IARU Region 1 reports that young operators participated as “Big Guns” in recent contests from both ES9C, the station of ES5TV in Estonia, and 9A1A, the Croatian DX Club station, as part of the Youth Contesting Program (YCP). All operators are 26 years old or younger.

The team at ES9C took part in the ARI International DX Contest over the May 7-8 weekend, while the second group at 9A1A operated in the CQ-M International DX contest over the May 14-15 weekend. At ES9C were youths from Sweden, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, and Italy, as well as two young Estonian operators and a few older local operators to help the youngster to experience radiosport. At 9A1A in Croatia were a couple of young ops from Hungary as well as several young Croatian hams, and some veteran 9A1A team members to mentor.

A summary of the activities at ES9C and 9A1A appears on the IARU Region 1 website. YCP operators are expected at SK3W/SK9HQ for the IARU HF Championship in July, and at 4O3A for the CQ World Wide RTTY DX Contest in September. — Thanks to IARU Region 1