Q5 is joined by the Contest Crew - Randy Thompson K5ZD, Dan Craig N6MJ, Bill Fehring W9KKN - and special guest Levi Jefferies K6JO for a postmortem on a gripping ARRL DX SSB weekend. This episode offers a front-row seat to the drama: Bill grinding out an extraordinary 48-hour remote effort from ZF1A in the Cayman Islands, Dan battling from Tariq's N2QV super station in the Catskills, and Levi pushing hard from N1DE in farthest edges of northern Maine. All three spent the weekend in the top six of the SOAB HP category. What makes the conversation compelling is not just the scoreboard, but the psychology behind it—when to look, when to ignore it, and how one glance can turn fatigue into resolve. Bill admits the chase with Ken KP4AA kept him pushing to the end. Dan confesses he took a three-hour sleep break, woke up, checked the scoreboard, and instantly regretted it. Levi, meanwhile, lost crucial hours to a remote-station computer crash and still refused to let it define the effort. There’s plenty here for the serious operator: SO2R compromises, self-spotting as a strategic necessity, Maine’s undeniable edge into Europe, New York’s better angle into Asia, and the sheer brutality of trying to hold a run frequency while three other stations are calling CQ on top of you. But there’s also something deeply human in this one—hallucinations after 40-plus hours, “lucky” frequencies on 160, remote setups made possible by loyal friends, and that familiar contest truth that the line between discipline and madness is often just one multiplier. The episode also gives due respect to the battle at the top of the scoreboard between Tom 8P5A and Manu HD8R, including Manu’s dramatic come-from-behind "scoreboard win." And it closes with a well-earned victory lap: Dan N6MJ is now officially the all-time CQ Worldwide CW Single Operator All Band world record holder. It lands as both celebration and warning—because in this crowd, “retirement” usually lasts only until the next big weekend. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio.
