CQ WW DX CW
A quick guide for operators — what to expect, what to say, and how it's scored.
This guide is a draft and hasn't been checked yet. Contest rules change from year to year — the sponsor's official rules are the final word.
What it is
The biggest DX contest of the year: 48 hours of Morse code of working as many stations around the world as possible. Thousands of stations take part, so the bands are full from start to finish.
The exchange
RST and CQ zone. We send "5NN 3" (contesters shorten 599 to 5NN and drop leading zeros).
A typical contact
Scoring
A contact with a station on another continent is worth 3 points, a different country on our own continent 1 point, and another Canadian station 0 points (but still counts as a multiplier if it's new). Multipliers are each CQ zone and each DXCC country, counted once per band. Final score = points × multipliers.
Bands
160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 m (no WARC bands).
Tips for first-timers
The logging software sends the exchanges with function keys, so you mostly need to copy callsigns. Let the computer send at a speed you can read; it's fine to ask for a repeat with "AGN" or "?". Don't worry about dupes: the log warns you.
Official rules
The club in this contest
Last updated 2026-10-29 by draft (Claude).