I was off the air with antenna issues most of the year, but this looks like fun so I’ll be back…….W6OGC. Thank you for the wonderful contest again this year…..N7RD. Thank you for your efforts with the DX marathon Award…..NU8Z. Long live CW. CW Operators Do It By Hand…..YV6BXN. Good fun again this year…..VK4CC. Logger32’s in-year DXCC support helped me enormously, flagging new ones on DXcluster and the band maps….ZL2IFB. I did not even know about my opportunity to submit until Oct. At the Chattanooga Hamfest, I found a $1 used copy of “A Year of DX” by W9KNI. I was pleasantly surprised to learn of the DX Marathon program, and better yet – that I had a sizable entry in the QRP class…..K4AR. This is my first entry and I had a great time…..W5IF. I think the Marathon is the best test od DXing we have. It takes time, talent and equipment to place with a good score…..N4ANV. I just learned about the DX Marathon in December, so now that I’m aware of it, hopefully my score will be better for 2017…….N6RW. This is an never ending source of fun and excitement for DX chasers like me…..K7BV. Really expected to have done better this year, but since mid-October have had an s6-7 noise level and can’t find out where it is coming from…..K9CJ. As I know that Mel SM0MPV beat me in Mixed I decided to go for digital only this year. 73 from snowy Sweden…..SM5DJZ. My score is pretty low at 29 points but it gives me a benchmark for future DX Marathons……K5ATG. Condx this year not so good. Missed a few Far East stations……VE3CRG. Was an interesting exercise to go through and look back at 2016, also interesting to take a look at DXKeeper. Found a couple of errors on final check. 73 from New Caledonia…..FK1TS. Thanks for running the Marathon and keeping me focused on DX’ing….N3QE. I participated in the CQ Contests, but I did not know about the DX Marathon. I read EA1DR’s article in the URE magazine and I have done everything possible to participate. I hope to participate in future editions…..EB3WH. Not too good this year due to little on air time…..W4CU. This is my tenth DX Marathon! The year was difficult. But despite the downward solar activity many successful contacts were made with many areas…..R6YY. Just found out about the Marathon a couple weeks ago, or would have done better……AI7KC. Thanks for this activity and hope to enter more for 2017 entry…..W9IXX. 160m propagation improved during the year, We are now back to the beginning of low solar cycle years, Much more fun ahead for 2017….N4IS. 1st year in Marathon - lots of fun - and frustration. Missed quite a few “easy” ones, and I could not recover as condx went down later in the year….K2ZJ. 5W QRP using Flex-1500 SDR. All QSOs 20m JT65 mode….G8JQW. A hard year but very satisfying. Band conditions well down but still managed to pull out some new ones…..GI4SJQ. A new challenge for me! That was fun! Thanks very much….PA0INA. Always fun doing the Marathon. Not as good as last two years but still fun. Hope for a better 2017….WA4JQS. Bands were way down from previous years, still had fun…..WG5G. CONDX have been poor under 0 SSN! Let’s hope it will improve in 2017….JA0DAI. First time entering the CQ DX Marathon. Looking forward to improving my score in 2017…..W4ER. First time entering the Marathon; never gave it much thought in the past. I do enough contesting now that I can actually rack up a respectable score. Thanks to AD1C for his very nice ADIF conversion program….NA6O. First time entrant, hope to be active in 2017…..WT2P. Fun contest but time consuming. Once you start you can’t miss a day without listening. Simple vertical antenna here…..N8MZ. Great fun even for a little pistol…..AJ8B. Had a ball on 40, limited only by poor propagation late in the year….K5TF. Had a great time this year. Wish I could have worked China for zone 24. I did get 17 more entities than 2 years ago when condx were better….K4IE. Had fun doing this. Gave me a new Challenge…..WB1ASL. I enjoy this contest each and every year. It is one thing that keep me excited in the hunt for DX each and every year…..N7RD. I heard about this near the end of this year, and have spent a good part of the 2016 with no antenna. It sounds like fun, so now with better antennas in the New Year, I’ll be back…..W6OGC. It was a good operation