October 22, 2025

Editor: Paul Bourque, N1SFE

In this Issue:

• Upcoming Contests – Things to Do
• Contest Summary
• Word to the Wise
• Sights and Sounds
• Results and Records
• Operating Tip
• Contests
• Log Due Dates

The CQ World Wide DX Contest—SSB is this weekend beginning at 0000 UTC on Saturday, October 25, and concluding at 2359 UTC on Sunday, October 26. If you’re new to HF operation, and interested in HF contesting and working DX, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to hone your contesting skills while snagging some new countries for your DXCC totals. The exchange is your signal report plus your CQ zone (i.e., “5/9 08”). If you’re unsure of what your CQ zone is, you can find it by using this map. Participants should note that there are some rule changes for 2025, most notably the elimination of the Explorer category and the addition of the Multi- Distributed category. Full rules for the event are available at www.cqww.com/rules.htm.

ARRL November Sweepstakes—CW

The CW weekend of the ARRL November Sweepstakes is November 1—3. ARRL Sweepstakes is the oldest domestic contest, beginning in 1930, with competition at the individual, multi-operator, and school club levels. In this contest, multipliers are the 85 ARRL and RAC Sections; each may be contacted once as a multiplier in the contest, regardless of band. The three Canadian territories (Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut) are combined into a singular Territories (TER) multiplier.

The exchange may be daunting for first-timers, but it’s familiar to those who’ve operated in this contest before. Contacts may be made on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters, but because multipliers may be worked only once, activity tends to cluster on the bands that are open and populated. See the full rules and additional information at www.arrl.org/sweepstakes.

• CWops Test (CWT)
• RSGB 80m Autumn Series, SSB

October 24

• NCCC FT4 Sprint
• Weekly RTTY Test
• NCCC Sprint
• Zombie Shuffle
• K1USN Slow Speed Test

October 25

• CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB
• 902 MHz and Up Fall Sprint

October 26

• Classic Exchange, CW

October 27

• K1USN Slow Speed Test
• QCX Challenge
• ICWC Medium Speed Test
• OK1WC Memorial (MWC)
• QCX Challenge
• RSGB FT4 Contest

October 28

• Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest
• QCX Challenge
• ICWC Medium Speed Test

October 29

• Phone Weekly Test
• A1Club AWT
• CWops Test (CWT)
• Mini-Test 40
• Mini-Test 80
• UKEICC 80m Contest

October 30

• CWops Test (CWT)

October 31

• NCCC FT4 Sprint
• Weekly RTTY Test
• NCCC Sprint
• K1USN Slow Speed Test

November 1

• IPARC Contest, CW
• Silent Key Memorial Contest
• UK/EI DX Contest, SSB
• ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

November 2

• IPARC Contest, SSB
• EANET Sprint
• High Speed Club CW Contest
• Classic Exchange, Phone

November 3

• K1USN Slow Speed Test
• ICWC Medium Speed Test
• OK1WC Memorial (MWC)
• ICWC Medium Speed Test
• RSGB 80m Autumn Series, Data

November 4

• ARS Spartan Sprint
• Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest
• ICWC Medium Speed Test

November 5

• Phone Weekly Test
• A1Club AWT
• CWops Test (CWT)
• VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest
• Mini-Test 40
• Mini-Test 80
• UKEICC 80m Contest

When reading rules for a specific contest, you’ll often see language like “W/VE stations work DX stations; DX stations work everyone.” I’ve been asked what a W/VE station is on several occasions. W/VE stations are located in the United States and Canada, while DX stations are located throughout the rest of the world. Be careful though, some contests (such as in the ARRL International DX Contest) consider Alaska, Hawaii, and the US territories DX, and others (such as in ARRL November Sweepstakes) consider them to be W/VE.

Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) Member Brian Harrison, KN4R, recently gave a club presentation titled “Radio and the Disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.” Radio played a pivotal role in the search and in the many theories that followed. Decades later, multiple organizations have invested millions of dollars in attempts to solve the mystery and locate the remains of Earhart, Noonan, and their Lockheed Electra 10E. You can view the presentation on YouTube at www.qcwa.org/zoom.html.

