Sunspots?! Who needs sunspots?!We were expecting fewer logs and fewer QSOs for the 2017

Marathon but just the opposite happened. Overall participa-tion was up 13% and total QSOs were up 3%. So, althoughthe average number of Qs per entrant was reduced due topropagation, the increased participation made for a greatcompetition. Although entrants from Europe were down 8%and participation from North America was flat over last year,we saw significant increases in logs from Africa, Asia,Oceania, and South America. The DX Marathon is truly aworldwide competition.

For sure, the reduced sunspot number was responsible forthe lower average scores compared to 2016, but the intro-duction of the FT8 mode made a big impact on the Marathon.Overall Digital QSOs increased by a huge 50% from last yearalong with a 50% increase in the number of entrants sub-mitting Digital-only logs. Digital QSOs were one third of allQSOs and significantly more than Phone QSOs. The weak-signal FT8 mode has definitely helped during this period oflower solar activity.

The maximum possible score in 2017 was 332, which isvery impressive and the same as 2016. There is still plentyof DX activity on the bands. In fact, 33 DX Marathon recordswere broken in 2017 — quite an amazing feat. Four of thesix continental digital records were broken, reflecting the shiftto digital. All-time records for the 6-, 80-, and 160-meterbands were also broken. No higher HF band records werebroken as the 10-, 12-, and 15-meter bands accounted foronly 24% of all QSOs, compared to 34% last year. Not sur-prisingly, 80-meter and 160-meter QSOs jumped to 9% ofthe overall total.

And The Winners Are….Reaching the number one position requires a lot of dedica-tion and a lot of time on the air. Bill, K2TQC, once again fin-ished with the top overall score — his second year in a row.Although Bill’s claimed score was not the highest, log accu-racy counts and we congratulate Bill for his position at thetop of the standings with the #1 score of 328 — two pointshigher than his winning score from last year. He only missedfour active entities in 2017. In second place, and a formerMarathon first-place finisher, was Oms, PY5EG, with his topSouth American score of 326. Eduard, OM3EY, finished inthird place with a score of 324 and the top score in Europe.Rounding out the top five were Serge, R6YY, with a score of323 and Marvin, VE3VEE, with 322. Serge was also in thetop 5 in 2015 and 2016. Marvin was also the number one fin-isher in the 20-meter-only category. Newcomers to the TopTen worldwide include Dennis, K7BV, who came in 7th; Paul,K9NU; and Domenico, IZ8JAI, both tied for 8th place.

In the Limited Class category, congratulations to Aod,EA8KC, who jumped from 11th place last year to first in 2017.His score of 289 was very impressive considering the cur-rent conditions. Aod uses a Hexbeam for the higher bandsand a vertical for the low bands. Second and third place posi-

Results of the 2017 CQ DX MarathonBY JOHN SWEENEY*, K9EL

*email: k9el@comcast.net

Ken, W1NG, is a first time DX Marathon plaque winner andhad the top U.S. CW score. Ken was licensed in 1959 andoperates all modes, but CW is his favorite. Now retired, Kenhas more time to enjoy ham radio and chase DX. Ken is

shown here in his shack.

Algirdas, LY7M, has won the 80-meter single band compe-tition two years in a row and increased his score by 20 pointsover last year. In 2017 he set a new all-time 80-meter highscore. Algirdas is shown holding his 2016 80-meter plaque.

Reprinted with permission CQ Communications, June 2018 issue.

tions went to HAØIV (281) and IK2RPE (276), respectively.In Formula Class, 100-watt option, the winner is SV1CNS,who scored 276 points — 50 points ahead of his 2016 score.Vassilis has been increasing his score each year. HA7LJ fin-ished with 266 points and came in second, followed by N4RIin third place. Working the Marathon with wire antennas is adifficult challenge with no sunspots. Even more challengingare the brave hams who work DX using QRP power. Thisyear we saw a decline in QRP submissions and scores werenoticeably lower than in previous years. So congratulationsto Bert, K4AR, for winning the QRP category with 238 points.Interestingly, the majority of Bert’s QSOs were on the WARCbands. Fulvio, IV3AOL, repeated his second-place finish oflast year with an impressive 234 points.

