5Z4VJ - Kenyan station in CQ WW DX SSB 2026

Keňská republika leží vo východnej Afrike priamo na rovníku, s hlavným mestom Nairobi vo výške okolo 1 700 m n. m. Pre rádioamatérov je Keňa zaujímavá z viacerých dôvodov. CQ zone 37 is one of the desired multipliers – the equatorial position ensures symmetrical propagation conditions both north and south, and on the 15 and 10 m bands the route to Europe is open for most of the day. In the upcoming CQ WW DX Conteste SSB (October 24-25, 2026) will be an active station from Nairobi 5Z4VJ v kategórii Single Operator.

Operator Andy Chadwick, G3AB

Behind the brand 5Z4VJ is an experienced British radio amateur Andy Chadwick (G3AB), living in Nairobi. Andy is a member of FOC (First Class Operators' Club, No. 1564), HSC (High Speed ​​Club, No. 1555), CDXC and the Safari DX Club, and a life member of the RSK (Radio Society of Kenya). This is not an occasional visitor - Andy from Kenya has been running and regularly activating other African ones for a long time entity. Pod značkou ZD7VJ vysielal zo Svätej Heleny (CQ zóna 36), ako 5H1VJ zo Zanzibaru, 5X2VJ z Ugandy a ET3AA from Addis Ababa. In 2024, he operated from Kenya under the contest brand 5Z4A in the Multi-Single category High power, kde dosiahol 2 882 075 bodov.

Station and antenna system

Station 5Z4VJ is located in a city flat in Nairobi. The antennas are installed on the roof of the apartment building, approximately 70 m above the ground - an advantage of a high-rise building that compensates for limited space for larger antenna systems. On higher bands (6, 10, 12, 15, 17 and 20 m) it serves hexbeam, a compact directional antenna with acceptable gain and easy installation. The 30 and 40 m bands are covered by dipoles. End-fed quarter-wave antennas are extended to the lower bands (60, 80 and 160 m).

As transceivers Andy uses ICOM IC-7300, Elecraft K3 and KX3, ICOM IC-705 and SDR Hermes-Lite 2. QRZ profile points to a serious operational problem – local interference in urban environments is extremely strong and intermittent below 14 MHz. For contest operation on the 40, 80 and 160 m bands, this represents a fundamental limitation. Andy therefore occasionally broadcasts from an alternate site outside Nairobi where the electromagnetic environment is more favorable.

CQ WW SSB 2026 – Single Operator from zone 37

In CQ WW SSB 2026, 5Z4VJ will compete in the Single Operator (SO) category. The exchange in the contest is the RS report and CQ zone - for 5Z4VJ, for example, 59 37. The station from CQ zone 37 is a valuable multiplier for European, North American and Asian contestants, which means that 5Z4VJ will be one of the sought-after brands. Kenya's time shift (UTC+3) is also advantageous - Andy can effectively work with European stations in the early evening CET when the 20m and 15m bands are still open.

RBN (Reverse Beacon Network) statistics for the past year show that 5Z4VJ was active for a total of 326 days, with its signal picked up by skimmers in Europe (307 hours), Asia (267 hours), North America (228 hours), Africa (206 hours), South America (110 hours) and Oceania (91 hours). It showed the greatest activity on the band 15 m (120 hours) and 20 m (109 hours).

Competition history

Andy participates in CQ WW contests regularly, under several brands according to the current position:

Najlepšie výsledky dosiahol v SSB ročníku 2021 pod 5Z4VJ v kategórii Multi-Single High Power s viac ako 3,5 milióna bodov. V CW je pozoruhodná jeho aktivita zo Svätej Heleny, kde pod ZD7VJ v roku 2024 na jedinom pásme 10 m nadviazal takmer 5 000 spojení.

QSL agenda 5Z4VJ

Logs from 5Z4VJ are uploaded to ARRL LoTW and Club Log. Paper QSL tickets are managed by manager Tim Beaumont, M0URX, exclusively through the OQRS system at m0urx.com/oqrs. Andy explicitly states on his QRZ profile that he does not use eQSL or the QRZ logbook. For contest QSOs, the fastest way is confirmation via LoTW, where logs are usually uploaded shortly after the contest.