/7 2338/1000 28
0600Z - - - - - - 0/0 2338/1000 60
0700Z - - - - - - 0/0 2338/1000 60
0800Z --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- --+-- 0/0 2338/1000 60
0900Z - - - - - - 0/0 2338/1000 60
1000Z - - - 2/0 - - 2/0 2340/1000 57
1100Z - - 15/2 59/21 - - 74/23 2414/1023
1200Z - - 16/2 33/18 10/1 - 59/21 2473/1044
1300Z - - - 23/4 17/3 - 40/7 2513/1051 1
1400Z - - - - - - 0/0 2513/1051 60
1500Z - - - 30/5 35/3 - 65/8 2578/1059 1
1600Z --+-- --+-- --+-- 9/4 7/0 18/3 34/7 2612/1066 3
1700Z - - - 11/0 4/0 - 15/0 2627/1066 60
1800Z - - - 16/6 27/10 10/3 53/19 2680/1085
1900Z - - - 15/3 17/5 4/0 36/8 2716/1093
2000Z - - - 69/14 1/0 3/2 73/16 2789/1109
2100Z - - 1/0 43/5 11/3 1/0 56/8 2845/1117
2200Z - - 1/1 21/7 20/5 5/0 47/13 2892/1130
2300Z - - 46/4 13/2 4/1 - 63/7 2955/1137
Totals: 9/1 100/16 890/430 1300/494 579/171 77/25
Best 60 minutes: 140 @ 30-May-2026 00:43
Worked on 6 bands: 0
Worked on 5 bands: 6
9A1A AA4NC CN3A NR6O NS1S WG4R
Most worked entities
160M 80M 40M 20M 15M 10M Total
K 7 66 391 370 156 27 1017
DL 4 55 99 58 216
VE 1 8 43 36 16 1 105
UA 12 73 13 98
G 23 47 18 88
I 21 33 27 81
OK 2 28 38 11 79
JA 1 62 12 75
HA 3 23 36 12 74
EA 22 25 22 69