An international group of Amateur (“ham”) Radio Operators was on the island this past weekend to compete in the CQ Worldwide ham radio competition.

This is an annual event where thousands of ham radio operators all over the world compete against each other to complete the most shortwave radio contacts across the globe and contact as many countries as possible.

Being the only group representing Antigua, this makes contact with Antigua highly desirable for other competitors.

The Team Antigua group has been coming to Antigua for this competition for 33 years, starting in 1993 in Long Bay and currently operating from their shortwave radio station in Gunthorpes. The group is composed of international and local ham radio operators, where most are from the USA, but members from other countries and local ham radio operators from Antigua are encouraged to participate.

This year the Team feels they have achieved first place in North America, and second place worldwide, based on preliminary results. It takes several months for the logs to be adjudicated and the final results announced.

The team reports over 12,500 shortwave radio two-way contacts with 154 different countries. They make Antigua available to hams all over the world via shortwave radio from Japan, Australia, Russia, China, USA, all of Europe, the Caribbean, India, and everywhere in-between transmitting from Gunthorpes.

The Team would like to thank Elite Island Resorts for their assistance with accommodations, and the Ministry of Information Communication Technologies for their assistance obtaining the necessary telecommunications licenses for the event.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Team Antigua Claims Top North American Spot and Second Worldwide in Ham Radio Competition.