Overall CW activity was down slightly from 2016, althoughwe had the same number of entrants competing in the CW-only category. In spite of the poor conditions, CW scoresremain very high compared to earlier years. Lada, OK2PAY,once again finished in the number one position with a scoreof 318 — this is his third year in a row at the top of the CWpile. Very impressive! Ken, W1NG, was the top NorthAmerican CW finisher with a score of 311. Ken will soon be

the holder of a DX Marathon plaque to decorate his shackalong with Lada. In third place was Norm, W4QN, at 306points. 2017 saw a 50% increase in the number of Phone-only submissions and the battle for the top position took placein Europe. Tony, IKØOZD, a multiple DX Marathon plaquewinner, set his sights on the Phone category this year andcame out on top with a score of 308. Tony will add a Phoneplaque to his collection of DX Marathon trophies. Gert,PA2LO, who took top honors in the Phone category in 2016and 2014, came in second with 302 points. The most signif-icant change in 2017 from 2016 was the amount of digitalactivity. As mentioned earlier, we saw a 50% increase in thenumber of digital QSOs and a 50% increase in Digital-onlysubmissions. Jan, OM5XX, has always had a high score inthe Marathon, including Limited Class winner in 2015, butthis year he focused on the Digital category and will earn aplaque for his top score of 290. Juan, EC1DBO, is a new-comer to the Marathon and finished in second place with ascore of 277. Carlo, IK2RPE, was just one point behind inthird place at 276.

Plaques are also awarded to the top score on each of the10- through 80-meter bands plus the top score on each con-

BOLD = Plaque Winners* = Certificate WinnersCallsign is followed by Score

Unlimited ClassK2TQC.................................328PY5EG .................................326OM3EY ................................324R6YY....................................323VE3VEE ...............................322

Limited ClassEA8KC.................................289HAØIV..................................281IK2RPE ................................276PY2RJ..................................256YV5OIE ................................253

Formula Class - 100wSV1CNS...............................276HA7LJ ..................................266N4RI.....................................246PP2RON ..............................236IN3FHE ................................228

Formula Class - 5wK4AR ...................................238IV3AOL ................................234OK5WF ................................210W8QZA ................................195IZ3NVR ................................157

CWOK2PAY ..............................318W1NG ..................................311W4QN ..................................306W4JS ...................................288EA7TG .................................287

PhoneIKØOZD ...............................308PA2LO .................................302ZR6GR.................................252EA5HRV...............................247KL7KK..................................243

DigitalOM5XX ................................290EC1DBO ..............................277

IK2RPE ................................276IK5FKF.................................270PY2RJ..................................256

AfricaEA8AXT...............................308EA8KC .................................289ZR6GR.................................252CT3HF .................................220ZS6AI ...................................215

AsiaA65CA .................................297JAØDAI ................................288A92GE .................................2859K2NO .................................270R9AB....................................258

EuropeOM3EY ................................324R6YY....................................323EA1DR .................................321IZ8JAI...................................319OK2PAY...............................318

North AmericaK2TQC .................................326VE3VEE ...............................322WN4N ..................................321W9KNI..................................320K3RA....................................319

OceaniaVK3GA.................................310ZL2IFB .................................292YB1AR .................................259VK3SIM................................257YB5QZ .................................241

South AmericaPY5EG .................................326PY5DK .................................304PY2COY ..............................286PY4HO.................................281PY4OY .................................269

6 MetersI4EAT*..................................138

IW2CAM...............................100LU5FF ....................................37

10 MetersPU2PSP...............................114PU5SKW................................73PU5BOY ................................72PU2TNT .................................58PY2TMV.................................52

12 MetersWK3N ..................................155

15 MetersPU2WSQ .............................245PU2NOE ..............................193PY2KJ ..................................178PU8YPL ...............................176PY2UD .................................172

17 MetersLY5M ...................................234K3FGO.................................217VU2IBI..................................133

20 MetersVE3VEE ...............................322PY5JAP................................126PP5DZ .................................119PJ2/PT2IC..............................32PX2U......................................28