from Easter Island (CE0Y), thanks to all who contacted me…..CB0Y. Many thanks for the QSOs…..K4WES. Propagation was not that favorable so not much DX activity. Enjoyed chasing rare DX such as VK0EK, FT4JA, VP8SGI and VP8STI…..VU3NXI. Score way down from 2015. I enjoy this challenge each year. Many thanks for all the work that is done to make it successful…..K5BG. Second Year submittal….WC3W. The year started off good but became harder and harder toward the end. By October I felt lucky to make any DX contacts in a day. This and other CQ and ARRL contests have made me want to study everything I can do to try to improve. Since I live in an HOA my antenna situation is very challenging…..N5ZY. 2016 was the first year I participated in the Marathon. It was most interesting to monitor the number of countries and zones worked day by day and month my month. The Marathon is quite a bright idea and I will most certainly participate in 2017. Sincere thanks to those who initiated this interesting event and also of course to CQ Magazine…..TF3JB. Another FB year’s DXing despite declining sunspots and conditions, I equaled last year’s score. The few I missed were simply too weak down here. I’m in awe of those who beat me! As I write this, I’m already chasing new ones in 2017 - and so the fun continues…..ZL2IFB. I did not quite reach my score of the previous year, but I am still very happy to collect more than 100 DXCC entities from Antarctica within one year in very poor propagation conditions. Trying out JT9 and JT65 helped me get a few new countries into the log when the propagation path was marginal…..DP1POL. I wasn’t going to enter this year until October 1 when I decided to make a 3 month run at single band 40 meters. Unfortunately, the propagation died the second half of the year - although I picked up a couple of rare ones (VU7MS, 8Q7SP, VQ9SC) during some brief openings. I missed a lot of stuff that I just couldn’t hear - SU, 9N7, XU, XV, XW, XZ, XX9, UK, EK, EY, etc.
- they were all frequently spotted, but no openings. I missed my objective of breaking a total score of 250 - I’m just hoping to crack the top 5 for this entry…..KB0EO. My first time participating in the DX Marathon. Next year I’ll try to do something different… Thanks for the organization of the event…..EA2BD. Some poor conditions but some nice surprises too…..GI4DOH. Thanks for running the Marathon (pun intended) again in 2016. The cycle is waning but the fun is still there…..VK4CC. Thanks for the continued opportunity to improve my operating skills….KD4LEM. Thanks for the DX Marathon program. Great way to keep operating interest up during very trying propagation conditions….. AC7P. Thanks to the DX Marathon I was able to QRV actively throughout the year….JA2NDQ. The bands have terrible here. I could hear others working stations and I could not even tell there was any one there, but guess what it was still fun…..N4ANV……This has been a good event. I appreciate the opportunity to look back at my operations for the year 2016……WA5KBH. This is my first DX Marathon and hopefully not my last. I had to take time off to help take care of a sick dad but it has been a productive year nonetheless……NY4G. This is my first DX Marathon. My first ever HF contact was on 10 January
- All contacts recorded were made using 5 or fewer watts with an Elecraft K2 and a homebrew 20 meter inverted V wire dipole. All contacts were made in PSK31 as a digital mode……K5ATG. This is my first effort to the DX Marathon, I know I missed few entities who were QRV during 2016, but I tried to do my best……I4EAT. This is my first participation. I hope to improve the score in the next year. It is very important consider the handicap of the little pistols -Limited power and limited aluminum in a contest……EA2HW. This is the first time I’ve decided to enter. I wasn’t even planning to enter but saw a reminder to submit by January 10 so I figured I’d make it before the deadline. Maybe this year I’ll actually try to work on this for real…..K2DBK. Thank you DX Marathon for another year in competition…..IK5FKF. While the sunspots may be fewer, DXpeditions and contest operations from rare spots have kept me very close to the rig all year…..VE9CB. Working 30m band and CW only was a lot of fun…..I4TJE.