SZ1A

SZ1A SZ1A is a Ham Radio Contest station in Redforest near Agrinio in West Greece. When we say everyone, we mean it! Some non Greeks also. What we need?

The Project

After 1994 when we run our first CQ contest we had the same dream: to build a big contest station. Our dream started to become a reality in 2009 when our city's authorities gave us an old abandoned school in Red Forest, a small village 20km (12 miles) far from Agrinio. So we started to build towers, antennas and all these we need to be competitive in contests. Our thought was and cont

inues to be to offer this station to everyone to operate free of charge and promote amateur radio and contesting. Until now many amateurs from all Greek cities have come and operate from SZ1A. We don't look the best operators. We are widely open to everyone! We made a lot and we need to do more. We continue to work almost every weekend on this project: to improve the station. Maybe you can help us, and why not to be the next operator! Continiue reading to learn how....

The story...

From the early days some of our members were very active in contests. Back in 1994 we participated in our first CQ WW SSB as a club in the M/S category using the club's call SV1AFA (Our call has changed after 2004 to SZ1A). We were first SV and this gave us a lot of pleasure!! This first participation created a tradition. So our club has become the most active club in Greece in HF contests. Our dream was to create a contest station. The most of the people in Greece, usually live in small condos and small properties in general. Just a very few Greek radio amateurs have the space for big antennas and towers. There are many clubs that have a small HF station (we have also an HF station in our office), but a big station (by Greek standards) was an unfulfilled dream. Our Club wanted to fill the gap and we would like to offer to every Greek and Foreign ham who wants to operate a contest, a station to make this possible. This dream started to be a reality for us, in November of 2009. Back then we found the place to host us, an old abandoned school in a place called Red Forest about 20 km North of Agrinio. We started to repair the building and we raised our first tower 18m (60 ft) high in October of 2010. Our first participation in a contest from Red Forest in ARRL CW some months later at 2011, just for some hours. This is an ongoing project during last years. We try to build a competitive station, the first of this kind in Greece. Our willing and our try is to offer this station to everyone to operate free of charge. Unfortunately because of the financial crisis in Greece, is really difficult to collect the necessary funds to make our dreams a reallity as quick as we want. In any case the station is quite good at this moment and we have managed very good scores. Many Greek hams come and operate the station in several contests running either with the call SZ1A either with their personal call. In November 2015, we enjoyed the visit by Don G3XTT who is the Editor of Practical Wireless magazine. We expect to have more and more guest operators in the near future and why not you? In any case, you are invited to come and operate from our station as everyone else. Please spread out this info to anyone is interesting. Send an email to sz1a at qsl dot net if you are interesting to visit us. The station has already grown up a lot and our willing is to improve it every day...
Watch this video about the station (filmed by SV1JMO). Equipment

With a lot of offers from our members and other radio amaterus, we have right now three stations working together and two more in progress to complete them. Rigs
Kenwood 850 SAT
Yaesu ft1000 MKV (JH1AJT's offer)
Yaesu ft1000 MKV field (this belongs to SV1CIB)
Yaesu ft1000 MKV (DD2CW's offer)
Yaesu ft990 (SV1DPJ's offer)

Amplifiers
Icom PW1 amplifier (Multiplier)
OM Power 2000 HF (Run1)
OM Power 2000 HF (Mult1)

Antennas
EF14ARC - 4el for 20m (YU7EF design)
EF154A1LX - 4el for 15m (YU7EF design-SV1BDO's offer)
EF106C - 6el for 10m (YU7EF design)
Dipole for 80m
Dipole for 160m
Cushcraft 40-2cd (40m)
Cushcraft R7 (10,12,15,17,20,30,40m) (SV1DPJ offer)
Cushcraft A3S (10,15,20,40) (SV2FWV offer) - inband
Prosistel vertical (10-80m) (I7PHH offer)
5 beverages 185-320m to USA, JA, Indian Ocean, Africa, Carribean

Accomodation
We can host 12-17 operators in the station at this moment. There are a bedroom, kitchen (electric cooker, refrigerator, freezer, coffee machine, dishwasher, etc.), barbecue, living room and bathroom in the station's building. All free of charge... except food (hi hi). Usually many of our members visit the station during contest's weekend and we organize dinners with food and drink. We are doing our best to make your stay here memorable but don't expect something very comfortable. Just like army :)

Invitation
Everyone, Greek or foreign amateur is welcome to come in Agrinio, to visit us and operate the SZ1A station. You need to be a member to enjoy all facilities but if you carry your own radio equipment, you can use the station antennas and accomodation for free, even you are not a member. If you are not a member you can apply for this: it's just 25 euros per year. But it's completely free if you participate in a multi operators team with us. If you need to learn station's schedule or any other help about SZ1A, please send an email to sz1a at qsl dot net

How you can help us
If you have found this project interesting (bulding a station and offering this to radio amateurs worldwide free of charge), get in contact (sz1a at qsl dot net) and help us. We need ideas, your hands and experience, used equipment, money, everything. Especially the last time, with the financial crisis in Greece, is very difficult to find the funds we need to see our dream to become a reality. Maybe we can do this easier "with little help of our friends"...

