The LOG submission period for the 1st round of YOTA Contest 2025 has concluded.

It's somewhat of a tradition now that Murphy should attend YOTA Contests as well; as the propagation was once again very bad during the contest for many participants. This put those who were operating simpler stations and overseas participants in a difficult situation.

The weak propagation also resulted in less LOGs submitted, but the number of young participants remained high.
Out of th 570 LOGs submitted 120 were sent by YOTA contestants. 68 young OPs worked 16 Multi-OP stations, which makes more than 170 official (with their LOGs submitted) YOTA-aged participants in the 1st Round.

However, about 29 YOTA stations did not submit a LOG. We encourage you to lower this number.

The most popular category among young contestants is 6H, followed by 3BAND and 12H. All three Single-OP and Multi-OP categories produced wonderful scores in close competition across the podiums. We predict that due to the close competition, having less errors will be crucial during score evaluation.
In addition, adult 3BAND and ALL-BAND contestants also had to work hard for their ranks.

With the end of the LOG submission period, score evaluation begins. We ask for your patience regarding the results, as we plan on making them public only after the Overall Scores of YOTA Contest 2024.

We send our congratulations to every participant. Thank you for taking part in our contest, we were so happy to hear so many old and new callsigns alike!

If you have a story or video about the YOTA Contest, feel free to send it to us, so we can feature it on our new website!

YOTA Contest 2025

ha5vp yotaDear Contestants,
This letter is written to help those who have little or no experience in HAM radio contesting.

Due to the scoring system of YOTA Contest, QSOs made with OPs under 26 are worth more points.
How should you put this knowledge into practice?

As a young contestant, feel free to stay on a set frequency and call CQ Contest even if you think that it wouldn't benefit you in other contexts. Remember: those who can hear you answer their own CQ will be able to hear your CQ as well! When you have found the frequency you can call CQ on, post a self-spot on DX-cluster. This is usually implemented into contesting software (e.g in DXLog, use the Ctrl+S shortcut). Calling CQ is also generally an easier task than calling others back, and as long as you are able to receive callsigns, it's good fun.

Of course, calling others back is also crucial. The main difference is that while calling CQ, you will only make QSOs with whoever decides to call you back, when you call others back, it becomes your choice who you will make the QSO with. You can therefore prioritize stations to call back based on how many points the QSO will be worth, as well as multipliers.
Calling back is an effective and accessible tactic for complete beginners, because you only have to say your callsign and report. Assisted youth operators are therefore more likely to be successful calling others back.

Make sure to use up-to-date logging software, and make use of the available technologies! (CAT, DVK, etc.) Dont be shy, feel free to ask others to help you with setting these up! HAM Radio is about communication and community, we learn together and we have fun together!

Contest QSOs are significantly shorter than regular QSOs, so try to keep up with others!
CW contest QSO example:

    STN A:    CQ HA5YD HA5YD TEST
    STN B:    HA8RT
    STN A:    HA8RT 599 13
    STN B:    599 26
    STN A:    TU HA5YD

SSB QSOs are no different, try only saying things relevant to the contest. Saying "hello" doesn't hurt, of course, but the more QSOs you make during the time limit, the higher your score will be, and that's the same for everyone else. Listen and learn: past years' winners are likely to compete again, do it like them!

If non-contestants call you back, tell them about the YOTA Contest, that it's a contest to encourage young operators, and that the exchange is their age. If they make QSO only with you but not with other contestants, it will not count into your score.

We hope we have piqued your interest. There's still time for antenna building and for downloading new software! See you in the next round of YOTA Contest!

HA6YOTA 2024

IMG 6352We started the contest from contest station HG6N as a team with the HA6YOTA callsign.

The day before the contest we went up to assemble the station so that everything would be in order for the contest.
After assembling the station, we went to see the nearby observation deck, and after returning, we activated the YOTA callsign for the last time before the contest. With 3 operators, we completed the contest in 12 hours from a great contest station, with wonderful helpers.
After the contest, we discussed how it went, who thought what about the result and the team, and even what needs to be changed in the future.
After all this, the team rested, and the next morning, after dismantling the station, we set off for home.
Thank you to the HG6N team for the opportunity and help.

The team members are HA8TA-Boti (14), HG8CK-Attila (14), HA2LY-Lili (17).

 

 

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