Author Archive: Grant Willis

Congratulations to our 2023 Oceania DX Contest Winners

Congratulations to all the winners
in the 2023 Oceania DX Contest
and thanks to everyone who participated to
help make it another fantastic Oceania DX party!

Thanks to some of the best solar conditions since the peak of solar cycle 23, most of the activity and fun was on the high bands. The numbers of QSOs for the 15M and 10M bands were the highest we’ve ever seen and many new records were set on each of these bands. On the other hand, conditions were only average on 20M and generally poor to very poor on the lower bands. Only a handful of QSOs were made on 160M and almost all of these were between Oceania stations although VK2IG did manage a CW QSO with RJ4P and VK4KW managed a Phone QSO with JQ2SIX.

Logs Received

We received a total of 1825 logs this year, consisting of

  • 1076 Phone logs
  • 749 CW logs.

This is slightly down on the previous two years but still a great turnout.

It was encouraging to again see many first-time entrants having a go in the contest. Gregory WB8WUA says “I had much fun on my first Oceania Contest event here. I was very successful getting New Zealand. Unfortunately I did hear Australia but could not make any QSO contact.” and Yudi YF7RDM says “My first time participating this year. I had fun throughout the contest when the DX stations picked me out of the crowd.”

Most of the Oceania activity was from the more common countries, i.e. Australia, East Malaysia, Hawaii, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Indonesia had the highest number of entries in both the Phone and CW sections. It was pleasing to see 32 New Zealand entries which also sets a new record for the number of logs from New Zealand. Logs were also received from Fiji, the Marshall Islands, New Caledonia and Samoa but there were less entries than usual from the rarer Oceania DX entities. We’ll be seeking to promote more activity from these entities in 2024 as they are important for attracting interest in the contest.

Outside Oceania, the continent with the most entries in the Phone section was Europe and in the CW section it was Asia. It was great to see a total of 38 logs from South America stations – the highest number ever received from that continent. The country with the highest number of entries was Japan, including a new record of 107 logs in the CW section. It was also great to see a huge turnout form German stations – 82 logs were received which is a new record for the number of entries from Germany.

See the 2023 Oceania DX contest charts  for more analysis of the activity in the 2023 event and the trends over time.

2023 CERTIFICATES

Certificates are awarded to the top scoring station in each category for each continent and country. Additionally, each station that took part in the contest and made one or more valid QSOs, is awarded a participation certificate showing the number of valid QSOs made. The certificates are available online for downloading and printing from the Certificates page.

2023 LOG CHECKING REPORTS

A log checking report is produced for each entry in the contest (except SWL entries). This report provides details about the calculation of the final score including identifying any QSOs that are duplicates (no penalty), calls that are copied incorrectly, exchanges that are copied incorrectly, QSOs that are not in the other log, and calls that are unique and not in other logs (no penalty).

Entrants can obtain their reports from the OceaniaDX log checking reports page. Any entrant can enter their call-sign on this page to have a copy of the relevant report sent to the email address used to submit their log. Anyone having difficulty downloading the report (e.g. due to a change in their email address) should contact the contest committee at info@Oceaniadxcontest.com .

LINE SCORES, WINNERS, AND NEW RECORDS

The detailed line scores for each of the entrants in the 2023 contest, including soapbox comments and information about the equipment and antennas used, are presented here:

There were many impressive efforts and scores achieved. Summaries of all the winning entries, and those which also set new records, are presented here:

The following entrants deserve special mention for their outstanding achievement in setting new Continent and World (i.e. outside Oceania) records in the 2023 contest:

New Phone records

JA7OWD Phone Single Op 10M High Power World record
JH4UTP Phone Single Op ALL Band High Power World record

JH4UTP

RT0F Phone Multi Op Single Tx World record
EB1DJ Phone Single Op 10M High Power Europe record
IZ2FOS Phone Single Op 15M High Power Europe record
SP7M Phone Single Op ALL Band QRP Europe record

SP7M  – image courtesy QRZ.com

K7SS  Phone Single Op 10M High Power North America record

 

