The OM SSB race is one of the traditional Slovak races that annually attracts a large number of radio amateurs from all over Slovakia and the Czech Republic. They will take place in 2025 the third Saturday in September, that is 20 September 2025. The competition is ongoing from 04:00 to 06:00 UTC (from 06:00 to 08:00 CEST) and is divided into two one-hour stages.
During each stage, the competitor can follow up with the same station one valid connection on each band. This means that by competing on both bands, it is possible to get more connections to the station during the race. At the same time as the OM SSB race, there is also OK SSB plant, while connections with the Czech participants of this parallel race also apply.
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Bands and allowed segments
OM SSB races take place on two bands – 80 m a 160 m.
The following segments are intended for SSB operation:
- 160 m: 1840-1950 kHz
- 80 m: 3700-3770 kHz
These segments are in line with the recommendations IARU pre SSB contesting, aby sa predišlo rušeniu iných druhov prevádzky.
Categories of contestants
It competes in three main categories:
- Both bands, performance according to permit conditions – without limiting the output power.
- Both bands, power up to 100 W – for stations with lower power, typically QRP/QRO up to 100 W.
- Listeners (SWL) – a separate category intended for radio amateurs who follow the course of the race without broadcasting.
Competition code
With each connection, a three-part competition code is exchanged in the exact form: RS + serial number of the connection + district symbol
Example: 59 001 BAC
The correct broadcasting and writing of the code is key, because any error in the received code or tag will cause connection invalid.
Scoring and multipliers
Every valid connection has value 1 point.
Multipliers they form the district symbols of Slovak (OM) and Czech (OK) stations. They are counted separately on every band and in every stage, so one district can be obtained at most 4x during the race (for example: 80 m - 1st stage, 80 m - 2nd stage, 160 m - 1st stage, 160 m - 2nd stage). Note: Own district is not counted as a multiplier.
Overall result is calculated according to the formula: number of points for connections × number of multipliers
Diaries and evaluation
From 2025 on they accept journals exclusively in format Cabrillo.
A diary is necessary send within 14 days after the race via the web interface on the website http://okomdx.crk.cz/eval/ (if the English or Czech version is displayed, switch to Slovak - click on "Slovak" in the top line).
If the station will not send log, its connections are counted only if they appear in the diaries of at least five other participants.