The official results for the 2025 Canada Day Contest have been published in The Canadian Amateur (TCA) magazine. Due to the Canada Post strike, delivery of paper copies of TCA will be delayed but Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) have published the results on their web site, www.rac.ca. The web site is accessible to all amateurs worldwide and does not require membership to view the article. Certificates are also available for download at contest.rac.ca/certificates.php.

– Thanks to RAC Canada Day Contest Manager, Bart Ritchie, VE5CPU

Contesting isn’t like day-to-day operating. The bands are full of strong signals packed close together. It’s like playing a real football game instead of a game of catch. You’ll find that you need to use some of those receiver controls and narrower filters. In fact, cranking in some attenuation or turning down the RF gain control will improve receiver performance dramatically under the strong-signal conditions in a contest. By effectively using the capabilities of a modern receiver, you will surely find that the band is quieter and nearby signals are less disruptive. In fact, you will find yourself making better use of your receiver’s controls every day!

Preamplifier – Off

Because there are so many strong signals present during a contest, having the preamp turned on is not at all necessary and will likely lead to severe intermodulation and overload problems in your receiver. Turn it off – this will also help a non-contester operating on the bands.

Noise Blanker – Off

Noise blankers work by sensing strong pulses of RF anywhere on a band and then turning off the receiver during the pulse. In a contest with lots of strong signals, the noise blanker gets confused and starts turning off the receiver in sync with the strong signals. This makes your receiver audio sound like the strong signal is splattering all across the band! The first thing you should do when operating on a busy contest-filled band is turn off the noise blanker.

The Attenuator – On

The attenuator seldom gets a workout, but it can be your biggest friend when dealing with strong nearby signals. It’s surprisingly easy for a strong signal to drive a receiver’s RF amplifier or mixers into non-linearity known as overload. This creates spurious intermodulation products, known as “crud,” up and down the band. 10 dB of attenuation cures a surprising number of ailments at the cost of just a couple of S-units of signal strength. Try cranking in some attenuation and you may find that interference drops dramatically when your receiver is no longer being overloaded. Remember that the goal is to maximize signal-to-noise ratio, not necessarily absolute signal strength. Try out your attenuator and you may be surprised at how much it cleans up a band even on a weekday!

RF Gain – Turn it Down

Late breaking news – RF gain controls are not welded in the full-on position! This makes your receiver very sensitive but also leaves your IF (and sometimes the RF) amplifiers susceptible to overload. Experiment with backing off the RF gain to see if it doesn’t improve your receiver’s performance in a strong signal environment. Even during casual operating, backing off the RF gain can dramatically reduce background noise. Experiment with changing the AGC settings or even (gasp!) turn it OFF and use the RF gain control instead. It doesn’t take much to change a QRM-clobbered QSO into a fairly manageable channel.

Special Receiver Features – Use Them

Does your receiver have passband tuning, IF shift, variable bandwidth or similar controls? All those new DSP features you paid for can also clean up noise and attenuate low-frequency or high-frequency interference. There’s no time like the present to find the receiver’s manual and learn what these controls do. You’ll find they make day-to-day operating easier and more successful, too.

Sharing the Road

When operating in a contest, you need to be sensitive to the effect of undesired spurious transmitter byproducts. It’s one thing to set up your voice keyer and speech processor on a calm, weekday after work and quite another thing to then hammer it during the contest when you’re excited.

Do an on-air audio check with a friend to learn where to set mic gain and processing level. Learn what your ALC and compression meters show with audio levels set properly. Turn on the amplifier fan and every other noisemaker in the shack to see if they make an unwanted contribution to your signal. Be sure you don’t have RF feedback on any frequency. Listen to a playback of your voice with every noisemaker in the shack turned on. It’s important that all that RF energy is carrying your message and not fan noise. Use a windscreen on your boom mike to limit the high-frequency pops and snaps. You need the crisp high end of speech, but not the transients that overdrive a compressor. Windscreens also reduce fan and background noise.

Check to be sure that running an amplifier doesn’t cause RF feedback or distortion to your mic or voice keyer. Better to find that out now instead of during the contest. CW operators should check for key clicks, too.

73, Paul, N1SFE

An expanded, downloadable version of QST‘s Contest Corral is available as a PDF. Check the sponsors’ website for information on operating time restrictions and other instructions.

CWops Test (CWT), Oct 23, 0300z to Oct 23, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Oct 25.

