LAST UPDATED: 7th July 2016

So what is DX?

DX’ means different things to different people. To someone running low power, DX could be any contact no matter what the distance. But to a seasoned DXer, DX could be that new entity or the last one needed for an award etc. DX is an old Morse abbreviation meaning ‘long distance’. However we hams have modified it’s meaning to suit our purposes and now it has come to mean a combination of distance and difficulty/rarity. Usually though, if a station were calling “CQ DX” (i.e. I am calling for DX stations), it would mean they were looking to contact stations outside of their own continent.

Sometimes a station could be quite close geographically but still classed as DX because the area they are transmitting from is very rarely heard on radio, for instance take the station 1A0KM, operating from Italy. Italy is not usually classed as DX on the HF bands BUT the 1A0 prefix makes this part of Italy very rare. 1A0KM is the station of the ‘Sovereign Military Order of Malta’ which qualifies as a separate entity (or country as they used to be called). 1A0KM is only activated maybe once or twice a year at best and is only on for a few hours at a time (this is a deliberate decision by the SMOM), so trying to work this station is very difficult indeed despite the fact it is only in Italy. It is not the signal strengths that stop you from working it—signals from this station are usually quite good. What does stop you is the sheer volume of other stations calling at the same time (a ‘PILE UP’!). Trying to make out a single voice from literally hundreds calling takes a lot of skill and patience. An area of Rome that counts as an entity in it’s own right is the Vatican, or Vatican City State. The Vatican is tiny but does nevertheless count as an entity. It’s prefix is HV and there have been numerous activations from there over the years. This is another prefix that attracts a LOT of attention when it comes on the air. I have been very fortunate to have worked 1A0KM on 6m, I have heard the Vatican on 6m but could not get through the hundreds of callers although I have worked it on HF a few times.

Sometimes we have a ‘new’ DXCC entity on the air, and of course everyone goes nuts trying to work it. One recent example is one that they have probably already worked previously, before it was a new entity. Where am I talking about? What used be known as ‘Yugoslavia’ spit into the various regions that comprised it: Croatia and Bosnia were two, the third was comprised of Serbia and Montenegro together. In July of 2006, Serbia and Montenegro split into separate entities and we now have Montenegro as a brand new one to work. Not the most challenging new one, especially from Europe but it’s still another one for the tally. Another new entity  surfaced around the same time as Montenegro, this one is a little more exotic though! One of the outlying islands of the American Samoa group now qualifies under the new DXCC rules as a separate entity, thus we have Swains Island (located at 11S03 171W05) - the callsign used for this first activation was KH8SI.

It is important to keep up to date with not only DXCC entities but also prefix allocations as they change from time to time and can catch you unawares. One example of this is Bosnia-Herzegovina which was allocated the prefix of T9x when it first became independent, this has subsequently changed and now has the prefix of E7x. The Cook islands are another example (were ZK... now E5...). Use the variouis bulletins available to keep check on these. The Russian Federation is changing some prefixes at the moment to keep in line with political policies. They used to be based on the old Russian ‘oblast’ (regional political departments, like counties/states) system) but is now being brought in line with the current regime (I may well post the details here when it has all settled down!).

The DXCC roster now stands at 338 and the current ARRL DXCC list can be viewed HERE.

STOP PRESS.... 10/10/10 is a very special date. The Netherlands Antilles are splitting up and creating some new entities (plus a couple are being deleted). I do not know for sure what the effect on the DXCC list will be as yet, but it is sure to create a lot of interest. There are already activations from all the new ones and it is a real feeding frenzy as everyone tries to not work just 1 new entity, but 4. Multiply this by at least three modes (SSB, CW and RTTY) across the 9 MF/HF bands that works out to 108 new band/mode slots available (more if they also operate PSK31 or other modes - a staggering 36 band/mode slots per mode possible). When you factor in the sheer number of operators trying to work these (say at least 1000 operators at any given time, probably a great deal more) you can see why the bands are suddenly so very busy. This will tail off in time as the needy are worked and in the log. I have joined the fray today and put all the countries in the log in the space of a few minutes (there are that many expeditions running it is not difficult to catch them now). It remains to be seen how many band/mode slots I can fill given my limited time on the air at the moment (work!).

