CQWW SSB Contest fills the HF bands this weekend

The HF phone bands are about to get very crowded. The CQ World Wide DX Contest, SSB, runs the weekend of October 24-25, and DX-World calls it one of the biggest DX contests of the year.

You do not need to be a serious contester to benefit. DX-World notes there is usually something worth chasing on the bands that weekend, as stations in rare places come on the air to hand out contacts. Contacts in CQWW are quick, typically a signal report and your CQ zone, so a short exchange can put a new country in your log.

Don't count on 10 meters matching last year's openings. DX-World says a repeat is unlikely, while adding that CQWW tends to create its own propagation, as the sheer number of active stations turns up openings that would otherwise go unnoticed.

To take part, tune the SSB portions of the HF contest bands over the weekend and listen for stations calling CQ contest. Check the full rules and log submission details on the CQWW contest website before you start.