Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio

Inside the VP0SG South Georgia DXpedition

Rune Øye LA7THA is helping lead the planned VP0SG South Georgia DXpedition, a major effort to activate one of the rarest DX entities in amateur radio. Rune LA7THA and Erwann Merrien LB1QI bring deep DXpedition experience to the project. Over the years they’ve been involved in activations including São Tomé S9LA, Zimbabwe Z2LA, Zambia 9J2LA, and Namibia V55LA, along with cold-weather operations from Svalbard JW0W and the massive Bouvet 3Y0J expedition. Those experiences—especially the logistical and technical lessons learned during Bouvet—now inform their approach to South Georgia. The team has already secured its expedition vessel, MV Meridian, operated by 60° South Expeditions, and assembled a 14-operator international team. Their plan is to run five stations from a tented camp on the island, with six operators on shore at a time, rotating between the island and the ship for rest. The station design also includes several remote receive stations located hundreds of meters from the main camp and connected via gigahertz microwave links. Funding and final permissions are the key milestones ahead. The expedition budget is approaching $400,000, and while the team has received encouraging feedback from the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, the official landing authorization is expected later this year. Once that approval is secured, the team expects broader support from DX clubs, foundations, and individual donors worldwide. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. This episode of Q5 Ham Radio is powered by Icom Incorporated, whose radios continue to support operators everywhere—from everyday stations to ambitious DXpeditions pushing signals across the globe.

Young Ham NU1D Heads to J62K St. Lucia for CQ WPX SSB

Seth Jones NU1D is a 15-year-old ham radio operator from Maine who’s been steadily building his skills on the air. In the year since his first appearance on Q5, Seth has kept busy. Operating with a modest home station—an older Yaesu FT-897, a G5RV dipole about 40 feet up, and 100 watts—he’s jumped into major contests like CQ Worldwide, ARRL DX CW, NAQP, and the IARU Championship. Along the way he’s taught himself CW, logged hundreds of contacts even after missing part of a contest weekend, and gained experience the way most contesters do: by getting on the air as often as possible and learning something each time. Now he’s preparing for a new kind of experience. Seth was selected as one of two youth operators invited to join the team at the J62K multi-operator contest station in St. Lucia for CQ WPX SSB. It will be his first time traveling outside the United States—and his first chance to operate from a major multi-op station alongside experienced operators like Bill Schmidt J68HZ, Kyle Chavis WA4PGM, and others. For someone who’s been manually keying CW from a desk at home, it’s a big step into the world of large contest stations. What stands out most is Seth’s approach to the hobby. He talks about finding mentors, visiting other stations, and staying involved in the Maine ham radio community whenever he can—whether that’s Field Day, club meetings, or remote contesting with WW4LL. For Seth, the goal right now is simple: keep learning, keep operating, and see where the hobby leads. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. Special thanks to DX Engineering for supporting Q5 and for helping operators everywhere—from Parks on the Air activators to dedicated DXers and contesters—build stations that bring the world a little closer.

Inside WP3Z: The Caribbean DX Contest Station That Could Be Yours

For many contesters, the dream is simple: operate from a serious DX station in a prime location and run the pileups yourself. In this episode, José KP3J joins Q5 to talk about the remarkable Caribbean contest station he built and the story behind it. For years it has served as the home of the La Sierra Contest Group, producing big scores and unforgettable operating experiences. Now José is beginning to think about the station’s next chapter—and what it might look like for a new group of operators to take the reins. We talk about the station, the philosophy behind building and maintaining a competitive DX operation, and the idea of stewardship as these stations pass from one generation of operators to the next. Q5 is sponsored by DX Engineering.

XOTA: The Case for Portable Ham Radio with Luk DD1LD

Dzianis “Luk” Lukashevich DD1LD is an Alpine mountaineer turned ham radio innovator, leading Germany’s SOTA Alpine Association and reshaping what outdoor portable operation can look like. Introduced to amateur radio as a teenager, he returned in earnest in the mid-2000s, quickly combining two passions: climbing and operating from summits. Since then, he’s been a relentless activator across programs—SOTA (Summits on the Air), POTA (Parks on the Air), WWFF (Worldwide Flora and Fauna), IOTA (Islands on the Air), even LOTA (Lighthouses on the Air). His operating philosophy now runs on a new frequency: “Go Green” portable ops, where every activation begins and ends without a car—by bike, foot, or public transport. The idea of XOTA—“any on the air”—captures Luk’s inclusive style. Why limit yourself to one program when the entire outdoors is your shack? This spirit led him to a record-breaking 10-region SOTA activation across the German Alps in a single day and to summiting Sweden’s highest peak solo during a multi-day trail run—all while operating QRP with rigs the size of a credit card. His gear has evolved, but his ethos remains: lightweight, ecological, and always up for a challenge. Luk’s not just a climber with a key. He’s a contest-caliber operator attempting SO2R in the woods, mentoring his young sons in CW before they can read, and imagining a future where ham radio overlays like “Go Green” become standard. Whether it’s a picnic table POTA run or an ascent to a summit, he’s always looking for the next edge—and the next QSO. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. Thanks to Icom for sponsoring Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio—because legendary QSOs deserve legendary radios.

