ARRL International DX Contest
| ARRL International DX Contest | |
|---|---|
| Sponsor | ARRL |
| CW weekend | Third full weekend of February |
| Phone weekend | First full weekend of March |
| Contest period | 0000 UTC Saturday to 2359 UTC Sunday |
| Exchange | |
| US and Canada | Signal report and state or province |
| Everyone else | Signal report and transmitter power |
| Bands | 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters |
| Logs due | Seven days after the contest ends |
| Dates | |
| 2026 | CW February 21–22; phone March 7–8 |
| 2027 CW | February 20–21 |
| Origins | ARRL International Relay Party, 1927 |
The ARRL International DX Contest, usually called the ARRL DX Contest or just "ARRL DX", is a yearly contest sponsored by the ARRL in which stations in the United States and Canada try to work as many DX stations as they can, while stations in the rest of the world try to work as many US and Canadian stations as they can.[1] It is held as two separate events, a CW weekend in February and a phone weekend in March, each lasting 48 hours.[1] Its roots go back to an ARRL "International Relay Party" in 1927, and the ARRL has described it as the longest-running contest in amateur radio.[2] This article follows the ARRL's rules for the 2026 and 2027 contests (version 2.0, with category rules dated January 2024).[3]
Who works whom
The contest divides the world into two groups. "W/VE" stations are those in the 48 contiguous US states, the District of Columbia and Canada; everyone else is DX. Alaska and Hawaii count as DX, and so do Canada's St. Paul Island and Sable Island, which are separate DXCC entities.[3] W/VE stations may work only DX stations, and DX stations may work only W/VE stations, so a contact between two US stations, or between two European stations, does not count.[3] Each station may be worked once on each band.[3] Some other major DX contests, such as the WAE DX Contest (Europe against the rest of the world), use a similar one-sided design, while others, such as the CQ World Wide DX Contest, let everyone work everyone.[4]
Exchange and scoring
W/VE stations send a signal report and their state or province, using the ARRL's standard abbreviations. DX stations send a signal report and their transmitter power, as a number or an abbreviation.[1] Since almost everyone sends "59" or "599", the second part is what matters: a station in Ohio might send "599 OH", and a station in Japan running 100 watts "599 100".
Every contact is worth three points.[3] W/VE stations count as multipliers the DXCC entities they work on each band, other than the United States and Canada. DX stations count the 48 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian provinces and territories, again once per band; Labrador counts separately from Newfoundland.[3] The final score is total points times total multipliers, so a country or state worked on all six bands counts six times.
Bands, modes and categories
Only the six traditional contest bands are used: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters.[1] Only CW contacts count on the CW weekend and only phone contacts on the phone weekend, and the two are entered and scored separately.[1] Because the phone segments of 40 and 80 meters differ between countries, DX stations on those bands often transmit on one frequency and listen on another, a technique called split operation.
The main entry categories, in brief:
- Single operator, all bands or one band, at QRP (5 watts or less), low power (100 watts or less) or high power (1,500 watts or the national limit, whichever is lower), with no spotting help.[3]
- Single operator unlimited, the same but allowed to use public spotting networks such as the DX cluster.
- Multioperator entries with one transmitter (limited to ten band changes per clock hour), two transmitters on different bands, or one transmitter per band; the two-transmitter and multitransmitter categories are high power only.[3]
- A limited antennas overlay for single operators using one single-element antenna, such as a vertical or a dipole, no more than 50 feet above the ground.[3]
There is no limit on operating time. Any off period must be at least 30 minutes long, and operators may not listen to the contest during it.[3]
Logs and results
Logs are due seven days after the contest ends.[1] Electronic logs in the Cabrillo format, which most logging software creates, are uploaded through the ARRL's web app, and paper logs are still accepted by mail.[1] Results are published by the ARRL, with downloadable certificates for the top single operators in each DXCC entity and ARRL or RAC section, and for the top multioperator stations in each DXCC entity, US call area and Canada, and plaques where a sponsor has paid for one.[3] Scores also count toward the ARRL's competition for affiliated clubs,[1] and strong results in this contest were among those used to qualify team leaders for the World Radiosport Team Championship in 2026.[5]
History
The contest grew out of the International Relay Party, which the ARRL ran for two weeks in May 1927 and which was built around exchanging messages with amateurs in other countries.[6] Its rule allowing only one message per country held activity down, and checking the many message copies that entrants had to send in delayed the results. A second running in February 1928 let stations exchange messages once with each foreign station instead.[6] That event evolved into the ARRL International DX Contest, which still follows the same basic idea of North America working the world.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 ARRL DX, ARRL.
- ↑ Get Ready for the ARRL DX CW Contest, ARRL News, February 2010.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 ARRL International DX Contest Rules, version 2.0, ARRL, January 2024.
- ↑ Worked All Europe DX Contest, DARC.
- ↑ Selection Criteria, WRTC 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Rare International Sport, W2PA, Ham Radio History.
External links
- ARRL International DX Contest, ARRL
- ARRL DX CW Contest, ARRL contest portal