40 MetersW9KNI .................................3059A2EU..................................292KB0EO .................................281K5BG ...................................278K9CJ ....................................229

80 MetersLY7M ...................................265N4IS .....................................235PY7DJ..................................221N3QE ...................................180AA9A....................................175

CW–EuropeOK2PAY...............................318

EA7TG .................................287DL6DH .................................267OK5WF ................................210EA1AER...............................135

CW–North AmericaW1NG ..................................311W4QN ..................................306W4JS ...................................288K5DC ...................................264NU8Z....................................264

Zones1................KL7KK ...............2433................W9KNI ...............3054................VE3VEE.............3225................K2TQC...............3286................XE2AU...............1228................CO2AJ ...............1899................YV5OIE..............25310..............OA4DX ................6911..............PY5EG...............32612..............CE3DNP ............18213..............LU7DD...............19214..............EA1DR...............32115..............OM3EY ..............32416..............R6YY .................32317..............R9AB .................25820..............YO9HP ..............31621..............A65CA ...............29722..............VU2WJ ..............23424..............BV1EK ...............20325..............JAØDAI..............28827..............4F3BZ................11628..............YB1AR...............25929..............VK6DW* ............17130..............VK3GA...............31032..............ZL2IFB...............29233..............EA8AXT.............30834..............SU9JG ...............21138..............ZR6GR ..............25240..............TF3JB ................180

Note: Top scorers in some zonesreceived Plaques or CountryCertificates.

TOP SCORES

www.cq-amateur-radio.com June 2018 • CQ • 27

tinent. In the single-band competitions, starting with 10meters, all 20 entries were from Brazil with PU2PSP at thetop with a score of 114. WK3N once again took top honorson 12 meters with a score of 155. On 15 meters, PU2WSQcame out on top with a score of 245. LY5M was able to repeathis win last year with a score of 234 on 17 meters and VE3VEEonce again was the king of 20 meters with an impressivescore of 322. We had no single-band entrants on 30 metersbut W9KNI crushed the competition on 40 meters with anamazing score of 305. Bob actually finished 27th worldwidein the standings even though he only operated 40 meters.LY7M once again took top honors on 80 meters with an amaz-ing score of 265 — almost 20 points more than his 2016 win-ning score. Congratulations to all the band plaque winners.

The 160-meter category scores were excellent as well, withNO3M repeating his first place position with a score of 198— 22 points more than 2016! K7ZV was second on 160meters with a score of 164. I4EAT took top honors on 6 meterswith a score of 138.

Many of the continental battles were also very close withA65CA repeating his top Asia position with a score of 297.JAØDAI was second at 288. The Europe plaque goes toEduard, OM3EY, with his score of 324. Eduard has won manyDX Marathon titles over the past few years. The Europeanrace was very close with R6YY finishing second to Eduardby one point at 323 and EA1DR finishing third at 321. EA8AXTonce again achieved the top spot in Africa with his score of308, breaking his old record he set last year! In Oceania,VK3GA came out on top with a score of 310. ZL2IFB, previ-ous Oceania winner, was second at 292. Oms, PY5EG, oneof the top overall winners in the Marathon over the past fewyears, took home top South America honors with a score of326. No North America plaque will be awarded because Bill,K2TQC, already took overall honors with the highest world-wide score.

Certificates and MoreWell over 100 DX Marathon certificates are awarded eachyear in various categories, including the top continental scorefor each of the three modes, top score in each country, topscore in each CQ zone, top score in each Canadian call dis-trict plus the top score in each U.S. call area for each of thefour DX Marathon classes. Many new records were set thisyear, including 10 new country records, five new zonerecords, eight new continental records, three new U.S. call

PhoneAfrica.........ZR6GR ..............252Asia...........OD5ZZ...............211Europe ......IKØOZD.............308NA.............KL7KK ...............243Oceania ....YB4NY* ...............72SA .............PY1SX*..............227

CWAsia...........VU2CPL* ...........196Europe ......OK2PAY ............318NA.............W1NG................311Oceania ....YB1UUN*...........110SA .............PY4HO* .............281

