CQ WPX SSB 2026

I did not operate the WPX SSB contest. I don't particularly like it and I said why in an article many years ago. There is no reason to repeat any of that here, so read that article if you want to know why. Indeed, I've provided other reasons in articles before and since. Search the blog if you are interested. This is not to say it's a bad or problematic contest! This is about my personal preferences; many of my acquaintances feel the same.

I was therefore happy to make my station available for another contester to operate the WPX SSB contest this weekend. Shel VA3AA took up the challenge. He's operated here a couple of times before, most recently in ARRL DX SSB. This was a learning opportunity for him, to put in a lengthy 36 hour effort and make tactical decisions as a single op rather than as part of a multi-op team.

Conditions were reasonably good. His raw score was a very respectable 7.5M, including more than 2400 contacts and just shy of 1000 prefixes. There were times he was frustrated and times when things went wrong. Yet in the end he left Sunday evening with a big grin on his face. He is certain to do better in future contests. Contesting is a skill that can take years to perfect.

I made myself available for the entire weekend to resolve station problems and to help him make the best use of the station. Having many antenna choices is both a blessing and a curse: there is a lot to deal with. From time to time we discussed operating tactics and techniques. Those of us who have been in the game for a long time often don't realize how much there is to learn before we become proficient contesters.

Big stations run a lot in this contest, especially in the early hours. The reason is that there is little need to chase multipliers when almost everyone is a multiplier. But if everyone runs there is no one to work. It can be a good strategy to hunt stations at first rather than run since the rate can be better. Soon, though, you have to run if you're to do well. Happily that is effective with a big station like mine. Stations running low power or QRP have a more difficult time in WPX than in many other major contests.

Despite its importance, getting too comfortable with running can work against you. It is vital to frequently switch between running and hunting to maximize rate and multipliers. When the run rate isn't what it should be, switch bands or make use of the second radio to hunt stations. With SO2R capability it is generally advisable to always run on one radio and hunt on the other. For the proficient, there is 2BSIQ. In WPX, hunting on the second radio is usually the better strategy for most competitors.

SSB SO2R is more challenging than for CW or RTTY. Call signs at the very least must be voiced. For a variable exchange (serial numbers in WPX) the challenge is greater. At the very least it is important to use voice messages (CQ, Thanks, call sign, repeat please, alternative call sign phonetics, etc.) to save the voice, avoid unnecessary improvisation and leave your voice free to speak on the second radio. 

TTS (text to speech) and related voicing technologies are increasingly being used to make SO2R and 2BSIQ almost as easy as on CW or RTTY. It is in its early phases and implementation is not yet easy. It is already available as a feature in N1MM Logger+. Not everyone approves of the new technologies, but don't let that dissuade you. It will become routine and universal before long.

I have never seriously operated SO2R in phone contests. I have the basic capability but it was mostly untested. It took some effort to configure the station to switch message playback and microphone to the appropriate radio. Foot switches for each radio are useful, or VOX can be used, however these only work if the software switches transmit focus accordingly. Operator action is required to ensure the routing of the mic is correct. 

I am mostly familiar with N1MM, and it does phone SO2R pretty well once you climb the learning curve. It's a skill that competitive contesters need to learn. I did the setup but Shel had to practice doing it effectively. Now that it's working I'll probably use it more myself.

Agility is critical in any contest operation, and can be especially important in WPX. You have to run but when it doesn't deliver results you have change something. The station must enable agility so that the operator is not inhibited. For example, having to tune amplifiers on band changes, large frequency excursions (e.g. clicking on a spot) and changing antennas, discourages the operator from adjusting tactics on the fly. Although it may not take long it is a burden when every second counts. 

I am planning to acquire a second solid state broadband amp this year and to increase the availability of antennas with low SWR across the bands of interest. This will be a busy year if I'm to be ready by the fall contest season. There is also the rewrite of my antenna selection software (user interface only) to improve the visibility of available antennas, their selection and direction control for rotatable yagis and steerable fixed arrays. That project is ongoing but unlikely to be completed for several months.

There were technical issues, as is typical for a large station with so many potential points of failure:

• We courted disaster a couple of times because my home brew prop pitch motor controller doesn't check for over-rotation. I put off development of that feature until a future version, which may have been a mistake. Operators (including myself) are almost certain to forget whether, when pointed south, it got there in the clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.
• The Icom 7600 is known to have a power spike when the transmission begins. It doesn't happen often and it is notoriously difficult to measure. The Acom 1200S protection tripped numerous times during the contest. The only solution is to replace the transceiver. I may do so this year for this and other reasons.
• The TH6 is tuned for CW and therefore has a moderately high SWR at the upper ends of 20, 15 and 10 meters. That made the antenna almost unusable. Plans to replace the antenna (which is fixed south) are proceeding.
• The 40 meter reversible Moxon does not function in the reverse (south) direction. That made it difficult to work as many US stations as are necessary in this contest. Wintery weather has made repair impossible. I hope to get it done in April. Nevertheless, Shel found that it worked quite well since the F/B is fairly poor above 7200 kHz.
• SO2R Mini switching of the mic input occasionally misfired. It could be fixed with a software reset but that cost time. It's time to upgrade the firmware and hope that solves the problem. Having not done mic switching before I was unaware of these issues before Shel encountered them.

Back to the contest, Shel found that it was difficult to choose off times and focus geographies based on activity levels. Single ops only get to operate 36 out of the 48 hours, making the choice of off times very important. The same is true when operating in the Classic overlay category (24 out of 48 hours). Make the wrong choices and your score will suffer -- don't prioritize personal comfort over operating schedule if your objective is a high score.

Conditions were pretty good for the contest duration, or at least consistent and predictable. We are late enough in the season that 10 meters was poor on the important NA to Europe path, and 15 was poor the second day. The noise level on 80 meters was higher now that spring weather has arrived. 40 meters was, as usual, a zoo on the SSB segment. Running meant staying below 7125 kHz for DX and above 7200 for the US to avoid the din between 7125 and 7200 kHz. Of course many Americans called when Shel was outside the US phone band and Europeans called when he operated above 7200 kHz. Too many operators do not pay attention when chasing spots.

When DX conditions are poor we have the large population of the US nearby. That is not as useful as in years past since contest activity in North America has declined. The decline, while not large on phone, has a noticable impact on scores. There are records established years ago that may never be beat. Setting those as an objective can lead to disappointment. Whether propagation or activity, a contester must adjust his or her tactics to deal with what we have to work with.

After so much negativity I should admit that I'm tempted to enter WPX CW in late May. If nothing else it will be an opportunity to practice my SO2R skills. I typically don't care for contests in the warmer weather so this exception might not happen if the weather is particularly fine that weekend.