ON contest 2026

 

I won the ON Contest, both in SSB and CW. The last time I managed this double victory was back in 2005, so nobody can accuse me of taking the fun away from others.

And yet, it feels strange. Winning was never my intention. Not in the SSB section, where I suddenly found myself with a QSO lead, much to my surprise, and certainly not in the CW section.
There, I was second in the claimed scores list and had already stopped operating 20 minutes before the end (which is quite a lot in a contest lasting just four hours).

The final result was truly surprising, and the top three were so close that it all came down to a single QSO. What makes me happiest, though, is the empty UBN file for the CW section. Not a single mistake — that's what clean contesting is all about!

A trend has emerged in the ON Contest that leaves me with mixed feelings.

For years, there was too little interest, so the decision was made to add the 40m band in an attempt to generate more enthusiasm and activity. And indeed, even this year, I had periods in CW when nobody came back to my calls for ten minutes straight. That is frustrating.

On the positive side, quite a few members of Contest Club Belgium, myself included, took part. We need to put this new virtual UBA section on the national map, and what better way to do that than by taking part in local contests? This also helps raise the overall standard of the contest itself.

However, the aim cannot be for more experienced contesters to walk away with all the prizes. The ON Contest is meant to be a local competition that serves as a stepping stone towards the UBA contests in winter, which in turn prepare operators for the major international contests.

Rookies need to feel motivated and confident enough to get on the air and take part in the ON Contest. They also need to have a realistic chance of achieving good results.

For that reason, it might be worth considering a 100W power limit for everyone. In addition, more attention should be given to newcomers taking their first steps in CW. An award for the best newcomer, for example, could be a good idea.

Perhaps this would encourage more of the UBA's 37 sections out of a total of 80 to be represented in the contest.

DXCC 325 : North Cook Islands confirmed

Finally, most wanted #68 now confirmed.

Never had the possibility to work E5/N but this morning E51MWA was workable in FT8 on 7 Mhz with my OCF @15m.

Flexradio microphone doesn't work

Some days before the biggest SSB contest of the year... some testing ... some issues...

Problem :

- Microphone doesn't work when DAX label is on. DAX must be on to let N1MM+ send audio to the Flexradio.
- Microphone works when DAX is off.

Solution : Go into the Radio Setup screen, Phone/CW, and activate the "PTT override" buttom.

Problem solved.  Easy and logical but you have to know it.

Furthermore, do not forget to correctly configurate N1MM+ in case the output of the voice signal needs to go to the transceiver : 

Config ->  Logger+ audio Setup -> Playback -> "DAX TX" (and not the standard speaker).

Received gift from a good friend

 Wood on wood made by a CW-Guru:  100% craftmanship !

10 Band DXCC formalised

 

ON4CCP back on the air

This comes after years of using OT1A almost exclusively, with ON4CCP only being used to make a few test contacts in FT8 at 1W output power.

Why ON4CCP?

I've noticed that in major contests, using OT1A with low power is not always ideal. In heavy pile-ups, having a longer callsign can also be an advantage. There are many similar callsigns to OT1A (OT2A, OT5A, OP1A, OE1A, OK1A, etc.) that can cause confusion. When someone copies Ox1A, there are simply too many possible interpretations. But when someone copies ONxCCx, there is a reasonable chance that it will eventually lead to ON4CCP.

However, ON4CCP was no longer included in the master list of callsigns frequently used in contests. So I decided to reactivate it. I've already used it in the recent Worked All Germany contest and in the weekly OK1WC Memorial contests. In the meantime, ON4CCP has made it back onto the master list.

The question now is whether I'll use this callsign in this weekend's CQWW SSB contest or stick with OT1A, in the SOSB LP20(A) category.
Last year, I achieved a top result on 10 metres with OT1A. With the Yagi on 20 metres, I should be able to achieve something similar.

So I'm still undecided about what to do this coming weekend...

CQWPX 2026 CW with OP0HQ : First place worldwide and new European record