DigitalAfrica.........ZS6CR* ...............93Asia...........VU2WJ ..............234Europe ......OM5XX ..............290NA.............NN6NN*.............169Oceania ....YC6JRT*............174SA .............PY2RJ* ..............256

USA UnlimitedW1 ............W1NG................311W2 ............K2TQC...............328W3 ............K3RA*................316W4 ............K7BV* ................320W5 ............W5IF*.................304W6 ............N6RV*................303W7 ............W9KNI ...............305W8 ............K8AJS* ..............282W9 ............K9NU*................319WØ............KBØEO* ............281

USA LimitedW2 ............W2NK*...............229W3 ............WA3WZR* .........175W4 ............AE4WG* ............133W5 ............K7ZYV*................90W7 ............N7RD* ...............229W8 ............WT8E* ...............222WØ............AD1C*................230

USA Formula 100WW1 ............N1AM* ...............192W2 ............K2JL* ...................98W3 ............KB3LIX* .............165W4 ............N4RI* .................246W5 ............AC7P*................194W6 ............K6LE* ................103W7 ............K7EMI* ................25W9 ............KW9U*...............171

USA Formula 5WW4 ............K4AR .................238W6 ............W8QZA* ............195W8 ............K8ZT* ................154

CanadaVE1 ...........VE1OP* .............249VE2 ...........VE2BR* .............278VE3 ...........VE3VEE.............322VE6 ...........VE5UA* .............297VE7 ...........VA7CRZ* ...........195VO1...........VO1HP* .............133

* Certificate Winners

TOP SCORES: CONTINENTAL MODE, USA & CANADA CALLBert, K4AR, is a first time DX Marathon plaque winner and

is shown here in his shack. Bert has been active for 40+years and started operating QRP in 2016. He motivates fel-low club members by saying “ignore the propagation and get

on the air!” Great words for all of us.

Ed, EA8AXT, is a repeat plaque winner, having the highestscore from Africa the last two years. He also set a new African record in 2017. Ed is shown here holding his 2016 plaque.

28 • CQ • June 2018 Visit Our Web Site

district records, and two new Canadian call district records,plus new records on the 6-, 80-, and 160-meter bands. Checkout the record high scores page on the DX Marathon web-site. For 2018, pick a category, work hard and you may beable to get in the record book as well.

Once again, Brazil took the top three spots in the Club com-petition, plus the CDR Group set a new all-time club recordof 12,608 points. The top U.S. club was the Northern IllinoisDX Association, sponsor of the top three DX Marathonplaques. Don’t forget to include your club name on your 2018DX Marathon submission.

Each year, the DX Marathon website publishes a largeamount of information to help participants minimize errors intheir submissions. The Helpful Hints page can be accessedfrom the DX Marathon home page. In 2017, we publishedalmost 2,000 callsign exceptions and notes to help every par-ticipant reduce the number of errors in their submissions. Wealso recommend that you regularly update your logging pro-gram callsign database. Unusual callsign prefixes seem tomultiply every year, so updating your program’s database iscritical to properly determining the DX location and/or zone.

Apparently, 2017 was a difficult year for prefixes as theoverall error rate edged up to 2.1% from 1.9% last year.However, 23% of entrants had no errors in their submis-sions, which is a slight drop from 2016, but still a bigimprovement from 2015. The database that is used for scor-ing the DX Marathon includes start and end dates for allmajor expeditions, so please ensure that dates and timesare properly logged along with the callsign, country, andzone for each QSO.

