For those of you who are “Tired of Waiting” for the Olympics of Amateur Radio to finally arrive in the United Kingdom, the wait is almost over!
The 2026 World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC)—the first time the event is being held in the UK—is only hours away. Festivities for the quadrennial gathering of elite two-person amateur radio contesting teams kick off Wednesday, July 8, with the actual 24-hour competition running from 12:00 UTC on Saturday, July 11 to 11:59 UTC on Sunday, July 12 during the IARU HF World Championship.
As we’ve said before at OnAllBands, hosting an event of this magnitude is a matter of great complexity—a juggling act of the highest order. It involves 50 two-operator teams from around the globe, 50 judges, 50 compatible stations, scores of volunteers, and more than a few prayers that Mother Nature will be on her best behavior.
Here’s the exciting part for the amateur radio community: The WRTC also involves participation from hams like you. Competing teams depend on making SSB and CW QSOs with operators to boost their scores, so you’re encouraged to get on the air and be part of the action.
Review the WRTC 2026 Competition Rules prior to the event. For a valid QSO, you will need to give the required contest exchange exactly as requested. Downloadable certificates will be awarded to operators based on how many contacts they make with the 50 teams. Click here for full details on the WRTC 2026 Awards Program and the different certificates available.
You can also join in the spectacle by following the real-time WRTC leaderboard, powered by the World Radio League. Visit the WRL website and sign up early for free to stay tuned when the scoreboard page for WRTC goes live.
DX Engineering Supports the WRTC
DX Engineering is a Gold Sponsor of WRTC 2026. DX Engineering CEO Tim Duffy, K3LR, who competed in WRTC San Francisco 1996, Finland 2002, Brazil 2006, Russia 2010, and Germany 2018, will be attending the event.
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OnAllBands stopped by the WRTC booth at Dayton Hamvention® in May, 2026 to spend a few minutes with the event’s chairman, Mark Haynes, M0DXR.
How are you feeling as the event nears?
“It’s a mixture of emotions to be honest. I would say excitement, anxiety, stress even. We’ve been planning this for three and a half years now, and the committee has been working very hard to get everything ready. I think we’re on the glide path to achieving what we need in time for when the competitors and the referees arrive on the 8th of July.
“At the moment, what we’re doing is making sure that all the hardware for the 50 sites is ready and prepared as much as possible. And we’re working very hard on the hospitality aspects at the headquarters to ensure that everything is taken care of when people arrive.”
What steps have you taken to ensure a level playing field for the competitors?
“At the very beginning we identified the geographic region that would be needed to make this possible. In the southeast of the UK, the area known as East Anglia is ideal because it has a very flat terrain, there aren’t any hills, and we’ve been selecting sites very carefully and testing them.”
“We did a trial run with five stations last July in the IARU HF Championship. From that we were able to see how we were being heard around the world. After doing some log comparisons between the stations, we can conclude from that that they’re all very even.
“Obviously there are some fundamentals to ensure that it’s a level playing field in terms of the hardware. So, for example, the antennas are identical, the masts are exactly the same, the operating conditions such as the tents, tables and chairs even, everything is identical, and that’s all been very carefully procured.
“I feel pretty confident that we’ve got this as even as we can possibly get it—within reason, certainly.”
What can we expect in terms of representation from around the world?
“There’s an amazing mixture of operators coming. We’ve got people coming from Asia, Africa, North America, South America, even out in Australia and New Zealand. So it’s incredible, the different cultures that we’re bringing together.
“They’ve all got their own operating styles. They have their own ways of setting up their stations. There’s quite a lot that the individuals will choose to do differently compared to their competitors.
“We also have 50 referees coming, and they’ve been selected from a whole range of different countries and regions of the world, so it’s amazing—and not just the competition. We’ve got a huge following from around the world that will track WRTC during the contest and make QSOs with the WRTC stations. That’s very important because we need people to call every WRTC station when they hear them.
“Everyone probably wishes they would qualify but, actually, following people from their own regions that are competing at WRTC is great, and we’re all hoping for lots of QSOs and a fair game.
“We obviously need to be very careful with the cheerleading aspect, and that’s one of the reasons that we hold back revealing the call signs so late. The team won’t know the call sign they will be using until maybe 10 or 15 minutes before the actual contest, and that’s obviously an important role of the referees to ensure that nobody is identifying themselves during the contest.”
Can you talk about the support you’ve received to make WRTC 2026 possible?
“We’ve had superb support and partnership with a whole variety of organizations—commercial organizations as well as clubs and individuals worldwide. Yaesu, our prime sponsors, Moonraker, and then DX Engineering, Icom, Momobeam, and there’s a whole list of them—Elecraft and FlexRadio as well. (Click the “Sponsors” tab from the WRTC website to view all sponsors.)
“Some of the clubs that wouldn’t normally support WRTC have stepped up because they recognize the significance of the competition and what we’re trying to do in this important part of amateur radio—opening it up to people that are not involved in the hobby. The online scoreboard and the e-sports- style commentary I think is a really important step because it allows people to relate to it that are not into ham radio.”
From a personal perspective, what are you going to do when it’s over?
“In the Haynes household it’s a big thing, as you can imagine. My wife Georgina is looking after the hospitality, so she’s incredibly busy at the moment. I think we’re just going to breathe a sigh of relief and just reflect on what went well and maybe what we could suggest to the next hosts to keep a close eye on. But I think we’re going to take a rest—take a holiday—and chill out. Then get back into some sort of normal reality—whatever that may look like.”
Also check out this recent video featuring Tim, K3LR and Mark, M0DXR:
And here’s a bonus video from DX Engineering’s media partner Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio on prepping for the WRTC:
From all of us at DX Engineering and OnAllBands, best of luck for a memorable WRTC 2026! Kudos to all!
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