CWops Test (CWT), Oct 23, 0700z to Oct 23, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Oct 25.

RSGB 80m Autumn Series, SSB, Oct 23, 1900z to Oct 23, 2030z; SSB; Bands: 80; RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Oct 26.

NCCC FT4 Sprint, Oct 24, 0100z to Oct 24, 0130z; FT4; Bands: (see rules); 4-character grid square; Logs due: Oct 26.

Weekly RTTY Test, Oct 24, 0145z to Oct 24, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Oct 26.

NCCC Sprint, Oct 24, 0230z to Oct 24, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Oct 26.

Zombie Shuffle, Oct 24, 1500 local to Oct 24, 2359 local; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RS(T) + (state/province/country) + (Zombie number/area code) + name; Logs due: Nov 8.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Oct 24, 2000z to Oct 24, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Oct 26.

CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB, Oct 25, 0000z to Oct 26, 2359z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RS + CQ Zone No.; Logs due: Oct 31.

Classic Exchange, CW, Oct 26, 1300z to Oct 29, 0700z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2; Name + RST + (state/province/country) + rcvr/xmtr manuf/model; Logs due: Nov 30.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Oct 27, 0000z to Oct 27, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Oct 29.

QCX Challenge, Oct 27, 1300z to Oct 27, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Nov 2.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Oct 27, 1300z to Oct 27, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Oct 30.

OK1WC Memorial (MWC), Oct 27, 1630z to Oct 27, 1729z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Oct 31.

QCX Challenge, Oct 27, 1900z to Oct 27, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Nov 2.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Oct 27, 1900z to Oct 27, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Oct 30.

RSGB FT4 Contest, Oct 27, 2000z to Oct 27, 2200z; FT4; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Signal report; Logs due: Oct 28.

Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, Oct 28, 0100z to Oct 28, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Oct 29.

QCX Challenge, Oct 28, 0300z to Oct 28, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Nov 2.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Oct 28, 0300z to Oct 28, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Oct 30.

Phone Weekly Test, Oct 29, 0230z to Oct 29, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Oct 31.

A1Club AWT, Oct 29, 1145z to Oct 29, 1300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: RST + Name; Logs due: Nov 3.

CWops Test (CWT), Oct 29, 1300z to Oct 29, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 1.

Mini-Test 40, Oct 29, 1700z to Oct 29, 1759z; CW; Bands: 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Oct 31.

Mini-Test 80, Oct 29, 1800z to Oct 29, 1859z; CW; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Oct 31.

CWops Test (CWT), Oct 29, 1900z to Oct 29, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 1.

UKEICC 80m Contest, Oct 29, 2000z to Oct 29, 2100z; CW; Bands: 80; 6-Character grid square; Logs due: Oct 29.

CWops Test (CWT), Oct 30, 0300z to Oct 30, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 1.

CWops Test (CWT), Oct 30, 0700z to Oct 30, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 1.

NCCC FT4 Sprint, Oct 31, 0100z to Oct 31, 0130z; FT4; Bands: (see rules); 4-character grid square; Logs due: Nov 2.

Weekly RTTY Test, Oct 31, 0145z to Oct 31, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 2.

NCCC Sprint, Oct 31, 0230z to Oct 31, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Nov 2.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Oct 31, 2000z to Oct 31, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 2.

IPARC Contest, CW, Nov 1, 0600z to Nov 1, 1800z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; USA IPA Members: RST + Serial No. + “IPA” + State, non-USA IPA Members: RST + Serial No. + “IPA”, non-IPA Members: RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 30.

Silent Key Memorial Contest, Nov 1, 0600z to Nov 1, 0859z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + SK call sign you wish to recognize; Logs due: Nov 15.

UK/EI DX Contest, SSB, Nov 1, 1200z to Nov 2, 1200z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; UK/EI: RS + Serial No. + District Code, DX: RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 3.

ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW, Nov 1, 2100z to Nov 3, 0300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Serial No. + Precedence (Q/A/B/U/M/S) + [your call sign] + Check + ARRL/RAC Section; Logs due: Nov 10.

IPARC Contest, SSB, Nov 2, 0600z to Nov 2, 1800z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; USA IPA Members: RS + Serial No. + “IPA” + State, non-USA IPA Members: RS + Serial No. + “IPA”, non-IPA Members: RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 30.

