The objective of this all-mode contest is to stimulate contesting from Africa. All participating stations worldwide may work any country during the contest period. African DXCC entities are defined as those valid per the ARRL DXCC AF listing published the time of the contest.
Date
12:00 UTC on Saturday 28 March to 12:00 UTC on Sunday 29 March 2026 (The 4th full weekend of March). Both single and multi-operator stations may operate for the entire 24 hour period. There are no mandated breaks in operating time required.
Bands
160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres, in accordance with your country and specific licensing requirements governing the portion(s) of these bands that you may use. No contest QSOs are allowed on 12, 17, 30 or 60 metres.
Modes
CW and SSB.. Mixed-mode entrants may work the same station once on each mode per band.
Log Submissions and Deadlines
No paper entries will be accepted for contest or checking purposes. Entries must be submitted in Cabrillo format only and be received no later than 15 days after the contest – Monday 13 April 2026. Entries must be sent to contest@sarl.org.za
Awards
Certificates in PDF format will be sent to:
The top three overall scoring entrants
The highest scoring entrant in each category for the contest
The highest scoring entrant in each category per continent
The top three highest scoring South African entrants
To be eligible to receive any of the above certificates, an entrant’s log must contain least one QSO where one of the parties to that QSO is operating from an African DXCC entity.
Results
Results will be posted on the South African Radio League website www.sarl.org.za two months after the entry deadline.
Entry Categories
For all categories, the use of spotting nets and skimmers are permitted. For all categories, there are no restrictions on the number of band or mode changes made in any given period during the contest. Contestants may only submit their log in one of the 18 categories
available.
1. Single Operator Single Transmitter
1.1. Single band
1.1.1. Phone only, high, low and QRP power levels
1.1.2. CW only, high low and QRP power levels
1.1.3. Mixed mode, high low and QRP power levels
1.2. All band
1.2.1. Phone only, high, low and QRP power levels
1.2.2. CW only, high low and QRP power levels
1.2.3. Mixed mode, high low and QRP power levels
One person performs all operating and logging functions and without exception, only one transmitted signal is allowed any given time. Mixed mode entrants may work a station once per mode per band.
2. Multi Operator Single Transmitter
2.1 All band
2.1.1. Mixed mode high power
2.1.2. Mixed mode low power
3. Multi Operator Multi Transmitter
3.1. Mixed mode all band, high power
3.2. Mixed mode all band, low power
All Multi-op efforts must enter the mixed mode category. There is no multi-op power level.
Stations may be worked once per mode per band. In all categories, cross-mode, cross band and repeater contacts is not allowed.
Rookie Award
The rookie awards in the AAM contest aim to reward individual rather than team efforts, which show flexibility and skill in operating procedure for recently licensed amateurs. If the operator was first licensed as a radio amateur less than three (3) years before the start date of the contest they can indicate the date first licensed in the SOAPBOX field.
Contest Exchange
The exchange is your RS(T) (not checked during the log checking process), followed by an incremental serial number commencing “001”. Changing modes or bands
does not necessitate different serial number ranges, ie the serial number simply progresses from “001” upwards sequentially as you log QSOs in any category, for
single or multi-op efforts. A complete exchange, consisting of an RS(T) and serial number, must be logged for each QSO.
Each QSO claimed for competition credit must comply with the rules found under General Rule “5. Contacts”.
Power Levels
For the purposes of this contest, all entrants must adhere to the power levels (ex- pressed as Peak Envelope Power, or PEP) as set out below when determining their entry category.
Additionally, all entrants must adhere to their specific licensing requirements regarding permitted power and other regulations, which take precedent over the contest-defined power levels when operating in the contest.
. QRP is defined as 5 watts PEP or less as measured the antenna port the transmitter, or power amplifier (if used).
. Low power is defined as more than 5 watts PEP but not more than 100 watts PEP measured the antenna port either the transmitter, or power amplifier (if used).
. High power is defined as more than 100 watts PEP but not more than 1 500 watts PEP measured the antenna port either the transmitter, or power amplifier (if
used).
Points, multipliers and scoring: All QSO’s are awarded 1 point.
Multiplier: The multiplier increments by one for every AF-DXCC entity worked, for each of thetwo operating modes: CW and SSB on any of the six operating bands: 160m, 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m.
https://mysarl.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2026-SARL-Contest-Manual-Version-1.1-2025-12-15.pdf