DXContest.org

Hello William (W2CQ),

I'm Pascual, EA5WU. You signed up at DXContest.org a few months back, when this was just getting started, and from what I can see you have hardly been back since. No complaints: the site was a much poorer thing then than it is now.

That's why I'm writing. I've put a lot of hours into it since, and today it looks nothing like what you saw.

The DX Radar

You no longer need to go through NG3K, DX-World, 425 DX News, VA3RJ and the ARRL to find out what's about. All of it is gathered on a single screen that shows you, in real time, what is on the air right now: expeditions, special and commemorative callsigns, and stations from the most wanted DXCC according to Clublog.

And from there, one click tunes your rig and another turns your antenna towards the station. A small program you install on your PC lets you run the whole station from the browser: before the others have finished tuning, you are already calling.

Field activities, all in one place

Every programme has its own website and its own way of announcing: POTA over here, SOTA over there, WWFF somewhere else. Here you have them together, working just like the DX Radar: POTA, SOTA, WWFF, TOTA, WWBOTA, LLOTA, ARLHS, WCA, BOTA, GMA, WOTA, RDA and DME.

And you tick the ones you care about: if lighthouses are your thing, you see lighthouses and nothing else.

Propagation measured, not modelled

Real-time maps for 6 metres and up, and for the low bands too, so you can see the activity on each one as it happens, with both the current picture and the last 24 hours. It all comes from real spots, not from theoretical models.

And alongside it, the data that explains it: ionosondes, solar wind, NOAA indices, X-rays, aurora and beacons.

Online log

Tracking for the main awards —DXCC, WAZ, WPX, grids, WAS, counties, IOTA, satellites and QO-100— and for every field activity, with maps, statistics, rankings among users and real-time syncing with your local log.

Three telnet ports, each for its own job

• 7300 — traditional cluster, human spots only.
• 7310 — every source (PSKReporter, RBN on CW and digital modes, FreeDV), with the filters set from the web and no commands to remember.
• 7320 — the same, built for contesting.

From any of the three you can send spots to the traditional cluster. And from the website too, with the fields filling themselves in.

And on your phone

Everything you see on the site can reach your mobile: instant push notifications for whatever you choose to follow.

It fits the room you give it

From mini mode, for when all you have is a corner of the screen, to several independent windows open at once, each with its own thing.

And there's a good deal more, but there's no point in me listing it: better that you take a look yourself. If you find something that suits the way you operate, great; and if it still isn't for you, no harm done.

It is free and it always will be.