📡🔥 CQ WPX CW IS THIS WEEKEND! SZ40A RETURNS FOR THE GRAND FINALE! 🔥⚡🎧This weekend, the HF bands come alive again for one...
25/05/2026

📡🔥 CQ WPX CW IS THIS WEEKEND! SZ40A RETURNS FOR THE GRAND FINALE! 🔥⚡🎧

This weekend, the HF bands come alive again for one of the biggest CW contests of the year: CQ World Wide WPX CW 2026.

And for Team SZ1A, this one is extra special.

🎉 This is the final weekend to work SZ40A, our special anniversary callsign celebrating 40 years of RAAWG and the SZ1A contest station.

After the contest ends at 2359 UTC on Sunday, May 31, 2026, the SZ40A activation officially comes to a close.

That means this is your last chance to add SZ40A to your log and complete or upgrade your SZ40A Anniversary Award! 🏆

So far, SZ40A has already logged more than 12,600 QSOs across SSB, CW, and Digital modes. The award program has also seen amazing participation, with 213 awards issued so far:

🥉 137 Bronze
🥈 39 Silver
🥇 26 Gold
🏆 11 Platinum

In WPX, every callsign prefix counts as a multiplier, and SZ40A is one you don’t want to miss. Work the prefix, add us to your CW log, and make this final weekend count! 📖⚡

📡 Propagation should be interesting this weekend. We expect 20m to carry much of the daytime traffic, 15m to play an important role, and 10m to be watched closely as the wildcard band. At night, attention will shift to 40m, where low-band QSOs can make a major difference.

⚡ Don’t forget: in WPX, QSOs on 160m, 80m, and 40m are worth double points compared with high-band contacts.

🔢 Contest Exchange Reminder
In CQ WPX CW, the exchange is:

599 + Serial Number

Example: 599 001, 599 002, 599 003…

Accuracy matters, especially in CW, where fast pileups and serial numbers can make or break a clean log.

👥 Operators: G0PZA, SV1JG, SV1BJW, SV1CIB, SV1DKD, SV1DPJ

🛠️ Support Team: SV1CQG, SV1CQK, SV1HKH, with additional support from SV1RLC, SV1RRX, SV1TBW, SV1TIQ, SV1TLY, SV1CDN, and many other members and friends.

⏱️ Important WPX rule reminder
Logs must be submitted within 48 hours after the contest ends. No more one-week window.

📡 If you hear SZ40A on the air, call us!
📞 Work the prefix.
📖 Add us to your CW log.
🏆 Complete or upgrade your SZ40A Anniversary Award.

This is the Grand Finale of SZ40A.

Let’s make it count.

👉 Read more and learn how to claim the award:
https://sz1a.org/en/news-announcements/cq-wpx-cw-2026-final-weekend-to-work-sz40a-and-claim-the-anniversary-award/

Good luck, have fun, and we’ll see you in the CW pileups! ⚡🎧

73 from Team SZ1A 📡🔥

The Grand Finale of the SZ40A 40th Anniversary Activation This weekend, the HF bands will once again come alive for the CQ World Wide WPX CW Contest 2026, one of the most active and demanding […]

John SV1GE and Micke SV0XAF / HB9EBC on the air as SZ40A, the special commemorative callsign of R.A.A.W.G. (SZ1A) celebr...
16/05/2026

John SV1GE and Micke SV0XAF / HB9EBC on the air as SZ40A, the special commemorative callsign of R.A.A.W.G. (SZ1A) celebrating 40 years of the association.

Wonderful amateur radio moments, with friends and members keeping the spirit of amateur radio alive.

🌺📡 May Day Celebration at SZ1A Redforest 2026 | Join Us at Kokkinologgos!Members and friends of RAAWG - SZ1A,You are war...
28/04/2026

🌺📡 May Day Celebration at SZ1A Redforest 2026 | Join Us at Kokkinologgos!

Members and friends of RAAWG - SZ1A,

You are warmly invited on Friday, May 1st, 2026, to our SZ1A station at Kokkinologgos (Redforest) to celebrate International Workers' Day together and welcome the beautiful month of May! 🌿

☕ From the morning onward, we’ll be waiting for you with coffee, treats, and great company.

🍖 Later in the day, we’ll enjoy delicious food, friendly conversations, a relaxed atmosphere, and festive traditional toasts.

🌸 Come spend a wonderful family-friendly day with us, surrounded by nature and the stunning spring beauty of the Greek countryside.

