Guide to March 2026 Amateur Radio Contests—Spring is Almost Here Edition

Ah, spring, the season where our fancies turn to outdoor activities like POTA, SOTA, and scraping away the ice that’ll likely linger until Memorial Day.

While we’re accustomed to low temperatures and snow well into April and beyond around DX Engineering headquarters in northeast Ohio, it must be noted that the official first day of spring 2026 in the Western Hemisphere is Friday, March 20. Let the hills (and fields) be alive with the sound of CQs!

Getting excited about outdoor operating? Check out this excellent POTA video from DX Engineering media partner Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio:

Celebrate the Spring with New Gear

We all know better than to stash our winter boots in the back of the closet just because we spied the first crocus poking through the frozen earth, but that doesn’t mean we can’t dream big about the outdoor operating adventures ahead. With this in mind, here are a few products at DX Engineering to jumpstart your spring activities.

DX Engineering Low-Power Portable Dipoles and Winder Kits

These kits provide the parts for a fun DIY build of a lightweight resonant HF antenna designed for fast portable operations on 40 meters or higher. Making your own single- or dual-band linked dipole is easy. Once it’s built, you can repeatedly and quickly unwind the dipole, install it for POTA or other activities, make contacts on the air, wind it up when you’re done, and take it home for the next adventure. Here’s what you receive:

• Center insulator with a 1:1 low-power balun
• 24-gauge stranded hi-visibility yellow insulated wire; 80 feet (two 40-foot sections)
• Four link insulators
• Four alligator clips (two per link)
• Four clip hooks for user-supplied rope
• Snap hook to support the center insulator balun on a Nomad Portable Mast
• Three easy-to-hold DX Engineering red winders 
• BongoTies to secure wires onto winders

Armoloq Tactical Protective Armor Modular Radio Mounting Frames

Armoloq makes tough-as-nails modular manpack solutions for hams. Developed from real-world military and amateur radio experience, the Tennessee-based company’s premium mounting frames enhance the deployment and protection of radio equipment in any operating environment. Armoloq’s Tactical Protective Armor (TPA)—a rugged, two-piece frame made from CNC laser-cut 1/8-inch 5052 aluminum—securely mounts to the radio’s chassis.

Digirig Digital Mode Interfaces, Kits & Digital Mode Transceiver Interface Cables

If you’ve ever been frustrated dealing with a mess of wires for your digital operations, Digirig has the solution. They offer a wide selection of devices, kits, and accessories designed for simplified digital amateur radio communication. The super-compact Digirig Mobile unit (1.5″ x 1″ x 1″) has a built-in USB hub that includes a CM108-based sound card for audio processing and a CP2102-based serial port bridge for CAT control and programming. The Digirig Mobile features a single USB connection to the computer, consolidating all digital functions.

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Now let’s kick off the spring season with these March ham radio contests!

• Novice Rig Roundup (NRR), March 7, 0000Z to March 15, 2359Z. The annual roundup is a super-cool blast of nostalgia for hams who want to go on the air with the old-school rigs they used when they were Novices, or with the wish-list radios of their youth that they now own.

  It’s the perfect opportunity to hop in the way-back machine, set the dial to your early ham shack, and enjoy leisurely, stress-free CW operating like you did as a teen, with all the “whoops,” “chirps,” and “drift” of days gone by. Find complete rules, suggested frequencies, loads of vintage rig photos, and how to receive your lifetime NRR membership number. 

• South America 10 Meter Contest, March 14, 1200Z to March 15, 1200Z. The contest’s objective is for amateurs worldwide to exchange QSO information with as many stations as possible on the 10M band. Contacting South American stations from outside the continent will earn you double the points per QSO.

• TESLA Memorial HF CW Contest, March 14, 1800Z to March 15, 0559Z. Hosted by the Amateur Radio Union of Serbia, this annual event honors the legacy of Serbian-American electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla.

• Stew Perry Topband Challenge, March 14, 1500Z to March 15, 1500Z. Hams can enter this annual 160 meter, CW-only contest as “single operator or multi-operator; high, low or QRP power. Low power is 100 watts or less output. QRP is 5 watts or less. High power is 1,500 watts output or whatever you can legally run in your country, whichever is less,” per the Stew Perry website. The challenge uniquely awards QSO point values based on distance between stations. Click