DX Marathon is a year-round program organized by CQ Amateur Radio magazine that encourages radio amateurs to DX regularly throughout the calendar year, not just during contest weekends or large DX expeditions. This feature makes it accessible to operators of all experience levels - from the beginner with a simple wire dipole to the operator of a large station with monoband yagi antennas.
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What is the principle of DX Marathon?
The principle is simple: work as many countries (DXCC entities) and CQ zones as possible during the calendar year, regardless of band or mode. Each country and each zone is counted only once, so it pays to focus on new entities and zones, instead of repeatedly working the same stations on multiple bands and modes.
The scoring is intentionally simple: one point for the first contact with a new country in a given year and one point for the first contact with a new zone. The points are simply added up, no multipliers are used. An example from the rules themselves: if you work 238 countries and 37 zones during the year, your score is 275. One contact can earn both a country and a zone point. The official lists are the CQ DX Countries List and the CQ Zone List, available on the DX Marathon website.
The DX Marathon is designed to encourage DX activity throughout the year. Points are awarded for contacts on all amateur radio bands (160 to 6 meters), including those not normally used for contesting – 60, 30, 17 and 12 meters.
DX Marathon Terms and Conditions
Ročník 2026 trvá od 00:00 UTC January 1st to 23:59 UTC December 31st, 2026, with a deadline for sending diaries 5. januára 2027 (23:59Z). Uznávajú sa spojenia na pásmach 160 až 6 metrov vrátane pásma 60 m a všetkých WARC bands. All connections must be made exclusively on amateur radio frequencies without the use of converters or relé – spojenia cez EchoLink, digitálne repeatery typu DMR, AllStar a podobne sa nepočítajú. Rovnako sa neuznávajú stanice označené ako /AM (letecká mobilná prevádzka) ani stanice /MM nachádzajúce sa na plávajúcom, nezakotvenom alebo zakotvenom plavidle.
The key condition is that the station must be operated from a single physical location. Combining results from a home station and a remote station into one report is not allowed – this is one of the most frequently violated rules and its violation leads to immediate disqualification and a ban from participating in the DX Marathon for a period of five years. Remote operation is allowed as long as all transmitters, receivers and antennas are located in one physical location; if the remote station is located in a country other than the country of the participant’s license, it must comply with all local laws and regulations of that country. Once selected, the remote station must be used throughout the entire year.
The program offers five categories: Unlimited (unlimited power according to license, any antennas), Limited (maximum 100 W, wire and vertical antennas or rotating dipoles up to 15 m high, Yagi limited to 3 active elements and boom length 5 m), Formula 100W (maximum 100 W, wire or vertical antennas only without directional arrays, height up to 20 m), Formula Unlimited (same antenna restrictions as Formula 100W, but power according to license) and QRP Unlimited (maximum 5 W, no restrictions on antenna type, height or length). For 2026, the QRP class has been unified into one category - the winner will no longer receive a plaque, only a mention on the certificate, due to the decreasing number of participants in this class.
QSL cards or other forms of contact confirmation are not required - the participant is expected to submit only contacts that he has reason to believe have been legitimately and accurately confirmed in both directions. The organizers reserve the right to verify any contact submitted, including comparison with DXpedition logs. Incorrect zones or incorrect DXCC prefixes will not be counted in the score and will result in the loss of one point for each such error.
OM3JW, OM2VL and OM2DX results in 2025
Slovak radio amateurs achieved extraordinary results in 2025, placing them among the world's top radio amateurs.
OM3JW took second place in the world in the Unlimited category with a score of 318 points, just behind the winner K9EL, who had the same number of points of 318, but the earlier date of the last scoring connection (December 27th compared to December 31st for OM3JW) decided the order in case of a tie. In the continental ranking "Mixed Europe" (mixed bands and modes), OM3JW took first place in Europe with his score of 318. OM3JW is also listed in the DXCC entity results table as the highest scoring station for Slovakia (OM) in 2025.
| Call sign | Category | Location | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| OM3JW | Unlimited (world) | 2nd place | 318 |
| OM3JW | Mixed Europe | 1st place | 318 |
| OM2VL | Phone (world) | 3rd place | 245 |
| OM2VL | Phone Europe | 2nd place | 245 |
| OM2DX | Digital (world) | 3rd place | 305 |
| OM2DX | Digital Europe | 1st place | 305 |
OM2VL sa v kategórii Phone (výhradne fónická operation) umiestnil na treťom mieste svetového rebríčka so skóre 245 bodov, čo v rámci kontinentálneho hodnotenia Phone Europe znamenalo druhé miesto, hneď za IU1RLJ. OM2DX dosiahol v kategórii Digital (digitálne módy) tretie miesto na svete so skóre 305 bodov, pričom v kontinentálnom hodnotení Digital Europe toto skóre stačilo na prvé miesto pred rakúskym OE1TOA a talianskym IK2RPE.
Tieto výsledky potvrdzujú, že slovenská DX komunita dokáže dlhodobo konkurovať najsilnejším staniciam sveta naprieč viacerými prevádzkovými kategóriami – od zmiešanej prevádzky cez čisto fónickú až po digitálne módy.
Summary
DX Marathon offers a simple yet motivating format for year-round DX activity without complicated scoring and without the need to concentrate efforts into one contest weekend. Thanks to five power and antenna categories, it is accessible to both QRP enthusiasts and operators of large stations, and thanks to the rich prize system - including a special plaque for the highest score from Slovakia - it makes sense to monitor your results throughout the year. The results of OM3JW, OM2VL and OM2DX from the 2025 edition show that even a Slovak station can fight for the top spots on a global and European scale.
If you haven't experienced the DX Marathon yet, 2026 is underway - entries can be updated continuously via the online tool at entry.dxmarathon.com until the deadline of January 5, 2027. Complete rules, prize list and useful journaling tools can be found at dxmarathon.com.