Here are the details (these need confirming but are apparently the way it is happening at this time):

DELETED ENTITES (from 10/10/10):

PJ2-4 Netherlands Antilles, Bonaire/Curacao

PJ5-7 Netherlands Antilles, St Maarten, St Eustatius, Saba.

NEW ENTITIES and the data to update your logging program (from 10/10/10):

Entity Name









South America

12.17 N

69.00 W




South America

12.20 N

68.25 W

Saba & St Eutatius

PJ5 (St Eustatius; PJ6( Saba)


North America

17.57 N

63.10 W

Sint Maarten



North America

18.07 N

63.07 W


So how can you work more DX? There are several things you can do to ensure you have the maximum chance of catching a new one. Firstly set up your station so that it is efficient as possible and is working as well as it can. Being efficient can mean anything from not having unnecessary joins in cables to having the best physical layout of equipment. This may not seem a big thing but believe me the last thing you will want to be doing is stretching across or standing up to adjust a control when you are struggling to winkle out a weak signal that is an all time new one in the log. Things that are used frequently, such as the transceiver/transmitter/receivers and ATU, linear amplifier (if you use one) should be within easy reach as these are the things that are going to in almost constant use (the ATU and linear will need adjusting when changing band or sometimes within a band if a narrowband antenna is in use) Transistorised linears and auto ATU’s somewhat negate the need to make constant changes but can be expensive to buy and may not be suitable for your situation. Valve linears and manual ATU’s are far more common, particularly for higher powers when it comes to designing your own. Have a look online at pictures of various station layouts, I have seen all sorts from the tiny (a mobile transceiver and a PSU on a bedside table) to full blown multi operator contest stations and everything in between. As you browse you will see how equipment is arranged and this should give you a good grounding when it comes to designing your own layout. The next thing to sort out is antennas - you need to use the best antenna you can fit in to maximise your chances. Remember the old adage: “If you can’t hear them, you can’t work them”. Seperate antennas for each band is the ideal answer but in real life that is unlikely to happen. Don’t just buy the first or cheapest antenna you see for sale, and also be very wary of manufacturer/retailers performance figures. These are usually inflated to make the antenna appear better than it actually may be. They may not be lying but instead quoting figures based on a different reference point (a typical example of this is where the gain of an antenna is quoted - the usual reference point for this is in dB (decibels) compared to a half wave dipole (dBd) - but some of the shadier manufacturers tend to quote the gain figure with reference to an ‘isotropic’ (which is a perfect, lossless, theoretical antenna in free space) antenna (designated as dBi). The dBi figure is 2.15 times higher than the dBd figure, so a half wave dipole has a gain of 0dBd or 2.15dBi. Bearing in mind that 3dB is a power gain of 2, you can see why an antenna having over 2dB more gain than another looks attractive. If an antenna from one manufacturer seems to offer a distinct gain advantage over another similar design from another then beware as the gain may be quoted in dBi (they should give a reference point but often don’t) - I have seen numerous adverts for ‘high gain’ CB base antennas quoting gains of 3 or even more dB for a half wave vertical - this just isn’t possible if it were being quoted in dBd (unless they were quoting  ground reflection gain or quoting gain at some strange angle). A half wave dipole takes some beating, especially if it is at least a half wave above ground and in the clear. Research as much as possible before committing to an antenna, especially if space is limited. If at all possible, steer clear of these ‘wideband’ vertical antennas that claim to cover from 1.8MHz right up to 30 or even 60MHz without radials and without an ATU - they are, on the whole, very inefficient. Most are around 5m long, which on 1.8MHz makes it a very short antenna in respect to wavelength and even if properly tuned with a dedicated matching circuit would onlly be 5% or less efficient (i.e. if you put 100w into the antenna, only 5w would be radiated, the remaining 95w would be dissipated through the antenna loading coil as heat. If you can only put up a vertical, it would be best to concentrate on 1 or 2 bands. Try making one for 20m (a quarter wave on 14MHz would be 5m or so) and you will also be able to use it on 30m and 17m (and probably other higher bands too) with a tuner. Make a 3 band vertical - there are numerous dessigns on the web and you will be able to cover from 20m up to 6m (and the chances are that you will be able to tune down to 30 and maybe even 40m). One of the more common CB verticals says that with a tuner it will cover from 40m upwards. Verticals, while not taking up as much physical space do tend to pick up more electrical noise than horizontal antennas. So that is the shack and the antenna sorted but that is not the end of the story, you need to familiarize yourself with the operation of all your equipment so that adjusting it becomes second nature. You really don’t want to be  thumbing through an instruction manual to remember how to change the filter bandwidth or something when you are in the heat of battle for a new one! Once you know how your equipment works, you  need to learn how to operate effectively. You may wonder how some guys can come on, give one or two calls and work a station that you have been trying to work for the past 3 hours! It is down to technique, operating skill and listening to the dx station. Many dx-ers will call a station blindly without first listening and the only thing they will achieve is to annoy other operators. There are some simple rules that should be obeyed when trying to work DX which, if everybody adhered to, would shorten the time required to work the dx and create less QRM. Try to follow these guidelines and you will begin to notice that you get through more times and get through sooner.

