Show Notes
The Contest Crew Europe returns to break down a CQ WPX SSB contest that promised records but delivered something messier. Filipe CT1ILT pivoted midweek from a planned multi-two to a single op effort—and still topped Europe. For a day and a half, 10 meters was electric; North America poured in until late evening. Then Sunday hit like a switch flipped. Signals vanished, beams pointed the “wrong” way, and what felt like a record run dissolved. It’s a reminder that even at the highest level, contesting is still at the mercy of propagation. Around him, the stories stack up. Emir “Braco” Memic E77DX battled literal ice—antennas frozen, noise surging—yet stayed in the fight, glued to live scores in a transatlantic duel. Kris Kass ES7A fielded a youth-powered multi-multi, where a high school operator stole the show by relentlessly QSY’ing stations like a seasoned closer. Meanwhile, Dave Kucelin 9A1UN and crew clawed back from a brutal start to nearly overtake ES9C in one of the tightest finishes of the contest—fractions of a percent separating them. And then there’s the undercurrent: something is changing. AI voices are creeping into SSB in ways that feel both inevitable and unsettling. Is this evolution—or erosion? Even among elites, there’s no consensus yet. The episode closes far from Europe, with Sven Lovric DJ4MX recounting a grueling Bangladesh DXpedition: 24-hour travel legs, improvised generators, relentless noise hunting, and fleeting propagation windows. The payoff? Tens of thousands of QSOs, rare all-time new ones for many, and a reminder that the spirit of amateur radio still thrives far beyond the contest scoreboard. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. DX Engineering continues to power the passion behind efforts like these—supporting operators from rare DXpeditions to high-stakes contest weekends. Their commitment helps keep the bands alive, whether you're chasing multipliers or building the next generation of contesters.
More from Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio
Jeff Bolling NA9P delivered one of the most interesting presentations I heard at this year's W9DXCC convention: Top 10 Tools the Beginning DXer Shouldn't Be Without. We're doing something a little different on Q5 this week. Jeff joins me to reprise his W9DXCC presentation in its entirety, followed by questions and discussion about his remarkable progress as a relatively new amateur radio operator. Licensed in October 2024, Jeff has already confirmed 178 DX entities, operating with just 100 watts and a wire antenna from a suburban Illinois lot. His presentation draws on that experience, offering ten practical tools and strategies for getting more DX in the log, including propagation planning, GridTracker, contesting, CW, Club Log, and QSL management. What makes Jeff's perspective particularly interesting is that he's learning DXing in today's amateur radio environment, with today's technology and the guidance of experienced operators from the Northern Illinois DX Association. His presentation is valuable not only for beginning DXers, but also for experienced operators interested in mentoring the next generation. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio.
Tonno ES5TV is the builder and owner of ES9C, one of Europe’s most formidable contest stations. He started in Estonia at age 13, influenced by his father, operating a 40-watt homemade Soviet radio into a Delta loop strung between apartment buildings. Today, ES9C operates from his family’s old country home with multiple towers, full-size 80- and 160-meter four-squares, stacked tribanders, and an extraordinary 15-meter array with eight five-element antennas. But this conversation is about more than hardware. Tonno has won Europe as a single operator, built record-setting multi-multi teams, and assembled crews of more than 20 operators. Increasingly, though, the score isn’t the entire point. He talks about bringing young operators from across Europe into ES9C and creating an experience where they can learn, compete, and become part of a team. We also talk about contesting from Estonia, the challenges of competing from northern Europe, some extraordinary openings to North America, station design and automation, and why Tonno sees encouraging signs for the next generation of European contesters. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio.
I'm joined by Max Freedman N4ML and Gregg Marco W6IZT to talk about VK9XY, an unusually ambitious DXpedition to Christmas Island—and one designed to put the next generation of serious operators in charge. Max is leading a 12-person team with 10 operators under the age of 26, representing six countries and five continents. From November 16 through December 4, VK9XY plans to operate around the clock with a particular emphasis on 160, 80, and 40 meters. They'll bring four FlexRadio Aurora 520s, two Flex 6700s, two PGXL amplifiers, remote operating capability, and an EME station. They'll even take on CQ Worldwide CW from the island. The logistics are nearly as interesting as the operating. Getting gear from Perth to Christmas Island is complicated, baggage space is uncertain, and after landing the team will have only about four hours of daylight to start building stations. Then there’s the uniquely Christmas Island complication: the annual red crab migration, when some 40 million crabs make their way from the forest to the ocean to spawn. Gregg is hoping the team won’t have to contend with it. But Max has a different measure of success than simply putting a huge number in the log. He wants to hear afterward from the ham who worked VK9XY QRP from a park or from a mobile station. And with experienced DXpeditioners Gregg Marco W6IZT and Glenn Johnson W0GJ deliberately giving the younger operators room to lead, VK9XY is also about what happens after Christmas Island: who takes this experience and leads the next big expedition. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio.
Uli Ann DM5EE is a WRTC 2026 gold medal winner whose path to the top of radiosport was anything but conventional. For decades, Uli was primarily a low-power operator—working with wires, verticals, borrowed stations, and whatever opportunities came his way. He discovered contesting not because he wanted plaques, but because contests gave his 20-watt signal a chance to reach DX that otherwise couldn’t hear him. For years, Uli regarded WRTC as a competition for “the big guys.” That changed after listening to W2GD and AA3B train for WRTC 2018. He realized he might belong there—not yet as a competitor, but as a referee. Then a work assignment in South Africa created an unlikely opening to qualify for WRTC 2022, held in Italy in 2023. With DL9EE, Uli arrived hoping simply to prove they belonged. They ultimately finished fourth after later corrections to the results. That performance led Manfred DJ5MW to choose Uli as his teammate for WRTC 2026. Their partnership is striking for what it lacks: ego, shouting, and drama. Both are quiet and analytical. Mistakes happen; they move on. They prepared intensely, studied propagation and strategy, then trusted decades of operating instinct once the headphones went on. Following the post-event review of the results, Uli and Manfred were awarded the WRTC 2026 gold medal. Uli also talks candidly about the controversy surrounding WRTC and what should happen next. His position is notably focused on second chances: enforce the rules and accept the consequences, but leave a path back for talented operators willing to compete cleanly. It’s a conversation about winning, certainly—but even more about what decades of modest stations, persistence, friendship, and quiet confidence can produce. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio.
I'm joined by Chris KL9A and Randy K5ZD to break down the WRTC 2022 rescoring, what changed in the final results, and what it could mean for WRTC judging going forward. A new review of the Italy logs resulted in two teams being disqualified after investigators found evidence of pirate multipliers and frequency-holding schemes similar to tactics uncovered following WRTC 2026 in the UK. The revised results move DJ5MW and DL1IAO into first place. Randy explains how contest logs, SDR recordings, and Reverse Beacon Network data can reveal patterns that weren’t caught during the original judging and why trying to produce final results just hours after a WRTC may no longer be realistic. Chris and Randy look ahead to what could change next time: real-time logging, better automated detection of suspicious activity, more people involved in judging, and potentially a longer period before results become official. They also discuss what consequences should follow a WRTC disqualification. Through it all, both make the same larger point: the operators breaking the rules represent a very small part of contesting, and the effort to find and address these problems reflects how seriously the contest community takes the integrity of the competition. Then we turn to contest season. Randy reports on CQ Worldwide RTTY and what the conditions—especially a lack of east-west activity on 10 meters—might tell us about CQ Worldwide Phone. He’s headed back to the Caribbean, while Chris is preparing KM7W in Montana with antenna work, hardware upgrades, a crew coming in from around the country, and a long list of projects to finish before the contest begins. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio.