DXer of the Year 2025

Map credit: IW5EDI

Let’s start with a super cool announcement: next year, in addition to DXCC countries, we will be chasing ZONES as well.

For you who are new to chasing: the world is divided into 40 zones and to ‘work all zones’ means making one contact with a country in each zone.

Which is kind of tricky because activity from certain zones is infrequent and sporadic. The way radio waves bounce off the ionosphere is both seasonal and unpredictable. As a result of that randomness, some zones are almost impossible to reach on the lowest and highest bands. Yet not impossible, just difficult!

Unlike DXCC chasing, the 10 Band WAZ rewards chasers who are active on all bands. How many of 400 can you work next year? It’s going to be fun, guaranteed.

Registrations for 2025 are not open yet. Right now, I am trying to find out who is going to be our principal sponsor for the next year. This year we heavily promoted ICOM. The truth is, ICOM didn’t ask to be promoted, it was our own decision. ICOM got a hell of a deal for free, which is fine.

But this year we want to give an opportunity to other brands we represent to step in and support our competition.

Whether they will, or not, it is up to them. But the show must – and will go on.

There is one more detail: we have no choice but to introduce a symbolic ‘participation administration registration fee’ of $29 per participant.

For a simple reason: DXer of the year competition is a commitment to both participants and sponsors and regardless of what the future brings for DXing as a business, we want it to run DXrotY throughout the year. I am sure those who would like to see their callsign on the list would be more than happy to support us and see the competition continuing in the years to come. I am also sure that a couple of subscribers will take this as an opportunity to complain about the $29 but if you are tempted, please don’t.