K7SS        

FK8GM Phone Single Op 15M Low Power Oceania record
YC0SJA Phone Single Op 80M QRP Oceania record
LU9MDH Phone Single Op 10M High Power South America record
PU1JSV Phone Single Op 10M Low Power South America record
PY2BN Phone Single Op 10M QRP South America record
PY2BRA Phone Single Op ALL Low Power South America record
PY2QT Phone Single Op 15M Low Power South America record
PY2KJ Phone Single Op 15M High Power South America record

                      

 PY2KJ    – image courtesy QRZ.com

New CW records

19 new records were set in the CW contest – an amazing outcome! Congratulations go to the following:

JA6GCE CW Single Op ALL Band QRP World record

JA6GCE         

JA7OWD CW Single Op 10M High Power World record
JJ1RJR CW Single Op 15M Low Power World record

 

JJ1RJR

RT0F CW Multi-Op Single Tx World record

 

RT0F – photo courtesy QRZ.com

OK1XC CW Single Op 10M QRP Europe record
SM6F CW Single Op 15M Low Power Europe record

SM6F

SP7M CW Single Op ALL Band QRP Europe record
UA4FCO CW Single Op 15M QRP Europe record
UC4L CW Single Op 10M High Power Europe record
K6JS CW Single Op ALL Band QRP North America record
K7SS CW Single Op 10M High Power North America record
N7IR CW Single Op ALL Band Low Power North America record

                       

N7IR

VK4DX CW Single Op 15M High Power Oceania record
VL6T CW Single Op 10M QRP Oceania record
PU2TES CW Single Op 10M Low Power South America record
PY2QT CW Single Op 15M High Power South America record

PY2QT – photo courtesy QRZ.com

PY2UDB CW Single Op ALL Band Low Power South America record
PY2XL CW Single Op 15M Low Power South America record
PY3TD CW Single Op 20M High Power South America record

Historical Records

The history of all the Oceania DX contest scores and records since 2001 can be searched here:

2023 PLAQUES AND TROPHIES

Congratulations to all the winners of the plaques and trophies in the 2023 contest. The winners of the plaques are listed (here).

Australia Club Plaque

The Australia Club plaque is awarded to the local club from Australia with the greatest number of member stations making at least 50 valid QSOs in the Phone or CW sections in the contest. The Geelong Amateur Radio Club has again won this plaque with 13 eligible entries from VK3DL (CW+PH), VK3TU (CW+PH), VK3WK (CW+PH), VK3ZL (CW+PH), VK3DQW (PH), VK3PK (PH), VK3PY (PH), VK3SM (PH) and VK8AA (PH). The Eastern Mountain and District Radio Club (EMDRC) is runner up with 8 entries.

New Zealand Club Competition Plaque

The New Zealand Club Competition plaque is awarded to the local New Zealand NZART Branch, DX club, or contest group with the greatest number of members making at least 50 valid QSOs as a single operator in the Phone or CW sections of the contest. Christchurch Branch 05 is again the winner of this plaque with 7 eligible entries from ZL4FZ (CW), ZL3AWB (PH), ZL3PIE (PH), ZL3TAO (PH), ZL3WF (PH), ZL3YB (PH) and ZL4TJE (PH). No other club had enough eligible entries.

North America Club Plaque

The North America Club plaque is awarded to the club from North America with the greatest number of member stations (within a 400 km radius) making at least 25 valid QSOs in the Phone or CW sections in the contest. The Yankee Clipper Contest Club is again the winner of this plaque with 5 eligible entries from K1ZZ (CW), K1KI (CW), K1JB (CW+PH) and W1KM (PH).

Newcomer Plaques

The Newcomer plaques are awarded to the highest scoring new entrants from Oceania in the Phone and CW sections. The rules define a newcomer as an entrant who has not previously entered the relevant section (in any category) more than twice since the 2001 contest. Eligibility is limited to entrants who have not won any other plaques or trophies in the same section (either in a previous year or the current year).

Congratulations to Santosa Eric Esposito FK8GM for winning the Phone newcomer plaque and Bob Li VK3GF for winning the CW newcomer plaque.