🤝 We look forward to seeing everyone in person and celebrating together as one big community!

🍽️ P.S.: Any contributions of supplies, treats, or delicious food are of course warmly welcomed!

With best regards,
The Board of Directors of RAAWG - SZ1A

📡✨ CW Academy – New Training Cycle in Greece (May 2026) 🇬🇷CW Academy, under the auspices of the Radio Amateur Associatio...
20/04/2026

📡✨ CW Academy – New Training Cycle in Greece (May 2026) 🇬🇷

CW Academy, under the auspices of the Radio Amateur Association of Western Greece – SZ1A, and with training coordinator Giannis SV1PMQ, is pleased to announce the launch of a new Advanced CW training cycle 🤝

This is one of the most comprehensive Morse code training programs worldwide 🌍
It is based on a structured methodology, small group sessions, and daily practice, with the goal of achieving real improvement in speed, accuracy, and overall proficiency.

Previous training cycles in Greece have delivered excellent results!! 🙌
Many participants have already made significant progress and are now active in CW, including in contest environments such as SZ1A.

⚠️ At this time, only 3 to 4 spots remain available 🚨
📅 Expressions of interest should be submitted as soon as possible, within the next few days and no later than the end of the week

🔗 More information & registration:
https://sz1a.org/en/news-announcements/cw-academy-courses-new-training-cycle-may-2026/

📌 A Beginner course is also planned for later this year, for those who want to start learning Morse code from scratch 👍

CW Academy Courses – New Training Cycle (May 2026) Learning and progressing in Morse code is not just a technical skill. It is a process that requires consistency, focus, and structured practice, while at the […]

CQ WW 160M CW Contest Results Are Out! 🎉We’re happy to share that the official results of the **CQ WW 160M CW Contest 20...
10/04/2026

CQ WW 160M CW Contest Results Are Out! 🎉

We’re happy to share that the official results of the **CQ WW 160M CW Contest 2026** have been published, and once again, SZ1A was proudly on the air from Top Band.

This year, we achieved our best ranking to date, climbing to:

🌍 #32 Worldwide
🌍 #27 in Europe

And what makes this even more special is the progress behind it 👇

👉 World: 59 → 41 → 32 (+27 places, ~46% improvement over 2 years)
👉 Europe: 43 → 35 → 27 (+16 places, ~37% improvement over 2 years)

Year-on-year improvement:

📈 2024 → 2025
• World: +18 places (~31% improvement)
• Europe: +8 places (~19% improvement)

📈 2025 → 2026
• World: +9 places (~22% improvement)
• Europe: +8 places (~23% improvement)

A small but important point of context: while our 2026 score and QSO count were lower than in 2025, that does **not** mean the performance was worse. High Solar Flux Index (SFI) years tend to produce tougher conditions on 160 meters, often resulting in lower scores and reduced participation according to the official CQ 160 contest results article.

So while the raw score was lower this year, our **final position improved**, which is the more meaningful achievement. On Top Band, that means we performed better relative to the rest of the competition under the same difficult conditions.

On 160 meters, where propagation can define the entire contest, improving your position means outperforming competitors, not just increasing your score.

📊 Our Results Over the Last 3 Years

🔹 2024
🇬🇷 Greece: #1 | 🌍 Europe: #43 | 🌍 World: #59
Score: 252,945
QSOs: 778
Countries: 57
W/VE: 6
Operators: SV1DKD, SV1DPJ, SV1DAY, SV1DPI

🔹 2025
🇬🇷 Greece: #1 | 🌍 Europe: #35 | 🌍 World: #41
Score: 451,764
QSOs: 925
Countries: 60
W/VE: 29
Operators: SV1DKD, SV1BJW, SV1DPJ, SV1CIB, SV1DPI

🔹 2026
🇬🇷 Greece: #1 | 🌍 Europe: #27 | 🌍 World: #32
Score: 263,235
QSOs: 737
Countries: 58
W/VE: 11
Operators: SV1DKD, SV1DPJ, SV1BJW

A big thank you to this year’s operators and to everyone who worked us or supported the effort.

**Top Band is never easy. And that’s exactly why we love it.**

We’re already looking forward to next year, when our new **Aziloop directional receive array will be fully operational**. This is a major upgrade for our low-band receive capability, in addition to our three TX antennas that have already produced excellent results, and we’re genuinely excited to see what it will unlock on Top Band.

See you all again on 160m!

ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ- ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΗ ΜΕΛΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΦΙΛΩΝΚαλησπέρα σας. Με αφορμή την νέα εξεταστική περίοδο του Ιουνίου 2026 είμαστε στην ε...
06/04/2026

ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ- ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΗ ΜΕΛΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΦΙΛΩΝ

Καλησπέρα σας.