The highest error category in 2017 was wrong zone, whichaccounted for 26% of all score reductions. Confusion withUSA zones is one of the biggest sources of zone errors. It is

CLUB SCORES

Club ScoreCDR Group...................................................................................................................12608RIO DX Group ................................................................................................................6710Araucuria DX Group .......................................................................................................6691Northern Illinois DX Association .....................................................................................5338Mother Lode DX/Contest Club........................................................................................2254YB Land DX Club............................................................................................................2149Carolina DX Association .................................................................................................2139Willamette Valley DX Club..............................................................................................1777VU Contest Group ..........................................................................................................1512Vytautas Magnus University Radio Club ........................................................................1216Metro DX Club ................................................................................................................1193East Tennessee DX Association ....................................................................................1090Radio Club Venezolano..................................................................................................1008Yankee Clipper Contest Club ...........................................................................................994Salt City DX Association ...................................................................................................888Southern California DX Club.............................................................................................871Society of Midwest Contesters .........................................................................................841Bahia Dx Group ................................................................................................................762Florida Contest Group ......................................................................................................707Regionalis Radios Sportklub Puspokladany.....................................................................699ARI....................................................................................................................................696Cabreuva DX ....................................................................................................................659GPDX-Portuguese DX Group...........................................................................................591Cantareira DX Group........................................................................................................585INDIOS DX TEAM ............................................................................................................570Bavarian Contest Club......................................................................................................565ARRL ................................................................................................................................551Lone Star DX Association.................................................................................................542CMDX Group ....................................................................................................................541Belarus Contest Club........................................................................................................524Potomac Valley Radio Club..............................................................................................496LU Contest Group.............................................................................................................486NERG ...............................................................................................................................480Arizona Outlaws Contest Club..........................................................................................447EA Contest Club ...............................................................................................................446Rhein Ruhr DX Association ..............................................................................................431URE ..................................................................................................................................422SP DX Club.......................................................................................................................380North Coast Contesters ....................................................................................................352CW Operator’s Club..........................................................................................................318Southern California Contest Club .....................................................................................312Clipperton DX Club...........................................................................................................311Russian CW Club .............................................................................................................297Chiltern DX Club...............................................................................................................292Croatian Contest Club ......................................................................................................292CCO..................................................................................................................................290JAØ-DX-Gang...................................................................................................................288Minnesota Wireless Association .......................................................................................281Redwood Empire DX Association.....................................................................................277HA DX Club ......................................................................................................................274CADXA .............................................................................................................................273AGDX-Arabian Gulf DX Group .........................................................................................270Maritime Contest Club ......................................................................................................249Cape Fear Am Radio Soc.................................................................................................231Mile High DX Association .................................................................................................230Single Fighter DX Group...................................................................................................229West Valley ARC ..............................................................................................................229WNYDXA..........................................................................................................................229Ashe County Amateur Radio Club....................................................................................223TCSWAT...........................................................................................................................223Sunday Creek Amateur Radio Federation........................................................................222OK QRP Klub....................................................................................................................210Amateur Radio Victoria.....................................................................................................207VKCC................................................................................................................................204Nixa Amateur Radio Club .................................................................................................195Guara DX Group...............................................................................................................188Southwest OH DX Assoiation ...........................................................................................187RZS Amateur Radio Club .................................................................................................185YV Contest Group.............................................................................................................184Ham Society of the Philippines.........................................................................................181Waterland .........................................................................................................................180YO DX Club ......................................................................................................................179West Rand ARC ...............................................................................................................178Northeast Wisconsin DX Asociation .................................................................................175WACOM............................................................................................................................175Dupage Aamateur Radio Club..........................................................................................170The NN6NN Digital Team.................................................................................................169Kentucky Contest Group (KCG) .......................................................................................167Allegheny Valley Radio Club ............................................................................................165Oklahoma DX Association ...............................................................................................164Chilean Pacific DX Group.................................................................................................162FRC ..................................................................................................................................161Lincoln Amateur Radio Club.............................................................................................158Red Mule DX Club............................................................................................................154Southeastern DX Club......................................................................................................144ECCCC.............................................................................................................................133South Carolina DX Association.........................................................................................130DARC................................................................................................................................129Mutum DX Group..............................................................................................................127Radio Club Valencia A.C. .................................................................................................127ACG..................................................................................................................................123DXXE................................................................................................................................122CRASMO..........................................................................................................................119CCS ..................................................................................................................................117Secunda Amateur Radio Club ............................................................................................93Tracizmir .............................................................................................................................87Philippine Amateur Radio League Inc. ...............................................................................82

Marvin, VE3VEE, is a three-time winner of the 20-meterplaque and is shown here with his 2015 and 2016 plaquesnext to his very capable remote station. Marvin has no

station at his home.