To be continued....

So how many modes are there? Lots I think is the easiest answer to that one! I would hazard a guess that in general amateur use there are probably more than 50 (I have 39 modes shown in my log) but if you include military, diplomatic, governmental   and commercial I am sure that number would easily top 100. The most rapidly expanding area for modes is digital - every few weeks another mode is invented! It’s difficult to keep up with them, especially as some come on and are tested, but then disappear off never to be seen again.

Set Yourself a Goal:

After you have been in the hobby for a number of years, some may find their interest wanes. There are a number of ways to prevent this from happening. I use a couple of methods to ensure that there is always something for me to look forward to when I sit in front ot the radio gear. Firstly, if you find that you are beginning to get bored with what you are doing, try something different - if you are only on SSB, try one of the other modes - CW/Morse is not everyone’s cup of tea, but there are 10’s (or more) digital modes out there that require nothing more than a basic PC with a soundcard and a cable to take the audio from your radio into the PC (at it’s simplest just a cable with a jack plug on each end). Most hams have a computer in the shack now, and the software is quite often free so there is no excuse for not having a go - you never know you may get hooked (I know, from experience, that can happen)! The other method I use to keep me on my toes is outlined below. Setting a goal, for me, is important as it means I am always on the lookout for new stations/callsigns/countries. This has the added benefit of having to keep your station running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Instead of leaving that dodgy patch lead or not checking the antenna for problems, you have to do it, or face the possibility of not being ready when that once-in-a-lifetime opening occurs. Not everybody has a lot of time to spend in front of the radio, so when you do get the chance, make the most of it by being ready.

I am keeping my log statistics updated and each year I try to set a goal, to keep the excitement going -  for 2009  my goal was to get as many countries on PSK31 as possible. It was quite a challenge and tested my station well. 2010 my goal was chasing DXCC on digital modes. 2011’s goal was to concentrate on the higher bands and take advantage of the upturn in propagation. The result thus far (OK, we are nearly at the end of the year now) is that both 10m and 12m have provided more DXCC entities this year, for me, than at any other time in the past 15 years. I have concentrated on these bands, but not to the extent that I have ignored the others. You have to be flexible in your approach, if you are not it is likely to lead to disappointment and/or frustration!

To stand a chance of hearing certain countries/areas, you have to be around when it is likely that you may hear them if the path was open - that is a fundamental rule of dx-ing, you need to know where the bands are likely to be open to at any given time and at any time of the year. Some bands such as 160m can have a a very short ‘window’ in which certain countries can be worked, sometimes as little as 20 minutes a day and only at certain times of the year and solar cycle AND providing propagation is suitable -  that is a lot of variables to take into consideration when planning a dxing session. The example I just mentioned is the case when trying to work ZL (New Zealand) from the UK on “Top Band” (160m), not only does propagation have to be very good, you need to find a station who is on at the precise time the band opens and is listening for weak dx. You may then get lucky, but then you may not, it’s the chase that keeps us going! As a matter of interest, I have not logged ZL on top band - yet (after over 30 years of listening!), but I will keep trying. The highlight for me in 2010 had to be an experiment I did using WSPR on 20m. My signal was reported as being heard in Vietnam by XV4TUJ ), which is 10250km from here. The remarkable thing about this was that I was running a mere 200mW!! My IC756pro only goes down to about 2W, but by adjusting the output of the soundcard I was able to reduce the output down to an indicated 200mW. Allowing for error, this could have been 300mW or 100mW but I think the power meter in use is pretty accurate. Working that out, it is over 50000km/W! My signal was  -22dB, so pretty weak, but indicates that I could have possibly dropped another 3dB (down to 100mW or even more but I think that would have been asking just too much). I was astonished at being heard at that kind of distance. I was being heard in the USA and Russia (both at around 5800km) whilst running 500mW but sadly could not make it across the pond with the lower power. I think it is important to keep yourself motivated otherwise you can get stale and lose interest in the hobby. There is so much scope in this hobby that it is almost impossible not to find something new to try.

