When I first began thinking about the EUDX Contest in 2020, the idea was quite simple: to create a new international DX contest with Europe at its center and the European Union playing a distinctive role. At the time, I had no idea where that idea would lead. The first EUDX Contest was held in 2021, without an established history and with a new exchange and new rules. Starting a contest, however, is one thing. Building an international community around it is something completely different. Six editions later, the EUDX Contest has become much more than the event I imagined in 2020. The 2026 edition received 1,975 logs: 1,893 competition entries and 82 checklogs. For a contest only six years old, approaching 2,000 submissions is a milestone that makes me extremely proud. Yet the number itself is not the most interesting part of the story. What matters most is what happened between the first log received in 2021 and those 1,975 submissions received in 2026. As participation grew, one fact became increasingly clear: if the EUDX Contest was to continue developing, the way we managed it also had to evolve. From a new contest to an international event The original concept has remained largely unchanged. Stations located in European Union member states exchange their EUDX Area Code, while stations outside the European Union exchange their ITU zone. The aim was to create a format that would be easy to understand but strategically interesting. Making QSOs is naturally important, but finding new multipliers on different bands can completely transform a score. Operators must balance rate, propagation, band changes, multiplier hunting and accuracy throughout the contest’s 24 hours. Over the years, the event has attracted major multi-operator teams as well as individual operators using much simpler stations. That balance is fundamental to the identity of the EUDX Contest. The best-equipped stations must have the opportunity to compete at the highest level, but the event should remain equally welcoming to someone using Low Power, a single radio and a modest antenna. The 2026 participation figures confirmed this broad appeal. Low Power categories were among the most popular, while QRP, single-band and multi-operator entries added further variety. More important than the largest individual scores is the complete picture: nearly 2,000 submitted logs from operators who chose to spend part or all of the weekend with us. That number changed the way I looked at the future of the contest. When 1,975 logs change everything Receiving almost 2,000 logs is exciting. It is also a major responsibility. The contest does not end with the final CQ. For the Contest Committee, another demanding stage begins: log checking. Thousands of QSOs must be analyzed and compared. Callsigns and exchanges have to be verified, duplicate contacts identified and QSOs cross-checked against the other submitted logs. Categories must also be examined, scoring rules applied and unusual situations investigated. The reliability of the final rankings depends on the quality of this process. During the first six editions, we relied on external tools and especially on the experience and support of Tomi HA8RT, who carried out the log-checking process for us. I want to thank Tomi publicly for his work and for the important contribution he made to the development of the EUDX Contest. As the event grew, however, I began asking myself a difficult question: Should an international contest receiving almost 2,000 logs continue to depend on external systems for one of the most important parts of its operation? Eventually, the answer became clear. We needed to become independent. From using software to building our own That decision led to the development of a log-checking platform created specifically for the EUDX Contest. Beginning with the 2027 edition, the objective is to bring the complete checking process under the direct control of the Contest Committee. I am developing the platform myself in my role as EUDX Contest Manager. The challenge is not merely to replace one application with another. It is to rethink the complete workflow and create a continuous, controlled path from log submission to the publication of the official results. A Cabrillo file is uploaded through the contest website. Its structure, callsign and declared category can be examined before processing. The database receives and organizes the information. The evaluator analyzes the contacts, compares submitted logs, checks callsigns and exchanges, identifies duplicates and applies the scoring rules. Preliminary and final results can then be generated and published within the same digital environment. Contest rules evolve. Unexpected cases appear, categories change and experience reveals the need for new controls. When the software is designed specifically for the event, it can be adapted to those realities without waiting for an external platform to implement a particular feature. A system of this complexity must naturally be tested and continuously refined. Independence nevertheless gives us something extremely valuable: control over the contest’s future development and the ability to make the checking process increasingly consistent, accurate and transparent. The EUDX Contest Live Score project The same philosophy has inspired another major project for 2027: EUDX Contest Live Score. Traditionally, an operator sees only a small part of the wider competition. Claimed scores normally appear after the contest, while final results are published after the complete log-checking process. A live scoreboard changes this experience by allowing participants and spectators to follow the event while it is happening. The EUDX Contest Live Score system has now been published on the official contest website and is undergoing operational testing. A participating station first registers for the service, declaring its callsign and contest category. Its logging software is then connected to the EUDX infrastructure through the EUDX UDP Receiver. As QSOs are entered, corrected or deleted in the logging program, the corresponding information is transmitted to the platform and the station’s provisional score can be updated. The system has been tested with three logging programs widely used by EUDX participants: N1MM Logger+ DXLog QARTest However, the system is not limited to these three programs. It is compatible with any logging software that supports a connection to the Live Score system, allowing real-time score reporting