ARRL DX CW Contest

Is on for this coming weekend!

Even with us being in the lousy part of the sunspot cycle; this is a perfect opportunity for budding QRP DXers to get their hands (and keys) dirty. When the sunspots are high, it's not unheard of to work DXCC in a single weekend, if you're really gung-ho about it and don't mind not sleeping for 48 hours.

But with conditions such as they are, you can still expect a nice country total if you're starting from scratch. The exchange is simple - US/VE stations give a signal report and state/province. DX stations give a signal report and a number corresponding to their power output.

If you're a newbie to CW, QRP and/or DXing, I'd advise not to jump into the contest for the first 12 hours or so - maybe even not the first 24 hours. For this part of the contest, the big gun contest operators are sending their exchanges with code speeds that sound more like a buzz saw than any kind of Morse you'd understand.  Granted, even in the opening hours of the contest you'll find ops sending code that you can decipher; but for the most part, if you're a neophyte to QRP DXing or Morse Code, you'll probably get frustrated and want to hang up your key and turn the rig off.

It's better to wait to Saturday evening, or even Sunday.  The big guys have gotten a lot out of their systems and now they're just looking to increase their points total by as much as they can before the contest ends.  This means that they'll no longer dismiss signals that are less that 599+ and they'll be more patient with you if your code speed is a bit slower.

As an example, a few years back, I jumped into the fray on Saturday night with my K2 (before I sold it to be able to afford my KX3) set at the 900 mW level. I surprised myself how many stations I was able to work! Unlike many others, I've never contemplated trying to work DXCC at QRPp levels; but if I were so inclined, the ARRL DX CW contest would be a great place from which to begin.

So if you get a chance to jump in this weekend, by all means, give it a shot! I'm sure you'll have fun. You know what would be an interesting stat? To somehow be able to find out how many QCX transceivers are going to be in the contest this weekend. I'd be willing to bet quite a few.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least1