WQ6X Blast from the PAST: IARU Hf Championship

As time for the 2019 IARU HF Championship nears, I am taken back down the timetrack of past HF operations.  It was interesting to note that 2015 & 2016 were strangely absent, while 2010 --> 2014 and 2017 & 2018 were so robust.  The IARU GiGs during 2010, 2011 & 2012 found me driving to Fallbrook for those events; Randy's Donuts being a necessary stop along the way.

My first IARU contest was July 2010.  In those days, we were JUST getting started as an effective multi-OP setup.  In the above picture is one of only 2 contest uses of a Kenwood TS-950DX (dual-RX) transceiver.  In those days, SO2-V was somewhat over my head so I didn't appreciate what the Kenwood could really do.  Despite that, we managed a 2nd-place multi-OP win from San Diego section and 3rd-place for the Southwest Division.

While 2011 wasn't my first IARU GiG, it was my 1st time using a loaded ICOM-7800.  Running as a mixed-mode Multi-Single operation, the complex 7800 sure fit the bill, IF you could figure out how to make the multitude of filters work; being in the PEAK of Solar Cycle 24, we needed all the help we could get.  That assistance took us to a 1st-place win for San Diego and a 2nd-place win for the Southwest Division - I guess we learned something from 2010.

2012 brought with it an increasing sunspot cycle, making it worth the trip to NX6T in Fallbrook. 
It was my 1st use of the newly acquired Elecraft K3, which was just beginning to really takeover
the contest world.  2012 took not only 1st-place for San Diego Section and Southwestern Division,
but for IARU Zone-6 as well.

For 2013 I did things differently operating SOLO from a portable setup in Alameda.  The HF2-V Vertical was LOADED with radials for 80, 40, 20 & 15.  The ad-HOC operation took 2nd-place for
East Bay and 7th-place for the Pacific Division.  ([CLICK HERE] to read about that event.)

For 2014, I was spared a drive to Fallbrook by joining up with N6GEO in Brentwood, putting up the not-so-stealthy military mast (having it out of the picture by noontime Sunday).  We had come off of our world-winning WP2/WQ6X RTTY RU GiG on St. Croix 6 mos. earlier, and were feeling confident.
The 2014 event also coincided with the WRTC championship with competitor stations operating from Massachusetts.  Running the Flex-1000 and Power-SDR software gave us a 1st-place for East Bay section and a 3rd-place for the Pacific Division.  ([CLICK HERE] to read about that event.)

For some unexplained reason, WQ6X made no contest operations during the 2015 & 2016 IARU GiG; I must've been Rip Van-WQ6X, allowing me to recharge for the IARU excitement of 2017.

In 2017 I joined up with the NX6T crew remotely from Alameda to cover my usual "dinner hour" and after midnight shifts.  We took 1st-place for San Diego Section and Southwestern Division, but only 3rd for IARU Zone-6 - I guess the competition is getting more intense.  ([CLICK HERE] to read about that event.)

In 2018 I began dual-OP'ing contest events from W7AYT's QTH in Concord, allowing me to run
the FT-1000mp as WQ6X and contribute to the NX6T operation remotely.  The 2018 IARU event
also coincided with the WRTC championship, with competitor stations operating from Germany.

NX6T took 1st-place for San Diego section and 2nd-place for Southwest Division and IARU Zone-6.  WQ6X from Concord took 1st-place for East Bay Section, 2nd-place for Pacific Division and 4th-place in IARU Zone-6; not bad for an ad-HOC operation.  ([CLICK HERE] to read about that event.)

 Looking back at all these GiGs offers me hope for a successful dual-OP GiG from W7AYT's QTH again this year.

Are YOU going to play in the 2019 IARU HF Championship?

Have you played in IARU championship GiGs before?
How did things turn out?
Is NX6T or WQ6X in any of those LoGs?