Continent-Based Statistics from 2018 CQ WW SSB and CQ WW CW logs

Continent Pairs

We start by looking at the number of QSOs for pairs of continent from the CQ WW contests for 2018. The plots are created from the augmented file (cq-ww-2005--2018-augmented.xz; see here for details of the augmented format) derived from the public logs.

The procedure is simple. We consider only QSOs that meet the following criteria:

1. marked as "two-way" QSOs (i.e., both parties submitted a log containing the QSO);
2. no callsign or zone is bust by either party.

A counter is maintained for every possible pair of continents and the pertinent counter is incremented once for each distinct QSO between stations in those continents.

Separate figures are provided below for each band, led by a figure integrating QSOs on all bands. The figures are constructed in such a way as to show the results for both the SSB and CW contests on a single figure. (Any pair of continents with no QSOs that meet the above criteria appears in black on the figures.)

Zones and Distance

We can also examine the distribution of distance for QSOs as a function of continenWe can also examine the distribution of distance for QSOs as a function of continent.

Below is a series of figures showing this distribution integrated over all bands and, separately, band by band for the CQ WW SSB and CQ WW CW contests for 2017.

Each plot shows a colour-coded distribution of the distance of QSOs for each continent, with the data for SSB appearing above the data for CW within each continent.

For every half-QSO in a given continent, the distance of the QSO is calculated; in ths way, the total  number of half-QSOs in bins of width 500 km is accumulated. Once all the QSOs for a particular contest have been binned in this manner, the distribution for each continent is normalised to total 100% and the result coded by colour and plotted. The mean distance for each continent and mode is denoted by a small white rectangle added to the underlying distance distribution. The 99% confidence range of the value of mean is marked by a small blue rectangle (typically entirely subsumed by the white rectangle). The median is marked with a vertical brown rectangle.

As usual, only QSOs for which logs have been provided by both parties, and which show no bust of either callsign or zone number are included. Bins coloured black are those for which no QSOs are present at the relevant distance.

The resulting plots are reproduced below.

Half-QSOs Per Continent for CQ WW CW and SSB, 2005 to 2018

A simple way to display the activity in the CQ WW contests is to count the number of half-QSOs in each continent (a single QSO contains two half-QSOs, so a single QSO may contain two different continents or the same continent twice). We count half QSOs, making sure to include each valid QSO only once (that is, if the same QSO appears in two submitted logs, it is counted only once).

If we do this for the entire contest without taking the individual bands into account, we obtain this figure:

The plot shows data for both SSB and CW contests over the period from 2005 to 2018. I include only QSOs for which both parties submitted a log and neither party bust either the zone or the call of the other party. The black triangles represent contests in which no half-QSOs were made from (or to) a particular continent. We can, of course, generate equivalent plots on a band-by-band basis:

The activity from EU so overwhelms these figures that in order to get a feel for the activity elsewhere, we need to move to a logarithmic scale:

We can easily look at the percentage of QSOs that are between two stations on the same continent, and in particular between two EU stations:

ARRL DX SSB public logs for 2018

The logs for the 2018 running of the ARRL International DX SSB contest have been made available by the ARRL.

In addition to the files made available by the ARRL (one log per file), the same logs can be downloaded from here in the form of a compressed archive that contains all the logs in a single file (~4.2MB; MD5 checksum f218899f01b077e91b2d2ca5e8d91245).

I note that, for reasons at which I cannot begin to guess, the ARRL has seen fit to edit the submitted logs unilaterally and in such a way that they no longer conform to the QSO template for this contest, and, further, include lines with tags not present in the original submissions and that are undefined by the Cabrillo specification. As far as I know, there is no way to know what other emendations, if any, have been made to the submitted logs prior to their being made public.

Continent-Based DX in CQ WW: 2017

This post shows the number of QSOs for pairs of continents from the CQ WW contests for 2017. The plots are created from the augmented file (cq-ww-2005--2018-augmented.xz; see here for details of the augmented format) derived from the public logs.

The procedure is simple and is equivalent to that used for the zone-based analyses. We consider only QSOs that meet the following criteria:

1. marked as "two-way" QSOs (i.e., both parties submitted a log containing the QSO);
2. no callsign or zone is bust by either party.

A counter is maintained for every pair of continents and the pertinent counter is incremented once for each distinct QSO between stations in those continents.

Separate figures are provided for each band, led by a figure integrating QSOs on all bands. The figures are constructed in such a way as to show the results for both the SSB and CW contests on a single figure. (Any pair of continents with no QSOs that meet the above criteria appears in black on the figures.)

Continents and Distance

We can also examine the distribution of distance for QSOs as a function of continent.

Below is a series of figures showing this distribution integrated over all bands and, separately, band by band for the CQ WW SSB and CQ WW CW contests for 2017.

Each plot shows a colour-coded distribution of the distance of QSOs for each continent, with the data for SSB appearing above the data for CW within each continent.

For every half-QSO in a given continent, the distance of the QSO is calculated; in ths way, the total  number of half-QSOs in bins of width 500 km is accumulated. Once all the QSOs for a particular contest have been binned in this manner, the distribution for each continent is normalised to total 100% and the result coded by colour and plotted. The mean distance for each continent and mode is denoted by a small white rectangle added to the underlying distance distribution. The 99% confidence range of the value of mean is marked by a small blue rectangle (typically entirely subsumed by the white rectangle). The median is marked with a vertical brown rectangle.

As usual, only QSOs for which logs have been provided by both parties, and which show no bust of either callsign or zone number are included. Bins coloured black are those for which no QSOs are present at the relevant distance.

The resulting plots are reproduced below.

Continent-Based DX in CQ WW: 2016

This post shows the number of QSOs for pairs of continents from the CQ WW contests for 2016. The plots are created from the augmented file (cq-ww-2005--2018-augmented.xz; see here for details of the augmented format) derived from the public logs.

The procedure is simple and is equivalent to that used for the zone-based analyses. We consider only QSOs that meet the following criteria:

1. marked as "two-way" QSOs (i.e., both parties submitted a log containing the QSO);
2. no callsign or zone is bust by either party.

A counter is maintained for every pair of continents and the pertinent counter is incremented once for each distinct QSO between stations in those continents.

Separate figures are provided for each band, led by a figure integrating QSOs on all bands. The figures are constructed in such a way as to show the results for both the SSB and CW contests on a single figure. (Any pair of continents with no QSOs that meet the above criteria appears in black on the figures.)

Continents and Distance

We can also examine the distribution of distance for QSOs as a function of continent.

Below is a series of figures showing this distribution integrated over all bands and, separately, band by band for the CQ WW SSB and CQ WW CW contests for 2016.

Each plot shows a colour-coded distribution of the distance of QSOs for each continent, with the data for SSB appearing above the data for CW within each continent.

For every half-QSO in a given continent, the distance of the QSO is calculated; in ths way, the total  number of half-QSOs in bins of width 500 km is accumulated. Once all the QSOs for a particular contest have been binned in this manner, the distribution for each continent is normalised to total 100% and the result coded by colour and plotted. The mean distance for each continent and mode is denoted by a small white rectangle added to the underlying distance distribution. The 99% confidence range of the value of mean is marked by a small blue rectangle (typically entirely subsumed by the white rectangle). The median is marked with a vertical brown rectangle.

As usual, only QSOs for which logs have been provided by both parties, and which show no bust of either callsign or zone number are included. Bins coloured black are those for which no QSOs are present at the relevant distance.

The resulting plots are reproduced below.