Results of the 2019 CQWW DX SSB Contest

“Another great contest where I am meeting long-time friends!”
– PAØM

This year, CQ magazine is celebrating its 75th year — an amazing accomplishment in our hobby and in the world of publishing overall. Equally amazing was last year’s 71st edition of the CQWW contest — an operating event unlike any other, both in size, excitement, and worldwide participation. And, while we still haven’t figured out how to control our solar friend or convince Ol’ Sol that sunspots are actually a good thing, the party continues year after year. Indeed, operating conditions were dismal this past fall, but we still witnessed an estimated 46,000 stations on the air, which is an astounding tally by any measure. Even in poor conditions, TF3T found something positive to say when he mentioned that, “At least the aurora was certainly beautiful!”

But I also love hearing stories from contesters who have returned to the fold. Javier Monroy, HK3EA (ex-HK3MAE), wrote to me and said, “After 25 long years away from radio activity, I have returned to contests again. Perhaps my working conditions and the very special and strange callsign, 5J5ØØV, leave me with an improved result, but no matter what, I simply felt very happy to be participating. This contest is great; I have no doubt.”

So, even with poor conditions, we have plenty to celebrate and report upon this year.

Let’s Discuss the Results

Given the trend in recent years of ballooning contest scores when conditions have been “just right,” it’s hard to believe that a result of 5 million