For our next challenge for season 5, we are going to do something we have never done before.

This week, we enter: The Frequency Challenge.

Normally we focus on a single or range of frequencies. Or, perhaps we are chasing a specific type of station or goal.

This time around, the challenge will be the frequencies themselves. All of them.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to log a minimum of 3 stations per frequency between 540-1600, and 2 stations per frequency betwen 1620 and 1700.

We will have a scoring system for this challenge, and this is the most complex scoring system we have ever endeavored:

• For logs that occur between 540 to 1600 kHz, once you reach your third log, you get a 100 point score on that third log
• For logs that occur between 1620 and 1700 kHz, once you reach your second log, you get a 100 point score on that second log.
• For any logs submitted that are 500 miles or more from your location, you automatically get 10 points. This is regardless if you hit the per-frequency goal or not.
• For any logs submitted with a receiver that is NOT an SDR, you also get a 10 point bonus. This is regardless if you hit the per-frequency goal or not.

So, as an example, here in Mandeville, LA where I am located if I am submitting logs for 870 kHz and I submit:

• WWL made with a portable radio
• a station in Ecuador and a station in Colombia both using an SDR

I would get 10 bonus points each for the Ecuador and Colombia station based on mileage, 10 bonus points for WWL because I used a non-SDR receiver and on my third log would receive the 100 points for meeting my per-frequency goal for a total of 130 points.

The challenge begins at 0100 UTC on Saturday, March 14, 2026 and runs through 0100 UTC on Saturday, April 4, 2026. Only receptions made during this timeframe will count towards the challenge.

Only licensed broadcast stations will be counted: “normal radio stations”, That means for this challenge, no TIS/HAR stations, no pirates, no “talking houses”, no images/spurs/harmonics, etc.

Portable operations are encouraged, within 25 miles of your home location.

​DXers must use their own gear, meaning it must be gear they either own or personally maintain. Online receivers may be used if they are maintained/owned by the submitting DXer, but no logs should be submitted for receptions made using online receivers owned/maintained by other DXers. Let’s keep it ethical.

Receptions must be reported through the entry form at dxchallenges.com. Users must be registered to submit logs (registration is free and is just in place so you don’t have to enter your name and location with each log).