during the contest. Each program handles QSO and score information in a slightly different way. An important part of the development has therefore been ensuring that the different data formats can be received and associated with the correct station. The objective is to make the connection as straightforward as possible, allowing operators to continue using their preferred logging software normally. The current architecture can be summarized as: Radio → Contest Logger → EUDX UDP Receiver → EUDX Server → Live Score The public leaderboard follows the same philosophy used for the official EUDX Contest results. It offers three principal views: Overall Ranking European Stations DX Stations Participants and spectators can also filter the leaderboard by contest category. For every station, the system can display the callsign, country, category, number of QSOs, points, multipliers, provisional score, last update and synchronization status. This makes it possible to follow not only a list of scores, but the changing shape of the competition: who is moving up, how close stations are within a category and how the standings change as propagation shifts from one band to another.Live Score is therefore not only a technical feature. Operators can compare their progress with friends or rivals. Clubs can follow their teams, and radio amateurs who are not operating can watch the competition develop during its 24 hours. A radio contest experienced mainly through headphones and logging screens can become something that the wider amateur-radio community can also follow online, almost like a live sporting event. Live scores and official results There is, however, one fundamental distinction. A live score is not an official contest result. The information displayed during the contest is based on data transmitted directly by the participating stations. It represents a claimed and provisional score. The official result can only be determined after the contest, when the complete Cabrillo logs have been submitted and checked. The two processes therefore have different purposes: During the contest: Logger → EUDX Live Score → Provisional Live Leaderboard After the contest: Cabrillo Log → EUDX Log Checking → Verified Score → Official Results Live Score tells the story of the competition while it is happening. The new EUDX evaluator establishes the official result after carefully checking the submitted logs. Together, these two systems can make the contest both more engaging to follow and more transparent in its final evaluation. A testing mode will also allow stations to check their connection and logger configuration before the 2027 contest. A real-time system is useful only if operators can join it without unnecessary difficulty and know that their data are being synchronized correctly. The website becomes part of the contest The development of the log checker and Live Score also led me to rethink EUDX-Contest.com. The objective was not simply to create a more attractive website. I wanted the website itself to become an active part of the contest infrastructure. Historical results are being transformed from static classification pages into searchable databases. Participants can filter rankings and explore previous editions much more easily. A callsign search can retrieve a station’s participation and results across multiple years, creating a personal EUDX Contest history that did not previously exist. The award system has also been redesigned, allowing eligible participants to generate their certificates directly through the website. The log-upload procedure, public log area, historical results, callsign search, awards, evaluator and Live Score are not separate experiments. They are connected parts of one project: an EUDX digital contest ecosystem. Building an archive, not just a website The long-term objective is to build an online historical archive, not merely a website containing rules and announcements. Every log, result, callsign and edition contributes to the history of the contest. Several years from now, an operator should be able to enter a callsign and rediscover every EUDX Contest appearance, category, score and final position. A contest lasts 24 hours, but the history created during those hours deserves to remain available much longer. The seventh edition The seventh EUDX Contest, scheduled for 6–7 February 2027, will mark a new stage in the development of the event. After six editions, almost 2,000 submitted logs in 2026 and a growing international community, our challenge is no longer simply to persuade operators to try a new contest. We now have participants who know the EUDX Contest, return every year and rightly expect us to continue improving. The goal for 2027 is therefore not simply “more logs.” It is a better overall experience: a more integrated website, clearer access to historical results, a modern submission process, an independent checking platform and a live scoreboard that introduces a new dimension to the 24 hours of competition. Technology is not the real story Technology, however, is not what makes a contest successful. The real strength of the EUDX Contest remains its operators. It is the station calling CQ through the night. It is the operator searching the bands for one more multiplier. It is the Low Power entrant using a modest antenna. It is the multi-operator team coordinating radios and bands. It is also the participant submitting a checklog because accurate cross-checking is essential to fair competition. The 1,975 logs received in 2026 are more than a statistic. They represent 1,975 contributions to a shared international event. That community gives the EUDX Contest its identity and provides the reason for building all these new tools. When I look back at the idea born in 2020, I realize that the contest has grown in ways I could not have predicted. We started with a concept. Then came the first participants, the first results, more countries and more logs. Now we are building our own digital infrastructure and preparing to let the world follow the contest live. This is not simply a technological story. It is the story of a contest growing up while keeping its original purpose alive: bringing European Union stations and the rest of the world together on the HF bands. The next chapter begins in 2027. I hope you will be part of it. See you in the pileups—and perhaps on the EUDX Live Score leaderboard! 73, Francesco Giancola, IK6QON EUDX Contest Manager European Union DX Contest Club www.eudx-contest.com
