Organizers of the prestigious competition CQ WW DX contest announced that in the autumn edition of 2025 there will be changes in the rules. Most of the modifications are rather minor in nature, but one of them is fundamental – cancellation of the EXPLORER category.
You will read in the article
EXPLORER category - goal and reality
Category EXPLORER was introduced in 2021 in order to support radio amateurs who wanted to experiment with internet-connected stations and new technologies. Its mission was to enable participants to "explore" new ways of operating, engage creative ideas and test innovative solutions in station design and competition strategies.
They could join this category both individuals and teams – so there were variants Single-Operator EXPLORER also Multi-Operator EXPLORER.
However, in practice it turned out that the intention of the organizers was not completely clearly understood:
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Single-operator Explorer station were often only portable stations or remote controlled stations from one place, which could also start in the regular Single-Operator category.
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On the contrary, multi-operator teams decided to make full use of the new category and created stations with multiple locations connected to the Internet, which allowed more operators to be involved remotely.
Vplyv pandémie a skúsenosti z CQ WPX Contestu
During the Covid-19 pandemic, CQ WPX contest introduced similar category named Multi-Distributed. It allowed multi-operator teams to compete without physical contact and all positions could be controlled remotely.
This category turned out to be very successful, while she noted growing participation and strong competition from all over the world.
The main change from 2025
Based on the experience gained, the organizers decided that from CQ WW DX contest 2025:
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The EXPLORER category will be completely cancelled.
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A new category Multi-Transmitter-Distributed will be created, which will be based on a successful model Multi-Distributed z CQ WPX Contestu.
This new category will have rules detailed in CQ WW rules, specifically in the section Section V.4 on the official website: cqww.com/rules.htm.
What it means for participants
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Radio amateurs who until now have used the Explorer category for single-op operation, will henceforth apply to the standard Single-Operator categories.
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Multi-op teams they will be able to continue connected long-distance operations, but already in a new official category Multi-Transmitter-Distributed, which will provide clear rules and transparent evaluation.
The organizers believe that this change will bring greater clarity in the rules and at the same time will allow better reflection modern trends in amateur radio technology and remote control of stations.
CQ WW DX contest patrí medzi najväčšie a najprestížnejšie rádioamatérske súťaže na svete a tieto zmeny naznačujú, že organizátori sa snažia udržať krok s technologickým pokrokom and at the same time preserve fairness and competition.