The 2026 CQ DX Marathon. The CQ DX Marathon is a year-long DX hunt, with participants competing to see who can work the greatest number of countries (“entities”) and CQ zones during the calendar year. The 2026 edition will start at 00:00 UTC on 1 January and will end at 23:59 UTC on 31 December. See https://dxmarathon.com/ for complete details.
Marconi Club’s QSO Party Day. The 8th edition will be held on 3 January from 07:00 to 21:00 UTC, on 80, 40 and 20 metres CW. Complete rules can be found on https://www.marconiclub.it/.
New Zealand, ZL. The New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART) was founded in Auckland in 1926. To celebrate their centenary, NZART members are encouraged to use the ZM prefix during the 2026 year; in addition, individual operators and NZART branches can apply to use special ZL100 call signs for a period of 1 to 3 months – e.g. Ian ZL1MVL and the Whangarei Amateur Radio Club (ZL1AM) will be using ZL100MVL and ZL100AM, respectively, until 31 March.
Croatia, 9A. To celebrate their 15th anniversary, members of the Croatian Flora Fauna ARC (9A1WFF) will be active as 9A44FF and 9A44FF/p between 1 January and 31 December. See https://www.qrz.com/db/9A44FF for information about the Anniversary Award.
Germany, DL. To commemorate the centenary of the first Kurzwellentagung – the landmark convention for German shortwave enthusiasts held in Jena on 16 and 17 January 1926 – the special call sign DF100KWTJ will be active between 1 January and 31 March. QSL via the bureau.
Germany, DL. The DARC Team SES will operate five special call signs at various times throughout 2026: DA100LH, DL100LH and DK100LH for the 100th anniversary of Lufthansa Airlines; DA100TV and DL100TV to celebrate 100 years of television in Germany.
United Kingdom, G. Using vintage equipment manufactured by KW Electronics Ltd from the mid-1950s to the 1970s, the GB8KW multi-operator station will be active again over the “KW Weekend” (3-4 January) from the Cray Valley radio club’s HQ in Eltham, England. Other special call signs are expected to be activated by collectors and restorers across the UK during the month, notably GB2KW from Scotland.
Haiti, HH. Members of the Radio Club d’Haiti will be active as 4V1L between 1 and 31 January. The special call sign commemorates Marie-Jeanne Lamartiniere, who fought alongside her husband during the Haitian Revolution. QSL via N2OO; QSOs will be uploaded to Club Log.
Columbia, HK. Christoph, DF3TJ is active from Colombia as HK4/DF3TJ until sometime in January. “There will also be activations of HK0/DF3TJ from San Andres (NA-033) and Providencia (NA-049) on short term notice”, he says. All QSLs via ON5JC.
Grenada, J3. Rikk, WE9G will be active as J38WG from Grenada (NA-024) between 1 and 16 January. This will be a SO2R (Single Operator 2 Radios) activity on 160 to 6 metres, mostly digital with some CW and SSB. “I might also do some POTA”, he says. QSL via Club Log’s OQRS, LoTW, or via WE9G.
Sint Maarten, PJ7. Giovanni IZ2DPX as PJ7/IZ2DPX, and Flavio IW2NEF as PJ7/IW2NEF will be active from Sint Maarten (NA-105) between 13 and 21 January. They will operate SSB and digital on various bands. Additionally, side trips to St Martin are also being planned, with limited operations as FS/IZ2DPX and FS/IW2NEF from a mobile setup. QSL PJ7/IZ2DPX and FS/IZ2DPX via Club Log’s OQRS, LoTW, or via home call. QSL PJ7/IW2NEF and FS/IW2NEF via Club Log’s OQRS, LoTW, IK2DUW (direct, or via bureau to HE9ERA).
USA, W. The Straight Key Century Club’s annual on-air event, commemorating the club’s founding in 2006 and celebrating the original instruments of early radiotelegraphy (straight key, bug and cootie keys), will run on 2-31 January. Look for K3Y to be aired from the ten US
call areas (K3Y/0 to K3Y/9), plus /KH6, /KL7 and /KP4. Information on the event and QSLing instructions can be found on https://skccgroup.com/k3y/k3y.php.
America250 WAS Award. Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the ARRL is launching the America250 WAS Award, a year-long WAS (Worked All States) operating event. To earn this award, participants must confirm two-way contacts with all 50 US states via LoTW between 1 January and 31 December 2026. There will be three specialty endorsements:
* Earn WAS by contacting W1AW/portable stations in all 50 states. Activations of W1AW/# stations will take place from all 50 states. Each W1AW/# station will operate for seven days for two separate weeks in the Year. The schedule for January is as follows:
7-13 January W1AW/0 Nebraska
7-13 January W1AW/2 New York
14-20 January W1AW/5 Louisiana
14-20 January W1AW/4 South Carolina
14-20 January W1AW/8 West Virginia
21-27 January W1AW/9 Illinois
28 January-3 February W1AW/1 Maine
* Earn WAS by contacting ARRL Affiliated Club stations in all 50 states
* Earn WAS Triple Play by contacting all 50 states on all three modes (CW,
Phone & Digital).
