Probably more as a way for me to keep track of when CW contests occur in my local time zone, I’m providing a table with the UTC times converted to local eastern US times for the year. What really upsets me about these, is that you have to either stay up late in the evening or not have a day job so that you can sit around at home on the radio all day. I guess that’s what PTO is for, eh?
| Contest | Date | Time (Local) | Time (UTC) | More Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1Club AWT | Every Wednesday (Winter) | 06:45am – 08:00am | 1145Z – 1300Z | A1Club Weekly Test |
| A1Club AWT | Every Wednesday (Summer) | 07:45am – 09:00am | 1145Z – 1300Z | A1Club Weekly Test |
| – | – | – | – | – |
| CWops Weekly Test | Every Wednesday (Winter) | 08:00am – 09:00am | 1300Z – 1400Z | CWops Weekly Test |
| CWops Weekly Test | Every Wednesday (Winter) | 02:00pm – 03:00pm | 1900Z – 2000Z | CWops Weekly Test |
| CWops Weekly Test | Every Wednesday (Winter) | 10:00pm – 11:00pm | 0300Z – 0400Z | CWops Weekly Test |
| CWops Weekly Test | Every Thursday (Winter) | 02:00am – 03:00am | 0700Z – 0800Z | CWops Weekly Test |
| CWops Weekly Test | Every Wednesday (Summer) | 09:00am – 10:00am | 1300Z – 1400Z | CWops Weekly Test |
| CWops Weekly Test | Every Wednesday (Summer) | 03:00pm – 04:00pm | 1900Z – 2000Z | CWops Weekly Test |
| CWops Weekly Test | Every Wednesday (Summer) | 11:00pm – 12:00pm | 0300Z – 0400Z | CWops Weekly Test |
| CWops Weekly Test | Every Thursday (Summer) | 03:00am – 04:00am | 0700Z – 0800Z | CWops Weekly Test |
| – | – | – | – | – |
| ICWC Medium Speed Test | Every Monday (Winter) | 08:00am – 09:00am | 1300Z – 1400Z | ICWC Medium Speed Test |
| ICWC Medium Speed Test | Every Monday (Winter) | 02:00pm – 03:00pm | 1900Z – 2000Z | ICWC Medium Speed Test |
| ICWC Medium Speed Test | Every Monday (Winter) | 10:00pm – 11:00pm | 0300Z – 0400Z | ICWC Medium Speed Test |
| ICWC Medium Speed Test | Every Monday (Summer) | 09:00am – 10:00am | 1300Z – 1400Z | ICWC Medium Speed Test |
| ICWC Medium Speed Test | Every Monday (Summer) | 03:00pm – 04:00pm | 1900Z – 2000Z | ICWC Medium Speed Test |
| ICWC Medium Speed Test | Every Monday (Summer) | 11:00pm – 12:00am | 0300Z – 0400Z | ICWC Medium Speed Test |
| – | – | – | – | – |
| K1USN Slow Speed Contest | Every Friday (Winter) | 03:00pm – 04:00pm | 2000Z – 2100Z | K1USN SST |
| K1USN Slow Speed Contest | Every Sunday (Winter) | 07:00pm – 08:00pm | 0000Z – 0100Z | K1USN SST |
| K1USN Slow Speed Contest | Every Friday (Summer) | 04:00pm – 05:00pm | 2000Z – 2100Z | K1USN SST |
| K1USN Slow Speed Contest | Every Sunday (Summer) | 08:00pm – 09:00pm | 0000Z – 0100Z | K1USN SST |
| – | – | – | – | – |
| North American QSO Party, CW | 2nd Full Weekend In January | 01:00pm (Sat) – 00:59am (Sun) | 1800Z (Sat) – 0559Z (Sun) | NAQP – CW |
| North American QSO Party, CW | 1st Full Weekend In August | 02:00pm (Sat) – 01:59am (Sun) | 1800Z (Sat) – 0559Z (Sun) | NAQP – CW |
For someone who hits the road toward work by 7:45am during the week and is in bed around 10pm every weeknight, the majority of these contest times just don’t work. Sigh. If I really wanted to be terrible at work the next day, I could probably do a CWT or MST in the Winter. And to be sure, this is not a complete list of all contests where CW is an allowed mode. There are the ARRL Winter and Summer Field Day events, for example, which are not on the list.
How are other people working these contests every week? Do you work in the evenings or not at all? Are you a DX station?
Tell me how you work these CW contests into your lifestyle in the comments.
73,
Matthew, K2MAS
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