I’ve been trying to hit CW operating head-on lately after finally breaking through the fear of getting on the air. A big thanks to WJØC for providing expert advice and encouragement to become a better CW operator and to my CWA classmates Bryce, N9WF, and Paul, AD2IL who both completed the CWA Fundamental course with me in early Summer 2025. It was fun to practice and learn with these guys. Being able to copy CW at a reasonable speed has opened doors I didn’t think was possible for me with my home operating conditions. With my Elecraft KX3 and AX1 antenna, I’m now able to sit on the deck under a shade umbrella and actually make on-air contacts with other hams via CW. Whodathunkit?
In this post, I’ll be consolidating many of the well-known CW contest exchanges into a single location, perhaps mostly for my own benefit, but if you happen to have stumbled upon this article while trying to find the message exchange format for one of these contests, I hope you found what you were looking for here.
Without further ado, let’s get started with the message exchange for the CWops Test (CWT). I’ve made it clear which operator is the CQer and which is the hunter. Use the message exchange examples in the context of which operator you are participating as in your activity.
CWops Test (CWT)
In the CWT, participants send the typical name and state, province, or DX country message, however, CWops members will send their member number in place of the state, province, or DX country and CWops Academy students may send CWA in place of the state, province, or DX country. The example exchange shown here is between a CWops member sending CQ and another CWops member as the hunter. There is no requirement for CWT participants to be members or students associated with the CWops club. If neither participant in the QSO are members or students, then the exchange is simply name and state, province, or DX country.
| Operator | Exchange |
|---|---|
| CQer | CQ CWT WJØC |
| Hunter | K2MAS |
| CQer | K2MAS STEVE 2997 |
| Hunter | R MATT 3852 |
| CQer | TU WJØC CWT |
K1USN Slow-Speed Contest (SST)
| Operator | Exchange |
|---|---|
| CQer | CQ SST DE K2MAS |
| Hunter | N9WF |
| CQer | N9WF TU MATT VA |
| Hunter | GE MATT BRYCE IN |
| CQer | GL BRYCE TU 73 |
Parks On The Air (POTA)
Parks On The Air does not require any specific message exchange format, though the following is maybe the most common since it follows the callsign + signal report + QTH format that is typically required to constitute a successful QSO.
| Operator | Exchange |
|---|---|
| CQer | CQ CQ POTA DE K2MAS K2MAS |
| Hunter | N9WF |
| CQer | N9WF GA UR RST 579 57N BK |
| Hunter | BK TU UR 55N IN BK |
| CQer | TU BRYCE 73 DE K2MAS dit dit |
| Hunter | dit dit |
In the case of a Park To Park (P2P) QSO (or just follow the exchange example above)…
| Operator | Exchange |
|---|---|
| CQer | CQ CQ POTA DE K2MAS K2MAS |
| Hunter | P2P |
| CQer | P2P GM UR RST 579 57N VA VA BK |
| Hunter | BK OP AD2IL GM UR 559 559 NC NC BK |
| CQer | TU PAUL 73 DE K2MAS dit dit |
| Hunter | dit dit |
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