Light up the bands with Oceania DX next weekend!

The phone section of the Oceania DX contest starts at 0800z on Saturday October 1st UTC and runs for 24 hours. Make a note of the start in local time and perhaps set yourself an alarm or reminder, with enough pre-warning to settle into the operating chair and complete your final checks. Getting off to a flying start will really boost your spirits.

This week is the ideal time to double-check the 2016 rules on the contest website www.OceaniaDXcontest.com, peruse last year’s scores, study the adjudicator’s commentary and enjoy the soapbox comments from previous entrants.

Why not set yourself a personal target: which of the trophies or all-time records catch your eye? Can you beat your previous score/s? Contests lend themselves to friendly rivalry between pals. Who’s the daddy in your radio club, the top dog? Who is the sharpest novice, the most improved operator, the keenest, most enthusiastic Oceania DX entrant?

Even if you can’t spare a whole day for the contest, or don’t have the energy or enthusiasm for hours of operating, you can still maximize your score by a careful choice of band or bands. A winning single-band entry on 10M or 15M, for instance, may only involve a handful of QSOs from your country, while (like bats!) the low bands spring to life shortly before dusk and go back to sleep within an hour or so of dawn.

If you are logging on computer, make sure your contest logging software is up to date. Contest logging programs such as N1MM Logger+ support the Oceania DX Contest, making it easy to log QSOs, identify new multipliers and generate the Cabrillo file afterwards.  N1MM Logger+ automatically checks for updates when it starts up, so run the program before the contest starts to avoid it updating itself when you want to log your first contacts!

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About the contest: originally known as the VK/ZL Contest, the Oceania DX Contest (http://www.OceaniaDXcontest.com) has been running for a remarkable 8 decades. Participation is strong and growing.  Over 1,100 logs were received last year with more than 300 Oceania entrants and many more DX participants.

Oceania DX Contest news contact:  Gary ZL2iFB  news@oceaniaDXcontest.com 

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