Víkend 24. – 25. októbra 2026 will bring another vintage CQ WW DX SSB Contest, the world's largest shortwave radio amateur competition. Among the stations worth attention is E2A – contestová značka rádioklubu Siam DX Group (E20AX) z Thajska. Tento rok bude E2A vysielať z lokality Phimai v provincii Nakhon Ratchashima v CQ zóne 26 a prvýkrát nastúpi v kategórii Multi-Multi.
You will read in the article
Thailand and E2A
Thailand (until 1939 Siam) is located in the mainland part of Southeast Asia, at the border of the Gulf of Siam and the Andaman Sea. With an area of more than 513,000 km² and a coastline of more than 3,200 km, it is an interesting country in terms of propagation conditions – CQ zone 26 covers Southeast Asia and offers favorable routes to Europe and North America on the 15 and 10 m bands during the contest. The E2A mark was awarded by the Thai regulatory authority NBTC in 2014 exclusively for competition purposes. Since that year, it has been operated by Siam DX Group under the auspices of E21EIC.
Multi-Multi with an international team
V ročníku 2026 E2A vstupuje do kategórie Multi-Multi (M/M) – najvyššej multi-operátorskej kategórie, v ktorej pravidlá CQ WW povoľujú súčasné vysielanie na všetkých šiestich contestových pásmach (160 – 10 m), pričom na každom pásme smie byť aktívny jeden signál s výkonom do 1 500 W. Je to posun oproti minulým ročníkom, kde E2A súťažila v kategóriách Multi-Two (SSB 2025, 2022) a Multi-Single (CW 2025, 2023).
The team for CQ WW SSB 2026 consists of experienced contesters from several countries: LA7JO (Norway), E21EIC (Thailand), DL3DXX (Germany), JH4RHF (Japan), SM6LRR and SM7PKK (Sweden), SP3LPG (Poland), HS4RAY and E25KAE (Thailand). The international composition is no accident - from 2020, Siam DX Group systematically focuses on multi-operator categories in order to train operators for the WRTC (World Radiosport Team Championship).
Station equipment
The technical background of E2A is based on a combination of two generations of top transceivers. The base consists of a pair Yaesu FT-1000MP, každý s lineárnym zosilňovačom Yaesu VL-1000 (Quadra) – klasická SO2R setup where both transceivers work in parallel on different bands. Complements are two ICOM IC-7610 with SPE power amplifiers. Interband interference filtering is ensured by the 4O3A Signature bandpass system, which is essential in multi-operator operation with several simultaneously active transmitters.
The antenna system is spread over two masts. On the first are a triband yagi JK-MID-TRI with 12 elements at a height of 32m, a two-element directional antenna CY402 on 40m at a height of 30m, a rotary dipole CD78-5 on 80m at a height of 25m, a triband Force12 C-3 with 7 elements at a height of 18m and a trapezoidal dipole at a height of 20m. The second mast carries a three-element Nagara T3-3VX on WARC bands at 26m, a five-element monoband YU7EF on 10m at 23m and an inverted V on 80m at 20m. Overall, this is a configuration that covers all six contest bands with directional antennas from 10 to 80 m - the E2A antenna is not listed for 160 m.
Competition history
E2A entered CQ WW as a single-operator station in 2014-2019. The breakthrough came in September 2020, when the team switched to multi-operator categories. The following table captures the key results:
| A year | Mod | Category | The score | QSO | Zones | Countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | SSB | M/2 | 12,159,984 | 6,834 | 160 | 572 |
| 2025 | CW | M/S-H | 9,467,200 | — | — | — |
| 2024 | SSB | M/S | 6,685,752 | 4,800 | 152 | 495 |
| 2022 | SSB | M/2 | 10,417,873 | 5,991 | 157 | 536 |
| 2022 | CW | M/2 | 11,946,744 | 6,625 | 162 | 549 |
The year-on-year growth in the SSB score from 10.4 million (2022) to 12.1 million points (2025) while maintaining the same M/2 category indicates that the team is improving its capabilities. The transition to M/M in 2026 is a logical step – more simultaneously active bands means a higher potential multiplier, but also requires a larger number of operators and more precise coordination.
QSL E2A
Confirmation of the connection with E2A is possible electronically via LoTW (logbook of the World), where logs will be uploaded after the evaluation of the contest. Paper QSL tickets are managed by the E21EIC manager. The team prefers to request through the OQRS (Online QSL Request System) service - both direct and bureau. The QRZ profile explicitly states that direct QSL is welcome, the bureau is available exclusively through OQRS. Digital QSL systems (eQSL and similar) do not accept E2A.
The exchange in CQ WW SSB is report RS and CQ zone - for E2A, for example, 59 26. The station will be active for 48 hours from Saturday 24 October 00:00 UTC to Sunday 25 October 23:59 UTC.