Oscar M7OJA

Amateur Radio Station

Category: Contesting

Contesting news and information

  • YOTA Contest 2nd Round -M7OJA

    YOTA Contest 2nd Round -M7OJA

    This Saturday (19/07/2025) saw the 2nd round of the Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) contest. This 12 hour contest gives the chance for younger operators to speak to experienced contesters to get a feel for the format and pace of contesting.

    As a young operator (21 years old), I had the pleasure of giving away 11 points per station per band, and operated for the full 12 hours. My station config and details are below:

    Usually during a contest, the bands can be quite chaotic and it is hard to find a clear frequency. When you do find one, it’s common for another station to start calling over the top of you. Luckily, the YOTA contest encouraged some of the best contesting etiquette I’ve heard on air. Operators were very patient with all stations, particularly YOTA operators.

    Throughout the day I heard a variety of operators from all different ages. The oldest operator I spoke to was 90 years old and the youngest was only 7 years old (operating using her father’s callsign and supervision). This event gives a great chance for operators to get their children involved and hopefully encourage the next generation into the hobby.

    Conditions were quite difficult on the day due to varied solar activity and propagation. Quite unusually, 20m died off as usual but opened up again to inter-Europe later in the evening. 40m was poor throughout the day and only started to pick up around 1900UTC.

    You can find out more about the YOTA contest HERE(link opens in new tab).

    Map of my contacts – courtesy of QSLWorld.

    Statistics of my contacts – courtesy of QScope.

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  • World Wide Award Sprint 2025

    World Wide Award Sprint 2025

    Following the successful World Wide Award month provided by Hamaward in January, a second “sprint” event was held between June 30th and 6th July 2025. The aim is to contact as many of the special “WWA” callsigns and other participating activators, once per day per band per mode. Points are awarded automatically and your progress in the award can be checked via the Hamaward website or via the “embed” within the QRZ page of the activating station.

    I was pleased to participate again this year. Unfortunately, I had antenna issues due to strong winds and my cobweb came down below roof height. I participated using my end-fed with a 49:1 unun until I was able to have the cobweb reinstated midweek.

    I was very pleased to finish with the following results:

    Country/RegionMode/BandScore
    EnglandAll Bands Mixed116 of 3743
    EnglandAll Bands Digital27 of 866
    WorldwideAll Bands Digital580 of 24857

    You can check your score HERE (link opens in a new tab). For this award, you do not need to submit your log as scoring is automatic.

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  • CQWW WPX 2025

    This weekend, the CQWW WPX (Prefix) award on SSB was held, one of the biggest events in the annual contesting calendar.

    I took part as M7OJA from my home QTH with 25w, a 5 band cobweb and 10-40m end-fed. I entered the fixed, single-op, low-power, all-band category with youth overlay.

    In total, I achieved 546 QSOs to 65 DXCCs.

    Contests like this help to keep the bands alive, with no shortage of DX available this weekend.

    http://qsomap.adventureradio.de/ – Worldwide map
    http://qsomap.adventureradio.de/ – Europe focused map
    http://qsomap.adventureradio.de/ – DXCC list
    http://qsomap.adventureradio.de/ – Operating Statistics

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  • Grids on the Air (GOTA) – a New Awards Scheme

    A new ongoing challenge and awards scheme has launched. Grids on the Air (GOTA) provides the opportunity to claim awards for working as many grid squares as possible on Phone and CW modes only (a similar award scheme operates for digital modes).

    The awards scheme, which is accessible via their website HERE (link opens in new tab) is now accepting log submissions. Endorsed by the RSGB, GMdx, AGCW and others, the program provides an addictive and fun way to chase grid squares and receive awards in the process.

    You can also join the Facebook group to connect with other chasers HERE (link opens in new tab).

    Each unique grid square will count towards your total, and a leader board is available on the website to compare yourself with other chasers. Only QSOs from after January 1st 2025 are valid for the awards.

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  • Sunday 9th March 2025

    Despite a minor solar storm causing disruption and poor propagation on HF, I enjoyed operating today. I achieved 200 QSOs on Sunday, including 60 Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) contacts, 11 Parks on the Air (POTA) contacts and a new DXCC (Cocos Keeling Island) on 20m SSB.