World Wide Award Introduces the First YL Program

The World Wide Award for YLs is new—and it launches March 9. Designed to increase visibility, participation, and on-air activity among women in amateur radio, the program creates a clear, structured path for operators around the world to make contacts with YLs and earn recognition. Marion W1GRL and Carlo IK1HJS explain how the award works, who can participate, qualification details, and why this initiative matters right now. If you want to be part of the inaugural run, now is the time to register, review the rules, and get ready. Early participation will shape the momentum of this program from day one. Q5 is proudly supported by Icom—building radios that inspire operators to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Inside the New POTA Board’s Vision: Mark K8MST

Mark Torigian K8MST is a retired attorney, former general counsel for Hyundai Motor Company, and now a driving force behind establishing strong governance principles with the newly formed Parks on the Air board. Licensed in 2021 after decades of putting off the hobby, Mark dove headfirst into ham radio—and POTA—during the pandemic, first as a hunter, then as an activator with hundreds of parks under his belt. In just a few years, he went from newcomer to board member of one of the fastest-growing programs in amateur radio. With nearly 50 million QSOs logged, 84,000 registered operators, and 85,000 parks across 236 DX entities, POTA isn’t just thriving—it’s reshaping the hobby. Mark brings something different to the table: four decades of legal and corporate governance experience. At Hyundai, his mission was program integrity—building rules, systems, and internal controls that could withstand explosive growth. Now he’s applying that same mindset to POTA. Not to burden activators and hunters with red tape, but to strengthen the foundation behind the scenes: bylaws, board structure, financial oversight, data privacy protections, and clearer rules that eliminate ambiguity. “If ten hams interpret a rule and you get twenty-five answers,” he says, “we need to fix that.” Behind the curtain, a 21-person volunteer development team led by James Linden, VE3JLN, is rewriting the IT backbone—modernizing a decade-old cloud-based system that now processes more than a million QSOs a month. Add to that the financial reality: roughly $5,000–$6,000 per month just to keep the servers running. No corporate sponsor bankrolls this operation. It’s volunteers, modest book royalties, and community donations keeping the engine alive. And yet, the spirit remains intact. Mark tells the story of operating Winter Field Day at minus 15 degrees—three antennas up in an hour—proving that POTA is more than a game. It’s training. It’s readiness. It’s community. His pledge? Make it better without breaking what already works. Stronger governance. Greater transparency. Seamless improvement. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. A special thank you to DX Engineering for standing behind operators everywhere—from Parks on the Air activators to dedicated DXers and contesters—with equipment and expertise that keep stations on the air. Your support helps ensure this global community continues to grow and thrive.

Down Under to WRTC 2026: Jacky ZL3CW and Bernd VK2IA

Bernd VK2IA and Jacky ZL3CW are world-class contesters from Australia and New Zealand—operators forged in weak-signal territory who’ve spent decades proving that geography is no excuse. Jacky’s story begins in the French Air Force in 1970, where radio was a job before it was a passion. Stationed in Africa in 1979, he watched amateur operators run pileups through the night and realized what he’d been missing: freedom. Since then, contesting and DXpeditions have been his fuel. From Djibouti to Japan to New Zealand, he chased CW pileups not just for the adrenaline, but to give operators the rare contacts they crave. Bernd’s introduction came through family. As a teenager in Germany, he wrote QSL cards for his blind cousin and memorized call signs from around the world. CQ Worldwide CW hooked him early. By 17, he was operating in a multi-single team decades older than he was. That curiosity became a global operating résumé—and eventually a long-running partnership with Jacky that now leads to WRTC 2026 in England. Operating from VK and ZL is not for the faint of heart. Europe and North America sit 10,000 kilometers away. Daylight brings noise and painfully low rates. When the bands open, they’re competing against locals with S9 signals while they strain to pull S2 whispers from the mud. New Zealand may have five to ten serious CW contesters. Australia, a bit more. It’s not pileup country—it’s persistence country. They’ve felt both fortune and misfortune—like the WRTC in Bologna when a slipping Yagi cost them nearly two hours at peak propagation and sent them tumbling down the live scoreboard. They clawed back. Because that’s what seasoned operators do. In England, they’re looking forward to big signals—but even more to the camaraderie. The shared grind of 24 hours among the world’s best. Running trusted K3s and leaning on fifteen years of partnership, they know competition matters. But friendship matters more. From the edge of the map to the center of the contesting world, Bernd and Jacky remind us that greatness isn’t about signal strength. It’s about resilience. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. Special thanks to Icom, the choice of operators who know that peak performance is never optional

Contest with K1RX: Expectations vs Reality (Episode 4 of 7)

Mark Pride K1RX returns for Episode 4 of the How to Contest series with a timely warning: misplaced expectations can ruin a perfectly good contest weekend. In this episode, Mark and host Kevin Thomas W1DED explore the psychological side of contesting—how to set goals that motivate rather than frustrate, how to factor in location and operating time, and how clubs and communities can ground your ambitions in reality. Mark shares what many new contesters eventually learn the hard way: location matters, participation matters, and physics is not negotiable. Whether you’re working a 48-hour marathon or grabbing a few bursts of time around walking the dog, success comes from matching goals to real-world conditions. That might mean working only the high-band European openings or chasing a top-ten finish in QRP. The right category choice can transform an uphill battle into a personal win. He also reminds us that contest clubs are a force multiplier. As a longtime leader in the Yankee Clipper Contest Club, Mark explains how even small scores can add up to big results—and how surrounding yourself with operators of all levels accelerates learning. For those struggling with noise, location, or time constraints, he offers a simple solution: go where the fun is. Visit another station. Operate with a team. Or jump into high-participation events like WWA or CQWW, where every QSO becomes part of a global conversation. This is Episode 4 of 7 in the How to Contest series. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. Thanks to DX Engineering for supporting Q5 Ham Radio and empowering operators wherever they operate from—from mountaintop DXers to apartment-bound dreamers.

Contest Crew is Back With NAQP & ARRL DX

Parks on the Air's Explosive Growth and the Next Chapter