Radiosport fans are gearing up for the summer’s biggest HF competition: the IARU HF World Championship. This 24 hour long contest is the highlight of the summer HF contesting season, with plenty of opportunity to work DX from all around the globe on CW and SSB. Participants also get the chance to make QSOs with many IARU Member Society club stations and officials.

“The IARU HF Championship is one of radio sport’s more unique events,” said ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X. “It’s the only major contest that uses International Telecommunications Union (ITU) zones as part of the exchange, and the only contest that gives special multiplier status for IARU Member-Society stations and their officials.”

Hams can get in on the fun in a variety of ways. You may choose to enter as either a single operator, using either SSB only, CW only or a mixture of both modes. Single operator stations can choose from three power levels: High Power (greater than 150 W), Low Power (between 5 and 150 W) or QRP (5 W or less). You can also get some friends together at one station and participate as a Multioperator station with a single transceiver.

One of the fun things to do is see how many of the IARU special stations you can work during the event. “While most stations give their ITU zone as part of the contest exchange, IARU Member-Society stations give the abbreviation for their IARU society name, such ARRL for W1AW,” Kutzko explained. “In addition, IARU officials can give one of four unique exchanges: AC if they are on the IARU Administrative Council, or R1, R2 or R3 for the ITU Region that official serves. It is always special to see so many nations represented on the air by their national organization. It reinforces the global nature of Amateur Radio and the common bonds we all have as amateurs.”

The IARU HF World Championship begins at 1200 UTC Saturday, July 14 and goes until 1200 UTC Sunday, July 15. Complete rules may be found online. Logs may be submitted via e-mail; paper logs should be mailed to IARU International Secretariat, Box 310905, Newington, CT 06111-0905 USA. All logs must be e-mailed or postmarked no later than 1200 UTC August 14, 2012.