Saturday, the Contest will start at 12:00 UTC and will last 24 hours.
Objective and Setup
The World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) is the „Olympics of Amateur Radio“. Held every four years, 50 two-person teams compete on-site under completely identical conditions to find the world’s best operators based purely on skill. It runs for 24 hours as a „contest within a contest“ during the IARU HF World Championship (WRTC 2026 takes place in the UK). All teams use identical tents, antennas, and 100W radios under the eyes of an on-site referee.
What You Have to Work
- Bands & Modes: 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10m using CW (Morse code) and SSB (Voice).
- The Exchange: Signal report + ITU Zone (e.g., 59 27). You can work each station once per band and mode.
- Anonymity: Teams use special, randomly assigned callsigns. They must not reveal their true identity to prevent unfair help from home.
- Scoring: Points depend on the contact’s continent/zone, multiplied by the number of unique ITU Zones and IARU HQ stations worked per band.
Proven Strategies for High Scores
- 2BSIQ (Two Bands Synchronous Interleaved QSOs): The ultimate strategy. While Radio A automatically transmits an exchange, the operator listens to and sets up a contact on Radio B. This allows making contacts on two bands almost simultaneously.
- Rigorous Multiplier Hunting: Actively searching for rare ITU zones and IARU HQ stations on all bands and modes, rather than just waiting for them to call.
- Perfect Propagation Timing: Exploiting high bands (10m/15m) the exact minute they open for high-scoring intercontinental contacts, and moving to low bands (40m/80m) right at sunset.
- Run vs. S&P Balance: Maintaining high-speed „running“ (calling CQ) but instantly switching to „Search and Pounce“ (hunting) the moment the contact rate drops.