When the log is scrutinized and the results viewed it shows where I need to make improvements to the station, and where it is working as I would like. One thing that was highlighted was that my antennas were not performing as they should. I raised my active loop about a metre higher than it was and it has made quite a difference as far as reduced noise level is concerned. I replaced the aging G5RV with an Off-Centre-Fed dipole (OCF) and this has made a significant improvement. I am noticing an increase in average distances received too - I am getting many more stations from the 5000km and upwards region now.  I did not manage to operate at all during the CQWW CW contest in November 09, which is a shame but I don’t think I suffered too badly as the majority of stations were on before and after the contest.

Getting to 300 DXCC was difficult, 320 was much more difficult and it gets harder with each one you hear, and of course takes much longer as the ones you want are very likely to be from places that have no resident amateurs. Hearing the last 20 or so  is going to be MUCH harder as most of these are usually only operated by DXpeditions, and you may have to wait years for such an expedition. Then of course there is propagation to take into account, just because a station is on the air doesn’t mean that you will hear it! There are a very few DXCC entities that are virtually impossible at this time, such as North Korea (activity is not permitted, there was a legal operation a few years ago but even that was terminated by the authorities and, sadly, I was not able to hear it). Keeping your ear to the ground and a careful watch on the various dx bulletins will give you a ‘heads up’ as to forthcoming DXpeditions and operations so that you can be in the right place at the right time to catch that elusive new one - who knows it may never be activated again so make sure you don’t miss it!

Spare a thought for the operators that put these weird and wonderful places on the air, some take years to get the necessary documentation through to operate, never mind the getting there and the cost of the operations. That in mind, you really should look at the pictures of this expedition, it is a REAL eye opener, operators sat perched on a rock barely big enough for an operating table literally 100’s of miles from anywhere - This is Scarborough Reef! BS7H, one of the newest DXCC entities and wanted by everyone. There was every chance they could be visited by pirates (real ones!), literally risking life and limb to put this little group of rocks on the air for us. Now THAT is dedication to your hobby!!

Check out the BS7H website: http://www.scarboroughreef.com/4rocks.html

The recent (March 2013) operation from Tuvalu, T2YY, brings home how dangerous some of these dxpeditions are - one of the operators lost his life through an accident on the island. I was lucky enough to log this station on a few bands and the remaining operators kept the station running in honour of their fallen comrade.

I am hoping to include some propagation information and tips for catching the dx here in the near future. Until I can do that, here a few things to remember:

Always use the best antenna you can - if you can’t hear them, you can’t work them, and a great receiver on a poor antenna will perform poorly, but a poor/average receiver with a great antenna will give consistently better results.

Do all you can to reduce man made noise levels, many weak signals can be masked by noise from everyday electronic equipment - computers, switch mode psu’s, plasma tv’s, monitors, mobile phone chargers, satellite systems, even house lighting can all add to the overall noise floor. It’s difficult to reduce noise that is not coming from your house, the best you can do is to try to situate your antenna as far from the noise source as possible and ensure that your connecting cables are in good condition and offer adequate shielding. Also make sure any ground/earthing system you use is as low resistance as possible and any connecting lead is as short as possible. Check on the internet for a wealth of information on this subject.

With the plethora of odd prefixes around the bands it is not surprising to have logged well over 3000, Keeping up with which prefixes belong to which country is hard work! Sometimes I have heard a really unusual prefix and thought it might be somewhere exotic and new only to find it belonged to a very common country.  I try and keep up with the prefix allocation but I have to admit that occasionally I get caught out and have to consult a list.

UK CALLSIGNS - how to work out what license class and region the prefix is from

Even the UK has a multitude of prefix allocations, such as GA-GZ , MA-MZ, 2A-2Z. What is difficult is working out which license class belongs to which prefix. Below is a rough guide to our callsign system both present, and a little information on previous systems.

