Ten meters roared, the waterfall glowed, and somewhere in the chaos a “maritime emergency” calling spot was buried under contesters. We stepped straight into CQ Worldwide and asked a hard question: who really owns a frequency when the world shows up? From band etiquette to practical emergency options, we unpack the culture and the realities that matter when the dial is full and you still need to make smart choices. We also get our hands dirty with portable radio.

A Rybakov vertical goes from “set up wrong” to “set up right,” and the difference is dramatic: transformer near ground, wire up the mast, radials laid out, and 10 meters becomes a runway. We share our favorite tactics for activating a park during a major contest, including working the WARC bands, hunting first, and a fun twist—dialing power down as we approach a park kilo to finish at one watt. Along the way, we wade into AI in contesting.

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