The CQ WW DX Contest uses the “DXCC entity list, Worked All Europe (WAE) multiplier list and IG9/IH9” to define country multipliers.
In late 2011 the the following announcement was made on the ARRL DXCC Blog :
“***1 December, 2011 forward, any QSO (with any date) with stations using the following prefixes, count for European Russia:***
Any call with the prefixes UA through UI, or the prefix U, and the numbers 8, and 9, followed by a suffix beginning with the letters F, G, or X (Perm and Komi).
Any call with the prefixes RA through RZ, or the prefix R, and the numbers 8, and 9, followed by a suffix beginning with the letters F, G, or X (Perm and Komi).”
Since the CQ WW follows the ARRL DXCC list, we also changed our log checking software to count these stations for European Russia.
Why did the ARRL change this? It is a complex topic and we can’t say for sure. It is believed that the SRR requested the change in an attempt to more closely align with the Ural mountains as the dividing line between Europe and Asia. Of course, this would be easier for us if the Russian call areas also changed. They did not.
That same attempt to define the line between Europe and Asia also caused a small kink in the original WAZ zone map. Did you know there are also UA9 stations in zone 16?
The CQ WW zones are defined by the “Worked All Zones written rules.” They are found at http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/cq_awards/cq_waz_awards/cq_waz_list.html
“Zone 16. Eastern Zone of Europe: EW (Belarus), ER (Moldova), UA1, UA2(except for RA2 and UA2-UI2), UA3. UA4, UA5,UA6, UA7,UA9,UA9 (S,T,W), and UR (Ukraine).”
So…
UA9F is zone 17 in Eu Russia
UA9G is zone 17 in Eu Russia
UA9X is zone 17 in Eu Russia
UA9S is zone 16 in Asiatic Russia
UA9T is zone 16 in Asiatic Russia
UA9W is zone 16 in Asiatic Russia
Got that? See the map below for a better view.
Don’t worry if you can’t remember the details. Most UA9 stations do count as Asia. The CQ WW log checking software automatically calculates the scores for all logs submitted. We will make sure your log is calculated correctly including these special cases.