M0 and M1 are Full Licenses (before the requirement for Morse was dropped M0 were class A and M1 were class B), M3 and M6 are foundation licenses, 2E0 and 2E1 are Intermediate licenses (the ‘E’ is for England (only used with ‘2’ calls), other sub prefixes for the UK are: I for Ireland, M for Scotland, W for Wales, J for Jersey, U for Guernsey and D for the Isle of Man). All ‘G’ calls are full licenses. However the situation used to be very complicated, and the license type depended on a combination of the number after the G and the number of letters in the suffix. Thus G8AA would be a class A/Full license, but G8AAA would be a class B/VHF license BUT G3AAA and G3AA would both be class A/Full licenses!).

In the UK, the licence system has been simplified somewhat and consists of three license classes, Foundation which is the lowest license class and carries several restrictions, such as a maximum power output of 10 watts and access to segments of certain bands.

The next license class is called ‘Intermediate’ (under the old system, this was the ‘Novice class’ and carried a maximum power of just 3 watts and severe restrictions on band usage). The Intermediate class license now has a limit of 50 watts output and access to a much greater part of the HF spectrum.

The third and final class of license is the ‘Advanced’ license, which allows full access to every band and mode with a maximum power output of 400 watts (but there are some power restrictions on certain frequencies which are detailed in the license conditions).

However, you can apply for a ‘high power’ ‘Notice of Variation’ (NoV) to your license, which, if approved, would allow you to run 1kW (or possibly more - I do  not know anyone that has this NoV) which can be used for experimental purposes such as EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) contacts etc.

Obviously if you are intending to run upwards of 1kW your station must be up to scratch and will be inspected to ensure that no health and safety issues are apparent (exposure to strong RF fields etc) and that you are in a suitable location - running 1kW into an attic mounted dipole or an antenna on the same pole as TV antennas etc, is not going to do anyone favours!!

Here is a simplified version of the current UK licensing system:

License Class

Prefix (For England, see below for other regions)


M3, M6 (plus 3 letter suffix)


2E1, 2E0 (plus 3 letter suffix)


G0, G1, (plus 3 letter suffix) G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, G8 (plus 2 or 3 letter suffix) G7, M0, M1, M5 (plus 3 letter suffix)

Beacons/Repeaters/Special Event Stations/DX Clusters

GB (Non georgaphical)

Digital Nodes

MB (Non georgaphical)

Special Contest Callsigns

G or M 1-0 plus 1 letter. (i.e. G5J or M9L)

Clubs or Associations

GX, MX (Prefix for England only, see below for other areas)

UK Region

Region Designator (2nd letter of pfx)

Sample callsigns for each class + club call







None, X  (Club)






M, S (Club)






W, C (Club)





Northern Ireland

I, N (Club)





Isle of Man

D, T (Club)






J, H (Club)






U, P (Club)





There is an excellent web page that explains the UK licenses past and present and gives dates when the various callsign series were issued (for instance the G4 plus 3 letter series - such as G4UCJ, was issued between 1971 and 1985) - Mine was issued in 1983.

See: http://www.electronics-radio.com/articles/ham_radio/call-signs/uk-amateur-radio-callsigns.php for much more information.

The world is split up into zones (ITU and CQ) for the purposes of radio communication. The are 90 ITU zones and 40 ‘CQ’ zones (this was devised by the American radio magazine “CQ”, which sponsors a number of major contests and award programs). Knowing which zone a station is in is not always easy, particularly if they are in an unfamiliar location. The list below will help with some of the less obvious cases (such as the USA, Canada and Russia, each of which has numerous zones).

CQ Zones details

Zone 1

Northwestern Zone of North America: KL (Alaska), VY1 Yukon, VE8 the Northwest and VY0 Nunavut Territories west of 102 degrees (Includes the islands of Victoria, Banks, Melville, and Prince Patrick).

Zone 2

Northeastern Zone of North America: VO2 (Labrador), the portion of VE2 Quebec north of the 50th parallel, and Nunavut Territories east of 102 degrees (Includes the islands of King Christian, King William. Prince of Wales, Somerset, Bathurst, Devon, Ellesmere, Baffin and the Melville and Boothia Peninsulas, excluding Akimiski Island, Bear Islands and East Pen Island in Hudson Bay).