FK8GM @ Winner Oceania Phone Newcomer + FIRST Oceania 15M Low Power

VK3GF WINNER @ Oceania CW Newcomer

YL Plaques

Three plaques are offered to recognise the achievements of high scoring YL “young lady” entrants – the Florence McKenzie (Mrs Mac) plaque for the YL Single Operator entrant from Oceania with the highest combined Phone and CW score, the Austine Henry plaque for the YL Single Operator entrant from outside Oceania (i.e. rest of the world) with the highest combined Phone and CW score, and a plaque for the highest scoring YL Single Operator Phone entrant from Australia.

Congratulations to Misae Soma JF1UOX for winning the Austine Henry plaque, and to Catherine VK7C for winning both the Florence McKenzie (Mrs Mac) and the Australia YL Phone plaques!

There are 20 Oceania entrants and 20 non-Oceania entrants who claimed they are YLs. However, as usual some of these entrants are actually OMs who mistakenly ticked the YL identification check box when submitting their log.

Youth Plaques

Two youth plaques are offered to encourage participation by younger entrants. The World Youth Phone plaque is awarded to the highest scoring youth entrant (no older than 25 years age) from outside Oceania in any of the Phone Single Operator categories and the Australia Youth Phone plaque to the highest scoring youth entrant (no older than 25 years age) from Australia in any of the Phone Single Operator categories.

This year we received 3 youth entries from Oceania and 4 youth entries from the rest of the world. Congratulations to Piotr Wilkon SQ8L who has again won the World Youth Phone plaque.

SQ8L @ Winner World Youth Low Power

No eligible entries were received for the Australia Youth Phone plaque so we clearly need to do more to encourage participation from younger contesters in Australia.

Continental Plaques – Oceania

We are very pleased to award the following operators plaques for their wins in the continental division for Oceania.

VL2A – Winner Oceania Phone Single-Op ALL Band (Ron Wills ZL2TT Memorial Award)

YB8UF – Winner Oceania Phone Single Op 40m

VK4A – Winner Oceania Phone Multi Op Single Tx (Neil Penfold VK6NE Memorial Award)

VK4KW – Winner Oceania Phone Multi-Op 2 Transmitters

9M8J Winner Oceania Phone Multi Operator Multi Transmitter 

It was also great to see more stations taking part in the Multi-Multi category in Oceania. While this award was dominated by Australian stations for several years, it is great to see other parts of the region extending their skills and taking out this prestigious plaque, sponsored by DX Systems.

VK2BJ – Oceania CW Single-Op ALL Band

YC2VOC – WInner Oceania CW Single-Op All Band Low Power

VK4DX Winner – Oceania CW Single-Op 15M (Ken Jewell VK3AKK Memorial Award)

YB1IQE – Winner Oceania CW Single Op 40m

Continental Plaques – Asia

It was great to see the team from 9M2M win the Asia Phone Multi-Two category. Well done team!

Congratulations also to JH4UTP for his win in the ASIA Phone Single Op ALL Band category

Congratulations also to the team at BD1KV who are the winner of the Asia CW Multi-Two category, with operators BD1KV and BD1IIJ

Continental Plaques – North America

For our North American participants, we are pleased to announce the following category plaque winners:

KA6BIM – Winner NORTH AMERICA Phone Single-Op ALL Band

N7IR – NORTH AMERICA CW Single-Op ALL Band 

Image courtesy QRZ.com

Continental Plaques – Europe

For our European participants, we are pleased to announce the following category plaque winners:

HA3NU – Winner EUROPE Phone Single-Op ALL Band 

Image courtesy QRZ.com

OM8CW – Winner EUROPE CW Single-Op ALL Band  (Mirek Rozbicki VK6DXI Memorial Award)

Regional Plaques – Indonesia

As always the regional plaques within Oceania are hotly contested. We are pleased to be able to award the following Indonesian plaques

YB9YSS – Winner INDONESIA Phone Single-Op ALL Band  

YD1CMZ – Winner – INDONESIA General Licence Phone Single-Op

YF7RDM – Runner Up INDONESIA Advanced/Extra Licence Phone Single-Op 40M  – winner was YB8UF (Rule 12b)

