LZ DX Contest is one of the most popular November amateur radio contests and attracts operators from all over the world. The organizer is Bulgarian Federation of Radio Amateurs (BFRA), which organizes this prestigious competition with an emphasis on fair conditions, technical accuracy, and a high level of logging discipline.
The competition will take place in 2025 22nd-23rd November 2025, during the weekend before the famous CQWW CW Contest. The competition lasts exactly 24 hours, from Saturday 12:00 UTC to Sunday 11:59 UTC, and logs must be submitted no later than by 7th December 2025 (00:00Z).
Bands, modes, and adherence to bandplan
The competition takes place on traditional HF bands 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters, in modes CW and SSB. The organizer explicitly emphasizes the obligation to adhere to IARU Region 1 bandplan, which is especially important when operating in narrow segments or in CW-only allocated parts.
Contest categories of LZ DX Contest
The competition offers a wide range of categories, especially for single-op participants. All categories are divided by power and mode, with the following power definitions applying:
High Power: over 100 W, but up to the license limit or 1500 W (whichever is lower)
Low Power: maximum 100 W
low power: maximum 10 W
All station equipment must be within within 500 meters must be connected by physical RF cables. Use of DX-cluster and RBN is allowed, but remote SDR or external signal sources are prohibited.
Single-Op categories include
All Bands Mixed (High/Low)
All Bands Morse code (High/Low)
All Bands single sideband (High/Low)
Single Band Mixed: 10m, 15m, 20m, 40m, 80m (High Power only)
All Bands low power Mixed
SWL
Multi-Op category
Multi-Op, Single TX, All Bands, Mixed (only High Power)
Bulgarian stations are traditionally scored separately outside the global rankings.
Rules of contacts and exchange code
Each station can be worked on each band twice - once in CW and once in SSBMulti-op teams must adhere to 10-minute rule for changing mode or band.
Transmitted code
Non-LZ stations: RS(T) + ITU zone
LZ stations: RS(T) + two-letter district abbreviation (e.g. PD, SF, VT)
Bulgaria has 28 districts, which also act as multipliers.
Scoring and score
QSO points
10 points - QSO with LZ station
3 points - QSO with another continent
1 point - QSO with the same continent (including own country)
1 point - LZ↔LZ connections
SWL points
3 points for two call signs and two exchanges,
1 point for two call signs and one exchange.
Multipliers
Non-LZ stations:
Sum of ITU zones + all LZ districts, on each band.
LZ stations:
ITU zones + long distanceCC entity, on each band.
Final score
Sum of QSO points × total number of multipliers
Submitting logs from LZ DX Contest
From 2023, only electronic logs are accepted only electronic logs in format CabrilloThey can be sent:
by email to: lzlong distancec@bfra.bg
or directly through web upload: http://bfra.bg:8080/WebEditor/
Logs must contain exact frequency with resolution 1 kHz.
Prizes
Category winners will receive traditional plaques.
In addition:
Boyko LZ1QN again devotes to random draws 5 beautiful plaques among all stations that achieve 500 or more valid QSOs.
Summary
LZ DX Contest 2025 combines an attractive format, clear rules, plenty of multipliers, and strong participation from Europe and the world. Thanks to the generous scoring of LZ stations, it is a dynamic competition that is ideal for zone hunters and DXCC entities.
Regardless of performance or experience, all radio amateurs can find challenge and fun in these contests. 73!