In 1986, a small group of Texas contesters (with a lot of help from some XE friends) operated the ARRL SSB DX Contest from the back of KD5GY's van parked in the driveway at the home of XE2XCH, Edmundo Colombon. We used his Mosley Tribander at about 35 feet and some wires for the low bands. An SB220 amplifier at the end of a 100 feet extension cord and running on 100 V AC put out almost 300 watts.
The hook was set at that point and the XE boys helped us secure a somewhat better operating site on a farm outside of town for the 1987 ARRL DX SSB test. The setup was really field day style this time with 30' of Rohn 25 setting on flat ground and guyed with rope. Miscommunication with the owner of the property resulted in our tearing down the entire station and leaving on Saturday afternoon, but by now we were really determined to find a better site.
Sometime in early 1987 Harmon Ligon, K5SJA (SK), found the Sugar Lake Resort Motel just outside of Camargo, Tamaulipas and met the owner - who was also a ham! Harmon explained what we were looking for and the owner asked us to "come on down." We did, everything clicked, and in the 1988 ARRL DX SSB we set up and had a great time.
We inquired whether we could put up a small tower and were told "sure!" In 1988 60' of Rohn 25 went up and a Cushcraft A4 became the first permanent antenna. In 1989 the tower was increased to 90' and a TH7DXX and a 40-2CD were installed.
In early 1990, Grupo DX Panamericano was chartered as a non-profit corporation in Mexico and the club call XE2XA and contest/special event call 6D2X were assigned. Our first big effort netted 13.5 million points and we were very happy.
The first tower/antenna system came crashing down during a violent thunderstorm in May 1991. Through the generousity of AA5VC and lots of long, hot weekends and hard work by all the crew, 120' of ROHN 45 and 60' of Rohn 25 went up (along with antennas in July - September, 1991.
The larger tower has a KLM KT-34XA at 120 feet and a Cushcraft 40-2CD at 130', and an 80/160 Inverted Vee at 115'.
The smaller tower sports a Cushcraft A4 at 60', a Cushcraft 40 meter rotary dipole at 70' and an 80 meter Inverted Vee at 55'.
Grupo DX enjoys the hospitality of the owner of the Sugar Lake Resort - Noe Santos, XE2YNS and his son Noe Jr. XE2YNE - and occupies a large air conditioned room on the end of the second floor of the motel building. The room now has a long, built in operating table, dedicated electrical service, and all the feedlines and rotor cables routed in through conduit.
For those who are interested, we have a history of the contest operations of Grupo DX Panamericano. We have made a real effort to QSL all of those who need Mexico. Our QSL manager is K5TSQ. Our QSL card is shown below.
The club has two silent keys - Harmon, K5SJA, and Edmundo, XE2XCH, who were instrumental in the formative years.
[K5TR Home] [DX Audio] [Contest Stuff] [YO Files] [N5AU Tour] [W5KFT Tour] [6D2X TOUR]
