Kevin Stockton N5DX is the unofficial winner of the 2024 ARRL DX CW in the Single Operator All Band High Power category. Like other US contesters at his level (N6MJ, KL9A), Kevin came from a ham radio family and began contesting under the tutelage of his father, Stan K5GO. Over a decade in the early 2000's, he participated in many K5GO multi-op efforts picking ups skills from his dad and his dad's buddies. He qualified for the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship in Boston. By 2015. magic happened when he began contesting from the extraordinary N2QV / WU2X station located in the Catskills of New York State. In-person operating quickly evolved to fully remote operation from his home in Arkansas and his winning streak in various contests have continued to the present. Please join us for my conversation with Kevin Stockton N5DX and, if you like what you hear, please subscribe.
This is all nice…and fairly easy to do with large yagis stacked to the stratosphere and legal-limit amplifiers. Now…do all of this with a couple doublets strung between the trees, an aluminum stick and no more than 100w and I’ll be impressed.
Now... I propose a station swap for a major contest: you at N2QV or similar and Kevin at a station like you described within 200 miles. Kevin will leave you in the dust. Driving a NASCAR car at 200 mph is not easier than driving a Prius at 50 mph! There are separate categories for low power stations!
Not sure I totally agree. There are layers of stations that you simply cant hear with antennas at low levels. What we have at N2QV and at K3LR and the like are stacks at 1, 2, and 3 wavelengths in height. We're discussing 20+ dB in antenna gain alone. Running a doublet which might have 3 dB of gain simply isn't comparable. Plus you can't run 2BSIQ with a single doublet.
I wasn't dissing the poster, just trying to say how Kevin is that good! He will squeeze every last Q out of that doublet. I have seen casual OPs on stacks and legal limit... Those who think it's a game of just being loud get quite the surprise. Nothing about contesting at a competitive level is easy. Why can't you run SO2R/2BSIQ on a doublet, with the appropriate hardware?