Zone 3


Zone 4

Central Zone of North America: VE3 (Ontario), VE4 (Manitoba), VE5 (Saskatchewan), VE6 (Alberta), VY0 Akimiski Island, and Bear Islands, and Fox Island and   East Pen Island in Hudson Bay. The W7 states of Montana and Wyoming, W0, W9, W8 (except West Virginia), W5, and the W4 states of Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Zone 5

Eastern Zone of North America: 4U1UN, CY9 (St. Paul Is.), CY0 (Sable Is.), FP (St. Pierre & Miquelon), VE1 (Nova Scotia) and VE9 (New Brunswick), VY2 (Prince Edward Is.), VO1 (Newfoundland) and the portion of VE2 Quebec south of the 50th parallel. VP9 (Bermuda), W1, W2, W3 and the W4 states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and the W8 state of West Virginia.

Zone 6


Zone 7

Central American Zone: FO (Clipperton), HK0 (San Andres Is), HP (Panama), HR (Honduras), TG (Guatemala), TI (Costa Rica), TI9 (Cocos Is), V3 (Belize), YN (Nicaragua) and YS (El Salvador).

Zone 8


Zone 9

Northern Zone of South America: FY (French Guyana), HK (Colombia), HK0 (Malpelo Is.), P4 (Aruba), PJ (Bonaire, Curacao), PZ (Surinam), YV (Venezuela), 8R (Guiana), and 9Y (Trinidad and Tobago Is.).

Zone 10


Zone 11

Central Zone of South America: PY (Brazil), PY0 (Fernando de Noronha, PY0 (St. Peter and Paul Rocks) and PY0 Trinidad & Martin Vaz, ZP (Paraguay).

Zone 12


Zone 13

Southeast Zone of South America: CX (Uruguay), LU (Argentina), All VP8 Islands, and some Antarctic stations (See Notes Below)

Zone 14


Zone 15

Central European Zone: ES (Estonia), HA (Hungary), HV (Vatican), I (Italy), IS0 (Sardinia), LY (Lithuania), OE (Austria), OH (Finland), OH0 (Aland Is.), OJ0 (Market Reef), OK (Czech Rep.), OM (Slovakia), S5 (Slovenia), SP (Poland), T7 (San Marino), T9 (Bosnia & Herzegovina), TK (Corsica), UA2, (Kaliningrad), YL (Latvia), YU (Serbia), 4O (Montenegro), ZA (Albania), Z3 (Macedonia), 1A0 (SMOM), 9A (Croatia), 9H (Malta) and 4U1VIC (UN Center Geneva).

Zone 16


Zone 17


Zone 18

Central Siberian Zone: UA8 (T, V), UA9 (H, O, U, Y, Z), and UAO (A, B, H, O, S, U, W.)

Zone 19

Eastern Siberian Zone: UA0 (C, D, F, I, J, K, L, M,Q, X, Z)

Zone 20

Balkan Zone: E4 (Palestine), JY (Jordan), LZ (Bulgaria), OD (Lebanon), SV (Greece), SV/A (Mt. Athos), SV5 (Dodecanese), SV9 (Crete), TA (Turkey), YK (Syria), YO (Romania), ZC4 (UK Sov. Base), 4X (Israel) and 5B (Cyprus).

Zone 21

Southwestern Zone of Asia: A4 (Oman), A6 (United Arab Emirates), A7 (Qatar), A9 (Bahrain), AP (Pakistan), EK (Armenia), EP (Iran), HZ (Saudi Arabia), YA (Afghanistan), YI (Iraq), 4J (Azerbaijan), 4L (Georgia), 7O (excluding Socotra I. and Abd al Kuri Is.) and 9K (Kuwait).

Zone 22


Zone 23


Zone 24

Eastern Zone of Asia: BV9P (Pratas Is.), BV (Taiwan), BY1, BY2, BY3A-F (TianJin), BY3M-R (HeBei), BY3S-X (ShanXi), BY4, BY5, BY6, BY7, BY8, BY9A-F (ShaanXi), VR (Hong Kong), and XX (Macau).

Zone 25


Zone 26

Southeastern Zone of Asia: E2, HS (Thailand), VU (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), XV (Vietnam), XU (Cambodia), XW (Laos), XZ (Myanmar), and 1S/9M0 (Spratly Islands)

Zone 27


Zone 28


Zone 29

Western Zone of Australia: VK6 (Western Australia), VK8 (Northern Territory), VK9X (Christmas Is.), VK9C (Cocos-Keeling Is.) and some Antarctic stations.