Με αφορμή την νέα εξεταστική περίοδο του Ιουνίου 2026 είμαστε στην ευχάριστη θέση να ανακοινώσουμε την έναρξη μαθημάτων προετοιμασίας των υποψηφίων ραδιοερασιτεχνών.

Η ημερομηνία διεξαγωγής των εξετάσεων θα είναι την Τρίτη 9 Ιουνίου 2026 στην πόλη του Μεσολογγίου στο αρμόδιο τμήμα.

Οι υποψήφιοι μπορούν να βρουν τις ερωτήσεις των εξετάσεων στην ιστοσελίδα της ενώσεώς μας στον πιο κάτω σύνδεσμο στην ενότητα «τα βιβλία των υποψηφίων»:

https://sz1a.org/%ce%bb%ce%ae%cf%88%ce%b5%ce%b9%cf%82-%ce%b1%cf%81%cf%87%ce%b5%ce%af%cf%89%ce%bd-downloads/

Υπάρχει χρόνος για διάβασμα και η ένωση μας είναι σε θέση να βοηθήσει.

Η έναρξη των μαθημάτων θα ξεκινήσει την εβδομάδα μετά το Πάσχα στα γραφεία της ενώσεως στην Καμαρούλα
καθώς
και διαδικτυακά προς διευκόλυνση όλων μας.

Ενημερώστε μας για την πρόθεσή σας για τα μαθήματα
ή
με e-mail στο [email protected]
ή
στο τηλέφωνο της Γραμματείας μας 6977137658 Σωτήρης Μουτόπουλος SV1RRX.

Ευχαριστούμε πολύ.

Εκ του ΔΣ της ΕΡΔΕ.

📡🌍 CQ WPX SSB 2026 | SZ40A Celebrates 40 Years On the Air 🗼⚡CQ WPX SSB 2026 is behind us, and SZ1A returns with another ...
31/03/2026

📡🌍 CQ WPX SSB 2026 | SZ40A Celebrates 40 Years On the Air 🗼⚡

CQ WPX SSB 2026 is behind us, and SZ1A returns with another solid Multi-Two effort using the special anniversary callsign SZ40A, celebrating 40 years of the Radio Amateur Association of Western Greece.

Here are our claimed results:

Callsign: SZ40A (SZ1A)
Category: Multi-Two (HP)
Operators: DD2CW, ON3UN, SV1GE, SV1JG, SV1DKD, SV1DPJ, SV1RRX, SV8PMM
Support Team: SV1BDO, SV1CQG, SV1CQK, SV1TBW, SV1CDN and more
Location: KM08qr

QSOs: 4,233
Prefixes: 1,201
Operating Time: 48 hours
Claimed Score: 8,882,596

📊 Full statistics: https://www.qsl.net/sz1a/sh5/2026/2026_cq-wpx-ssb_sz40a/index.htm

Contest Recap:

Conditions this year were mixed. High bands delivered good activity during peak openings, though generally shorter compared to last year.

20m carried the largest share of the operation, with 15m also making a major contribution in both QSOs and prefixes. 40m was another key band, delivering strong QSO volume and the highest average points per contact. 10m contributed usefully but at a lower level, while the low bands were heavily impacted by conditions. Ice-rain across Eastern Europe and local stormy weather created extremely difficult receive conditions, with charged rain at times pushing the noise floor up to S9+20dB.

Operating with SZ40A added a special dynamic. As expected in WPX, the unique prefix generated strong and sustained pileups across multiple bands, enabling high-rate runs while requiring careful control and accuracy, especially with serial number exchanges.

At the same time, the callsign itself proved challenging in practice. Many stations, particularly from Latin countries, had difficulty copying the second digit (0), often logging us as SZ4A. This significantly slowed down QSO rates, with many contacts taking three to four times longer than usual and resulting in a high number of dupes. Despite these challenges, the final result came as a very positive surprise, proving to be solid and comparable to our record performance last year.

More Than Just a Contest:

Sunday turned into something truly special.

Many members and friends visited the station, and we had a fantastic feast together, something that truly captured the spirit of SZ1A beyond contesting.

A huge thank you to everyone who came by, and especially to those who helped in every possible way, operating, supporting, cooking, cleaning, and keeping everything running smoothly throughout the weekend. This kind of teamwork and camaraderie is what makes everything possible.

Final Thanks:

Thank you to all stations who worked SZ40A, and especially for your patience in the pileups.

This contest was not just about the result, but also about celebrating 40 years of activity, teamwork, friendship, and shared passion for amateur radio.

73 from all of us at SZ1A 📻✨

29/03/2026
29/03/2026

CQ WPX SSB 2026 SZ40A

29/03/2026

CQ WPX SSB 2026 SZ40A by Team SZ1A

Address

Kokkinologgos Sargiadas
Agrínio
30150

Opening Hours

Saturday 15:00 - 22:00
Sunday 09:00 - 19:00

Website

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