EANET Sprint, Nov 2, 0800z to Nov 2, 1200z; Any; Bands: Any; RS(T); Logs due: Nov 12.

High Speed Club CW Contest, Nov 2, 1400z to Nov 2, 1700z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Members: RST + HSC No., non-Members: RST + “NM”; Logs due: Nov 16.

Classic Exchange, Phone, Nov 2, 1400z to Nov 5, 0800z; AM, SSB, FM; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2; Name + RS + (state/province/country) + rcvr/xmtr manuf/model; Logs due: Nov 30.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Nov 3, 0000z to Nov 3, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 5.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Nov 3, 1300z to Nov 3, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Nov 6.

OK1WC Memorial (MWC), Nov 3, 1630z to Nov 3, 1729z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 7.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Nov 3, 1900z to Nov 3, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Nov 6.

RSGB 80m Autumn Series, Data, Nov 3, 2000z to Nov 3, 2130z; RTTY, PSK; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 6.

ARS Spartan Sprint, Nov 4, 0100z to Nov 4, 0300z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + (state/province/country) + Power; Logs due: Nov 6.

Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, Nov 4, 0100z to Nov 4, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Nov 5.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Nov 4, 0300z to Nov 4, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Nov 6.

Phone Weekly Test, Nov 5, 0230z to Nov 5, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Nov 7.

A1Club AWT, Nov 5, 1145z to Nov 5, 1300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: RST + Name; Logs due: Nov 10.

CWops Test (CWT), Nov 5, 1300z to Nov 5, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 8.

Mini-Test 40, Nov 5, 1700z to Nov 5, 1759z; CW; Bands: 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 7.

Mini-Test 80, Nov 5, 1800z to Nov 5, 1859z; CW; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Nov 7.

CWops Test (CWT), Nov 5, 1900z to Nov 5, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Nov 8.

UKEICC 80m Contest, Nov 5, 2000z to Nov 5, 2100z; SSB; Bands: 80; 6-Character grid square; Logs due: Nov 5.

VHF+ CONTESTS

902 MHz and Up Fall Sprint, Oct 25, 0800 local to Oct 25, 1400 local; Analog, Digital; Bands: 902 MHz and above; 6-character grid square; Logs due: Nov 8.

VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest, Nov 5, 1700z to Nov 5, 2100z; FT8/4; Bands: 144 MHz; 4-character grid square; Logs due: Nov 10.

• 432 MHz Fall Sprint
• Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest
• ICWC Medium Speed Test

October 24

• UBA ON Contest, 2m
• Mini-Test 40
• Mini-Test 80
• Phone Weekly Test
• OK1WC Memorial (MWC)

October 25

• Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
• CWops Test (CWT)
• SKCC Sprint

October 26

• NCCC Sprint
• Asia-Pacific Fall Sprint, CW
• Oceania DX Contest, Phone
• Oceania DX Contest, CW
• Argentina National 7 MHz Contest
• AWA Amplitude Modulation QSO Party
• NCCC FT4 Sprint
• Weekly RTTY Test
• South Dakota QSO Party
• Worked All Germany Contest
• RSGB 80m Autumn Series, SSB
• K1USN Slow Speed Test

October 27

• 10-10 Int. Fall Contest, CW
• A1Club AWT

October 28

• RSGB FT4 Contest

October 29

• AGCW Semi-Automatic Key Evening
• Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest
• UKEICC 80m Contest
• K1USN Slow Speed Test

October 30

• ICWC Medium Speed Test

October 31

• Collegiate QSO Party
• JARTS WW RTTY Contest
• Mini-Test 40
• Mini-Test 80
• Phone Weekly Test
• OK1WC Memorial (MWC)
• CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

November 1

• Nevada QSO Party
• QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party
• CWops Test (CWT)

November 2

• NCCC Sprint
• New York QSO Party
• NCCC FT4 Sprint
• Weekly RTTY Test
• QCX Challenge
• K1USN Slow Speed Test

November 3

• Stew Perry Topband Challenge
• A1Club AWT
• UK/EI DX Contest, SSB

November 5

• IRTS 80m Counties Contest
• Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest
• UKEICC 80m Contest
• K1USN Slow Speed Test

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