30 • CQ • June 2018 Visit Our Web Site

very important to note that U.S. callsign numbers are nolonger required to match their QTH. A W6 could be in NewYork, or a KL7 could be in Puerto Rico. In addition to the U.S.,there are many special callsigns in Russia that do not followthe traditional callsign mapping, thus creating many errors inZones 16, 17, 18, and 19. Zone 2 also continues to be a prob-lem. Very few VE2 stations are actually located in Zone 2 —

most are in Zone 5. The DX Marathon website does list themost active Zone 2 stations.

The next highest number of subtractions were due to wrongcountry. There were a lot of new and unique prefixes in 2017,but if your logging program utilizes a country database,please keep it up to date. Invalid callsigns and busted callswere the next highest categories. Unfortunately, the num-ber of bad and incorrect DX spots seems to be increasing.When logging a QSO from a DX spot, listen carefully to theDX station to ensure the callsign is logged correctly because44% of all subtractions were due to busted or incorrect call-signs. Some invalid callsigns may have been busted callsthat were so bad that we could not determine the real call-sign. Once again, there were many mix-ups between “0”(Zero) and “O” (Oh). The computer is not forgiving, so checkyour log carefully. We applaud everyone who frequentlyupdates their logging program databases. Pirates were nota big problem in 2017, but not-in-log reductions jumped toalmost 6% of all score reductions. With more logs being post-ed online, it is easy to check if you are in the log before enter-ing that QSO in the DX Marathon. We do publish a lot ofhelpful information on the DX Marathon website, but thereis nothing we can do to make sure you are in the log.

As part of this issue you will find a complete listing of allscores plus a listing of the top scores in all available cate-gories. The DX Marathon website will include additionalinformation and details on the 2017 results plus photos ofplaque winners as they become available. For any questionsor comments about the DX Marathon, please contact theauthor. Thank you for your participation in 2017 and best ofluck in 2018!

Callsign is followed by score* = Certificate Winners

4F3BZ* ...............................1166YØD* ................................1147Z1SJ*................................2579A2EU*...............................2929K2NO* ..............................270A65CA ................................297A92GE* ..............................285BA4TB*.................................56BV1EK* ..............................203CE3DNP* ...........................182CN2HZ* ................................85CO2AJ* ..............................189CT1IUA* .............................298CT3HF* ..............................220DL5AN* ..............................311DP1POL*............................120EA1DR* ..............................321EA8AXT..............................308EI7CC* ...............................260EV1R*.................................301F5CQ* ................................311G4AYU*..............................206GI4DOH* ............................251GUØSUP* ..........................174GW4EVX*...........................124HAØIV*...............................281HK3W*................................249IZ8JAI*................................319JAØDAI* .............................288K2TQC ...............................328KL7KK*...............................243LU7DD* ..............................192LX1NO* ..............................221

LY5W* ................................267OA4DX*................................69OD5ZZ* ..............................211OH2BLD*............................293OK2PAY .............................318OM3EY...............................324ON2AD*..............................146PA2LO* ..............................302PJ2/PP2BT* .........................76PYØFW*.............................113PY5EG ...............................326R6YY*.................................323R9AB*.................................258SMØMPV* ..........................298SQ8N* ................................306SU9JG* ..............................211SV1CNS .............................276SV9COL*............................254TA1CM*..............................178TA4LYL* .............................230TF3JB* ...............................180V51/TA1HZ* .......................138VE3VEE .............................322VK3GA ...............................310VU2WJ*..............................234XE2AU* ..............................122YB1AR* ..............................259YO9HP*..............................316YU1WAT* ...........................117YV5OIE* .............................253ZL2IFB* ..............................292ZP6ARO*............................185ZR6GR*..............................252

Note: Top scorers in somecountries received plaques.

COUNTRY WINNERS

Stasys, LY5M, has been participating in the Marathon formany years and has been high score on 17 meters for thelast two years. Stasys is shown here with his 2016

17-meter plaque.

www.cq-amateur-radio.com June 2018 • CQ • 31