Zone 30

Eastern Zone of Australia: FK/C (Chesterfield Is.), VK1 (Capital Territory), VK2 (New South Wales), VK3 (Victoria) and VK4 (Queensland), VK5 (South Australia), VK7 (Tasmania), VK9L (Lord Howe Is.), VK9M (Mellish Reef), VK9 (Willis Is.), VK0M (Macquarie Is.) and some Antarctic stations.

Zone 31

Central Pacific Zone: C2 (Nauru), FO (Marquesas), KH1 (Baker & Howland Is.), KH3 (Johnson Is), KH4 (Midway Is), KH5K (Kingman Reef), KH5 (Palmyra & Jarvis), KH6 (Hawaii), KH7K (Kure), KH9 (Wake Is), T2 (Tuvalu), T30 (Western Kiribati), T31 (Central Kiribati), and T32 (Eastern Kiribati),T33 (Bananba Is), V7 (Marshall Is), and ZK3 (Tokelau)

Zone 32

New Zealand Zone: A3 (Tonga),  E5 (North and South Cook Is.) FK New Caledonia (but NOT Chesterfield Is.), FO (French Polynesia and Austral Is. (but NOT Marquesas and Clipperton), FW (Wallis Is.), H40 (Temotu), KH8 (American Samoa), KH8S (Swains), VK9N (Norfolk Is.), VP6 (Pitcairn and Ducie), YJ (Vanuatu),  ZK2 (Niue Is.), ZL (New Zealand), ZL7 (Chatham Is.), ZL8 (Kermadec Is.), ZL9 (Auckland and Campbell Is.), 3D2 (Fiji, Rotuma, and Conway Reef), 5W (Western Samoa) and some Antarctic stations.

Zone 33

Northwestern Zone of Africa: CN (Morocco), CT3 (Madeira Is), EA8 (Canary Is.), EA9 (Ceuta and/or Melilla), IG9 (Pelagic Is.), IH9 & IG9 (Pantelleria Is. or Pelagic Islands), S0 (Western Sahara), 3V (Tunisia), and 7X (Algeria).

Zone 34


Zone 35

Central Zone of Africa: C5 (The Gambia), D4 (Cape Verde Is.), EL (Liberia), J5 (Guinea Bissau), TU (Cote d’Ivoire), TY (Benin), TZ (Mali), XT (Burkina Faso), 3X (Guinea), 5N (Nigeria), 5T (Mauritania), 5U (Niger), 5V (Togo), 6W (Senegal), 9G (Ghana) and 9L (Sierra Leone).

Zone 36

Equatorial Zone of Africa: D2 (Angola), S9 (Sao Tome & Principe), TJ (Cameroon), TL (Central African Rep.), TN (Congo), TR (Gabon), TT (Chad), ZD7 (St. Helena Is.), ZD8 (Ascension Is.), 3C (Equatorial Guinea), 3C0 (Annobon Is.), 9J (Zambia), 9Q (Democratic Rep. of Congo), 9U (Burundi) and 9X (Rwanda).

Zone 37

Eastern Zone of Africa: C9 (Mozambique), ET (Ethiopia), E3 (Eritrea), J2 (Djibouti), T5 (Somalia), 5H (Tanzania), 5X (Uganda), 5Z (Kenya), 7O (Socotra and Abd al Kuri islands ONLY) and 7Q (Malawi).

Zone 38

South African Zone: A2 (Botswana), V5 (Namibia), ZD9 (Tristan da Cunha & Gough Is.), Z2 (Zimbabwe), ZS (South Africa) and ZS8 (Marion Is), 3DA (Swaziland), 3Y (Bouvet Is.), 7P (Lesotho), and some Antarctic Stns.

Zone 39

Madagascar Zone: D6 (Comoros), FH (Mayotte), FR (Reunion, Glorioso, Juan de Nova and Tromelin), FT-W (Crozet Is), FT-X (Kerguelen Is), FT-Z (Amsterdam & St. Paul Is), S7 (Seychelles), VK0 (Heard Is), VQ9 (Chagos), 3B6/7 (Agalega & St.Brandon Is), 3B8 (Mautitius Is), 3B9 (Rodriguez Is), 5R (Madagascar) and some Antarctic stations.

Zone 40


Coming soon - how to maximize your chances of increasing your DXCC totals