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  • Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) Contest 2025

    On Sunday 10th March 2025, the first round of the Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) contest took place. The aim of the contest is to provide an opportunity for young people (under age 25) to be the focus of a contest. For 12 hours, amateurs all over the world made contact with each other, with bonus points available for QSOs with under 25s.

    I chose to take part in the “6 hour” category of the contest, and as I am 21, I am classed as a “YOTA” station. In between other things, I put a few CQs out on 20m and 40m and finished the contest with 60 in the log. The oldest operator I spoke to was 82, and the youngest was only 7 years old operating with a youth club in Hungary!

    Log submissions are to be in Cabrillo format and can be submitted HERE (link opens in new tab).

    A few statistics from my log is below:

    Map of my YOTA contacts (M7OJA) – Courtesy of Adventureradio.
    YOTA Contest Submission – M7OJA
    DXCC list for my YOTA QSOs – Courtesy of QScope

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  • First RSGB FT4 Contest – A disaster story (or not?!)

    Last night, the 24th Feb 2025, I took part in the RSGB FT4 contest for the first time. I was using a 20.5m 49:1 end-fed. As the contest began, my strategy was to start on 20m for any DX contacts before moving on to 40m for as many European DXCCs as possible.

    Within about 5 minutes of the contest starting, I realised I wasn’t going to get far on the 10w I was using to enter into the “10w Restricted” category, so I increased my power to the maximum 25w as permitted by my licence. This meant I was able to achieve more points and countries, but this was a disadvantage as I had to enter in the 100w category.

    My first contacts as the contest began were to the USA, Morocco and the Canary Islands before moving on to 40m. Unfortunately, I do not have access to 80m at my home QTH, meaning I was unable to collect DXCCs from this band.

    On 40m, I was slowly but surely beginning to collect DXCCs, until my computer crashed and I had to restart before JTDX would work again. This set me back around 10 minutes.

    Owing to a couple of last minute DXCCs, I finished with 40 QSOs and 25 DXCCs in the log, which was nowhere near the highest score, but still fun to participate and nice to gain a couple of new countries on FT4.

    Overall Log Statistics – Courtesy of Qscope.
    DXCCs Worked – Courtesy of Qscope.
    QSO Map – Courtesy of Qscope.

    You can read more about the RSGB FT4 contest HERE (link opens in new tab).

    73 de M7OJA

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  • Good Working Conditions on HF

    This week especially, working conditions on HF have been a lot better than usual. Even with a very modest antenna and low power, DX contacts have been achievable. This has also been helped by a range of DXpeditions at the moment, increased portable activity through schemes such as Flora Fauna (WWFF), Parks on the Air (POTA) and Summits on the Air (SOTA). There have also been several special event stations running recently.

    The most important factor, however, is the fast approaching peak of Solar Cycle 25, giving us improved propagation and many DX opportunities.

    You can see my daily snapshot HERE to see for yourself!

    DXpeditions

    At the moment, there are two major DXpeditions running. The first is V73WW, Marshall Islands. The second is VK9XU, Christmas Island. The links to both of their websites are below:

    V73WW

    VK9XU

    Special Event Stations

    There are a number of special event awards, provided by the Hamaward system. With this system, QSOs are automatically uploaded by the DX station (you do not need to submit your logs or QSL cards). Over the course of the award, you can work each participating callsign once per band, mode and day. This means you can accumulate a number of points per day. At the end of the award, your points are added up, and there is a feature to download digital QSL cards as well as a diploma if you have successfully scored enough points. Participating stations will provide an embedded log search in their QRZ page, and you can check how many points you have accumulated. The awards currently running are as follows:

    PZK-IARU

    This award is celebrating the 95th birthday of the PZK organisation and the 100th of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). The 1st round of the contest runs from the 17th Feb 2025 – 3rd Mar 2025.

    Please see the link HERE for more info.

    VOLTA

    The VOLTA contest is running from Feb 15th 2025 – Feb 23rd 2025. The award is to mark the 27th Volta International Memorial Day.

    Please see the link HEREfor more info.

    Marconi (IR0RRAI)

    The IR0RRAI award is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Marconi. The contest runs from Feb 15th 2025 to Mar 16th 2025.

    Please see the link HERE for more info.

    Terni, City of Love (II0LOVE)

    The Terni, City of Love award is running from Feb 01st 2025 – Feb 28th 2025 to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day.

    Please see the link HERE for more info.

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