Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio

The IARU HF World Championship took place the second weekend of July. In this contest, every IARU member entity puts their headquarters station on the air, with each counting as a multiplier. Special rules allow for IARU member HQ stations to operate from multiple sites. The IARU Headquarters station NU1AW/0 did just that. Under the leadership of Ward Silver, N0AX, and with the technical expertise...

Claudio Capelli, I4LEC, has had a long, 30-year history in competitive HF contesting that ended with his successful 2010 WPX SSB effort from NQ4I in Georgia. After that contest, Claudio abruptly shifted his interests toward other facets of the hobby; primarily, tailored antenna setups based on specific locations and orography, challenging the conventional belief that more elements, longer booms, a...

Glenn Petri, KE4KY, has had a long, nearly 50-year history in ham radio, starting with his novice license in 1975. His journey through the hobby saw him participating in significant DXpeditions such as to Campbell Island ZL9HR and Mellish Reef VK9MT, becoming an expert on the role of DXpedition Pilots, and speaking at ham radio conferences such as Visalia. In this interview, Glenn focuses on the e...

After a brief hiatus, the Contest Crew is back with their experiences, analysis, and tips from the mid-July IARU HF World Championship. Despite the summer heat and distractions, Bill W9KKN, Dan N6MJ, and Randy K5ZD put in the work to make this annual contest memorable and boost their WRTC '26 qualifying totals. Their insights will provide valuable tips for any contester at any level, helping you i...

“What’s your best advice to a Technician class ham radio operator who wants to get involved in HF contesting?” That was the question posed to the Contest Crew and, despite the limitations on Technician Class licensees, Randy Thompson K5ZD, Christopher Hurlbut KL9A and Bill Fehring W9KKN, provide a clear path for techs to get started. If you're a Technician class and want to learn more about how yo...

Sam Mauldin, WO5T, is a young and accomplished ham radio operator who has rapidly ascended in the hobby since getting licensed in 2022. In this interview, Sam shares his journey, from his initial interest sparked by family tradition and friends, to his extensive involvement in Parks on the Air (POTA) and contesting. He discusses his equipment preferences, including his go-to KX2 transceiver and DX...

Get ready to dive into the heart of the Northeast's biggest ham radio event—HamXposition 2024 in Marlboro, MA. In this episode, we sit down with Bob DeMattia, K1IW, the chairman of HamXposition, to explore the history and evolution of this premier event. Originally known as the Boxborough event, HamXposition has found new life in Marlboro, boasting better parking, more conference rooms, and a cent...

Mark Wohlschlegel, WC3W, has had a distinguished 61-year journey in the world of ham radio, leading to his leadership of the DX Marathon program. Since taking the reins in 2022, Mark has overseen remarkable growth in the program, with participation increasing by over 50% in just the past year alone. His strategic focus on making the DX Marathon accessible to all hams—regardless of their equipment...

Gabriele Iuliani , IT9RGY, has journeyed far since his introduction to ham radio through the Scouts in Palermo, Italy. He credits ham radio with broadening his horizons beyond Sicily as he traveled extensively. Along the way, Gabry consistently sought opportunities to meet other ham radio operators and find stations to operate from. His list of special callsigns, contest stations, and countries wh...

"Many leading contesters claim the WAEDC to be the most challenging contest of the year," says the official website for the Worked All Europe DX Contest. In this episode, the Contest Crew dives into the element that sets the WAEDC apart from all other contests: the QTC. Randy K5ZD, Dan N6MJ, and Bill W9KKN explain what a QTC is, the protocol for handling requests, and demonstrate the process using...

Grace Papay, K8LG, has made a significant impact on the ham radio community since getting licensed in 2021 to honor her grandfather's 60 years in the hobby. Grace quickly became an avid contester, participating in numerous events, including multi-operator setups at prestigious stations like K3LR in Pennsylvania and J68HZ in St. Lucia. These experiences have helped her hone her skills and build las...

I recently had the privilege of speaking with Craig Thompson, K9CT, about his outstanding contributions to the ham radio hobby. Craig's passion for radio, supported by his parents, led him to obtain his ham radio license at a young age, and his dedication has resulted in significant achievements. Craig is a member of the prestigious DXCC Honor Roll, having contacted 338 countries. His participatio...

Tim Coker N6WIN grew up in a ham radio family—his father, mother, and brother were all hams. Tim himself became a licensed amateur radio operator at the age of 11. Starting from these modest beginnings, Tim's ham radio operating soon turned toward competitive contesting. This path eventually led him to design and build the ND7K superstation in Arizona, along with his friend and world-class contest...

Just 10 minutes after the CQ WPX CW contest ended, the Contest Crew reunited from their diverse operating spots to recap the last 48 hours. This live, in-person discussion brings to life what we usually only see on 3830 scores. Join the Crew as they delve into the intense weekend-long showdown between AK1W and ND7K in the single operator high power category, and the Montana KM7W team's multi-singl...

In mid-June 2024, Tom Taormina will celebrate 65 years as a licensed amateur radio operator. Over the decades, Tom has built and rebuilt stations at the cutting edge of performance. He was a competitive contester who earned the top spot in the ARRL Sweepstakes. Tom and his buddy K5LZO innovated a lockout "octopus" that enabled them to operate two radios at once until the ARRL banned the process. H...

The WRTC 2026 is still two years away, but competitors are already working toward qualifying as team leaders, and observers are beginning to consider their travel plans. In this conversation with Mark Haynes, M0DXR, the chairman of the WRTC 2026, he highlights the many reasons to consider making the trip to support radiosport competitors from around the world. Mark and his committee estimate that...

The collective RTTY (Radio Teletype) experience between Ed Muns W0YK, Bill Fehring W9KKN, and Randy Thompson K5ZD is formidable. Ed is arguably one of the most knowledgeable RTTY mode hams in the United States, with numerous entries and records in RTTY contests and positions managing the biggest RTTY contests in the world. Bill is a technically savvy operator who is engineering improvements in som...

Nate Moreschi, N4YDU, is an elite contester by any measure. His long list of competitive accomplishments includes entries as a single operator, multi-multi, multi-two, and multi-single. However, the numerous plaques on his wall and his World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) experiences only begin to scratch the surface of this ham radio operator, who often competes as NR3X and, most recently, a...

Bob Wilson, N6TV, was a repeat attendee at the 2024 International DX Convention (IDXC) in Visalia, California. Bob started his amateur radio journey in high school and went to Visalia for the first time just before his freshman year at college. It's clear that Visalia holds a special significance for Bob. That early experience shaped his perspective about the hobby and contributed to his accumulat...

What if you asked some of the best ham radio contesters in the world for their list of the best, and worst, contesting habits? Randy Thompson K5ZD, Dan Craig N6MJ, Chris Hurlbutt KL9A and Scott Wright K0MD (aka The Contest Crew) had a spirited conversation about this very topic on our call this Tuesday night. They didn’t always agree but there was usually a consensus about the best and worst opera...

State and Regional QSO Parties are a great entry point for new contesters and a nice break from the 48 hour madness of the major contests. They all have different characteristics and often dramatically different rules.  Hours of operation are typically shorter and some have a unique focus on mobile operations. In this 11th episode of the Contest Crew, Randy K5ZD and Chris KL9A talk about their exp...

Alex Tkatch KU1CW has a remarkable ham radio story that begins as a teenager in Belarus, continues with immigration to the United States, and then takes him around the world. He's closing in on operating from 100 DXCC countries, has 5BDXCC from two continents and has been a perennial top finisher in contests as well as an operator in three World Radiosport Team Championships (WRTC). I caught up wi...

Bill Fehring, W9KKN, an architect in the computer security industry, was first introduced to ham radio by his grandfather. Decades later, Bill took over his grandfather's call sign and has continued his ham radio legacy. During his early childhood in Illinois, Bill was fascinated by his grandfather's radio shack and the mysterious contacts made across the globe. Despite initially drifting away fro...

In this conversation, Kevin W1DED interviews Tim N3QE about his experience in ham radio and his focus on analytics and statistics in contesting. Tim shares how he got started in ham radio and his passion for tinkering with electronics. They discuss the number of contesters and DXers in the world, with Tim using the Drake equation to estimate that there are roughly 29,000 contesters and 100,000 DXe...

The Florida QSO Party is scheduled for the last weekend of April every year (check WA7BNM). Chris Plumblee W4WF, president of the Florida Contest Group, discusses the contest's revival in 1997 and its evolution into a significant annual event - one of the largest QSO parties in the US. The Florida QSO Party  includes fixed, mobile, and expedition stations with categories for different power levels...