7B9K – INDONESIA Phone Multi-1Tx club station

YB9/RN1B – INDONESIA CW Single-Op ALL Band HIGH Power

YC9FAR – INDONESIA CW Single-Op ALL Band Low Power (Runner Up) – winner was YC2VOC (Rule 12b)

Regional Plaques – Oceania: South East Asia Phone Plaque

One of the unique plaques in this competition is the special award for stations entering from the Philippines, East Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam or East Timor, sponsored by Karsono Suyanto YB0NDT. This year we are pleased to announce  that the winner is 4F1EBD

Oceania Plaques – Australia & New Zealand

As always the Australian and New Zealand contingent are very active in this contest. The following are the winners of the various sections open to amateurs in these countries. Congratulations all!

VL2G Runner Up AUSTRALIA CW Single-Op ALL Band (Frank Hine VK2QL Memorial Award) (Category winner was VK2BJ (Rule 12b))

VK5PAS – Winner – AUSTRALIA Phone Single-Op ALL Band LOW Power

VK4M (Runner Up) AUSTRALIA Phone Single-Op ALL Band HIGH power – (Category winner was VL2A (Rule 12b))

VK7C – Winner AUSTRALIA Phone YL Single-Op ALL Band

ZL1Y – Winner NEW ZEALAND Phone Single-Op ALL Band HIGH Power Plaque

VK2CCC – AUSTRALIA CW Single-Op ALL Band QRP

ZL1IF  –  NEW ZEALAND CW Single-Op ALL Band HIGH Power

Rule 12b

Note that plaques are distributed in accordance with Rule 12b, i.e. if an entrant is eligible to receive multiple plaques in a hierarchy, they only receive the plaque for the highest level that they win. The plaque inscription will include the details of any lower-level plaque categories that they have won. The lower-level plaques are awarded to the runner-up entrants in those categories and the inscription on those plaques will state that they are being awarded to the runner-up.

Sponsorship

The ongoing sponsorship of plaques is important for maintaining and growing interest in the contest. New sponsorship offers are always welcome and anyone who is interested in becoming a sponsor should contact the Contest Committee. The cost of sponsoring a plaque is AUD 55.00 per annum to cover the expenses associated with the manufacture and delivery of each plaque.


2024 CONTEST

The 2024 Oceania DX contest will be held over the first two full weekends of October at the following dates and times:

  • Phone Section:
    • 06:00 UTC Saturday 5 October to 06:00 UTC Sunday 6 October 2024
  • CW Section:
    • 06:00 UTC Saturday 12 October to 06:00 UTC Sunday 13 October 2024

The 2024 Oceania DX Contest rules will be published on the Oceania DX Contest web site closer to the contest.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The successful running of the Oceania DX contest is a large team effort involving contributions from around the world. The log uploading, log checking and certificate production processes are now largely automated, but committee members and others still contribute many days of effort each year to manage these processes along with writing up and publishing of the annual results, administering the sponsorship and distribution of plaques, and promoting the contest.

The support of the following individuals and organisations is acknowledged and greatly appreciated:

  • Ken K1EA for supplying and supporting our log checking software.
  • Mike ZL1AXG for hosting the Oceania DX Contest domain name and email server.
  • The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group (AREG) for hosting our web site.
  • Bruce WA7BNM for providing and managing the web portal for the uploading of logs, delivering certificates and log checking reports, and the provision of his on-line web form for converting non-Cabrillo logs to Cabrillo format.
  • All the plaque sponsors.

Finally, and most importantly, thank you again to everyone who took part in the 78th contest and made it such a success. We look forward to seeing you all again, along with more new entrants, in the 2024 pileups!