Only QSOs uploaded to LoTW will be considered valid for the event and related awards. There are no planned physical QSL cards for any of the W1AW/# America250 WAS stations. Applications for the America250 WAS Award must be submitted via LoTW after achieving a minimum of 50 state QSO confirmations for contacts made during 2026. See https://www.arrl.org/america250-was for more information, including the State Activations Schedule for W1AW/# stations.
INDEXA Newsletter. The Winter 2025 issue (#147) of the International DX Association’s Newsletter is now available for download on the INDEXA website
(https://indexa.org/newsletters.html). Highlights include “Message from the President” by Otis Vicens (NP4G), “E44OM DXpedition Trip Report” by Michal Horecky (OM2DX), “An Impromptu Humanitarian Aid Project at the 9U1RU Burundi DXpedition” by Hal Turley (W8HC), “PJ2 Youth Expedition 2025” by Max Freedman (N4ML).
Marconi Club’s QSO Party Day —> The 8th edition will be held on 3 January from 7 to 21 UTC, on 80, 40 and 20 metres CW. Complete rules can be found on https://www.marconiclub.it/. ARI Loano Marconi Club gathers around 1 000 enthusiasts from all over the world, and is a member of the International CW Council (https://internationalcwcouncil.org/), which “promotes and aids in the retention and growth of International Morse Code as a mode of communication between amateur radio operators”.
VP0SG: South Georgia 2027. The current operating team for the DXpedition to South Georgia includes Rune LA7THA (Team Leader), Erwann LB1QI (Co-Leader), Gjermund LB5GI (Co-Leader), Steve W0ZB (Co-Leader and Team Doctor), Fred F4HEC, Nobby G0VJG, Paul G4PUM, Giampaolo IU2EFB, Svein LA3BO, Philipp OE7PGI, Vlad OK2WX, Alex UR8UQ and Alex UR5UY. The expedition plans to operate from South Georgia in March 2027, subject to
obtaining the necessary landing permits. The formal permit process will open in 2026. While logistics support has been secured, collaboration with the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands continues and is progressing well. Bookmark https://www.ardxpeditions.com/dxpeditions/vp0sg. for updates.
World Wide Award 2026 —> The 3rd World Wide Award chase will take place on 1-31 January. The WWA combines CW, SSB and digital modes activity from stations around the world with real-time award tracking for the chasers.
The 2025 event involved some 150,000 chasers who made 3,7 million QSOs. See
See https://hamaward.cloud/wwa for complete information.
Announced participants include stations from
Argentina LR1WWA
Austria 4U1A
Azores CR2WWA
Balearic Islands EG6WWA
Belgium OP0WWA
Bosnia-Herzegovina E7W
Canada VB2WWA, VC1WWA, VE9WWA
Cape Verde D4W
Ceuta & Melilla EG9WWA
China BA3RA, BA7CK, BG0DXC, BH9CA, BI4SSB, BY1RX, BY2WL, BY5HB, BY6SX, BY8MA
Corsica TK4TH
Czech Republic OL6WWA
East Malaysia 9M8WWA
England GB2WWA, GB5WWA
European Russia RW1F
France TM1WWA, TM18WWA, TM29WWA, TM7WWA, TM9WWA
Germany DA0WWA, DL0WWA
Greece SX0W
Guernsey GB1WWA
India AT2WWA, AT3WWA, AT4WWA, AT5WWA, AT6WWA, AT7WWA
Indonesia 8A1A
Iraq YI1RN
Isle of Man GB0WWA
Italy II0WWA, II1WWA, II2WWA, II3WWA, II4WWA, II5WWA, II6WWA, II7WWA, II8WWA, II9WWA, IR1WWA
Jersey GB9WWA
Kazakhstan UP7WWA
Mauritius 3B8WWA
Netherlands PA26WWA, PC26WWA, PD26WWA, PE26WWA, PF26WWA
North Macedonia Z30WWA
Northern Ireland GB8WWA
Oman A43WWA
Philippines DU0WWA
Poland 3Z6I, SN0WWA, SN1WWA, SN2WWA, SN3WWA, SN4WWA, SN6WWA, SO3WWA
Portugal CQ7WWA, CR5WWA, CR6WWA
Puerto Rico W4I
Romania YO0WWA
Sardinia IR0WWA
Scotland GB4WWA
Slovenia S53WWA
Spain EG1WWA, EG2WWA, EG3WWA, EG4WWA, EG5WWA, EG7WWA
Sweden SB9WWA, SC9WWA, SD9WWA
Switzerland HB9WWA
Thailand E2WWA
Ukraine EM0WWA
USA N0W, N1W, N4W, N5W, N6W, N8W, N9W
Venezuela 4M5A, 4M5DX
Wales GB6WWA
West Malaysia 9M2WWA