The bands cooled down Monday morning. The scoreboard held. Greyline founder Jon KL2A, operating as KP4AA from Puerto Rico, finished the CQ Worldwide DX CW Contest Single Operator, All Band, High Power, #3 in the World.

Public scoreboard: contestonlinescore.com.
"Sure felt good finishing and seeing the result #1 at the top of the list (for a short time!) - Jon KL2A

The Rivalry

First place went to P3X, operated by Sergey Rebrov UT4UDX — a friend and rival since teenage years on the bands, and, outside radio, a former professional footballer and European club manager. Forty-eight hours of CW is a stamina test. Sergey won it. Well deserved.

The Antenna Side of the Story

Jon used the host station's antenna array this weekend. The top-of-the-world result is the operator's. But the principle that drives Greyline antennas — efficient radiation, low takeoff angles, clean ground geometry — is the same principle that makes DX stations from the Caribbean reach every continent before coffee.

At ZF2B, a Greyline vertical at the ocean's edge measured 10 dB louder than a full-size 5-element monoband Yagi on 10 meters. On video, with an A/B switch. That is the philosophy behind every Greyline product. Watch the ZF2B comparison.

Greyline Signals, Everywhere

The best part of the weekend was not the scoreboard. It was how many Greyline antennas were on the air. From small lots and HOA communities, from QRP stations running five watts to full-legal-limit contest positions, operators in our community filled the bands.

"The signals from the Greyline team were all over the bands," Jon reports.

Before the Contest: The Interview

After arriving late in the evening, a very early morning wake-up call was scheduled from Puerto Rico - Jon recorded a short interview about CQ WW CW — the strategy, the field, and the energy that builds around the biggest CW weekend of the year. It was written for veterans and newcomers both. Here's Jon's take in his interview with Kevin, W1DED of Q5 Ham Radio titled, "Spotlight on Titans, But Watch the Field." Watch it here:

For Newcomers to CW Contesting

If you are new to CW, CQ WW is the best free classroom on the bands. Forget the score. Set one goal: make three CW contacts in 48 hours. Tune to 10, 15, 20, or 40 meters and just listen. Your ear will train itself faster than any app.

When you are ready, send your call into a strong station. The contest exchange is simple: they will send their report and their CQ Zone, and expect yours back. Contesters are gracious with operators of every speed — every contact is a log entry for them too. Get your report and your zone exchange, and you are in the log.

For Veterans

You know the drill. A planned attack beats a wandering dial. The NG3K list is the pre-contest hunting map: DX operations list at NG3K. The live scoreboard is the dashboard: Contest Online Scoreboard.

Good luck, and may the propagation be with you. 73.