73 from

Oceania DX Contest Committee (Lee VK3GK, Phil VK4FH, Brian VK3MI/ZL1AZE, Tony VK3TZ, Diane VK4DI, Grant VK5GR, Karsono YB0NDT, Mike ZL1AXG, Holger ZL3IO)

 

ABBREVIATIONS used in this report

The following abbreviations are used in the description of the entry categories for the Oceania DX results:

  • 160M = 160M band
  • 80M = 80M band
  • 40M = 40M band
  • 20M = 20M band
  • 15M = 15M band
  • 10M = 10M band
  • ALL = all bands
  • CK = check log
  • Low Power = low power (total output power no more than 100 Watts)
  • High Power = high power (total output power no more than 1500 Watts, or the maximum permitted output power for the station licence, whichever is less.)
  • QRP = reduced power (total output power no more than 5W)
  • M1 = multiple operators and single transmitter
  • M2 = multiple operators and two transmitters
  • MM = multiple operators and multiple transmitters
  • MS = multi-single
  • SO = single operator
  • SWL = shortwave listener.

Note: the M1 and M2 categories replaced the MS category in 2010, the Low Power and High Power categories were introduced in 2010, and the QRP categories were introduced in 2014.

 

The 2023 OCDX Contest Raw Scores are now available!

The Oceania DX Contest organizing committee is pleased to announce the release of the raw scores for the 2023 contest! This year set another new record for entries with a total of 1825 logs received by the submission closing date.

We have received:

Work is continuing on the log checking and we will bring you the final adjudicated scores as soon as they are available!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2023 Oceania DX Contest!

 

Have you submitted your 2023 Oceania DX Contest Log yet?

The Oceania DX Contest is over for another year. Thanks to all of the participants who took part!

So far we have received:

  • 1020 Phone Logs
  • 611 CW logs

Have you submitted yours? Log submissions can be made through the oceaniadxcontest.com website up until the 31st of October 2023.

If you haven’t yet submitted your log there is still time. We would love to see you join in the chance to win one of our many plaques and awards supported by our many sponsors!

Breaking News: Oceania DX SSB Contest & California QSO Party – you can now easily enter both!

 

You may or may not already know that the Oceania DX SSB Contest and the California QSO Party both overlap for a considerable amount of time (14 hours). Both contest committees have been working together to facilitate the ability for an operator in the California QSO Party to also submit their log to the Oceania DX Contest with little additional effort. In effect you can work two contests at the same time! The benefit is both ways. CQP entrants have a broader field of stations that will be happy to work them from Oceania, and Oceania stations gain a similar advantage. What’s more, it opens the door for the CQP entrants to be eligible for the Oceania DX Contest USA Clubs Plaque. Yet another reason for NA stations to also participate in the Oceania DX contest at the same time!.

So how does it work?

  • The California QSO Party runs from 1600 UTC 7 October 2023 to 2200 UTC 8 October 2023, overlapping with the last 14 hours of the Phone section of the OCDX contest.
  • California stations can call Oceania stations to get contacts for both contests. California stations will give Oceania stations a serial number and California county and they will want a serial number (and state for Hawaii stations) in return. The same serial numbers can be used for both contests. If you want a signal report from the California station, you may need to ask for it, otherwise log them as “59”
  • Some California stations may call you multiple times, either because they’re a mobile station that moves from county to county or perhaps because they worked you before the CQP contest started and want to do so again for the CQP contest. They may be duplicates for you but not for the California station. Since there are no penalties for duplicates in either contest, please help them out and just work them again. Be sure to include all contacts in your log, even duplicates.
  • There’s no obligation for Oceania stations to submit a CQP log, but if you’re having fun working the California stations, please consider doing this. The CQP continues for another 16 hours after the end of OCDX SSB, so that’s plenty of time to also pick up some California CW contacts. However, to enter the CQP contest you will need to log the California counties (see the list here). If your logger doesn’t have a good place to add the county as a note, you can log the county as a call suffix (e.g. W6CQP/LANG) – both the OCDX and CQP contest log checking will accept this without any issue in call matching and scoring. You can use this form to generate your CQP log. Use “DX” as the QTH Sent and remember to copy the county to the correct location in the exchange.

We hope you have even more fun being able to work both the California QSO Party and the Oceania DX SSB Contest at the same time! 

See you on the bands…