Poor band conditions prompt award's extension

Due to the poorest condx on the HF bands in 54 years during 2008, the clubs involved in the Roskilde 1658 Award have unanimously decided to prolong the award activities throughout 2009, until December 31, 2009.

Hopefully this decision will make it possible for all radio amateurs and SWLs interested in the award to qualify for it.

Amateur radio operators in our neighbouring countries should observe that we are also active on 2m and 70cm when condx are good. A lot of DX on 2m has been worked all over Europe with the award callsigns.

At the time of writing it is unclear whether the Danish wild card station callsign OZ1658ROS can be prolonged during 2009. If not, another callsign will be used. The Danish wild card callsign will be announced on the award homepage as soon as our friends in OZ9EDR in Roskilde get a decision from the telecom authorities. The Danish wildcard station will be QRV during 2009 with some callsign in any case.

The rules are now updated on the award homepage with new dates and the online logs are up to date. The rules are available in English, Swedish, Finnish, German and Dutch language. The entire award web site is available in both English and Swedish.

Please note that the special rules for the award on February 26, 2008 also applies for February 26, 2009, the day of the Treaty of Roskilde.

Only two Swedish callsigns or one Swedish callsign and the Danish wild card station need to be worked or logged during that day. All callsigns involved in the award will be active during some part of February 26, 2009.

It is possible to see what callsigns you have worked on which bands and what callsigns you miss in a matrix presented by the log search function. The log search even tells you if you have qualified for the award or not.

Please note that the online logs are updated once a month so it might take some time until your QSO shows up in the log. The last date in the log for each callsign is mentioned on the log search page.

There is also an activity calendar on the award web site. Please note that there might be activity that is not mentioned in the activity calendar. However, all major activities are announced in the calendar.

There are links to DX cluster spots for all award callsigns on the activity calendar page. Check the DX cluster for sporadic activities!

All awards are numbered in the order of incoming approved applications. Licensed amateurs and SWLs share the same number series.

We do not QSL unless you have sent us a QSL direct or via the bureau. Please observe the QSL information for each callsign under "QSL information" on the award homepage.

All outgoing QSLs are handled by SK7BQ. They will be printed and sent out direct or via the bureau during the spring 2009.

73 es GL de SK7BQ Award group in Kristianstad, in the former Danish province of Scania.
Kristianstad was founded by the Danish King Christian IV in 1614. Kristianstad is said to be the only city in the world with a foreign King's insignia as it's coat of arms.

Source: OPDX