The results for the 2017 ARRL International DX Contest SSB are out and K3LR again led the pack, placing first in the world!  It was the eighth consecutive number one placement for Tim’s ops.  These guys own this contest!  What’s Tim’s formula?  It’s simple to describe and extremely difficult to execute:  the best hardware plus the best ops.  Look at this list of ops at K3LR this year:  K1AR, K1DG, K3UA, N2NC, N2NT, K3LR, N3GJ, N3SD, N5UM, NP4G, VE3EJ, W2RQ, WM2H! 

Conditions were as bad as anyone could remember.  Tom Lee, K8AZ wrote that conditions were likely “the worst radio conditions since operations began here in 1985.”  K3LR’s score only barely reached one-third of their 2016 score (6.2 mil vs 18.2 mil) and their QSO total was exactly half of what they achieved in the previous year.  Contacts declined on all six bands compared with 2016, with 10 and 15 taking the biggest hits.  15 meters alone saw a drop of 2,433 contacts (536 vs 2,969)!

In the multi-two category, K8AZ’s ops placed third in a hard fought battle with W4RM in VA and N1MM in CT.  The scores were very close:  W4RM 1,621,538, N1MM 1,602,557, and K8AZ 2,416,554.  There is no doubt that Tom’s ops would be on top without their huge geographical disadvantage.

Lots of NCC members gave this contest a pass, no doubt discouraged by the awful conditions.  Only 9 scores were submitted for the club.  Noteworthy scores were posted by Jamie WW3S (710 contacts) and Ray ND8L (602).