The Türkiye HF Contest returns this weekend, August 22–23, 2026, for its second edition, bringing an important new feature to the international contesting calendar: CW joins SSB, making the event a CW, SSB and Mixed-mode competition.
The contest will run for 24 hours, from 06:00 UTC on Saturday, August 22 to 06:00 UTC on Sunday, August 23, and is open to radio amateurs worldwide.
Activity will take place on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres, with a wide range of Single Operator categories in CW, SSB and Mixed, as well as Multi-Operator categories.
For DX stations, QSOs with Turkish stations are particularly valuable, while Turkish provinces and DXCC countries count as multipliers on each band. Another interesting feature is the additional incentive for low-band activity, with valid contacts on 160 and 80 metres receiving double QSO points.
In the Mixed categories, the same station can also be worked on the same band in both CW and SSB, with both contacts counting for QSO points.
Following its first edition in 2025, the addition of CW represents an important step in the development of this young contest. It will be interesting to see whether the new format succeeds in attracting more operators and increasing overall activity.
An Interesting Calendar Overlap
There is another interesting aspect to this contest weekend.
The Türkiye HF Contest partially overlaps with the YO DX HF Contest, another well-established European event taking place on the same weekend.
The Türkiye HF Contest runs from 06:00 UTC Saturday to 06:00 UTC Sunday, while the YO DX HF Contest starts at 12:00 UTC on Saturday and continues until Sunday.
This creates an 18-hour overlap, during which both contests will generate CW and SSB activity across many of the same HF bands.
For operators, this means paying particular attention to the exchange being received and correctly identifying which contest a station is participating in. At the same time, having two international events running simultaneously should contribute to a particularly active weekend on the European HF bands.
We Will Be Watching the Log Submissions
From a contesting perspective, the overlap also creates an interesting situation that will be worth following after the weekend.
We are curious to see the number of submitted logs for both the Türkiye HF Contest and the YO DX HF Contest.
The comparison will be particularly interesting for the Türkiye HF Contest, which is only in its second edition and has expanded from its original SSB format to include CW.
Will the introduction of CW bring a significant increase in participation? And how will the simultaneous YO DX HF Contest affect activity and log submissions?
We will have the answers once the submission periods are over.
For now, there is only one thing to do:
Turn on the radio and enjoy a very busy contest weekend!
See you on the bands!
