Amateur Radio Contesting Guide: Exchanges, Logs and the Big Events
What an amateur radio contest is, the major HF events of the year, exchanges, Cabrillo logs and how to enter your first contest with a modest station.
Contest
Amateur radio contests are timed events in which stations exchange a short standard report, scored as contacts multiplied by unique multipliers.
The exchange defines the contest. CQ WW asks for a signal report and one of the 40 CQ zones, CQ WPX counts unique callsign prefixes, and VHF events such as RSGB UKAC use Maidenhead locator squares with distance based scoring. Entries are submitted as Cabrillo logs and classified by single or multi operator, assisted or unassisted, and power category.
The calendar has fixed anchors. CQ WW SSB falls on the last full weekend of October and the CW leg on the last full weekend of November, while RSGB UKAC runs on Tuesday evenings with the band rotating through the month. Dates for the current season are on the Contest Calendar.
CQ WW SSB 2022: Optibeam OB11-3 for 20-15-10
Testing the Optibeam at G3V before CQ WW SSB The last weekend of October sees one of the biggest contest of the year, the CQ WW SSB 2022. Last year more than a quarter of million contesters took part in the CQ WW SSB 2021 with 237.701 logs submitted. At G3V we started early this … Read more