HB9HQ Contest
The HB9HQ Contest is Switzerland’s entry in the IARU HF World Championship — the major 24-hour shortwave contest held on the second weekend in July, during which the association’s team operates under the special call sign HB9HQ. The USKA also presents the annual HB9HQ Award to hunters — a certificate for contacts made with the HB9HQ stations.
IARU HF World Championship
Individual radio amateurs and associations (as HQ stations) take part in the IARU HF World Championship. The USKA is represented by the special call sign HB9HQ and seeks participating amateurs and clubs for this every year. Allocation and coordination are handled by the contest coordinator (hb9hq@uska.ch).
Operations take place on 160–10 m (excluding WARC bands) in CW and SSB in accordance with the IARU band plan; cross-mode and cross-band QSOs are not permitted.
Number exchange: RS(T) + ITU zone (DL: 28); HQ stations transmit RS(T) + union abbreviation (e.g. 599 DARC); IARU-EC members transmit RS(T) + R1, R2 or R3 depending on region; IARU-AC members transmit RS(T) + AC.
Official documents: Original IARU contest rules, ARRL General Rules for All Contests and ARRL Rules for Contests below 30 MHz.
Submitting logs
Email logs in ADIF or CBR format to hb9joe@uska.ch within 3 days of the contest so that the HB9HQ master log can be compiled.
QSL
QSL via the USKA bureau, direct or LotW. No automatic QSL dispatch; 100 per cent of all incoming QSL cards will be replied to.
HB9HQ Award
The USKA sponsors the HB9HQ Award every year. The diploma can be earned during the IARU HF World Championship — as a reward for radio amateurs who contact as many of the twelve HB9HQ stations as possible, and in recognition of each radio amateur’s contribution to HB9HQ’s overall result.
The award is issued in four classes (3, 6, 9 or 12 QSOs on different bands and modes). It can be obtained free of charge electronically as a PDF. Applications, including a log extract, should be sent to traffic@uska.ch.
| Category | Condition |
|---|---|
| Class Extra | 12 QSOs with HB9HQ (all bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 & 10 m – in both SSB and CW) |
| Class I | 9 QSOs with HB9HQ (various bands/modes) |
| Class II | 6 QSOs with HB9HQ (various bands/modes) |
| Class III | 3 QSOs with HB9HQ (various bands/modes) |
The use of the HB9HQ call sign is subject to the regulations governing the use of USKA club call signs and is allocated by the contest co-ordinator for specific bands and modes for the duration of the contest.
Next event
Placings in recent years
HB9HQ’s placings in the IARU HF World Championship. The complete results and certificate PDFs (1986–2025) are available below under ‘Documents’.
| Year | Rank | Points | QSO | Mult. | World Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20 | 6,557,019 | 6,992 | 357 | TM0HQ 19,194,670 |
| 2024 | 21 | 6,086,280 | DA0HQ 24,819,741 | ||
| 2023 | 24 | 5,558,757 | DA0HQ 28,788,375 | ||
| 2022 | Did not participate | DL0HQ 28,119,619 | |||
| 2021 | Did not take part | TM0HQ 25,640,388 | |||
| 2020 | 25 | 6,060,430 | 7,661 | 347 | DL0HQ 25,676,392 |
| 2019 | 19 | 7,729,605 | 8,777 | 365 | TM0HQ 23,125,114 |
| 2018 | No classification (log missing) | TM0HQ 22,916,663 | |||
| 2017 | 27 | 5,392,064 | 5,854 | 346 | EF4HQ 19,650,618 |
| 2016 | 21 | 7,976,892 | 8,441 | 388 | TM0HQ |
| 2015 | 24 | 10,634,494 | 9,236 | 431 | C4HQ 37,160,322 |
| 2014 | 17 | 14,576,771 | 11,415 | 451 | TM0HQ 34,506,131 |
| 2013 | 21 | 10,741,159 | 10,025 | 403 | DA0HQ 26,011,224 |
| 2012 | 20 | 9,878,762 | 9,679 | 394 | TM0HQ 28,025,946 |
| 2011 | 30 | 5,518,464 | 6,990 | 336 | EF8HQ 30,651,384 |
| 2010 | 41 | 2,839,980 | 3,898 | 286 | DA0HQ 22,443,225 |
| 2009 | 35 | 4,770,540 | 6,289 | 340 | AH8HQ 24,260,860 |
| 2008 | 26 | 4,774,701 | 6,681 | 321 | EF8U 23,928,202 |
| 2007 | 30 | 4,291,056 | 7,324 | 308 | DA0HQ 18,206,086 |
| 2006 | 28 | 4,007,654 | 6,393 | 293 | R9HQ 26,342,498 |
| 2005 | ? | 56,928 | 224 | 96 | DA0HQ 15,035,488 |
Documents
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